Mark 2:13-3:6, Does It Meet Your Expectations?

Mark 2:13-3:6 and the Theme of Expectations

Mark chapter 2 verses 13. Chapter 3 verse 6. Hear the word of the Lord. He went out again beside the sea and all the crowd was coming to him and he was teaching them and as he passed by He saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the tax booth and he said to him follow me and he rose and followed him and As he reclined at the table in his house many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.

For there were many who followed him and the scribes of the Pharisees. When they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors said to his disciples Why does he eat was sent with tax collectors and sinners and when Jesus heard it?

He said to them Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners. Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting and People came and said to him why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast.

And Jesus said to them Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them as long as they have the bridegroom with them. They cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in that day.

No one sews a piece of unstrung cloth on an old garment. If he does the patch tears away from it the new from the old and a worse tear is made and no one puts new wine into old wine skins. If he does the wine will burst the skins and The wine is destroyed and so are the skins but new wine is for fresh wine skins.

One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain and The Pharisees were saying to him look Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

And he 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 Abiath or the high priest and ate the bread of the presence.

Which is not lawful for any but the priest 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.

Again he entered the synagogue and a man was there with a withered hand and They watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so they might accuse him and he said to the man with the withered hand come here and He said to them is it lawful in the Sabbath to do good or to do harm to save life or to kill?

But they were silent and he looked around at them with anger Grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him how to destroy him.

May the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well ever gone somewhere maybe like a restaurant or a Vacation site a theme park a movie maybe even a country or a church with certain expectations and It turned out much different.

Maybe better. When I first went to Singapore all the way back in 1990. I Expected people there to bow a lot. Right that they don't that's not really a Chinese thing. That's more of a Japanese thing. We're often kind of disappointed when things don't turn out as expected.

But I you know try to roll with it as long as it's good. Singapore's good. We're used to having high expectations. Maybe for a restaurant or a movie or tourist attraction and it not meeting our expectations.

You know, I've gone to movies expecting to see a good show and halfway through wishing I could go back to the ticket booth and get My money back. Okay, this is lousy, but that's that's not really what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about going somewhere. Maybe a movie or a restaurant or whatever and it turning out totally different than expectations. But but if you think about it It's actually good. It's better maybe in a way a few weeks ago Mary and I went to a got a fusion Chinese Indian restaurant near the Raleigh Durham Airport and I was expecting.

That's how fusion Chinese Indian restaurant. I was expecting Chinese food and Indian food on the same menu like I could order Peking duck. With a side of naan now, that would be good too. I'd like that.

Yeah. Instead it really was a fusion. I mean every dish was a fusion of Chinese Indian food. Like we had fried dumplings with some kind of red curry sauce. My Chinese dumplings that they were fried and the curry the sauce was India that curry stuff.

It was actually good in a way, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I was kind of disappointed because of that. We usually want things to be what we expect them to be. We want Chinese food to be Chinese food.

And so if they serve us something else, even if it's good. They're disappointed. I wanted Chinese food not this. Really delicious stuff. Give me what I expect. Now Holiday Inn used to advertise itself as offering no surprises.

Remember that no surprises. Everything will be exactly as mediocre as you expect it to be. I used to I used to work for a fast-food restaurant in a few times. I made onion rings for free you just along with them for the fries.

I thought well I would offer surprise to the people giving the free onion rings. The manager told me to stop doing that if they didn't expect it. They didn't want it. What about you? What do you expect?

Are things meeting your expectations? Even for church, I really especially for church people are often very intolerant of think not meeting your expertise. They don't even have a category that can be better than our expectations.

It's got to be what they expect. People have expectations and don't like if church doesn't meet them. Even if it's better reform people, especially are that way when it comes to certain expectations. They may not expect any kind of contemporary music or any drums or anything.

That sounds like a drum. Just all old hymns. Accompanied by a piano. That's it. That's what they expect and even the music is well done. They may not like it. Now many reformed people especially don't expect a special song.

