Modern Reformer
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  • My Blog
    • Helping in Turkana
    • Iceland overview
    • Day 1 in Iceland
    • Photos from the Amsterdam Trip
    • Trip of a Lifetime
    • Our Journey
    • This World Stinks
    • The Elements Shall Melt
    • False Prophets- - AMEN!
    • Death of the Church
    • Who was the last prophet sent by God?
    • Write the Vision
    • Fast Food Christians
    • Jesus Wept
    • The Demise of the Protestant
    • Considering Memorial Day
    • Judas
    • The Downfall of a Civilization
    • Divine Business
    • A Futuristic Short Story
  • Questions
    • Prophecy >
      • What is the point of the "Great Tribulation" if all of the Christians will be raptured?
      • How Do We Prepare for the Great Tribulation?
      • Many preachers say Jesus is coming soon, while there are no clear signs of it. Is it a scare tactic to make people do what they want?
      • Is it true that the Bible says that no one goes to heaven until Jesus comes back?
      • What does the Bible say about Jesus' Second Coming?
      • When does the 2nd Resurrection Take Place?
      • How will Jehovah God save Israel when he brings all nations against it ?
      • When the kingdom of God is established, in what manner ( physically or ?? ) will everybody who obeys Jehovah God will become like Adam ( they will no longer be males and females but all males ) ??
      • Spiritually, What are we on the verge of?
      • When did the 70 years desolation spoken by Jeremiah begin?
      • What is meant by Rome being called the Antichrist?
      • In the book of Daniel 11:21-24, is the despicable man that is mentioned here was Antiochus Epiphanes IV?
      • What is the difference between the Babylonia that were mentioned in the Old Testament and the Babylonia that was mentioned in the book of Revelation?
      • What are the comparison of the verses Ps 83:1-8,Ez 38:7-16, Zech 14:2-3,and Rev 20:8-9--are they the same in meaning?
      • Of that Day and that Hour
      • How Will Jesus' Second Coming Happen?
      • Will the End Times Battle Be Fought With Weapons
      • Biblically speaking what will the world be like after Armageddon?
      • End Times and Sodom and Gomorrah?
      • At which trumpet will Michael and his angels boot Satan and his angels from heaven to earth?
      • When does/did Jesus Christ's reign as King of God's Kingdom start?
      • Is the Beast in Revelation the Antichrist?
      • Jesus Would Return as He Left?
      • What do you think Jesus meant that if God had not shortened those days, no flesh would survive?
      • What are You Looking Forward To?
      • Is This the Beginning of the Apocalypse?
      • What does Jesus Mean When He Says This?
      • Evidence of the Signs of the Times?
      • What will the Kingdom Accomplish?
      • How Will the Scoffers Feel when Jesus Comes?
      • What is the Significance of the Word "Presence."
      • Why Does My Mom Say We are in the Last Day?
      • What Exactly do People Think the Apocalypse is?
    • Doctrine >
      • Can a person worthy of Heaven be OK with others going to Hell?
      • Can the theory of "being born a sinner" and the theory of "age of accountability" exist at the same time? How and why?
      • According to the Bible, why is everyone born a sinner?
      • Do those don't hear about Jesus go to hell?
      • How is Christ the Wisdom of God?
      • Why does the Soul of the Dead Sinner need to be Oppressed?
      • What did Jesus mean when He said: The Way, the Truth, the Life?
      • Is the Fire of Hell Literal? Why?
      • Did Jesus Redeem Everyone? Is Everyone Saved?
      • If a baby or infant died ....he'll become an angel?
      • What is Biblical Faith?
      • Do You Believe in Hell?
      • Water Baptism and Spirit Baptism, which is more important?
      • Question on Death, Sleep, Resurrection?
      • What is the soul?
      • The Rapture
      • Is John the Baptist going to heaven?
    • General Questions >
      • How can the Gospel transform individuals and the society today?
      • Why are dogs not allowed in heaven according to the Bible?
      • Question about Islam and Christianity
      • Is a Person Who Hasn't Heard About Christianity a Sinner...?
      • Are Saints in Heaven Free...?
      • Question on John the Baptist
      • Thief on the Cross Question
      • Does the Bible has a mention about the secret societies like...?
      • Is the Garden of Eden still on earth (hidden from mankind ) ?
      • Does the Bible prove all other religions false?
      • Why do Muslims hate Jews ?
      • What do you think of the Interpretation of Gen. 2:17?
      • Did God Hate Esau from the Womb?
      • What is your opinion of the theological terms kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God?
      • ​Please can you explain Colossians 2:14-17, where it's says "do not let anyone judge you"?
      • What do you mean by Regeneration..?
      • Is it literally mean that Turkey is the seat of Satan?
      • I'm a Christian but I don't like to go to church...I pray and read my bible in the house....what the bible teaches about fellowship?
      • Abraham the father of Isaac and Ismael...he was Jew or Hebrew..?
      • I'm a believer. I pray that I might win in lottery,sweepstakes, casino...I won....is this a sin?
      • Please Explain Romans 10:9,10
      • Can We as Christians be Guilty of Choosing Barabbas over Jesus?
      • What is the Purpose of Satan?
      • Why would God do this? And then punish Israel for it?
      • Is the Roman Catholic Church a true church established by Jesus Christ?
      • What is Heaven Like?
      • How long (on average) does it take one to join your religion?
      • Is a judge performing his duties in a courtroom violating Jesus' command, "Do not judge"?
      • How is it that even the demons "knew Him to be the Christ." How did they know?
      • Who is Jesus claiming to be in John 8:24 and what does it mean to "die in your sins"?
      • Does the Bride of Christ have to die first?
      • Can We as Christians be Guilty of Choosing Barabbas over Jesus?
      • What about Holidays?
      • What is a Biblical Family?
      • How do We Treat Family Members Who Say They are Christians but Don't Acts Like It?
      • What is the Second Death?
      • Question on the Parable of the Two Sons
      • Christ came that we would have life abundantly correct?
      • Who is the Son of Perdition?
      • What are your thoughts on Psalm 137:9?
      • What is the difference between the DOOR in Rev 3:8 and the DOOR in Rev 3:20 ?
      • Out of the Seven Churches in Revelation, which would you say is the closet to your church?
      • What is the main message in the book of Amos, what value does it hold for today’s modern society?
      • Gospel of Thomas question:
      • Question on Tithing
      • Are some people never going to be resurrected from the dead?
