A Saviour Is Born, by Mike Chalmers, 21 Dec 2014

So, if you've been coming for the last few weeks, you'll know we've been doing a series in Mark's gospel, and we've been meeting Jesus on the pages of Mark's gospel. It's been really thrilling to see him and how he interacts with people, what he does, how compelling he is, really, to the people he meets.

We've been seeing the last couple of weeks he's been getting in a bit of trouble with the religious authorities, and this week continues in that same vein, and the issue that the conflict is about this week is the Sabbath day.

Sabbath day was a day off in Judaism, a day when they didn't do any work. Now I know that the Sabbath day is an issue that causes differences amongst Christians, probably even within this room, I guess there are differences on how we interpret and understand the Sabbath day in terms of how we treat Sunday.

So for the Jews, the Sabbath was Saturday. For us, we tend to have Sunday as a day off when we meet with church. I'm aware that probably over half the people in this room I've known for less than a year, so I thought I'd take the chance to share a bit of my story, where I'm coming from, in terms of this particular issue.

So I was raised by Christian parents. I'm so grateful to God for my mum and dad. They love Jesus, they love each other, and they love me and all my brothers and sisters, and really I couldn't ask for anything more than that, fantastic blessing.

But the church I grew up in was very conservative, culturally and also theologically. So I grew up, and when I was growing up at church, there was a rule that women had to wear hats. If you want more detail about the theology behind that controversy, just speak to Peter later.

But to the extent that there was a pile of hats at the back of the church for women who were guests, who came and weren't wearing a hat, they'd be given a hat as they came in the door. It was that kind of church.

Before I joined, before I was born, sorry, apparently someone was thrown out of church membership for owning a television. So there was a lot of rules, a lot of regulations about what you had to do and not do to be a Christian.

And that applied to Sunday as well. So my Sundays growing up were quite restricted. We were allowed to play games if they were Christian board games. We were allowed to read books if they were Christian books.

I wasn't allowed to go to any parties, any of my friends' parties. Particularly hard for me was that I wasn't allowed to join a Sunday league football team. I really struggled with that. I was allowed to play football in the garden.

That was my saving grace. But I grew up kind of seeing God as a bit of a restrictor, really. Someone who places restrictions on our freedom and means we can't really do what we want to do. I became what I call a Sunday Christian when I was around probably 11, 12.

And what I mean by that is I knew the right things to say. I knew the right answers to give. And to be really honest, I was scared of hell. I've been taught a lot about hell. What happened after you die if you weren't a Christian?

And I was thinking, well, I thought to myself, well, what can I do to avoid hell to be saved? So I decided, well, what tends to happen when people become Christians is they get baptized. So I thought, well, I'll get baptized.

So I did. Got baptized. Became a church member, which is kind of funny. I don't think I was a Christian at the time. Eventually, I did become a Christian, I think, in my mid-teens. Went on a camp. And I met people at that camp who seemed to relate to God in a real way, as though he was really there, as though he really loved them, and as though they really loved him.

And the way they prayed and sung and read the Bible and talked about him just really affected me. And I thought, I want to know him like that. So I started relating to him in that way. And I think that was when he entered my life and entered my heart.

But really, my childhood growing up was of this view of God that was very sort of restrictive, and particularly in relation to Sunday. And I don't know, but I guess many of you could relate to that. Either right at the moment, you're seeing God in that way, or at some point in your life, you have seen God that way.

As someone who is really a restrictor, someone who is a rule giver, primarily, and wants you to do certain things for him. And perhaps you might have heard different people say different things about God.

Some people say he loves you unconditionally, no conditions. And others say he really wants you to keep the law. And it feels quite conditional. He's got real concerns about what you do and don't do. So it's a real issue, isn't it, for us as Christians?

I think even this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if many of us are wrestling with this, as I wrestled with it growing up. Well, how do we relate to God? How do we relate to especially the laws in the Bible?

You read the Old Testament, and there's all sorts of laws. And God seems to be really concerned about us keeping the law. So well, how do we relate to that? How do we hold these things together? So what we're going to do this morning, in Mark chapter 2, is look at what Jesus has to say about that issue, the issue of the law, in particular, relating to the Sabbath day, as I mentioned earlier.

