THE LORD OF THE SABBATH
Mark 2 and 3
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
It is important for us to note and understand that Jesus takes great pain to set his own agenda. If I may put it in my own words: “I am not here to affirm and consolidate the status quo; I am here to push it forward so that it reflects the concerns of God, which is to meet the spiritual needs of man.”
When we understand this, then we know that as his followers we must hold lightly to cultural traditions and assumptions and let Scripture shed greater light on our priorities. The physical need of the paralysed man, as well as the expectation of everyone in the room, makes it absolutely clear that the priority is physical healing. We would be downright insensitive to assume otherwise.
Yet Jesus responded by telling the man “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
The point that he made, and needed to make because no one in the room knew, not even the man lying at his feet, is that “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” And the truth is that no one, except the man himself, knew if that was what he truly needed.
Jesus offered him unconditional forgiveness. Jesus offered Levi the tax collector a place by his side, a man who is broadly shunned and despised for his profession; again, without condition. In joining his friends for a meal at his home, Jesus, known and respected as a man of God for his teaching and his miracles, went against the cultural status quo, and in his reply, implied that God does not shun them either. Jesus defended his disciples who were less than fastidious about religious observances and implied that God cared more about people than about form. Finally, in that heartfelt question that he posed to the religious leaders, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” he hit home the fundamental error of the Pharisees in what they understand about their God. The anger and distress that he showed at their stubbornness tell us how deeply this truth lies in his heart.
Truth is simple and clear and cuts through the clutter that we create in our ignorance, or worse, in our selfish agenda. As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus teaches us the truth of God that we must live by.
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”