      • Does God Love Unconditionally?
      • What Percentage of the Bible Do You Have to Know?
      • Do you keep the Sabbath?
      • Why was Man Excluded Because No Wedding Garment?
      • It is the Day of Atonement...Will you offer a prayer & agree in prayer for their salvation?
      • Did Noah Keep Bees in the Ark?
      • As the Pope's 9-letter surname, Bergoglio, has the word GOG bang in the middle of it, I wonder if biblical?
      • Who is Peter talking about in 1 Peter 4:18?
      • What is the purpose of pigs?
      • Please explain how the meek inherit the earth?
      • Do You Know the Names of Jesus' Two Sheepfolds?
      • Is Jesus in His Human Body in Heaven?
  • Meditations of Joy
    • Overcoming Lack of Confidence to Connect and ‘Fit In’ Part 1
    • All Things in the Name of Jesus
    • The Treasured Life
    • Afflicted in Faithfulness
    • Making All Things New
    • Instinctive Trust
    • #721 Extracting the Precious from the Worthless
    • Some Keys to Dealing Faithfully with Criticism and Conflict Part 2
    • Some Keys to Dealing Faithfully with Criticism Part 1
    • Facing Change and the Unknown in Confidence
    • Glorify Thy Name in us, O LORD
    • Remembering Who We Are
    • Deliverance through Overwhelm
    • Finding Stability
    • Resurrection Power At Work
    • Diamonds in the Night (Revisited)
    • Final Faithfulness According to the Will of the Father Part 2
    • Final Faithfulness According to the Will of the Father
    • The Expanse of Jesus Prayer
    • The Reality of the Joy Set Before Him
    • The Determination To Do His Will
    • Choosing the Will of the Father
    • He Sustains the Weary with a Word
    • I am willing
    • Looking Forward: Making Isaiah 40.27-31 my own Part 2
    • Looking Forward: Making Isaiah 40:27-31 my own
    • Looking Back on Lessons in this Past Year Part 5
    • Looking Back on Lessons in this Past Year Part 4
    • Looking Back on Lessons in this Past Year Part 3
    • #698 Looking Back on Lessons in this Past Year Part 1 A Dear Brother wrote out the main things he was learning in the past year. As I read them I realized that that the Lord was teaching me along similar lines. First he shared: 1. “God’s
    • Looking Back on Lessons in this Past Year Part 1
    • Our True Source of Stability in Trying Times Part 2Blog
    • Humble Yourself Under the Mighty Hand of God
    • Our True Source of Stability in Trying Times
    • Thriving in the house of God
    • Living the Divine Dimensions of Their Love
    • Make Room for the Blessing! Part 2
    • Make Room for the Blessing! Part 1
    • Dealing with ‘What If’ Part 1
    • Abiding in Their Love
    • Serving by Night
    • Serving By Night
    • Tenacious Love Part 2
    • Tenacious Love Part 1
    • Reverence for God is an Access to Wisdom and Confidence
    • The Practice of Praise
    • Separate the Precious from the Worthless
    • Therefore I Will Remember You Part 2
    • Therefore I Will Remember You Part 1
    • #676 Only One Thing is Necessary
    • Antidotes for Personal Unrest Amid Unfolding Events of our Day Part 3
    • Antidotes for Personal Unrest Amid Unfolding Events of our Day Part 3
    • Antidotes for Personal Unrest Amid Unfolding Events of our Day Part 2
    • Antidotes for Personal Unrest Amid Unfolding Events of our Day Part 1
    • Pliability and Surrender Part 2 In the Care of the Shepherd
    • Pliability and Surrender Part 1 in the Hands of the Potter
    • The Choice to Rejoice
    • Dealing with Reaction to Criticism Part 3
    • Dealing with Reaction to Criticism Part 2
    • Dealing with Reaction to Criticism Part 1
    • Courage to Go Forward
    • Facing Challenge Equipped with His Armor Part 3
    • Facing Challenge Equipped with His Armor Part 1
    • The Holy Ground of Challenge
    • What We Remember, What We Forget
    • The Answer to Anxiety Part 3
    • The Answer to Anxiety Part 2
    • The Answer to Anxiety Part 1
    • Paul’s focus in Prison: Part 6b Resurrection power Beyond Our Comprehension
    • Paul’s Focus in Prison: In Awe of His Resurrection Power Part 6aBlog
    • Paul’s Focus in Prison: Part 5a Never give up praying for one another!
    • Paul's focus in Prison: Part 4 Guarded!
    • Paul’s focus in prison Part 3 Going forward with Passion
    • Paul’s focus in prison Part 2
    • Paul’s Focus in Prison Part 1
    • LIVING Hope and Joy
    • Arms Wide Open
    • Diamonds in the Night (Revisited from 2017)
    • “Yet Thou art Holy”
    • Resolutely Going Forward
    • Passover Love
    • Praying for a Word to Give the Weary
    • Content Whatever Lot I See Part 2
    • Content Whatever Lot I See Part 1Blog
    • A Night Journey to Peace Part 2
    • A Night Journey to Peace
    • Trusting His Choices
    • Peace Amid the Storm
    • Love is Patient
    • Proving His Name to His Glory
    • Watching in Hope
    • Glorifying His Name Begins with the Realm of Thought
    • "Father Glorify Thy Name"--Possible when we Let Him Love us
    • Father Glorify Thy Name Possible when we Let Him Love us
    • Father Glorify Thy Name Part 3 (A roadblock to be aware of)
    • Father Glorify Thy Name Part 2 (Practical application)
    • Father, Glorify Thy Name
    • Finding His Joy
    • The Blessing of Over-and-Over-Testings
    • Redefining Our Perception of Rejection
    • The Source of all Encouragement
    • Casting our Care and Leaving it There
    • Setting our Face Like Flint
    • Accepting God’s Will for our Beloved Brethren
    • Our Home in Every Challenge: Seeing Beyond the Illusion
    • Call to Consider: His Amazing Provision
    • Call to Consider: His Amazing Provision
    • Sure Proof of His Divine Provision
    • Some Lessons from David in Absalam's Rebellion and Unresolved Conflict
    • His Glory: Permission to Prune
    • His Glory: A Call to Re-focus
    • Trade in the Old Thinking for a New Song!
    • A Practical Look at the Armor of God
    • Resting in His Provision
    • His Perspective from the Heights, Borne on the Wings of the Eagle
    • What Would Jesus THINK?
    • The Joy of Wholeheartedness Part 2
    • The Joy of Wholeheartedness Part 1
    • The Joy of His Love Empowering us to Love Part 2
    • The Joy of Overcoming Irritation: Divine Love Empowering us to Love Part 1
    • The Joy of the LORD is your Strength: Sending Portions!
    • Finding Joy Part 2b: The Joy of the LORD is your Strength: Eat and Drink!
    • Finding Joy Part 2a: The Joy of the LORD is your Strength
    • Finding Joy: The Joy Set Before Us Part 1
    • The Refuge of His Wise and Loving Power
    • Facing the Challenge in the Beauty of Holiness
    • Facing the Challenge with Praise, Prayer and Perspective
    • Enthroning Him upon our Praise
    • Yet You Are Holy
    • Yet You are Holy
    • Another Look at “Arise, Let us go hence”
    • “My Peace” When We Feel Alone
    • “My Peace” Amid the Storm” Part 5
