Today’s passage: Mark 2:23-3:6
Helpful thoughts:
- Today’s passages consist of times the Jewish religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus and His followers doing wrong on the Sabbath.
- The disciples were breaking the rules which the scribes and Pharisees had taught the people, but they were not disobeying the Scripture (See Deuteronomy 23:25). There is a distinction between meeting your need for hunger and doing a day’s work.
- David and his men ate the Bread of Presence in a time of need (1 Samuel 21:1-6). This would typically not have been done, but in a time of need it was permissible.
- Jesus wasn’t scared of the Pharisees and what they would say about Him if He didn’t do what they said. This was perhaps what bothered them more than anything (Along with the fear that others would follow His lead).
Questions to consider:
- Since people like you and me aren’t able to heal anyone the way Jesus did, where would that have been written in the law? If the Pharisees considered it unlawful, where would they have had to come to that conclusion? Whose law were they actually keeping and enforcing?
- The Pharisees and the Herodians were typically not the best of friends! Why would they start meeting and trying to work together now? How does their sudden alliance prove what their heart motives really were?
- Why wasn’t Jesus scared of what the Pharisees would think about Him? Why was it right for Him to do this miracle publicly against their will? You and I aren’t deity, but when should we have this courage to do what is right even when the world dislikes it?