How Do You Know What’s More Important?

Once there was a rabbi who taught his students only by asking questions. After experiencing this for several months, a student finally got the courage up to ask a question himself. “Rabbi,” he said with a little frustration in his voice, “why do you only teach by asking questions? You never tell us anything.” The rabbi was quiet for a moment as he pondered the student’s question and then he said, “So what’s wrong with a question?”

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July 5, 2015
Mark 2.23-3.6, How Do You Know What’s More Important?
Pastor Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Great teachers throughout history have taught their students by using questions. The classical Greek philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC) used a form of inquiry and discussion based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. Thousands of years later, the Socratic Method is still a powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking. In Socratic teaching the focus is on giving students questions, not answers.

Jesus grew up in the Jewish faith and was familiar with rabbinical teaching so we shouldn’t be surprised that when we read through the Gospels we hear Jesus asking questions of his disciples as well as his critics. Jesus asks many, many questions and he answers very few. When he does answer a question, it’s often with another question. For example, listen to this exchange from Mark 11:27-33 and see how Jesus handles a question about his authority:

“27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28 and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

All of us have different words that we associate with Jesus (Savior, Lord, Friend etc.,), but we shouldn’t forget that he was a brilliant Teacher who used questions to force people to think about their priorities, values, principles, decision-making, hopes, fears, and the focus of their lives. Jesus taught with questions to help his listeners wrestle with big ideas and to force them to think critically about what they were thinking, doing, and saying and why they were doing so.

For the next eight weeks in worship we’re going to spend time allowing Jesus teach us through a few of the profound questions he asks in The Gospel of Mark. If we’re open to being impacted by Jesus we may find, like those who first heard him that we’ll also be challenged to think about our priorities, values, principles, decision-making, hopes, fears, and the focus of our lives. I’m excited to share this series this summer as we wrestle with questions Jesus is still asking.

The first questions we’re going to consider are found in our next scripture Mark 2:23-3:6 and they involve two incidents regarding observing the sabbath. “23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.”

Mark’s Gospel portrays Jesus as coming into conflict early on in his ministry with a group of people called the Pharisees. “The Pharisees were a group of specially observant and influential Jews, mainly in Palestine, from the second century B.C. to the first century A.D. They had their own traditions on how to live a life faithful to the Judaism to which they were devoted. Their rules emphasized purity, giving 10% of their food as an offering or tithe, and properly observing the Sabbath. They were admired by the people and many were learned in the law and some were politically powerful.”^[1] In the Gospels, most of the time, the Pharisees are presented in a negative light because they don’t see things the same way as Jesus. However, it’s important for us to try and understand why they get so upset with Jesus both to appreciate where they’re coming from and to help us grasp what Jesus was teaching. To perceive what’s happening in these stories, first we need to understand why the Sabbath was so important. What the Pharisees were defending – honoring the Sabbath and keeping it a holy day – was something that God shared with Moses in the Ten Commandments.

Earlier in the service we heard Deuteronomy 5:12-15 which tells the people to, “12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.” The Sabbath was intended to be a helpful, restful, renewing, healing day for everyone – for the Jews, for their slaves, any resident aliens in their town, and even all the animals – ox, donkey, livestock, you name it. It was to be a day off for everyone. God even reminds the Israelites, “You were slaves once, and I delivered you so keep the Sabbath day and don’t do any work.” Why did God think a Sabbath day was important enough to make it one of the Ten Commandments? Well, because in those days a long time ago when life was very different than it is now, people could get so busy that they lost perspective on what’s truly important in life. The 24/7 pressure to work and get ahead ruled every part of life – even weekends and vacations. Saturday and Sunday weren’t for rest. People didn’t work for the weekend, they worked on the weekend. That’s when it was time to catch up on more work! Work in the garden, wash the chariot, do the books, take the kids to games, go shopping. Today, they’re might even be those of us on vacation who stay plugged into lap tops, tablets, and smart phones to keep earning our identity while we play. It’s how we sustain the myth that we are indispensable. Overwork and busyness is a badge of honor. Christians reward over working as much as anyone and work addictions can ruin families, damage souls and sometimes even kill us. God commanded the Sabbath to protect us from ourselves so we wouldn’t be restless, driven, and exhausted people. Just because you choose your work doesn’t mean you aren’t a slave to it. If we can’t stop working, even for a day, we aren’t free – we’re a slave with an income.

This is what the Pharisees understood; God commanded a Sabbath day once a week, for our own good, and it was important for us spiritually, physically, and relationally. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a good thing; even if we often fail to obey the commandment? It’s pretty simple – Don’t work one day a week so you remind yourself every seventh day, “I’m not God, I am a human being not a human doing. There are more important things than work.” The problem was, the Pharisees, like so many religious people, took something that was simple and they lost the spirit of it while making it much more complex. Picking or harvesting grain in a field certainly would have qualified.