    • “My Peace” Amid the Storm” Part 4
    • My Peace” Amid the Storm” Part 3
    • “My Peace” Amid the Storm” Part 2
    • “My Peace” Amid the Storm” Part 1
    • A Prayer for the Power of His Penetrating Gaze of Love Part 2
    • A Prayer for the Power of His Penetrating Gaze
    • Trusting Enough to Get Out of the Boat
    • The Answer to Resistance: Trusting His Provision in the Process Part 2
    • The Answer to Resistance: Trusting that what He allows is GOOD.
    • He Knows What We Need, a Call to Praise Amid the Unknown!
    • My Heart is Fixed
    • My Heart is Fixed
    • The Creative Deliverance That Surrounds Us
    • How to Rejoice in the Midst of Whatever Happens Part 4
    • #547 How to Rejoice in the Midst of Whatever Happens Part 3
    • How to Rejoice in the Midst of Whatever Happens Part 2
    • How to Rejoice in the Midst of Whatever Happens Part 1
    • Our Prayerful Song in the Midst of Whatever Happens
    • #543 What Brings Us Peace No Matter What Happens
    • Freedom from the Trap of Old Thinking
    • Freedom from the Trap of Old Thinking Part 2
    • He Restores my Soul
    • “Look up and Let Go”
    • Nothing Shall Offend
    • Moment by Moment Deliverance from Fear
    • We Will Continue to Praise Him in the Midst of Every Circumstance
    • We Will Continue to Praise Him in the Midst of Every Circumstance Part 2
    • We Will Continue to Praise Him in the Midst Every Circumstance
    • Trust in His Perspective Frees us from Every ‘Prison’ Part 2
    • Trust in His Perspective Frees us from Every ‘Prison’
    • Run through the Open Door
    • Dwelling in ONE Master
    • Dwelling in His Shadow and Watching from the Wings
    • Dwelling in the Obedience of Christ
    • Overcoming Some Old Habits of Thought
    • Setting our Minds for Surrender Each Morning
    • Some of Peters Advice for Relationships in these Last Days
    • What Helps us to Accept Every Experience
    • His Leading through the Valley
    • Being His Valiant Warrior
    • Our Valiant Warrior
    • Living Deep-rooted Attachment in Christ
    • Keep on Sowing!
    • Surely the LORD is in the place
    • Red Sea Advice Part 4 The Red Sea Response
    • Red Sea Advice Part 3 The Red Sea Reaction
    • Red Sea Advice Part 2
    • Red Sea Advice Part 1
    • A Call to Peace
    • But Then on The Third Day
    • He Endured the Cross Part 3 Psalm 22 NIV
    • He Endured the Cross Psalm 22 Part 2
    • He Endured the Cross Part 1
    • The Cup that Crystallizes Part 3
    • The Cup that Crystallizes Part 2
    • The Cup that Crystallizes Part 1
    • The Yoke that Gives Us Rest
    • Proper Use of limitation, A Call For Balance
    • Another Lesson in Making Room for Their Surpassing Power Through the Proper Use of our Limitations
    • The Posture of Waiting and Trust that Allows Him To Demonstrate His Surpassing Power
    • To Demonstrate His Surpassing Power 2
    • To Demonstrate His Surpassing Power
    • WE will get through this!
    • Delight to do His will
    • I Know the Plans I Have for You
    • But for a Moment
    • Wake me up, Lord
    • We are a Team!
    • When we feel alone
    • The One Next Step
    • Trusting the Love that Stabilizes Us Through Every Storm
    • Triumph Over Appearance
    • The Joy of His Abundance
    • Express Gratitude
    • Numbering our Days
    • Expressions of His Love
    • The Breadth of His Provision
    • His Faithfulness Behind Every Challenge
    • He Stands at the Door of our Hearts
    • Your Tender Mercies Give Me Life
    • The Craftsmanship of His Workmanship in us
    • With You Wherever You Go
    • Listening to His Voice Amid the Physical Challenge of Shingles
    • A Refuge Better than People Pleasing
    • My Prayer in the Morning
    • They Will Not Prevail
    • When Things Don't Go My Way
    • How To Be a Refuge Like Him
    • A Very Present Help in Trouble
    • How to be a Refuge Like Him
    • Humble Yourselves Under the Mighty Hand of God
    • On Which Side Will We Dwell?
    • The Light That Shines on Our Challenges
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts Part 6
    • Plow My Thoughts
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts Part 5
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts Part 4
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts Part 3
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts Part 2
    • Rewriting our Negative Memories and Thoughts
    • Stand in Awe in the Midst of Depression
    • Patient Waiting in the Face of Challenge
    • Our Expectation and Refuge in the Face of Fear
    • His Way of Escape
    • Healing the Root of Fear pt 2
    • Healing the Root of Fear
    • Weeding Day
    • Another Aspect of Wash Day!
    • Wash Day!
    • The Cup of Blessing Which We Bless
    • Our Abba Father
    • Accepting the Gift and Passing it On
    • Accepting the Gift of His Training
    • Open Our Eyes to See
    • The Breath of Forgiveness Part 2
    • The Breath of Forgiveness
    • Living Each Moment for Him
    • Diamonds in the Night
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 7
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 6
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 3
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 3
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 2
    • His Word that Sustains us in Times of Weariness Part 1
    • Faithful in the Hour Part 1
    • Delight in His Delight
    • The Beauty of Brokenness Surrendered to Him
    • How to Never Give up Part 2
    • How to Never Give UP part 1
    • Whatever We Do Part 2
    • Whatever We Do
    • Resurrection Power At Work
    • Tested by the Word of God
    • Waiting on the LORD
    • My Dad Road Sign
    • The Amazing Privilege of Being Coached by the Most High God
    • Casting Both Circles of Care Upon Him
    • The Heart of Deliverance
    • Say Amen!
    • Amen
    • Trusting Where He Leads
    • Made Strong to Listen
    • This is Who I AM
    • The Mindset of Deliverance
    • Strongholds
    • Your Love Has Conquered My Resistance
    • Our Stability Amid These Times and Seasons of Change
    • Precious in the Sight part 2
    • Precious in the Sight of the Lord
    • His Battle
    • Looking to Him
    • Proving Him Holy
    • Rejoice in the Road
    • The Divine Ectetera
    • Waking up to Hope in God in the Present Moment
    • Hiding His Word in Our Heart
    • The Power of Acceptance
    • The Power of Listening From His Love
    • The Gift of Spiritual Eyesight (In Relationships)
    • The Gift of Spiritual Eyesight Part 2
    • The Gift of Spiritual Eyesight
    • The Past and Present Reality of Deliverance
    • Willing To Trust
    • Quieting the Noise So We Can Hear His Knock and Receive Feasting in Place of Empty Snacking
    • An Olive Tree in the House of God
    • Our Choice at Break of Day
    • From Accusation to Acclamation
    • The Pure Joy of What Is
    • Arise and Eat
