God set aside one day of the week for his people to worship, to pray, to be in fellowship with the body of believers, but most importantly to rest from work. This day was (and is!) a gift for God’s people, but the Pharisees turned what was meant to be a blessing into a burden. They added their own rules, exclusions and traditions to the Sabbath (perhaps in an effort to keep it), but in doing so, they lost the spirit of it.

“The Pharisees were spoiling the beauty of Sabbath with legalism putting the focus on self rather than on Christ, or rather on other people’s sins rather than their own and condemning wrong behavior rather than commending good behavior. They were taking their man-made traditions and preferences and imposing them on Jesus and his disciples as an act of spiritual superiority, turning the Sabbath into a competition to see who can do ‘nothing’ best.” R.C. Sproul.

Reflection: In what ways do you impose your own non-Biblical, man-made rules of Christianity on others? Do you use those rules as a measuring stick to judge other’s spirituality? In what ways to you muddy the beauty of our Christian life with legalism?

Some of us may have a too legalistic view of the Sabbath (like the Pharisees) and some of us have a too relaxed, grace-filled view of the Sabbath. NEITHER of these views are “honoring” of it. Consider where you are on the spectrum and be prayerful to bend toward Jesus, who perfectly embodies law and grace, because the Sabbath losing all meaning when it’s disconnected from Jesus, who is lord over it.

Jesus not only declared his authority and lordship over the Sabbath, he displayed it when he healed the man with the withered hand, highlighting that not only is the Sabbath meant to be a blessing and not a burden, it’s meant for doing good. This man’s illness wasn’t life-threatening, but you don’t delay goodness or postpone compassion just because it happens to be the Sabbath. It’s always the right day to do the right thing.

Jesus is both angered and grieved in his soul at the Pharisees' lack of compassion for the man. Their motive for following the rules was NOT loving. They couldn’t rejoice in this man’s healing because they were so focused on the Law. “They were resisting something good because they resented the one who proposed it” Jason Meyer.

Reflection: What do you observe about Jesus’ character as you consider the five controversies (Mark 2: 1-3: 6) as a whole?

Take notice of the focus on the crowds in Mark 3: 7-12. What is Jesus’ attitude toward the crowds? What are his concerns?

Jesus “appointed” twelve disciples. The way this translates is “to make something.” Jesus didn’t just appoint them to a task, he made them into something they weren’t before. He sovereignly chose them to proclaim the gospel, to continue building the kingdom of God here on earth. Mark also says that Jesus chose them “that they might be with him.” Jesus had a desire and need for community, for fellowship, an intimate “band of brothers” to travel with him and just BE with him. Jesus’ ministry didn’t happen in isolation; our life in him doesn’t either.

If you are in Christ, he has planted an imperishable seed in you. A new life grows in you. You’ve been born anew into the person you were meant to be. Only Jesus can do that for us. But if you are in Christ, the work of peeling old scales remains. There are things we need to strive to strip: malice, slander, hypocrisy, deceit and envy. For we have been made new for a purpose: to love one another earnestly from the heart. The old life tastes so bitter. But we who are in Christ have tasted how good he is. Live from that sweetness. Share it with others that the world might magnify our savior with us.

In each of these three stories (controversies) recorded here, the Pharisees question Jesus’ actions and Jesus responds with unexpected answers, in ways that challenge the status quo (socially, culturally and politically) and in ways that reveal more and more who he is and what he came for. He was by far not the Messiah they expected, but he was certainly the One they needed.

Note the determination of the four friends to get the paralyzed man into the room to see Jesus. This is how much they believed Jesus could heal him. And it was “their” faith that moved Jesus to address the man. But it was Jesus’ response that is so surprising: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Even though he does eventually grant him physical healing too, he addresses his greatest need (SIN!) first. Our greatest problem isn’t sickness, it’s sin. Our greatest need isn’t physical healing. It's spiritual healing.

Reflection: When in your life have you gone to the Lord with your present circumstance instead of your greater need?

Notice the scribes don’t accuse Jesus out loud. They accuse them in their hearts. The scribes put on a great face of devotion, and yet, Jesus sees right through them. He knew they were questioning him. How interesting that Jesus perceived the faith of the friends and was moved to respond, and then he perceived the LACK of faith of the scribes and called them out on it. What a reminder for us, that we can’t hide things from God, he knows our thoughts even before we think them. He knows our hearts, even if our actions communicate something differently.

Jesus didn’t spend his entire ministry inside a synagogue (like the Pharisees probably would’ve preferred or expected). Instead, he went where the people were. He moved where he needed to be, where God directed him; to seek the lost, the hurting, the outcasts, the “sinners!”

