Mark 2:18–3:6

Bringing the sermon home:

This passage continues a series of conflicts between Jesus and the religious establishment. A common theme is that of deprivation, as the Pharisees are calling for Jesus and His disciples:

1. to abstain from food through regular times of fasting (2:18-22),
2. to abstain from plucking and eating heads of grain on the Sabbath (2:23-28), and
3. to withhold healing from a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath (3:1-6).

For the Pharisees, “religion” is all about outwardly observable forms of self-deprivation for the sake of self-exaltation. This bears the rotten fruit of pride and a lack of compassion for others.

Jesus shows us a better way. As the Apostle James puts it: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father” (Jas 1:27) breeds humility and compassion, not self-righteous pride and hard hearts. Unlike the man-made rules the Pharisees had added to God’s Word, the spiritual disciplines instituted in the Scriptures are good gifts from God that are designed to be a blessing, not a burden. They are aimed at helping us to grow both in personal holiness and compassionate care for others.

What fruit are your religious practices bearing in your life? Do you see yourself growing in compassionate care for others? As disciples of Christ, may our spiritual disciplines:

1. be in accord with God’s design,
2. be pursued with the right motive, and
3. bear good fruit rather than rotten fruit.

(See follow-up article here.)