So, as I said, we're in Mark chapter 2, verse 23. If you haven't found it yet, it should be on... If you've got an ESV Bible, it should be on page 544. Before I get into the text, just a little bit of general background.

So, as I said, we've been looking at this escalating tension between Jesus and the authorities. The main group that Jesus was in conflict with were called the Pharisees. Now, the Pharisees was a group within Judaism, and they were really concerned about keeping the law.

So in Jesus' day, the Jews were occupied by... Israel was occupied by the Romans. They didn't have their own king, and they should have had their own king. They were looking forward to a time when the kingdom would come, and they'd be rescued from their occupiers, from their enemies.

And the different groups had different ideas about how this should happen, and the Pharisees thought the way for the kingdom to come was by keeping the law in the minutest detail. If they kept the law perfectly, God's Messiah would come and restore the kingdom.

And they were particularly concerned about the Sabbath day. So they had this list of rules. There were 39 prohibitions on what you could and couldn't do on the Sabbath. To tiny details. Things like you can walk up to about half a mile.

That's allowed. Anything more than that is against the law. Really, really tiny details. So let's dive in then. Verse 23. We read in our passage today, One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.

Now, uh-oh. Right at the start, there's warning bells here, because one of the items on that list of 39 restrictions was harvesting. And for the Pharisees, picking a grain of corn, that's harvesting.

So the disciples are doing something that's illegal. It's not allowed. So there's tension straight away. And they're not the kind of people that are gonna just sit down and let something go if they think the law's been broken.

So verse 24, they say to Jesus, Look, why are your disciples doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? They're accusing Jesus. They're saying to him, Look, you can't be taken seriously as someone who's teaching and leading if your disciples are doing this, breaking the law.

It's a no-brainer. We can't take you seriously if they're breaking the law in this way. So Jesus responds in classic Jesus style, I think, with a question. He responds to a question with a question. Let's have a look at how he responds.

Verse 25. And Jesus said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry? He and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar, the high priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him.

And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath. So what's he saying there? So Jesus takes them back, basically, to a story from their own scriptures.

And they would have been very familiar with this story. A story of David, who was one of the first kings of Israel. He was the second king, actually. And God chose him, set him apart to be king when he was very young.

Problem was, there was another king on the throne at the time, King Saul. And he was not interested in giving up power. So David's popularity and success, as God's chosen one, gradually increased. And Saul got more and more jealous, until eventually Saul tried to kill David.

And David ran away, was fleeing for his life, trying to get away from Saul. The first place David went was the house of God. And what happened at the house of God was, he was looking for provisions. The priest said, Well, all I've got is this bread.

It's the holy bread. There was a certain set of loaves at the time. That every Sabbath day were replaced, and they were fresh. But they were only for the priest to eat. And he said, Well, all I've got is this bread.

And David said, Well, give me that then. So he gave him the holy bread, and David went away. So that's the story Jesus tells. So why does he tell that story in response to the Pharisees? Well, the point Jesus is making here is that, in the story in 1 Samuel, chapter 21, neither David nor the priest is condemned for what they do, even though they're breaking the law.

So the text actually speaks quite positively about them, as though they're doing the right thing, but they've broken the law. So Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, Hold on, hold on. Look, here's an example from your own scriptures, from our scriptures, of someone, God's chosen one, acting with God's approval, and saying, In this case, human need overrides the rules and regulations that you've got.

And Jesus is saying just the same thing's happening here. I'm God's chosen one. I'm acting with God's approval. And in this case, human need is overriding the regulations that you've got, that you've set up.

He's basically saying, Look, you're missing the point here. You're missing the point of the Sabbath. Actually, the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It's not about the regulations you've kept.

There's something bigger going on here. Now, at this point, I'd like us to just take a little pause. And this phrase in verse 27, have a look in your Bibles. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, is really quite profound.

And it gives us an insight into the purpose of the Sabbath day. So I want us to just take a little pause and think about this phrase, and think about the purpose of the Sabbath day in general. And that gives us a window then into understanding the purpose of the law in the Bible in general.

