2:4ff - I have always loved this example of dedication from the friends of the paralytic. They refused to let their boy by shut out from the blessings of Jesus...even to the extreme of tearing through the ceiling of some unfortunate person's house. And Jesus didn't chastise them for their destruction because he saw that their true faith produced action. We all need to ask ourselves a few questions: Is our faith so real and important to us that we are willing to do anything to get the people we come in contact with into the presence of Jesus? Do we have friends that are willing to fight for our faith...pray for us constantly...carry us when we are unable to go on...hold us accounatble, etc? Are we that kind of friend for others?
2:15-17 - What do our churches look more like...gathering places of broken sinners or self-righteous perfectionists? If the goal of the CHRISTian church is to look as much like Jesus as humanly possible - shouldn't our congregations look a little more like that table Jesus was sitting at? Maybe the real sickness is when we allow ourselves to think it is okay to keep the "undesireables" out.
2:18-22 - I think sometimes there is a belief out there that Jesus was always serious and kinda depressing, thinking constantly about his future death and how screwed up the world was and always tearing into anybody that was being an idiot (I've struggled with a picture of Jesus like this)...but this passage along with many others is one of the ones that implies a different side to the Jesus-man. He and his dsiciples were living life like it was a wedding feast! They enjoyed life and they enjoyed eating together and they did it whenever they could. Jesus asks his retractors, "Why should we be somberly fasting when the bridegrrom is here - the wedding is coming...it is party time!" Yes, there are times when Jesus was serious and confrontational - but there are many times when he was celebrating life and feeling sympathy and loving individuals for their extreme examples of faith...there are many facets to the personality of Jesus, don't close him up in a one deminsional box (Which I guess, would be a square!).
2:27ff - I love these verses. Sometimes it seems like we look at the command to keep the Sabbath holy as just another rule in the long list of rules that are burdening us in this world. That is how the Pharisees looked at it! Jesus explains to us all how it really is...the Sabbath was not created to burden man...it wasn't created so that you can feel guilty about working on a Sunday (Saturday is the 7th day anyway!). God created a Sabbath so that man could be free...so that man would take some time to slow down, stop working, relax, chase after peace and reconnect with God. The Sabbath was created for our sanity...it was made for you and me - we were not made to be owned by the Sabbath. Remember for your soul's sake and for your sanity's sake to take time to be still and know your God. The Sabbath is a freedom, not a burden...take hold of it.
2 comments:
I think too often we view Jesus as “a man of sorrows” – “Somber Jesus” is name I gave Him - not a pansy, but not happy and not friendly.
Too often we forget who invented smiling (see Genesis 1 – God saw it was good – you think He was frowning and scowling?!), laughter, humor (have you seen the duck billed platypus?), and joy.
Heaven is not going to be a frown & scowl type place – after all, there is supposed to be a real big wedding feast there – and Jesus wants us to invite everyone we can.
j
Jesus' reference and teaching on the Sabbath hits real close to home. I grew up in an environment where I believed like the Pharisees: miss church, you suck at life. I was real big on man for sabbath. Come to find out, I was wrong. The bigger shocker was that my family had their views right, but somewhere along the lines (maybe it was those times they made me go to church even though I didn't want to) I picked up the idea that man was made for the sabbath. It is good to know and understand the true value of sabbath and the intentions behind it.
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