Legalistic Objections
TRANSLATION
(13) Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. A large crowd came to him, and he was teaching them. (14) And as he was passing by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at a tax collection booth, and he said to him, “Follow me!” And he got up and followed him. (15) And as he was eating dinner at (Levi’s) house, many tax collectors and sinners sat down (to eat) with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (16) When the teachers of the Law who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “How is it that your teacher eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” (17) When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but those who are sick (do). I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(18) Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees practiced fasting. They came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? (19) And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. (20) But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then on that day will they fast. (21) No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment lest the patch pull away from the cloth, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. (22) And no one pours new wine into old wineskins lest the (new) wine burst the (old) skins and the wine is lost as well as the skins. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
(23) One Sabbath Jesus was walking through grainfields, and, as his disciples walked along, they began to pluck some heads of grain. (24) The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (25) He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? (26) In the days of Abiathar, the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” (27) Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (28) So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
OBSERVATIONS
In this segment Mark recounted for his readers three occasions when Jesus and his disciples were subjected to severe criticism by the Pharisees for violating their legalistic sensitivities. Several repetitions point to the emphases of these verses. In the first paragraph, “sinners” occurred four times (in vss. 15, 16, & 17) along with three repetitions of “tax collectors” (in vss. 15 & 16) and two repetitions of “eat/eating” (in vs. 16). In the second paragraph “fast/fasting” occurred six times (in vss. 18, 19, & 20) while “wine” and “skins/wineskins” both occurred three times (in vs. 22). In the final paragraph, “Sabbath” was used a total of five times (in vss. 23, 24, 27 & 28). Clearly controversy swirled around Jesus’ approach to these three areas of Jewish observance: abstaining from eating with sinners, fasting regularly, and strictly observing the Sabbath.
OUTLINE
Jesus refused to be bound by the scrupulous practices of legalistic Judaism…
– with regard to eating with tax collectors and sinners. (13-17)
– with regard to the regular practice of fasting. (18-22)
– with regard to Sabbath observance. (23-28)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus’ refusal to submit himself and his followers to the traditional (non-biblical) practices of legalistic Judaism both upset the Jews of his day and established his divine authority.
APPLICATION
In our 21st Century world, the strictures of traditional Jewish observance seem archaic and out of touch with present realities. The Pharisees’ refusal to sit down to a meal with Gentile sinners seems rude, and their strict requirements for regular fasting and Sabbath observance seem overdone, to say the least. However, the intent of these rules and regulations was clear, namely, to provide God’s chosen nation with specific ways of maintaining holiness in their daily lives.
If sanctification cannot be achieved by outward observances, how can we become holy as God has commanded, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44)? The one who ate with sinners and who did not require his followers to fast or strictly observe the Sabbath showed us that only by the new birth, internal regeneration accomplished by the Holy Spirit, can we achieve the kind of righteousness that pleases God. Jesus’ words to Nicodemus reflect this truth: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:5-8). Sanctification must come from an internal transformation which the Holy Spirit alone can accomplish, never from external conformity to a set of standards or practices which those who observe them can never keep perfectly.