And that's where we're coming from, isn't it? That's what we want to know. That's the thing we're wrestling with. How do we relate God and his unconditional love to the law in the Bible? So let's take a look then at this phrase.

And let's try and understand a bit about why the law was given by God originally. So you need to come with me on a journey. And we're going to rewind right back through the Old Testament, right back to the start of the Bible.

And then we're going to go even further. Okay, before the start of the Bible, back to before anything was created, the beginning of time. And the only thing that exists is God. And God exists as Trinity.

Now, we talk quite a lot about Trinity here. And we're called Trinity Chippenham, and we go on about it. And there's a reason for that. The reason is that understanding God as Trinity really is foundational for everything in the Christian life.

And that includes the Sabbath. That's why I'm starting with the Trinity. So before creation, you've got God. And he's not static. It's not just father, son, and spirit sitting there being bored. It's father loving son, delighting in his son.

The father is saying, I am thrilled by you. There's nothing I would rather do than spend eternity just enjoying you. You are my son. I love you. I don't know if you've ever seen a father with their new baby.

Something really, really special about those moments with a new child. I've got a friend who recently had a daughter. And it's really funny. He just loves her. He talks about her all the time. I sent him a text about something completely unrelated.

Nothing to do with children or anything. And he just replied with one text with a photo of him and his wife and his baby with him grinning in his stomach. And that was it. Just replied with that text.

Nothing to do with what I said at all. And the words brilliant. He's a father. He's got a new son. It's actually a daughter, sorry. A new child. But he's thrilled with her. He just loves to show people photos of himself with her.

He loves talking about her. And that's the way it is with love. When you love someone, you want to share it. It spills over. And that's what happens when God creates the world. It's the love the father has for the son spilling over into creation.

Saying, I've got to share this. My son, look at him. I love him. Thumb up. And he's saying, I've got to share this. And that's where humans come in. And that's what you've got there at the beginning of the Bible.

Chapters one and two. God creating humans to share in his goodness. And so you've got Adam and Eve walking in the garden. God walks with them in the cool of night. He's enjoying an unbroken relationship.

And they're enjoying him. And that's the way it was meant to be. Why do I talk about all this? Why do I go there? Because what's God doing in those moments? He works for six days. On the seventh day, he rests.

What does that rest look like? It looks like fellowship. It looks like communion. It looks like walking with his people. And then what happens? His people walk away. His people turn their backs. And God curses their decision.

He says, I can't let you walk away. He brings death into the world. And ever since then, ever since that moment, God's heart all throughout the Bible is to bring his people back. To bring his people back to that relationship that he enjoyed with them at the start of the world.

And he promises actually right at the start to send a rescuer. To send someone who's going to bring them back. Who's going to bring them back to where they belong. By his side. So where am I going with this?

Well, one of the curses that God gives is on work. He curses the man's toil. He says, from now on, since you've walked away from me, work is going to be frustrating. Work is going to be difficult. And if any of you have ever worked, which I know all of you have, you will know that's true.

Whether it's paid work. Whether it's work for church. Whether it's just working relationships. Work with kids. You will know it's frustrating. It's toilsome. You do something, the next day it needs doing again.

You get a job done and it's just, there's something wrong with it. It's not quite right. Relationships are difficult. It's a toil. It's frustrating. So that's the situation we're in. And the Sabbath day then comes as a rest from that kind of work.

It's God saying, have one day a week where you get to not work. You get to not experience the toil and frustration that's come as a result of the fall. It's a gift. Actually, the first time we see the Sabbath mentioned in the Bible, it's spoken of as a gift.

In Exodus chapter 16, the Israelites have just been saved from Egypt. They're in the desert. They're hungry. God gives them food, miraculously called manna. And he says to them, okay, collect the manna for six days.

On the sixth day, collect twice as much. Because on the seventh day, you're not going to work. You're going to have a day off. And the double portion you create, you collected on the sixth day, that will keep.