Just we heard though in the new members class. We heard today the the reformed Baptist Paradise Rap song again and no not a single special song it says but if someone has a gift for the body. Right, you're a musician and you have a gift for the body.

They're supposed to be able to be able to offer it. According to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and 14. Says it pretty clearly there. You have a gift you bring your gift for the body your musician. You have a gift you give it and that's what the special song is.

Most evangelicals don't expect to sing psalms.

What's that about?

Well because the New Testament twice commands it. Or they may not expect such a long pastoral prayer. Somebody complaining about the prayer being so long things like 10 minutes. Some visitors would expect an evangelistic church that we are an evangelist.

We're a very evangelistic church like ours though to have a drawn-out invitation. I think some of the people they the youth came here instead. We just sing a song and have a simple benediction. Why is that it's not what they expect.

Some people have visited here and think that their expectations are God's commands. They don't have any verses for it. They're just sure and So there's something wrong with us for not meeting their expectations.

Jesus Bursts Expectations About People, Patterns, Practices, and Pity

Here we see the Lord Jesus not meeting but exceeding. Expectations. There were expectations of how a spiritual leader a rabbi they would call him should behave. Expectations about the kinds of people that he hob nobs with how he does religious patterns like fasting.

There's were strict expectations about practices like the Sabbath. Jesus came and just burst those expectations. Now we know sure that what he brought instead was better but understand. He wasn't what was expected.

Here we see Jesus bursting expectations. We see that here in in four parts four ways that Jesus from the Pharisees point of view Was failing to meet expectations. He was first with the wrong people. Second he was following the wrong patterns.

Third. He was doing the wrong practices and finally Showing the wrong pity wrong people patterns practices and pity so the religious people said. First Jesus broke the expectations about people who are the proper people.

Who the ones were supposed to associate with hang out with the culture here saw? Basically all Jewish people as two kinds there's the righteous and they were the religious people who tried to keep the law and.

There were the sinners called them other, you know scared calls them sinners. And those are people who didn't really try that hard to keep the law. I mean, they may not go out and kill people and things like that.

But they're not trying to keep all the strict regulations from the book of Leviticus and all that now Levi Because of his occupation as a tax collector was one of the sinners. He was working with the Romans to tax the Jewish people and so So sustain their their military occupation.

He was helping the Roman Empire. He was from their point of view a Traitor he was a collaborator with the enemy. And so he was one of the kinds of people that righteous people had nothing to do with. Don't have anything to do with people like Levi.

He sat there near the Lake of Galilee with a table. Stacks of money account books. Probably some fish from the lake. Maybe he took payment in kind from the fishermen, but he had no friends. Because they ostracized tax collectors.

Remember Jesus himself said that if someone is in the church is Unrepentant in Matthew 18 treat him as a pagan or a tax collector. I'm going to treat the unrepentant in the church like like you treat Pagans and tax collectors like one of the kind of peoples you have nothing to do with like you shun tax collectors.

Avoid them you snub them. You know like you do that. But Jesus didn't do that. Oddly enough and their society righteous people decent people people trying to meet the expectations of God's law shunned people like Levi.

But along comes Jesus and invites Levi to join him. Just like he had called Peter and Andrew and James and John he calls Levi follow me another urgent summons and Levi gets up and.

Does it?

Why does Jesus fraternize with the wrong kind of people. The right kind of people in their own eyes. We're asking. It gets worse at this point just after calling Levi. Maybe His disciples could have said, okay sure we understand your complaint.

Pharisees Levi had been a tax collector, but now he's left that he's changed. He's turned from his wicked ways. That's why we've accepted him. Now. He's a disciple. Jesus isn't currently mingling with people who are still Betraying us.

He's not doing that. Peter might have said something like that. Up until they're all invited to Levi's house for the big party with all his tax collecting friends. Probably the only kind of friends he could have because they were the only friend people who would have him as friends.

And now there that night it says in verse 15 many tax collectors and sinners were reclining With Jesus. I mean they're laying back. They're just chatting eating and drinking notice. Jesus is not just just preaching at them.