It was scandalous for Jesus to invite Levi, a greedy traitor tax collector, to follow him, to become his disciple and friend. The scribes were appalled by this. They couldn’t stomach a Jesus like that, who would (in their minds) disregard the Law so haphazardly. And so they questioned him, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus’ answer is quite simply, “I came to call sinners, not the righteous!”

“Jesus saw a sinner in need of salvation, not a lowlife deserving condemnation. Jesus saw the changed life of a disciple, not the wicked life of a tax collector. Jesus sees in us what no one else can see and turns us into what we were intended to be–image bearers who reflect his glory!” N.T. Wright

Jesus’ dinner party with Levi, and the rest of his disciples, triggered another question, “Why are Jesus’ disciples not fasting like the Pharisees?” As if to say, “Do they not care as much about the Law?” Jesus responds with three interesting analogies that build on each other.

The first analogy reveals that Jesus (their bridegroom) has come to build God’s kingdom on earth; a new era has begun! This is no time to fast, but to feast (you wouldn’t fast at a wedding!? Weddings are a time to celebrate!) So, Jesus’ answer to “why are your disciples not fasting?” is, “Why are YOU not celebrating?! The Kingdom of God is at hand. This is no time for fasting, this is a time for feasting!”

Reflection: When in your life have you chosen fasting (mourning) when you should’ve been feasting (rejoicing over God’s good kingdom work)?

The cloth and wineskin analogies add to what Jesus is teaching. They expose the limitations of the Law. It could never satisfy God’s divine purposes for humanity. The Old Covenant has served its purpose and now it’s time to make way for the new.

They also teach us that the old and new don’t mix! The new covenant (the gospel) isn’t an attachment or an addition to the old covenant (the Law). You can’t force the gospel into the mold of the Old Covenant. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t work! Salvation isn’t a partial patching up of your life. It’s a whole new garment, a robe of righteousness.

Reflection: In what ways do you try to combine your new life in Christ with the old things of the world around you? How does that make things even messier than they were to begin with?

Jesus spoke with an unprecedented authority and truth that came directly from his Father. The people were “astonished” at his teaching, which better translates as “terrified.” The people had never experienced this kind of powerful presence and authority before.

“When [Jesus] opened his holy mouth, all present were stopped in their tracks, filled with amazement, and pierced by a sense of dread to hear truth proclaimed with such transcendent finality. That is how we should respond every time we hear the Word of God. We are not listening to the word of scribes, preachers, or theologians, so our hearts should be filled with a holy dread and awe when the Bible is proclaimed (R.C. Sproul).”

The “unclean spirits” immediately recognized Jesus in his fullest identity, unlike the humans who were puzzled by who he was and what he came for. The demonic world was quieter during other times in Biblical history, but when Jesus was here it’s as if “all hell broke loose.” The kingdom of God is Satan’s biggest threat and his goal was (and still is) to wage war on Christ and all who follow him.

The story of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law may not appear very dramatic, but it shows us the care and compassionate that encompasses Jesus’ authority and character. It also teaches us that our smallest ailments and complaints matter to Jesus. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention or power. The mother-in-law responds to her healing with service. May it be so for us as well.

The stories in this passage remind us that Jesus’ life in ministry was jam-packed, he was constantly moving forward with speed and success, and with an unmatched, effective authority and a caring compassion that people had never before witnessed. And yet, we are also reminded that in the middle of the hustle and bustle, Jesus spent quite time in prayer. Jesus was in a constant state of awareness of his dependence on his Father. It wasn’t just important for him to seek time with his Father, but an absolute necessity. Prayer was (and still is) an ESSENTIAL element of advancing God’s Kingdom.

Jesus knew people weren’t flocking to him for the right reasons, to repent and believe as he commanded, they were flocking to him because they saw him as someone who could heal them physically, which wasn’t necessarily wrong, it was a big part of his ministry. But it wasn’t the CHIEF reason he came. He came to preach the truth, to proclaim the gospel of salvation, and ultimately to defeat sin. That was his primary mission. “We forget that our greatest ailment isn’t sickness, it’s sin. And our greatest threat isn’t demons, but death (N.T. Wright).”

Notice the faith in the leper’s request. He had no doubt he COULD heal him, his question was WOULD he? If it was Jesus’ will, he could cleanse him of this disease. Don’t miss the significance of Jesus touching him. He could’ve spoken the disease away, but he chose to touch him, likely the first human touch he had received in years.