    • Power Over the Pit
    • His Altar (The Dimensions of Love)
    • Living The Dimensions of Love
    • The Dimensions of Love
    • All My Springs are in You
    • Crucified with Christ--A Prayer
    • Psalm 22 on the Cross to the Ninth Hour
    • The Mind of Christ Revealed on the Cross Part 2
    • The Mind of Christ as Revealed on the Cross Part 1
    • Stop and Savor His View
    • The Final Hymn
    • The Keeping Power of the Father and the Son part 3
    • The Keeping Power of the Father and the Son part 2
    • Keeping the Power of the Father and the Son part 1
    • Father Glorify Thy Name
    • She Has Done What She Could
    • The Megaphone of God
    • Teach me to be an influence that honors You
    • Fill Me with Your Willingness and Skill
    • The Greatest Reality Amid any Overwelm
    • Seeing Something New
    • Trusting Him Anew
    • The Power of the Yoke of Jesus
    • How to be Humble
    • Building Faith to Prepare for Any Collision
    • Opening the Door of our Language to God
    • Safe in His Compassions
    • Who He Is in Every Experience
    • Continual Praise
    • Beside Still Waters
    • Faith and Hope in the Midst of Challenge
    • The Beauty of Flaw Wrapped in Perfection Revisited
    • Empowering Love
    • Discovering the Hidden Treasure
    • Thoroughly Known
    • Very Present Help
    • Not by Might
    • Under His Wings I Trust
    • Aiming at Eternity
    • What to Forget, What to Remember
    • Ready to Turn My Life Around for God
    • Triumph Over Circumstances--Don't Kill the Messenger
    • Waterlogged and Triumphant
    • Escape from Stress When We Don't Understand
    • Escape from Stress, Equipped with Hinds Feet
    • Surely the Lord is in the Place
    • Escape from Stress When We Fail part 2
    • Escaping from Stress When We Fail part 1
    • Escape From Stress When We don't Understand
    • From Stress to Peace Part 1
    • Step by Step Escape from Stress
    • Making Room to be Filled
    • Making Room to be Filled
    • The Power to Love When We Cannot
    • The Power to Love When We Cannot
    • Overcoming Illusion
    • The Blessing of Overwelm
    • Jesus is the Door
    • In Perfect Faithfulness
    • The Space to Choose
    • Discipline, Not Condemnation
    • Discipline, Not Condemnation
    • The Voice of our Risen Lord
    • Passover Perspectives: A Night of Watching
    • Passover Perspectives: The Protection of the Father in the Midst of the Cross
    • Passover Perspectives: The Deliverance that will Never Be Forgotten
    • Passover Perspectives: No Fear
    • Passover Perspective: The Far Reaching Power of His Sacrifice
    • Passover Perspectives: Living Unleavened
    • Passover Perspectives: Eating on the Run
    • Passover Perspectives: The Fires that Proved Him Faithful
    • Passover Perspectives: The Power of his Sacrifice
    • Passover Perspectives Exodus 12: The Keeping of the Lamb
    • Passover Perspectives: A collective celebration
    • Passover Perspectives: A New Beginning
    • A Prayer for God's Glory
    • Road Sign
    • The Beauty of Perfection
    • Every Hour
    • What will we put in the Relationship Box?
    • Discovering His Everlasting Love
    • His Timing and Strength in Every Phase of Life
    • Trusting Him in Every Valley
    • Trusting the One Who Pours the Cup
    • Smallest Beginning, Greatest Gift
    • Thoroughly Known, Thoroughly Pursued
    • Red Sea Rule #10
    • Red Sea Rule #9
    • Agreeing with God
    • Red Sear Rule #8
    • Red Sea Rule #7
    • Red Sea Rule #6
    • Red Sea Rule #5
    • Red Sea Rule 3 & 4
    • Red Sea Rules #2
    • Red Sea Rules--part 1
    • What Great Honor
    • What do you see?
    • The Power of a Living Faith
    • Awe for God in the Face of Fear
    • No Trial Will Ever Be Too Severe
    • The Work of the Gardener and the Architect
    • Wisdom Out of the Whirlwind
    • Hold On
    • Dwelling in Hope: The power of what we expect and believe
    • Conflict as a Call to Loving Action
    • Trusting His Infinite Wisdom
    • Emotion Management through The Power of Discretion
    • Do Not Delay; The Golden Moments Fly
    • Delight in the Lord
    • Loving New Part 2
    • Loving New
    • To Change the Paradigm
    • My Yoke is Easy, My Burden is Light
    • The Way of Escape
    • Equipped to Face Whatever Comes
    • Time to Trust part 3
    • Time to Trust part 2
    • A Time to Trust
    • Words of Wisdom
    • Wake Up New and See the Bigger Picture
    • Weeping and Finding
    • Resurrection Legacy
    • His Seamless Garment
    • Resurrection Legacy
    • Compelled by Love
    • Test of the Dream Part 3B
    • Test of the Dream --Part 3
    • Test of the Dream --Part 2
    • The Test of the Dream
    • The Love of God in Christ--part 2
    • The Love of God in Christ
    • Shedding Light on Discouragement
    • No More Re-Runs and No more Previews
    • No More Re-Runs
    • Triumph of Trust
    • With You Always, Day by Day
    • Triumph over Temptation
    • Step by Step
    • The Lord, My Confidence --part 2
    • The Lord, My Confidence--part 1
    • Seeking the Face of God and Christ
    • My Always Faithful God
    • The Answer to Overwhelm
    • Every Knee Shall Bow
    • Free to Experience the Intentions of God
    • Finding Bread at Midnight
    • Faithful Wounds
    • Battlefield Strategies
    • Take Time to Be Kind
    • Oh Magnify the Lord with Me by the Power of Thanksgiving
    • What do You Expect?
    • Unlikely Battlefield Strategies Part 2
    • The Miracle of Acceptance
    • Crisis Control
    • When Things Don't Go My Way
    • The Power of Pure Choice in Christ
    • Let the King of Glory In!
    • Whose Wall Do I Trust?
    • The Power of Thanksgiving
    • The Postures of Possiblities
    • If You Trust Me Let Go
    • Barefoot!
    • Holy Ground: Accepting the Mission
    • Holy ground: Facing the Fire
    • After the Battle
    • Accessable
    • Surrender in Awe and Wait in Joy
    • The Strength of our Spiritual Root System
    • Space to Trust
    • Full of Sap Part 3
    • Full of Sap Part 2
    • Full of Sap
    • The Mind of Mature Persistence part 3
    • The Mind of Mature Persistence part 2
    • Mind of Mature Persistance
    • Expect the Unexpected
    • Hearing Through the Ears of Jesus
    • Our Memorial Legacy: Keeping the Feast
    • Our Memorial Legacy
    • The Heart of the Father
    • The Cattle on a Thousand Hills
    • Patient with Process
    • He is Risen! Continue to Seek
    • Never Out-Numbered--Never Give Up!
    • Never Out-Numbered
    • Gathering Forces No Match For the Lord of the Harvest
    • The Power of Sanctified Choice – A Testimony
    • The Power of Sanctified Choice on the Cross
    • Jesus' Last Prayer part 8
    • Jesus' Last Prayer part 7
    • Jesus' Last Prayer part 6
    • Jesus' Last Prayer part 5
    • Jesus' Last Prayer part 4
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Mark Chapter 2