Probably even this the Pharisees could have understood that if you go there and preach other you need to repent you sinners. But no, he's says he's reclining. He's socializing. He's munching all with the wrong kind of people.

Today.

You know who these people would be. These would be the the pant saggers with their underwear showing and Thug life tattooed on their arm. You don't want to be you don't want to be seen with people like that.

No way. Now sure if they if they pull up their pants and they cover up their tattoo with a long-sleeve shirt. You're you're okay with them then.

But.

Not like that now with the pant sagging and the tattoos. Not when they're not when they're the kind that we proper kind don't hang out with. What would you do? What do what you do if you came here? You know, we got some of these guys that come Sunday night what if we got them to come here on Sunday morning and they're here some of them are Sagging their pants and with a tattoo showing and you go out Side your way to the car and there's people driving by you see them looking at you and there you know, they're thinking.

What kind of people go to a church and a gym with people who sag their pants? What are you gonna think the religious people can't believe it. The expectation is that the rabbis don't mix with tax collectors and sinners.

Certainly Messiah's don't there's no way about that. It's just outrageous. And so they scoff why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners when Jesus hears that he replies those who are well I have no need of a physician.

Oh, it's the healthy don't need a doctor. Of course, they thought they were healthy spiritually. Well. Now he's gonna let them think that for a little while. For now, but that's not his point. He's answering the question is why he's breaking their expectations.

About who righteous people do and do not mix with. You think you're well. You're not. But never mind that for now. But I hang out with them. For the same reason I hang out with you. Those who are sick.

Need a doctor. I'm here to cure them. I Came not here's his purpose. Negatively put I came not. To call the righteous. Which is nobody by the way, there's none righteous. No, not one, but they don't know that they think they're righteous.

They think their law-keeping makes them right with God. It doesn't if they ever realize that when the Holy Spirit revealed to them their sin God's righteousness that they fallen short of God's judgment that they deserve.

Then if that time comes. Then they'll know. That they are the sick who need a physician that they are sinners, too. And then they'll know that Jesus has reason for coming. Was also for them because he said I came.

Not to call the righteous but sinners. He came to call sinners. Why did he burst the expectations about the kind of people we should associate with so that he could call and Save we sinners we. The wrong kind of people.

The Bridegroom, Fasting, and New Wine

Jesus came bursting expectations including expectations about religion about patterns of piety. About how you show you are a believer how you be religious now. They had patterns that they speak expected people to abide by just like we do.

How do you?

Be religious now. Okay. I know no and I'm we're supposed to say in America contemporary evangelical religion. We're supposed to say I'm not religious. I'm I have a relationship with Christ. It's about relationship not religion.

Oh, okay, but still We have expectations about what that looks like. About how to be a Christian. Right. We just we have expectations of how you look as a Christian. When I moved from Alabama to California after graduating college I had expectations about how church people act about how they go to church.

Men wear a suit and tie. I Just knew that that was the pattern especially in late 80s in Alabama. I Couldn't believe that men would go to church in shorts and a casual shirt. I determined that I was gonna teach.

I was gonna. I made up a resolution. I'm gonna teach those Californians the patterns of right dress to church. I'm gonna wear my suit and tie and show those Californians how you go to church. Eventually they changed my patterns they won.

Now here these people have a pattern. That religious people. Fast that is they go without food either the whole day or most of the day until the evening maybe after sunset something like that. Now for the Pharisees they fasted regularly twice a week Mondays and Thursdays.

We're sometimes sitting to think that the Pharisees were just say we're such hypocrites. We kind of think well, they didn't really even believe anything. They said they believe that it's just all for show.

But you probably don't fast unless you really believe in your religion. I mean, I don't know about you, but I love to eat. Okay, you kind of tell I've grown horizontally in the past few years. I love to eat.

So I'm not gonna fast unless I really believe there's a need for it. Probably the same for them their hypocrisy wasn't really that they didn't believe what they said. But that their faith was too much about patterns about forms about externals about Disciplines about things you can make yourself do things that you can see and so they would show off their fasting.