So when the disciples plucked heads of grain and ate them as they walked through a field on the Sabbath, the Pharisees asked Jesus critically, “Why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” The Pharisees lost sight of the fact that the Sabbath was given to benefit people, to prevent them from overworking, it wasn’t intended to make people go hungry. Jesus reminds them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” All of the Ten Commandments, not just observing a sabbath day of rest, were given for our benefit, for our welfare, not as a punishment. Jesus reminds us and the Pharisees of this and he asserts that he has the authority over what is okay on the Sabbath.

Then Mark portrays the Pharisees as watching Jesus to see if he’ll heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath so they might accuse him of violating what is permissible. Jesus asks them a pointed question; “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” Jesus is angry and grieved at their hardness of heart when not one of them answers that of course it’s okay, even important to do good, and to save a life on the Sabbath. Mark portrays the Pharisees as having become so focused on rigid adherence to religious rules that they lost sight of one of the most important ones – loving our neighbor. If it’s in our power to heal, to help, to bless, to care, to express sympathy or compassion – even on the Sabbath then we should because the Sabbath was made for our benefit. Acting compassionately and in love toward people is more important than any other religious rule, that’s why it’s known as the Golden Rule. Jesus is saying feeding hungry people on the Sabbath, healing hurting people on the Sabbath are very much in line with what God wants.

Jesus is challenging the Pharisees deeply held beliefs about the nature of the Sabbath, they saw it as a day of “Don’ts;” don’t do this and don’t do that. For some of the older people here today, I suspect many of you grew up with an experience of Sundays that wasn’t too different from the Pharisees view of the Sabbath. You went to worship and maybe Sunday School, but you didn’t play, or go to the beach or the movies, or have youth sports and often you were back in church on Sunday evening.

The value in observing a day of rest, a day for spiritual, relational, and physical renewal is a good one that we could all still benefit from today. Many individuals and families could use a day when they are not frantically involved in activity. And there are other individuals who can benefit from the engagement of being with other people in worship, Sunday School, sharing breakfast or a meal together and having the joy of human connection.

Jesus’ questions to the Pharisees – asking if they remember an old Bible story from 1 Samuel 21:1-16 about the time David and his men were really hungry and ate the bread that was off limits and supposed to be offered to God – and asking if it was lawful to do good and save a life on the Sabbath – are both intended to try and shake them out of the rut they’re in that’s causing them to focus on a rule about the sabbath rather than on the purpose and the intention behind it. The Apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee himself, knew about focusing on the letter of the law and missing the Spirit. Before his conversion he had likely participated in debates about what actually constituted “work” on the Sabbath. In 2 Corinthians 3:6, Paul writes that God, “has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” How do you know what’s more important in life when a long-held religious belief, like about the nature of the Sabbath, bumps into a hungry or hurting person or the need to show love and compassion? Jesus tells us in these two episodes love and compassion are always more important even than the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for us and not the other way around.

While I suspect most of us have never thought of it this way before because culturally we exalt people who work all the time even if it’s to the detriment of their health, relationships, and spirit, but one could argue that from the perspective of the Ten Commandments a society that encourages overwork is no different from a society that encourages lying, murder, stealing and promiscuity. According to the Ten Commandments, all these things are not what God wants or desires for us or from us. Jesus would have the Pharisees “rest” from their obsession in trying to do everything perfectly on the Sabbath and instead remember the purpose of the Sabbath. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says to all of us who are frazzled and busy and really need a Sabbath break: “28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Resting in and with Jesus is really important to keeping our soul healthy, our relationship with God and our relationships with others a priority, and giving our body and mind a much needed break. So maybe pick a day (because Sunday doesn’t cut it as a Sabbath day for some of us) when for a little while you can put down your smart phone, tablet, or laptop, don’t look at email, turn off the TV and take some time to be with God, watch the tide come in or go out, visit a neighbor, make a caring phone call, read something that challenges or inspires you, be still, make a meal for someone, these are all ways of remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy and ways of doing what is most important, loving God and our neighbors as ourselves.

Prayer:

Lord you are the God who works and rests. We are made in your image. Help us live into your unforced rhythms of grace. Give us courage to lay our deadly doing down and lean back into your arms and rest especially on the Sabbath. Amen.

 

Blessing (Galatians 5:1, 13-14)

“1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Questions for Discussion or Reflection

1. Why do you think Jesus used questions so much in his interactions with people – whether his disciples or those who openly opposed him?
2. How would you describe the value of teaching with questions as opposed to other methods?
3. What do you know about the Sabbath and Sabbath observance – whether in the first century or today? Did you grow up with any prohibitions about what was allowed and what wasn’t on the Sabbath or on Sunday?
4. In in Mark 2:23-3:6, how does Jesus respond to the criticism and attacks of his behavior on the Sabbath?
5. How would you describe the purpose of the Sabbath for us as Jesus’ followers?
6. How do you respond when, like the Pharisees, Jesus’ teaching forces you to re-examine and perhaps even change or let go of long and deeply held beliefs?
7. What would you say is the primary thing we learn from Jesus in these two stories in Mark 2:23-3:6?

 

 

Further scriptures on the Sabbath:

Exodus 23:12, “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.”

Deuteronomy 5:12-15, “12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.”

 

^[1] Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed.) (783). San Francisco: Harper & Row.