 
Mar 2:1  And again He entered into Capernaum after some days. And it was heard that He was in a house.
 
In Mark 1, Jesus spent a busy day in Capernaum, and then went on a preaching tour all around the cities of Galilee. Now he returns to the fishing town right on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Peter and his family lived.
 
In the house--Probably Jesus' own home (Matt. 4:13; 9:1), but possibly that of Peter and Andrew, though not likely. Dr. Schaff suggests that according to the Greek text this might read "at home," instead of "in the house."
 
 
 
Mar 2:2  And immediately many were gathered, so that none any longer had room, even to the door. And He proclaimed the Word to them.
 
Afterwards (chapter 2) He goes again into the city, and immediately the multitude gather together. What a living picture of the Lord's life of service! He preaches to them. This was His object and His service (see Mar_1:38). But again, in devoting Himself to the humble accomplishment of it as committed to Him, His service itself, His love
 
There was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door: Mar_1:28 says that after a dramatic rescue of a demon possessed man, immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. At this point in His ministry, Jesus attracted crowds wherever He went.
 
And He preached the word to them: Mark doesn’t tell us what Jesus preached, yet he still emphasizes the preaching ministry of Jesus as he did in Mar_1:28 and Mar_1:38-39.
i. “It is clear that he was avoiding the streets because they had been turned into a healing campaign. Everywhere he went people besieged him with requests for healing and the casting out of demons, so that he was unable to do what he had come to do primarily, which was to preach the Word.” (Steadman)
 
It is very blessed to behold the earnestness of the people in following JESUS. Luke saith, they pressed upon him to hear the word of GOD. Luk_5:1.
 
Are we as earnest to follow JESUS?
 
Are the public offices, and the gates of great men crowded with persons, and shall not you and I delight to be found waiting at the pardon office of JESUS?
 