It'll go out kind of unwashed. Unbrushed their hair looking messed up looking glum. Looking as bad as they felt so everyone would know that they were fasting. And you can make yourself not break commandments, you know, not murder and not committed.

Ultra. You're not steel. You can make yourself give money make yourself pray make yourself read the Bible and you can make yourself like here. You can make yourself fast. It was doing those things. Even if they even if they didn't like it deep down they just really hated it all but if you can make yourself do them.

They thought they were pleasing to God. That's why God wanted God wanted you to. To fit in these patterns. So their faith was all about patterns. Forms the things you can do and see and John the Baptist disciples were different.

They believed in authentic Repentance for and for baptism, but they too fasted and they took breaks. You know, they took breaks from their eating. I guess constant eating of honey and locusts every few days eating nothing.

That's that's their life honey locusts next day. Nothing. Okay, probably a good diet plan. They had a pattern that form of religion. And so people noticed that Jesus's disciples weren't practicing any fasting.

Why.

What's up with that? Why aren't you fasting? Everybody knows religious people fast. Why aren't you doing it? Why do John's disciples of the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast.

They're asking him. They expected that religious people of whatever kind with fast. Here was a teacher his Jesus Going around preaching. He has a following. He's just picked up Levi. He's bursting expectations about being with the wrong people and now.

He's bursting expectations about patterns he has the wrong Patterns. He'll go to parties and eat a lot, but he's not fasting. What's up? Why Jesus? Well, he tells them in verse 19 Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

No, of course not.

Fasting is for mourning is for or for discipline. It's for times like Psalm 130 where we read earlier when you're in the depths of despair you fast you're seeking God. You're crying out to him to hear you.

So you're not gonna think about food. You're thinking about Seeking the Lord. Weddings though are celebrations. So there are a time for feasting not fasting in their Jewish weddings. So maybe you should know a little bit of background their Jewish weddings the usual structure that the bride Would wait with her friends and her family for the groom to come to her.

With his friends and his family and then when the the groom shows up. That's when the wedding begins and that's when the celebration begins. Let the party start the groom is here, right? Fasting at a wedding for them Would be like fasting at a kind of a wedding reception for us.

No one fast at a wedding reception. Jesus is saying that his time on earth is like the bridegroom coming for his bride. Who's the bridegroom by the way in this analogy? Jesus is right. Yeah. Jesus is saying that his the groom the bride is his people the church.

Jesus saying that his time on earth is like the groom. Coming for his bride. It's not just in the future. With a second coming that's as though some people kind of teach that that that's what he comes for his bride the church.

Jesus is saying here now. He's saying now I am here. I am the groom. I am coming to get my bride. That's what he is doing at this very moment here in Mark chapter 2 what he does in the incarnation. That's coming in human flesh.

Living a perfect life for us announcing the kingdom of God is here dying for our sins rising from the dead. All of that was about getting his bride coming for the wedding so this time. All through his life all through the book of Mark especially here Mark chapter 2 is like a wedding reception and Then back at verse 19 as long as they have the bridegroom with them.

Long as they have the grooms there. They cannot fast because it's party time. Notice that he says cannot. They're not able to. It is prohibited from doing so it's against all the right rules. It's the wrong pattern to fast at a wedding reception the wrong form of religion when Jesus is with you.

Now does that mean? That we don't fast. Well in verse 20 Jesus says the days will come. When the bridegroom. I just usually say groom. But whether the old-fashioned word is bridegroom the days will come and the bridegroom is taken away from them.

And then they will fast in that day. That's our day. Understand when he was taken away the Ascension he sent it to heaven and now The groom has gone away the wedding when he was here and Now we're waiting and this is our day.

This is between the wedding and his return. We are as Paul says in second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 betrothed or the word can mean married. We're already married to Christ. The wedding has already happened.

