Grace Heights

Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath | Mark 2:23–3:6

When Jesus and His disciples are confronted by the Pharisees for supposedly breaking the Sabbath, Jesus exposes the difference between burdensome religion and the freedom of the gospel. The Sabbath was intended as a gift of rest, but the religious leaders had turned it into a system of rules and regulations.

Through two encounters on the Sabbath, Jesus reveals His authority as Lord of the Sabbath and confronts the self-righteousness of the religious leaders. These encounters point us to two very different ways of approaching God: trusting in our own obedience to earn His acceptance or resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

The gospel declares that we don't obey in order to be accepted by God. Rather, through faith in Christ, we are accepted by grace—and our obedience flows from that grace. True rest is found not in our religious performance, but in Jesus Himself.

In this episode of Under the Surface, we explore two important questions that connect to Sunday's sermon from Mark 2. First, what happens when we use Scripture to support our political convictions rather than allowing God's Word to shape them? Using a political banner near our church as an example, we discuss the importance of biblical exegesis, the dangers of taking verses out of context, and why our ultimate hope must rest in Jesus rather than politicians or political movements. Then we turn to a question raised by Jesus' welcome of sinners: How should we respond differently to those who don't yet know Jesus and those who profess faith but persist in unrepentant sin? Looking at Matthew 18 and the purpose of church discipline, we consider how genuine discipleship holds together grace, truth, repentance, and restoration.

When Jesus calls Matthew, a despised tax collector, to follow Him, He reveals something extraordinary about His kingdom and what it means to be His disciple. Jesus doesn't call us merely to religious activities or weekly worship, but to follow Him in every area of life. And following Him means moving toward others with the same grace we've received—even those who are very different from us. In Mark 2:13–22, we see Jesus challenge religious expectations, welcome sinners, and demonstrate that He is at the center of everything. His grace doesn't fit neatly into our old ways of thinking. It transforms them. What would it look like to follow Jesus more completely, inviting others into our lives and helping them discover the same grace we desperately need?

Mark 2:1–12 | Jesus Goes Deeper

We all have things in life that we believe, if only they were fixed or changed, would finally make everything right. But what happens when we build our identity, purpose, and hope around things that cannot ultimately satisfy? In Mark 2:1–12, four friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus, hoping for physical healing. Yet Jesus does something unexpected—He addresses the man's deepest need first: forgiveness of sin. In this sermon, we explore how Jesus lovingly goes beneath the surface of our circumstances to confront the deeper needs of our hearts. We discover that even the difficult things God allows can be expressions of His kindness, drawing us closer to Him. Ultimately, Jesus doesn't simply offer to improve our circumstances; through His sacrificial love, He offers forgiveness, freedom, and an unshakable identity rooted in Him.

In this episode of Under the Surface, we dig deeper into Mark 1:29–45 and what Jesus’ healing ministry reveals about the brokenness of our world and His compassion toward us. We look at why the Bible carefully distinguishes physical sickness from demonic oppression, and how C. S. Lewis’s idea of “chronological snobbery” challenges modern assumptions about the supernatural. We explore how Jesus’ sinlessness actually deepens His empathy, holding together perfect compassion and perfect truth without falling into either harshness or a distorted “toxic empathy.” We also consider why suffering and sickness cannot simply be traced to someone’s personal sin, what Peter’s mother-in-law tells us about Peter being married, and how Jesus’ prayer life—and the Lord’s Prayer—teach us to approach God with a Godward focus: His name, His kingdom, and His will before our own needs.

In Mark 1:35–45, we see the remarkable balance of Jesus’ life and ministry: deep communion with His Father, an unwavering commitment to proclaim the good news, and profound compassion for the people around Him. While the crowds press in and everyone is looking for Him, Jesus withdraws to pray—and then emerges knowing exactly what He has come to do. His encounter with a man with leprosy shows us a Savior who not only speaks truth but draws near, reaches out, and touches the unclean. Ultimately, Jesus and the leper trade places: the man who had been outside is brought in, while Jesus is driven to the lonely places—a picture of the cross, where Jesus would become the outcast so that we could be welcomed in. In Jesus, we discover that prayer is not an escape from loving others, but the foundation for a life that holds truth and compassion, word and deed, together.

In Mark 1:21–28, Jesus enters the synagogue teaching with an authority unlike anyone the people had heard before, and when confronted by an unclean spirit, His authority is demonstrated with a simple command that sets a captive free. This passage reveals that Jesus is not merely another teacher offering advice—He is the King whose Word carries absolute authority over sin, darkness, and every competing power. Yet His authority is not used to dominate but to deliver, restore, and give life. Ultimately, the authority of Jesus leads us to the cross, where the King gives Himself to rescue sinners from our deepest captivity. The question for us is not simply whether we are amazed by Jesus, but whether we will trust Him, submit to His good rule, and follow Him.

We all want to rule our own world—to decide what will make us happy, what is right, and how our lives should go. But Jesus comes with a radically different invitation: “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” In Mark 1:14–20, Jesus announces that God’s rule and reign have come near in him, and he calls us to turn from being the center of our own lives and trust him instead. But that call doesn’t end with belief. Jesus says, “Follow me.” To be his disciple means that Jesus becomes the center around which all of life revolves, as we learn to trust him, become more like him, and help others do the same.

In Mark 1:9–13, the Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and Jesus enters the wilderness to face temptation. In this episode of Under the Surface, we look more closely at Jesus’ relationship with the Holy Spirit and how it differs from ours, the beautiful picture of the Trinity as an eternal “dance” of love, and Mark’s intriguing detail that Jesus was “with the wild animals”—a phrase that may have carried particular weight for Christians facing persecution in Rome. New City Catechism Questions 3,19-23, 36-37.

In Mark 1:9–13, Jesus begins His ministry by being baptized and then led into the wilderness to face temptation. But why would the sinless Son of God submit to a baptism of repentance and endure temptation? Jesus came to identify with sinners, to succeed where Adam and Israel failed, and to live the life we could never live so that He could save us. As the second Adam, He stands in our place, perfectly trusting and obeying the Father. His example also teaches us how to face temptation: refusing its false promises and trusting what God has already declared. In a world constantly demanding that we prove our worth, Jesus reminds us that our hope is not found in our performance but in His perfect righteousness. We are not saved by our perfect record, but by His.