Mar 2:3  Then they came to Him, bringing one who was paralyzed, who was carried by four.
 
Mar 2:4  When they could not come near to Him because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where He was. And digging through, they let down the cot on which the paralytic was lying.

 
 
Because of the crowded room, the friends of the paralyzed man had to lower him down through the roof - certainly, an unusual interruption to a sermon!
 
Uncovered the roof: The roof was usually accessible by means of an outside stairway, and was made of thatch, dirt or tile laid over beams. It could be taken apart, and the friends of the paralyzed man could lower their friend down to Jesus.
iii. Morgan on they uncovered the roof: “Such a rendering is entirely misleading. The force of the word is that they broke up the roof of the house, tearing up the fabric, in order to lower the man down on his pallet into the presence of Jesus.”
e. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying: This proved the determination and faith of friends of the paralytic. They counted on Jesus healing their friend, because it sure would be a lot harder to bring him back up through the roof than lowering him down. They counted on him walking out of there!
i. The friends of the paralytic loved him, and it is demonstrated because they brought him to Jesus.

• Do you have friends like that in your life?

• Do you act like that kind of a friend towards others?
 
 
Mar 2:5  And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, Child, your sins are forgiven to you.
 
 
When Jesus saw their faith: Jesus looked up at the four men struggling with crude ropes tied to each corner of the stretcher with a paralytic on it. He looked at them and saw their faith. Such implicit faith, manifested by such heroic effort, could not fail to be appreciated by the Redeemer.
 
a. Their faith could be seen. Their bold, determined action to bring their friend to Jesus proved they had real faith. Can it be said of us, that others can see our faith? There is something lacking in our faith if we keep it “all bottled up” and it can never be seen.

b. In this account, the emphasis is on the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man. We need to have faith for more than our own needs, but also have faith that Jesus can and will meet the needs of others whom we bring to Him.
 
Son, your sins are forgiven you: We can imagine how the friends on the roof felt. They went to a lot of trouble to see their friend healed of his paralysis, and now the teacher only wants to forgive his sins! We might imagine them shouting, “No, he’s paralyzed! We wanted him to walk, not to be forgiven!”

Yet, Jesus knew what the man’s real need was, and what his greatest need was. Whenever there is a problem, almost always, sin is the real problem. Jesus got right to the problem. Jesus did not mean that the paralyzed man was especially sinful, or that his paralysis was directly caused by sin. Instead, He addressed the man’s greatest need, and the common root of all pain and suffering - man’s sinful condition.
 
“Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs. It meets the greatest need; it costs the greatest price; and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results.” (Wiersbe)
 
Our Lord was not offended by the intrusion, doubtless remembering that all things work together for good to the Lord's people, who will accept them thus. Our Lord was not offended by the intrusion, doubtless remembering that all things work together for good to the Lord's people, who will accept them thus.
 
 
 
Mar 2:6  But some of the scribes were sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
 
Mar 2:7  Why does this one speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God only?

 
 
Who can forgive sins but God alone? The scribes use the right kind of logic. They correctly believe that only God can forgive sins, and they are even correct for examining this new teacher. Their error is in refusing to see who Jesus is: The Son of God, who was given the authority to forgive sins by the Father Himself.
 
They did not consider that if he were the Messiah he would possess the authority.
 
God never gave power to bishops, priests or ministers of any denomination to forgive sins; nor did Jesus give authority to the apostles to forgive sins. They might preach forgiveness, but only in his name.
 
“The words suggest a gradual intensification of the fault-finding mood: first a general sense of surprise, then a feeling of impropriety, then a final advance to the thought: why, this is blasphemy!” (Bruce)
 
Does this thought by the scribes prove that Jesus is God?
 
 
Mar 2:8  And instantly knowing in His spirit that they reasoned so within themselves, He said to them, Why do you reason these things in your heart?
 
In a stunning moment, these scribes knew Jesus could read their evil hearts. This should have helped persuade them that Jesus really was the Messiah, having power to forgive sins.
 
Why reason ye these things in your hearts — or, as in Matthew, (Mat_9:4) “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”
 
Note the snarl of the scribes.
‘Certain of the scribes,’ says Mark-not being much impressed by their dignity, which, as Luke (Luke 5:17) tells us, was considerable. He says that they were ‘Pharisees and doctors of the law . . . out of every village of Galilee and Judaea and Jerusalem itself, who had come on a formal errand of investigation. Their tempers would not be improved by the tearing up of the roof, nor sweetened by seeing the ‘popularity’ of this doubtful young Teacher, who showed that He had the secret, which they had not, of winning men’s hearts. Nobody came crowding to them, nor hung on their lips. Professional jealousy has often a great deal to do in helping zeal for truth to sniff out heresy.

The whispered cavillings are graphically represented. The scribes would not speak out, like men, and call on Jesus to defend His words. If they had been sure of their ground, they should have boldly charged Him with blasphemy; but perhaps they were half suspicious that He could show good cause for His speech. Perhaps they were afraid to oppose the tide of enthusiasm for Him. So they content themselves with comparing notes among themselves, and wait for Him to entangle Himself a little more in their nets. They affect to despise Him, ‘This man’ is spoken in contempt. If He were so poor a creature, why were they there, all the way from Jerusalem, some of them? They overdo their part. The short, snarling sentences of their muttered objections, as given in the Revised Version, may be taken as shared among three speakers, each bringing his quota of bitterness. One says, ‘Why doth He thus speak?’ Another curtly answers, ‘He blasphemeth’; while a third formally states the great truth on which they rest their indictment. Their principle is impregnable. Forgiveness is a divine prerogative, to be shared by none, to be grasped by none, without, in the act, diminishing God’s glory.

But whether He ‘blasphemeth’ or no depends on what the scribes do not stay to ask; namely, whether He has the right so to claim: and, if He has, it is they, not He, who are the blasphemers. We need not wonder that they recoiled from the right conclusion, which is-the Messiahship of Jesus. Their fault was not their jealousy for the divine honor, but their inattention to Christ’s evidence in support of His claims, which inattention had its roots in their moral condition, their self-sufficiency and absorption in trivialities of externalism.
.
When we reason within our hearts—are we more like the Pharisees or more like Jesus?
 