We're already claimed. We're already sealed. We're already committed to him, but the groom has gone away in this time. We can fast indeed. He says we will. Maybe when times are like Psalm 130 when the depths of Despair, but our patterns will be different and the generation after the Apostles someone wrote a book.

We don't know who called the didache means just the teaching which said that Christians shouldn't fast. Like the hypocrites those who only cared about patterns forms of religion the author said. This is kind of you know, where this church is getting a little going astray.

The author said that hypocrites fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but no, you should be totally different. You should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Think what that's not different. You're just changing the days of the week.

It's the same pattern. It's a different day. I think our fasting should be Essentially different spiritually different maybe we fast when someone we know is in unrepentant sin and we're praying for them when we're passionate about praying for the salvation of someone.

When we're in a time like Psalm 130 is about when the depths of despair. Then we fast. Other times is the Spirit may lead you. I don't think there's a pattern. We follow the Spirit may lead you. Jesus is breaking expectations.

They expected religious people to fast. He's saying my people will fast later, but not now because.

He is.

As the Christmas Carol puts it the dear desire of every nation the joy of every longing heart. Even when he goes away and we do fast. Everything has changed. You you can't put what Jesus has brought. But Jesus brings you can't put what he brings here the kingdom of God.

You cannot put it in the box of the old religion. It'll burst all the old containers. He said in verse 21. No one sews a piece of unstruck cloth on an old garment. If he does the patch tears away from it the new from the old in a worse tear is made.

He's not come just to patch up the old patterns. Just to change fasting days to Wednesdays and Fridays. He's come to change everything patterns and Spirit in verse 22. No one puts new wine into old wine skins.

If he does the wines will burst the skins the wine ferments and Expands skins are the old skins are brittle and they burst and the wine is destroyed. It's lost soaks in the ground and so are the skins but new wine is for new wine skins.

That is he is bringing new wine. The gospel of the kingdom he's been declaring the gospel of the kingdom is new. You're not going to be able to fit it into the old patterns. So let's not go back. To a Jewish Christianity some people like to play with that go back like a Jewish Christianity.

We don't do that. We just call our meeting places synagogues and have rabbis and we take the Passover. There's kind of this fad among some people have the Passover among Christians why he transformed it into the Lord's Supper understand.

What the Lord's Supper is the Lord's Supper is the transformation. It's the change. It's a new pattern and a new spirit based on a Passover. We don't need to try to keep as much of the old patterns as possible.

The church will have to be entirely new to contain the new wine of the gospel of the kingdom. Fasting was a form of religion. It was a tradition what people expected religious people to do. Jesus burst their expectation.

He had the wrong patterns they thought. But Sabbath keeping. They knew that was from God. Maybe they kind of understood. Okay our fasting. That's a tradition. We all we thought religious people do it.

We don't say why Jesus does it but Sabbath keeping they they knew was from God and now they thought He does have wrong patterns he has wrong practices. One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grain field and the disciples have reached out and grabbed some grain eating as they Went that's legal to do because Deuteronomy particularly tells people you can't do that.

If you're traveling through a field except for the fact it was a Sabbath. The Pharisees interpretation of the law was that that was working that it was harvesting. Even if just a couple of handfuls as they walked by still they insisted that the disciples were breaking the fourth commandment.

By working on the Sabbath, and so they complained to Jesus in verse 24. Look. Why are they doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? And notice the Greek here. It says they the Pharisees were saying this means that they they were continually saying it they said it over and over again Why are they breaking the commandment?

Now this implies because they said the disciples that Jesus personally wasn't doing it. They probably would have criticized him if he had been doing it himself, but still Jesus defends them they are bursting the expectations of right practices and Jesus says They're right.

Even.

Grants for the sake of argument that the Pharisees interpretation of the Sabbath commandment is accurate that The the disciples have indeed broken the commandment. I don't think he means to say that. I don't think he means to say to accept the idea that they're breaking the commandment.

But just for just for the sake of argument, let's say okay. Let's say that they are breaking the commandment as they're taking a handful of grain as they walk by. What's the purpose of the commandment?

