Audio of preach available here.
Mark 2:1 – 3:6 is a series of stories that involve Jesus confounding the expectations of those around Him, and the fall-out this caused. The paralysed man wanted to be physically healed; Jesus wanted to make him fully whole by forgiving his sins as well. The scribes and Pharisees wanted Israel to be free from the Romans and become a great nation once more; Jesus was building a new Kingdom. They were trusting in their obedience to the law and the sacrificial system; Jesus came to undermine and supersede their expectations by making a new exclusive way to express faith in God: “Follow Me.”
God loves doing new things. He won’t be tied down by other people’s agendas: He’s radically self-centred in that way. He even says and does things that offend people (even Christians) in His quest to find faith.
Jesus doesn’t offer a couple of upgrades to your life: He comes for all of it. As Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” If your life seems to going pretty well, this massive claim will be too much for you to take. But if you know the reality and desperation of your situation, if you know that you’re helpless without Him, then you’ll give anything He asks. He came to do nothing less than change everything, He wants nothing less than all of us.
Questions (not in any order):
- What was God saying to you on Sunday?
- Luke said that Jesus is always looking for faith: how is He going about that in your life right now?
- What is the significance for our evangelistic efforts and expectations of the fact that not everyone who saw Jesus teach and perform miracles put their trust in Him?
- Another question about witnessing. Luke said that people reject Jesus because He asks too much of them – is it really as simple as that?
- How does “Follow Me” supersede the Jewish religious system?
- Did you find it helpful to hear a longer passage of Scripture read and explained? Could this affect how you read and study the Bible?