 
 
Mar 2:9  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and take up your cot and walk?
 
 
Which is easier: For men, both real forgiveness and the power to heal are impossible but for the Lord, both are easy. It is a logical assumption that if Jesus has the power to heal the man’s disease, He also has the authority to forgive his sins.
 
In a way, it was “harder” to heal the man than to forgive his sins, because forgiveness is invisible - no one could verify at that moment the man was forgiven before God. Yet it could be instantly verified whether or not the man could walk. Jesus is willing to put Himself to the test!
 
Jesus also met the scribes on their own scholarly ground. “The Rabbis had a saying, ‘There is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven him’ . . . to the Jews a sick man was a man with whom God was angry.” (Barclay)
 

 
Mar 2:10  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority upon earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic,
 
The Son of Man: Jesus often referred to Himself with this title. The idea is not of “perfect man” or “ideal man” or “common man,” but a reference to Dan_7:13-14, where the coming King of Glory, coming to judge the world, has the title Son of Man.
 
Jesus used this title often because in His day, it was a Messianic title free from political and nationalistic sentiment. Jesus could have more commonly referred to Himself as “King” or “Christ” but those titles, in the ears of His audience, sounded like “the One Who Will Defeat the Romans.”
 
The remarkable construction of the long sentence in Mar_2:10-11, which is almost verbally identical in the three Gospels, parenthesis and all, sets before us the suddenness of the turn from the scribes to the patient with dramatic force. Mark that our Lord claims ‘authority’ to forgive, the same word which had been twice in the people’s mouths in reference to His teaching and to His sway over demons. It implies not only power, but rightful power, and that authority which He wields as ‘Son of Man’ and ‘on earth.’ This is the first use of that title in Mark. It is Christ’s own designation of Himself, never found on other lips except the dying Stephen’s. It implies His Messianic office, and points back to Daniel’s great prophecy; but it also asserts His true manhood and His unique relation to humanity, as being Himself its sum and perfection-not a, but the Son of Man. Now the wonder which He would confirm by His miracle is that such a manhood, walking on earth, has lodged in it the divine prerogative. He who is the Son of Man must be something more than man, even the Son of God. His power to forgive is both derived and inherent, but, in either aspect, is entirely different from the human office of announcing God’s forgiveness.
 
For once, Christ seems to work a miracle in response to unbelief, rather than to faith. But the real occasion of it was not the cavils of the scribes, but the faith and need of the man and His friends; while the silencing of unbelief, and the enlightenment of honest doubt, were but collateral benefits
 
 
Mar 2:11  I say to you, Arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house.
 
Mar 2:12  And immediately he arose and took up his cot and went out before all. So that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw it this way.

 
 
Imagine the tension in this scene. The scribes are tense, because Jesus challenged them, and said He would demonstrate He was the Son of God. The paralyzed man was tense because he wondered if Jesus really would heal him. The crowd was tense because they sensed the tension of everyone else. The owner of the house is tense, because he wonders how much it will cost to repair his roof (We talked earlier on who’s house this may have been: either that of Peter or Jesus’ own house). And the four friends are tense, because they are getting tired by now. The only one not tense was Jesus, because He had perfect peace when He said, “arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” What happened? Immediately he arose. Jesus’ power to heal and authority to forgive sins was immediately vindicated.
 
  1. Imagine if Jesus had failed. His ministry would be shattered. The crowd slowly makes their way out of the house. The scribes smile and say, “He can’t heal or forgive.” The four men struggle to pull up the paralyzed man who looks more dejected and embarrassed than ever. The homeowner looks at his roof and thinks it was all for nothing.
 
  1. But Jesus did not, and could not fail, because all He needed to heal this man was His word. There is wonderful healing power in the word of Jesus, in the promises of Jesus, for those who come to Him in faith. This man came to Jesus in faith, even if it was the “borrowed” faith of his friends.
 
 Took up his bed: Why did the man go to the trouble of carrying his bed out of there? He had four friends who would gladly carry it, and it might have been easier to pull it back up out of the roof than carry it through the crowded room. But Jesus told him, take up your bed and go to your house, and that is exactly what the man did. 
All were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Jesus carried the day, and the people were amazed to see the power of God in action.
  1. “The experts in the law were hoist with their own petard (thrown by their own explosive). On their own stated beliefs the man could not be cured, unless he was forgiven. He was cured, therefore he was forgiven. Therefore Jesus’ claim to forgive sin must be true.” (Barclay)
 
Our Lord healed the sick to foreshadow the great work of his Millennial reign, to attract attention and establish his authority as a teacher, and to manifest his love and sympathy.
 
 
Which is the greater power, to work miracles upon the natural body or to work a miracle of grace in the heart?


 
Mar 2:13  And He went out again by the seaside. And all the crowd came to Him, and He taught them.
 
The tense of the Greek would seem to indicate that our Lord kept going by the seashore, stopping here and there to discourse to the people, multitudes of whom flocked to hear him.
 
JESUS loved the open air. His custom when teaching was to point to the sower, the lily, and the bird. He is no pale recluse emerging from a library to instruct, in the dim religious light of cloisters, a world unknown except by books. Accordingly we find Him "again by the seaside." And however the scribes and Pharisees may have continued to murmur, the multitudes resorted to Him, confiding in the evidence of their experience, which never saw it on this fashion.
 
Jesus fulfills the focus of His ministry as described in Mar_1:38 : Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth. Jesus knew how to stay on focus.
 
If we are to be Christ-like—does that mean that we should take every opportunity to speak the Word of God?
 
 
Mar 2:14  And as He passed on, He saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the tax-office. And He said to him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him.
 