Why is there a Sabbath commandment? Now rules based people. As people who think about rules I got to keep the rules they're going to say the purpose of the commandment is To keep the commandment. That's it.

Don't consider why the rules exist. Just do what you're told. The rules are like a fence. You stay in the confines of the fence as long as you stay in the fence, you're okay. That's all that matters here.

Jesus is saying the rules have a purpose. Not just to keep you in. But to keep you near the center. They say ranchers can keep their animals cattle goats sheep or whatever and in one of two ways. You can either build a fence that keeps them in.

The fence is a boundary that confines the livestock. Like rules or boundaries for us to keep us in or in some places. Maybe like out west we have a lot of land but not much water. They can dig wells and have water troughs that will keep the animals coming back near the center.

And so you have two ways boundaries fences for us rules or a center. That draws them in. How do you stay near Jesus? They keep in the rules staying in the boundaries. Or by staying near the center well here the disciples burst the expectations of religious people and religious practice.

By doing some work kind of call that work. Just grabbing a handful on the Sabbath, but Jesus defends that by saying that. They were keeping the purpose of the command like David's like the priest in David's time David and his men had come to the tabernacle and they were they were hungry.

They want something to eat. They were on a mission from God and the priest gave them some of the bread of the presence which technically only the priests were supposed to eat and Jesus here is saying that was right.

Because David was on a special mission from God and in special need the purpose of the rule about the bread Was to serve the Lord's mission. David was on the Lord's mission. So even though they are technically breaking the rule.

Sure, giving David the bread is serving the purpose of the rule. Not as though they were just kind of giving it out to anybody. They were giving it to David who is on the mission for the Lord. Now the purpose of the Sabbath.

It has a purpose to the Sabbath commandment. The purpose of the Sabbath commandment was to refresh people. It was made he says for man. Sabbath was made for man others for the benefit of people. It's made to help you.

Here the disciples were hungry they needed help they needed refreshing and so even if. Even if the Pharisees are technically even if they're right, the disciples are breaking the commandment. They're probably not but what if they are even they're even if the disciples are technically breaking the commandment.

They were fulfilling its purpose by refreshing themselves. That just burst their expectations about right practices. Which is all about keeping rules keeping within the confines of right practice. But it keeps them near the center.

Near the Lord then in verse 28. He says the Son of Man remember. This is Jesus his favorite term for himself referring to Daniel's vision and Daniel chapter 7 when after a series of beasts rule the earth in Contrast to beast there's the Son of Man and he brings in God's kingdom.

Human rule in other words is like is beastly. God's rule is humane. Son of Man brings in God's kingdom and remember what Jesus is preaching. Jesus is the one preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. He is bringing God's rule on earth.

He is and he says here the Son of Man talked about himself is Lord. The Son of Man is Lord. In other words, he's the master. So in other words, the Pharisees were screaming over and over again. Why are you letting them break the Sabbath and Jesus answers?

I the Son of Man. I'm Lord. I'm the boss. So other words, he's saying, you know, if I say it's okay, it's okay. In particular the Son of Man is Lord. He's master. Even of the Sabbath. Again in chapter 3 crossing into chapter 3.

The issue is the Sabbath now rules based people. Boundary-minded people insist that rules must be kept first. Corinthians 11 For example says that women should wear head coverings first. Corinthians 11 3 says women should wear head coverings.

Often people I've seen Christians say well you got to keep that rule. It says do it you've got to do it, but often they don't ask what the rule means. Does a head covering on a woman now? Mean the same thing that one didn't then for on women then what did it?

In other words, what did I head covering on a woman then mean does it mean the same thing now? What was the purpose of that rule? Would it serve the same purpose today? What's the principle the rule was supposed to originally demonstrate well.

It's headship man is the head of woman says there in first Corinthians 11 3. Can you can you still demonstrate that principle even if the rule head covering has changed? Another example reform people believe that reform churches shouldn't observe any of the old Church here the ecclesiastical calendar the traditional holidays like Christmas Good Friday and Easter.