I'll make sure it keeps so you don't have to work. And it says the Sabbath is a gift for you. It's a gift. Something you get to do. Something you get to enjoy. Enjoy not having to suffer the results of the curse.

And that's what Jesus is saying here. The Sabbath is made for man, right? The Sabbath is made for man. It's a gift. But what's the first thing we see them doing with that gift? Almost the next verse, actually, in Exodus 16.

There's a few people who don't keep the command. They go out and they collect manna on the seventh day. Well, they go looking for it. And God says, what are you doing? I told you to have a day off. And from that point on, we see that the restrictions on the Sabbath and the consequences for breaking it gradually being added as the sin of the Israelites gradually increases.

So first of all, it's put in the law in Exodus 20, in the Ten Commandments. And then by later on, by Numbers 15, you've got a man collecting sticks on the Sabbath. And he's stoned. He's put to death. It's really, really serious.

But the original intention is a gift. And we see the law being added because the Israelites sin. And that is like a little window into the purpose of the law in general, as I said. So God's heart ever since the fall has been to bring his people back into relationship with himself.

That's his heart. And the law is added because of sin. He's saying, I want you to be my people. And his people are saying, we don't want you to be our God. And he's saying, hold on, I want you to be my people because I want you to stay in relationship with me because I've got a purpose for you being my people.

So he adds the law to keep them with him, almost like a guardrail to say, hold on, stick with me. And the law is intended to lead them to the ultimate rescuer, to Jesus. It's a bit like, well, I mentioned it's like a guardrail, a bit like you're driving on a motorway.

Okay, you're driving along and you've been created in this car to get somewhere. And when we turn away from God, it's like we're driving off the road. So God puts the law there as guardrails to say, no, hold on, I want you to stay with me.

There's consequences for going off the road. But the point of a road is to get somewhere, isn't it? You didn't just drive for the sake of it. And the destination is Jesus. The law is meant to lead us to Jesus.

He's the one who fulfills the law. He's the one the law is all about. So the law keeps us until Jesus comes. And then the law is no more. And Jesus actually is the one who keeps the law for us. He lives the life that we can never live.

We all break the law. He lives the life of unbroken relationship with God, communion with his father. He dies the death that we should have died. He goes to a death of incredible pain, agony, torture, separation from God that we should have experienced because of our rejection of him.

And then he rises again to the life that we were made for. A life again of intimacy with God, of closeness with God, a life where God is his father and there's no break in the relationship. And Jesus comes and he says, I'm doing it all for you.

Forget your rules. Don't worry about keeping the rules. I'll do it for you. I've come to restore you to relationship with God. And he offers that to us. He offers it for free. Jesus came to bring life, not law.

That's the point here. Jesus came to bring life, not law. But the Pharisees have got hold of the law. They've got hold of all the regulations and they're using it for the wrong purpose. They're using it to try and win God's favor, to try and twist his arm.

They're making law keeping the focus. But when you're trying to get somewhere, you don't focus on the guardrail. The guardrail is there to stop you from losing your way. You focus on the destination. Jesus is saying, guys, you've got it wrong.

It's not about keeping rules. It's about relationship with me. I've come to bring you back to the relationship you were made for. It's not about rules. So here's a question. Is that how you see Jesus?

Is that how you see Jesus? Do you see him as someone who's come to give life and not law? Or do you live as though you need to please him? Do you live as though he's more concerned with what you do than how you relate to him?

If Jesus came to give life, are you receiving it? Are you receiving that life that he came to give? Jesus coming is the most wonderful news that the world has ever seen. He came to bring us back to that place that we walked away from.

But the Pharisees miss it. The Pharisees miss it completely. And actually, they don't just miss it. They're furious with him. Because what he's doing essentially is taking their system they've made and just blowing it out of the water.

He's saying, all these rules and regulations you've made, sweep it off the table. Peter used the phrase last week. A boat is landing on their system. He's just crashed a boat on top of it. And they're furious.

And that sets the stage then for the next incident in chapter 3. Diving in then back at chapter 3, verse 1. It's the same day. Jesus has just had this altercation and he's now entering the synagogue. And a man is there with a withered hand.

