Hearts of Stone (Mk. 3:1-21)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
· Please open your Bible to Mark 3
· Last week, we saw the disciples walking through the fields and plucking grain on the Sabbath. But this was a problem for the religious leaders, because the Sabbath or Saturday was a Jewish holy day. They believed the disciples were breaking the law and “harvesting” on the Sabbath! Jesus responded by pointing them back to an event in the OT when David ate of the holy bread because of a physical need, and God said it was OK.
· Pop quiz! What do you do when you are driving and see a red sign in the shape of an octagon. You stop! Should you ever ignore it? No. But but every so often, you might be told to disregard it. If an officer is standing at the intersection, they have the authority to wave you through, and in that case, it would be wrong to stop. That officer has the right to overrule what is a normal traffic law.
· The Sabbath and all other laws are not a set of boxes you legalistically check off, as though God is only interested in you going through the outward motions. He is far more concerned with matters of the heart. The Sabbath was a gift, a tool to help His people rest and worship him – not a club to beat them with or a yardstick by which to measure everyone’s spirituality. Then, Jesus concluded by declaring (verse 28) that He Himself is Lord of the Sabbath. He created it, and He has the right to apply it as He deems best.
· Mark 3 records another event that takes place on the Sabbath. Let us read the text.
· Read Mark 3:1-12
· There is a rare medical condition called Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) when the outer walls around the heart begin to thicken and enlarge. This makes it harder for blood to leave the heart, and forces the heart to work harder. It also makes it harder for the heart to relax and fill with blood. It is often hereditary, and could literally be called a “hardening of the heart.”
· But Jesus has another kind of hardening in mind here. A hardening of the spiritual heart. And this condition is even more dangerous. It could be that someone here this morning suffer from this terrible disease. But I have good news -- that treatment is available. In fact, as you look around you, you’ll see many success stories of people who have already been healed of this disease.
· Let’s look a little deeper at this condition. TWO POINTS – the symptoms and the cure.
The Symptoms
The Symptoms
· Our passage begins with Jesus entering a synagogue to worship, to teach, and to heal. It is the Sabbath Day, and quite a crowd has gathered. In their midst is a man with a “withered hand.” HCSB says “paralyzed hand.” The word literally means “dried up,” like a plant that stopped getting a water and has shriveled to just a fraction of its former size. You can just imagine how embarrassing it must be for him, how frustrating to do everyday tasks, but even worse, how difficult it is for him to find work. Many jobs would be well near impossible. The heavy labor of fishing or farming or carpentry. Long before the Handicap and Disability laws we enjoy today, a condition like this could send you out in the streets as a beggar and lead to a slow, humiliating death.
· Thankfully, this crippled man has come to the right place. For Jesus is there! But interestingly, the main point of this passage is not the crippled man or the healing he is about experience. That is just the canvas for the real story, which is the growing hostility of the Jews against Jesus.
· Fifth story of opposition.
· Watching Him. Keeping a close eye on him. Eyes squinted. Malicious intent.
· What should we do when we are under scrutiny? When our enemies are carefully watching, just waiting for an opportunity to catch us breaking their man-made rules and pounce on us? We go about our business and do what is right. Let them watch if they want. We have nothing to hide, and their malicious intentions will not change our obedience to the truth. We have a higher authority we must answer to. And as long as God is pleased, we are blind to the smiles or frowns of this world.
· This is a setup, and Jesus knows it. The religious leaders are licking their chops, just waiting to pounce on Jesus. He calls the man over and says to the leaders…
· Read v. 4
· It is the Sabbath day – a day of rest and worship. You have an opportunity to help someone. Is it better to do a good deed, or to ignore the person and let them keep suffering?
· Or suppose you’re reading your Bible on your lunch break and you hear a commotion behind you. A guy is choking on his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What’s the spiritual thing to do? Can you hold on just a few minutes? I’m just finishing up Thessalonians? No! You set aside your Bible and help the poor guy! You do the heimlech. You do CPR. You call 911. You don’t wait. In that situation, the most spiritual thing to do is to meet the need. Same here. Meet the need.
· Jews even had provisions for this in their own laws. E.g. rescuing a cow from a ditch. Life-threatening health or defense from attackers.
· If they say ‘do good,’ then they prove Jesus’ point that it is better to heal on the Sabbath than ignore the man. If they say ‘do harm,’ then they will appear cruel and heartless to the people. They have no answer, so they are silent. But their silence says it all.
· Then we read two of the saddest verses in the whole book. Read vv. 5-6
· Did you notice Jesus’ response? “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”
· We all experience anger at times. There is a real sense where we should feel outrage at the evil and violence and injustice of our world. We look around and think, ‘That’s not right! That’s just not fair!’ But I wonder how many of us balance that anger with compassion. Here is says that Jesus “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.”
· Jesus has just performed a miracle, an amazing demonstration of His identity as the Messiah and Son of God. But the Pharisees aren’t interested in such details. They have already made up their mind. As soon as church is out, the Pharisees go straight to these political thugs and former enemies to plot his assassination.
· Deafness to the voice of God. Blindness to the work of God. Stubbornness over sin. Making excuses and unwillingness to repent. Opposing God’s kingdom. These are the symptoms of a spiritually hard heart.
· He was not merely angry. He was burdened. He was heartbroken over their spiritual condition. Oh that God would give us compassion for the lost! Compassion even for those who persecute us! They may seek to humiliate or destroy our bodies, but if they do not repent, their bodies will be destroyed forever, while ours will live in everlasting triumph.
· The hardness of these Pharisees is staggering. Here they see the Messiah face-to-face, yet instead of love, they feel only hate. As Jn. 1:11 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
· It is a pitiful condition, really. But the spiritual condition of hard-heartedness doesnt plague just a few, ‘really bad’ sinners. It describes every one of us.
· See Romans 3:10–11 None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
· What’s worse, no one is able to rescue themselves from the situation.
· Romans 8:7–8 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
· We call this total inability, or total depravity. Our hearts are hard as a rock. Deader than a door-nail.
· >>Thankfully, there is a cure.
The Cure (2 Cor. 3)
The Cure (2 Cor. 3)
· Rock illustration – Look at this rock. It is hard -- just like our hearts apart from Christ. This rock represents that family member you’ve been praying for. That friend. That co-worker. What can possibly change this into a living, beating heart?
· Will it be your clever words? Will it be scrubbing and polishing it, cleaning it all up? Oh, I know – dipping it in water, like baptism! No, it’s still a rock.
· Only the message of the gospel, empowered by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, can change a hardened heart into a living soul.
· Ezekiel 36:25–27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
· Jn. 1 explains that those who are born again are …. John 1:13 born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
· See 2 Corinthians 3:12–18. Describes the hard-heartedness of the Israelites in the wilderness. Like a veil over their eyes. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
· John Bunyan – “Run, John, run,” the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. -- Better news the Gospel brings, It bids me fly and gives me wings.
Conclusion
Conclusion
· Oh my friend, do not repeat the mistake of the Pharisees. They had confused dead religion with genuine worship. They thought that observing Sabbath was enough, but meanwhile, they neglected the Lord of the Sabbath.
· I ask you now, what kind of heart do you have? Is it tender, and teachable? Or is it tough and calloused? Turn to Christ and cry out for mercy today!