Outline
of Mark 2:1 to 3:6
1:1 Introduction
1:2-8 John the Baptist
1:9-15
Baptism/Wilderness Temptation
1:16-20
Calling first disciples
1:21-28
Capernaum Synagogue
Exorcism of “a man with an unclean spirit”
He
taught them as one having authority, and not as the
scribes.
1:29-45
Healing stories
Peter's mother-in-law
A leper
2:1-12
Healing a paralytic “at home”
Scribes say Why does this fellow speak in this way.
It is blasphemy! Who can
forgive sins but God alone.
2:13-17
Jesus calls sinners and eats with them
Scribes and Pharisees say Why does he eat with tax collectors
and sinners?
2:18-28
Jesus defends his disciples about not fasting
and Sabbath breaking.
Pharisees say Why are they doing what is not lawful
on the Sabbath?
3:1-6 Healing the man with the withered hand
(on the Sabbath).
The Pharisees
went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against
him, how to destroy him
Last week I wanted
to catch up with the news and so I turned on CNN in time
to see a story about Brad Pitt. Mr Pitt had apparently
taken a few moments to shake hands with a few adoring fans
when a man tried to push forward through the crowd in order
to get his autograph, and the security guards had managed
to restrain him. Some news editor at CNN had made
the decision that this was newsworthy and took priority
over thousands of other potential news stories. The
real news here was that nothing happened! There was no CNN
at the time of Jesus. No cameras or audio recorders
were there on the scene to record the events. The
writer of Mark's gospel had to rely on second-hand stories
30 years after the events to write his summary of what happened.
This writer of the Jesus story believed that unlike
Brad Pitt, Jesus had transformed the history of the world.
I want to invite
you to look with me at what actually happens in these first
two chapters of Mark. Remember that in Luke and Matthew,
they are still telling us stories about shepherds and magi
and heavenly angels in chapter 2. In Mark we have
jumped in the deep end of Jesus's ministry.
Would you please
refer to the half sheet above titled: Outline of Mark 2:1-3:6
You see how, in chapter
one, the writer skims very quickly through some preliminary
stories to get to the story of Jesus going to Capernaum,
going into the synagogue and removing an evil spirit from
a man. The language is very telling it says Just
then there was in their synagogue , a man with an
unclean spirit. The language makes it clear
that the man didn't belong there. Everybody felt
very uncomfortable having a mentally ill man in the sacred
space of the synagogue.
Add to this the story
of Jesus healing Peter's mother-in law and a leper and you
have Jesus touching three people who were ritually unclean.
Such activity for a religious teacher was quite scandalous.
The same thing continues
in chapter 2 and into chapter 3. Jesus engages a
man who is paralyzed and therefore unclean and then has
the gall to pronounce that his sins are forgiven.
Such a statement is not only heretical… it is blasphemy.
Blasphemy, by the way is a capital offense.
You can be executed for blasphemy.
He then goes on to
share the dinner table with people who not only were not
religious people, but were “those people.” These
were the kind of people that you simply didn't want to seen
with if you were respectable. Jesus apparently made
friends with “ne'er-do-wells” when any decent self-respecting
rabbi should have been relating with the rich and powerful
in order to help with the building fund at the synagogue.
Jesus then goes on
to celebrate breaking of the rules concerning the Sabbath,
and even relates to another unclean man in the synagogue
on the Sabbath day. Reading these chapters it almost looks
as though Jesus was going out of his way to offend the existing
religious leadership. I honestly don't think that was his
intent, but I think Jesus knew that his actions and gospel
message would cause offense to many within his own religious
community.
It is clear in the
first two chapters of Mark that Jesus believes that his
religious teaching is not primarily designed for practicing
observant Jews. His is a religion of the common people.
He came into a community that was divided on the
basis of class or caste. In Mark chapter 2, the writer
uses a new word which we translate as “crowds.” It
really is a word for “the masses,” “the common people.”
The notion that Jesus had a message for everyday people
and not just the religious elite was indeed a whole new
way of thinking for his community at that time.
The message of Jesus
was not only good news in words it was healing from all
sorts of problems of the mind, heart and body. That
is why we have all these healing stories... where Jesus
heals people who would otherwise have no connection to the
religious community.
So what is the message
in this for us. I believe it is simple and clear.
The gospel is not primarily for us, but rather for
the ordinary people in the streets and neighborhoods around
us here in Campbell, San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino,
Santa Clara or wherever. It is good news of healing…
good news of a religion that isn't simply a set of rules,
but rather a set of guidelines to be observed so that we
can all enjoy a greater and deeper quality of life.
So as we bring the
question What is God calling us to do and be? to
Mark chapter 2, the answer is that God is calling us to
be bearers of good news, not just to ourselves and each
other but to a hurting and hungry world in the communities
around us. Jesus' entire ministry was a ministry of singing
the right tune at the wrong time for others. This is how
God gets our attention; by getting us out of step with custom
and convention, God calls us to consider the extravagant
expenditure of grace made on our behalf.
Today we, as the church, are being challenged to become
less structured and more flexible so that we can venture
forth in mission outside of our existing membership. We
and other churches may have to abandon cherished forms of
worship, hallowed days like Sunday, and lots of other parts
of our tradition in order to be present in the world where
people are. A whole generation of people now exists
that has no experience of church or religion, and certainly
doesn't understand “Methodist” or “Presbyterian,” but people
still seek God and a deeper spiritual life. If the church
is going to introduce people to Jesus, we have to be ready
to discover Jesus it lots of new ways. Just as Jesus
broke out of the familiar pattern of his day, so we are
called to do the same in our time and place.
I heard of a church recently where the worship committee
decided to focus their mission to new members on a special
service. There would be an emphasis on casual dress, a hearty
welcome for visitors, and other changes. When the committee
proposed this change, people felt so uncomfortable that
it was shuttled between other church committees for over
11 months and no decision was made. Meanwhile the energy
for the new service dwindled away, and the proposal died.
What happened? The worship committee tried to put new wine
into old wineskins, and rather than having the wine burst
the skins (the customs and regular pattern of the congregation)
the new wine was mellowed until it became like the rest!
Structures that demand conformity and exclude change are
precisely what Jesus challenged. The Jesus of Mark chapter
2 is pushing us to examine them.
A church in a small Midwest community recently decided it
wanted to grow. It was a congregation of people who enjoyed
each other, and they did a lot of things together. Some
of them realized that growth would only come if they had
a mission outside of their walls. They found a local nursing
home that had little in the way of social events. Since
this church liked to have parties and meals together they
started having regular potlucks at the nursing home. Before
long everyone was talking about their potlucks. Then they
started having services at the home and people in addition
to the residents came. What they learned from this experience
was that their walls were obstacles. Once they moved out
of them, feasting with Jesus, there was a whole world waiting
for celebration. The church has enjoyed modest growth and
everyone in town knows who they are.
I'm not saying that this is what we should do. Maybe
it is or it isn't. The question remains for us –what is
God calling us to do and be? How can we organize
ourselves so that people outside here are hearing good news
form us? How can bodies, hearts and souls be healed
by the love of Jesus alive in us. The gospel of Mark
teaches us that the shocking truth about the arrival of
Jesus on the scene is that traditions are shaken and rules
are broken…all for the sake of a love that touches the very
depths of our souls and designed for absolutely everybody.
September 16,
2007