And it says, verse 2, the Pharisees watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so they might accuse him. Just try and picture the scene. You can already feel the tension in the air.

Jesus has just had this conversation with the Pharisees in the field. He's now entering the synagogue and a man's there with a withered hand. His hand, he's got some kind of disability. And it's his hand that's the problem.

So he almost certainly can't work. In a society without any benefits, that's a serious issue. So he's almost certainly very poor and an outcast. He's having to rely on his friends and family. He's probably despised.

He's probably in the synagogue because he's begging. And then he's over here on the floor and the Pharisees are over here and with their beards and their hats and they're discussing the law very seriously.

And Jesus walks in and they know who he is. And they've got their eyes out for him. And a murmur goes around, look who it is. Look who's just come in. And they spot the man. What's he going to do? And Jesus knows what they're thinking.

He knows exactly what they're thinking. And he refuses to just let their suspicion and their laws stop him from what he's about to do. So verse three says, to the man with the withered hand, come here.

He makes a scene. He makes the man stand up and come to him. Jesus looks at that man and he doesn't see an obstacle. He doesn't see an annoyance. He sees a person. He sees a person whose life is miserable.

And he has compassion. Man stands up and he turns and he looks at the Pharisees in the eye. And he addresses them directly. Verse four, he says to them, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?

He couldn't be more direct. And the point he's making is the same as the point he's made in the previous scene. With one question, he exposes their hearts. Because he's saying that the point of the Sabbath isn't to restrict and to make rules.

The Sabbath has come as a gift. The whole point of the Sabbath is that it's meant to point us back to the relationship with God that we lost. I've come to restore life as it was meant to be. What better example could there be of that than healing a man with a withered hand?

But the Pharisees are saying, no, you can't do that because it's against our rules. It doesn't fit our system. And then we get an incredible glimpse into Jesus' heart, verse five. He looks around at them and he feels two emotions.

He's angry. He's angry at how they could have got God so wrong. But not only that, he's grieved. He's just sad. He's sad that they've missed the point. He's sad that they've, they're not seeing God as someone who's come to give.

They're seeing him as someone who's come to demand and that they couldn't have got him more wrong. Now, if the Pharisees were angry before, what Jesus does next makes them livid. He says to the man, stretch out his hand.

And without even touching him, just a word, the man's hand is healed. Not only has Jesus exposed their shallow religion, he's actually publicly defied them by doing what everyone knows they don't want him to do.

So verse six, what do they do? They go out and immediately hold counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. And this is the supreme irony, isn't it, of this passage. Jesus has come to do good.

And what are they doing? Plotting to kill him. What could be more evil than that? And they're doing it on the Sabbath. If it wasn't so tragic, it would be funny. The Pharisees are meant to be leading the people.

They're meant to be leading the people back to God. And God has arrived and they've totally missed him. It's tragic. Now, it's easy, isn't it? I think for us to read this kind of story and perhaps despise the Pharisees a bit in our hearts and think, oh, I can't believe they got it so wrong.

I would have been so different if I was them and kind of looked down on them. But actually, how often do we do the same? How often do we make Christianity about keeping rules, essentially? How often do we make what it is to be a Christian about doing certain things and not doing certain things?

About going certain places and not going certain places? Wearing certain things and not wearing certain things? Saying certain things and not saying other things? Having certain kind of friends and not having other kind of friends?

Even thinking certain thoughts, feeling certain things? We so quickly make rules and structures to define what it means to be a good Christian. And Jesus is saying, I've come to bring life, not law. And there's two sides to it, aren't there?

When we get into this mindset where there's a good Christian, a bad Christian, if we feel like we're doing well and keeping the rules, get a pat on the back and we think, I've had a few days now where I've been kind to my colleagues and I've read the Bible and I'm doing pretty well.

So we start feeling like God should reward us because we're working on that kind of system, performance reward. And if he doesn't bless us, doesn't answer our prayers, we feel a bit put out. I've been good for you, God.

Why aren't you rewarding me? And it works the other way around as well. If you mess up, if you fall back into a sin you've been struggling with, go a few days without reading your Bible. Speak a sharp word, get frustrated, get angry.