Because of the leper’s disobedience (he did not keep quiet as Jesus commanded), Jesus could no longer openly enter the city. Ironically, Jesus and the leper have traded places! The leper is now on the inside with family and friends, while Jesus is on the outside in a lonely and desolate place. This foreshadow a bigger substitution story, how Jesus was sent ultimately to take our place, taking on our sin, our sorrow, and our shame. And in return, he gives us his forgiveness and His righteousness. What an exchange! Glory be to God!

Reflection: Do you trust Jesus’ absolute authority over your life? What areas of your life do you struggle submitting to his authority?

We are the captives. And we are the captors. Our sinful choices have delivered us into permanent bondage to our sinful nature. We’ve enslaved ourselves! But we do not have the power to free ourselves. So God foresaw a plan before the world was made. A man sinned and brought the human race to ruin. A man would have to free the human race. A man would have to arise to break the generational captivity to sin and self. A man would have to come who would be faithful to God’s design his whole life. He would be the obedient child of his loving, just heavenly Father. He would love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. His faithfulness would make him the first truly free human being since the Garden of Eden. But more, he would have to exhaust the power of captivity to self-centeredness. He would have to go to where our attempting to be our own gods always leads. He would have to go to utter forsakenness and isolation, to the very hell of separation from God and all human communion. The most obedient man would have to take the place of the most disobedient. He who knew no sin would have to be sin. From that position, for it really to work from the root up, from utter dereliction he would have to cry in faith “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”

Though for a little while, you suffer trials. But the suffering is brief in light of eternity we will spend with Christ. Trials, suffering, and hardships are like gold in the refiner’s fire becoming purified. Your faith is proved genuine, and this brings praise, honor, and glory to Jesus.

In just a few words, Peter expresses the huge paradox of the Christian life. “In this you greatly rejoice, you exult, even though now for a little while you have been grieved with the heaviness of trials.” Rejoice. Grieve. Leaping up with joy. Bowing down with the heaviness of suffering. Both at once. He sounds just like Paul who told the Corinthian church that we are “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6: 9). How can these two go together?

Mark was the first gospel written and recorded. Mark wrote to the persecuted Gentile Christians living in Rome. Because of this, Mark (more than any of the other gospel writers) narrows in on Jesus as our Suffering Servant, the Son of God. He writes with conciseness and urgency, documenting some of the most significant "support-beam" details of Jesus' life and ministry.

In this passage, we learn how John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus, getting our hearts ready for his ministry through a baptism of repentance (vs. 1-8). Then, Jesus prepares his heart for the work he came to do, through baptism and temptation, which sets the stage for his ministry. Then, we go. "The time is fulfilled." Jesus begins building God's Kingdom, and invites us along in that kingdom work. Ready... Set... Go!

John shows such humility and reverence for the Lord, not only in his appearance, but in his actions taking the attention off him and onto Jesus, the one. He. says, "is mightier than I . . . who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It seems as though Mark is eager to let us know that all of these initial events took place in the "wilderness." Why is that significant?

"The moment Jesus was baptized was like having the “commander-in-chief” of our lives come forward to the front lines and jump into the trenches to fight for us" (John Piper).

“It’s no more odd for Jesus to be baptized in the Jordan River than it is for him to hang on the cross at Calvary” (Mark Dever).

The phrase “torn open” occurs twice in Mark's gospel, here at Jesus' baptism and again at the crucifixion, at the inaugurating moment of his ministry and at the moment he completed his mission.

What do you think it would've been like to experience "the heavens being torn open, and the Spirit descend on him like a dove" and hear the voice of God speak words to his beloved Son, where all three persons of the Godhead were visibly united?! The last words, according to Mark, that Jesus heard before this time of testing, were from His Father: “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

"The Spirit drove Jesus out to be tempted by Satan." This meeting with Satan was no accidental encounter, it was a divine appointment scheduled by the Father and implemented by the Spirit. Jesus came to reverse, to rectify, what humanity failed to do. This is what his temptation proves to us, he had to face, fight, and win all the battles we could ever face, he had to be tempted in every way.

"The beginning of Jesus’ public ministry didn’t start in a thriving metropolis, but in the rugged wasteland of the Judean wilderness near the Dead Sea; not with a press conference but a baptism; not with a parade and feast, but with 40 days of solitude and fasting even further in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan himself” (NT Wright).

Jesus came to proclaim the kingdom of God both as a present reality and as a future hope. In what ways is the kingdom of God already here? In what way is it yet to come?

Jesus gives us four commands in our response to the gospel: Repent, believe, follow him, and fish for men.

Reflection question: What have you given up in order to follow Jesus? What have you gained?