And you think, oh, I can't pray now. I can't read the Bible now. I've got to have a few days of being good, at least a few hours before I can go to him, before I can pray to him. It's because we're working on the same kind of system, performance reward.

We're making the Christian life about rules, about do's and don'ts. And Jesus says, no, no, no. I've come to give life and not law. Jesus' heart for us is not to just be diligent law keepers. His heart for us is to be drawn back into the relationship with God that he intended right from the start.

He's a giver primarily, not a demander. So does that mean that when you become a Christian, law doesn't matter? It doesn't matter what you do. Does it mean that God doesn't care how you live? That's the question, isn't it?

That's the question that makes us think and causes us trouble. Here's how it works. Go back to the illustration of the guardrail. The law is there to stop us going off the track. What happens if you're driving on the motorway and your eyes are on the destination?

Where do you drive? In the middle of the road, right? You drive in the middle of the road. If your eyes are on the destination, you don't stray. When we become a Christian and God comes to live in our hearts and he unites us to himself and we're joined back into relationship with him and we have new desires and our eyes are on him, what that's going to look like is going to look very much like law-keeping because we're not going off either side.

But the direction of gaze is completely opposite. When you're keeping the law, you're looking at the guardrails. When you're living with Christ, you're looking at him. The result might look the same. The heart is completely different.

And God is concerned with our hearts. God's concerned with our hearts. So practical example then. How does this relate to, let's say, Sunday keeping? So I will, for instance, try as hard as I can not to work on a Sunday.

I really, really try not to work on a Sunday. But it's not because I've got an obligation not to or it's my duty. It's because I don't want to. It's because it's a joyful thing to have a rest from the kind of frustrating work that characterizes this fallen world.

It's a joy to be reminded with you guys of Jesus. It's a joy to be singing to him and praying to him. And if I have to work on a Sunday, if I have to miss church, I'm not concerned because I think God's annoyed with me.

I'm annoyed with myself because I've missed out. It's kind of like that with Bible reading as well. We often read the Bible and we think, oh, I need to do this because it's my duty. And we kind of drive ourselves to do it.

And maybe if you think like that, you miss a few days and you think God might be annoyed with you or you've let him down or he's disappointed with you. But the Bible is not like a, it's not a duty. It's like a, it's like a meal of rich food.

If you miss it, you're the one that misses out. So I miss my Bible reading. I'm not worried that God's annoyed with me. I'm annoyed with myself. Andy, you missed out on that rich meal. Like you need this food to live.

What are you playing at? You know, it's a joy. Christianity is not about keeping rules. It's about being in relationship with the one who loves you. So Jesus came to give life and not law. Are you receiving his life?

Following on from verse six, Mark has kind of drawn this contrast then between the Pharisees and Jesus. And kind of the climax is this moment when they go out and plot to kill him. And the last few verses then, it's kind of like a summary statement of Mark.

And he's almost like rubbing salt in the wound. He's exposed the Pharisees for who they are. And he goes on verse seven to the end. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon.

When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him. For he had healed many so that all who had diseases pressed around to touch him.

There's a real contrast, isn't there, in the responses. The Pharisees see what Jesus is offering and they hate it. It repels them. The crowds see what Jesus is offering and they can't get enough of it.

They're flocking to him. The regions that Mark mentions, Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, beyond the Jordan, Tyre and Sidon, it's all around Galilee, extending even to regions that aren't Israel. It's Gentile regions.

The emphasis on, it's a huge crowd flocking to see Jesus. In the synagogue, he's rejected. By the lake, he has to get on a boat because the crowds are about to crush him. It couldn't be more different.

Why? Jesus is offering life to these people and they see that and they're drawn to him. And that's what happens when you see who Jesus really is. You're drawn to him. So is this the pinnacle of his ministry?

Is this it for Jesus? Well, not quite. Because just as we finish, there's a final twist in the tale, verses 11 and 12. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, you are the son of God.

And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. So this happens a few times in the gospel. Why? Why does Jesus order this kind of secrecy? The demons are coming and he's driving them out and they're saying who he is.