Levi (also known as Matthew in Matt. 9:9 Matthew signifies "the gift of God.") was a tax collector. In that day, tax collectors were despised as traitors and extortioners. He belonged to the Levitical tribe, but his service as a Roman tax collector socially degraded him and classed him as a "publican."
 
i. The Jewish people rightly considered them traitors because they worked for the Roman government, and had the force of Roman soldiers behind them to make people pay taxes. They were the most visible Jewish collaborators with Rome.
ii. The Jewish people rightly considered them extortioners because they could keep whatever they over-collected. A tax collector bid among others for the tax collecting “contract.” For example, many tax collectors might want to have the “tax contract” for a city like Capernaum. The Romans awarded the contract to the highest bidder. The man collected taxes, paid the Romans what he promised, and kept the remainder. Therefore, there was a lot of incentive for tax collectors to over-charge and cheat any way they could. It was pure profit for them.
 
  1. “When a Jew entered the customs service he was regarded as an outcast from society: he was disqualified as a judge or a witness in a court session, was excommunicated from the synagogue, and in the eyes of the community his disgrace extended to his family.” (Lane)
 
c. And He said to him, “Follow Me”: Understanding how almost everyone hated tax collectors, it is remarkable to see how Jesus loves, and calls, Levi. And it was a well-placed love; Levi responded to Jesus’ invitation by leaving his tax collecting business and following Jesus.
 
i. In one way, this was more than a sacrifice than some of the other disciples made. Peter, James, and John could more easily go back to their fishing business, but it would be hard for Levi to go back to tax collecting. “Tax collector jobs were greatly sought after as a sure way to get rich quickly.” (Wessel)
 
  1. There is archaeological evidence that fish taken from the Sea of Galilee were taxed. So Jesus took as His disciple the taxman that may have been taking money from Peter, James, and John and the other fishermen among the disciples. This might have made for some awkward introductions!
 
What lessons can we take home from these comments?
 
How would we react if someone we though of as a reprobate became a brother in Christ?

 
Mar 2:15  And it happened as Jesus reclined in his house, many tax-collectors and sinners also reclined with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many, and they followed Him.
 
This took place probably several weeks after Levi’s (Matthew) call. As a man of influence, he immediately set about to use his influence in drawing others to the Savior. So today, each should seek to exert his influence where it is greatest, up on his acquaintances, upon whom either his past honesty or good character should have an influence, or else those to whom his radical change of life would be most manifest.
 
Most people consider this a “going-away” party Levi threw for his friends upon leaving the tax collecting business. Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners, and eating at the same table with people was a sign of friendship and relationship.
 
Here lies the scandal: Jesus is the friend of sinners! Of course, the sinners knew this, and responded to Jesus’ love and friendship: for there were many, and they followed Him.

Publicans (tax collectors) and sinners: Publicans -- A term applied in Jesus' day to Jews who served the Roman government as tax collectors in Palestine. Counted unpatriotic, disloyal to their own nation, in that they accepted the service of an alien government, and made use of their knowledge of their country and people in assisting to collect revenues deemed unjust. And sinners -- Jews who were careless in respect to the orthodoxy of their day; non-religious, not necessarily evil-doers.
 
Do your friends know you are a Christian?
 
Do you invite Christ into your relationship with your friends?
 
 
 
Mar 2:16  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with tax-collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, How is it that He eats and drinks with tax-collectors and sinners?
 
 
The Pharisees objected to Jesus keeping company with sinners. The Pharisees were a respected conservative religious group, but were often at odds with Jesus. The name Pharisee meant “separated ones.” They separated themselves from everything they thought was unholy, and they thought everyone except themselves was separated from the love of God.
 
How is it -- Jesus looked not upon the outward appearance, but the heart. He did not love the publicans because they were sinners, nor disapprove of the Pharisees because they outwardly kept God's Law
 
Eateth and drinketh with -- Not objecting that he taught the publicans and sinners, but that he ate with them, implying a social equality. But the Pharisees would tolerate and eat with the Sadducees, although the latter were practically unbelievers, because they were of the wealthier and therefore more respectable class.
 
Ostracized, not because they were wicked, but because their business was disesteemed, thus forcing them to have most of their social intercourse with the non-religious, by way of contrast called "sinners." Styled "sinners" by the Pharisees because less particular in form, regardless of their having true moral status.
 
 
Do you look down on the ministry of others, because it is not the way that you would do it?
 
Do you look down on people because they are not in your social circle?
 
 
Mar 2:17  When Jesus heard, He said to them, They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who have illness. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
 
(David Guzik) Those who are well have no need of physician: Jesus’ answer is both simple and profound. Jesus was the physician of the soul, and it makes sense for Him to be with those who are “sick” with sin.

i. Of course His critics were “sick” with sin also, but they didn’t know it, refusing to see their own sickness.

ii. If you are sick and need to go to the doctor, why wouldn’t you go?

• Perhaps you don’t know that you are sick.
• Perhaps you know you are sick, but you think you will get better on your own - you don’t know that you need to go the doctor.
• Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, but do not know there is a doctor to help you.
• Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, but do not know the doctor can help you.
• Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, and know the doctor can help you, but do not know the doctor wants to help you.
• Perhaps you know you are sick, and know you need a doctor, and know there is a doctor, and know the doctor can help you, and know the doctor wants to help you, but you know what the doctor will tell you to do and you just don’t want to do it.

iii. Jesus is the perfect doctor to heal us of our sin.
• He is always available.
• He always makes a perfect diagnosis.
• He provides a complete cure.
• He even pays the bill!
 
 
 
Mar 2:18  The disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting. And they came and said to Him, Why do John's disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?

 
The Pharisees were well known for fasting twice a week (Luk_18:12), and it made sense for the disciples of John to fast, because his ministry stressed repentance. Why didn’t Jesus and His disciples do the same as these other “spiritual men”?
a. God is not against fasting; He is for fasting. But fasting has its time and place in the Christian life. Most of us have no time or no place for fasting, and so we are out of balance. These questioners came from the other side.

b. Some people misuse good gifts like fasting, and make them into self-punishing rituals. Often some will try to make following God a dour thing of self-affliction. In pre-Reformation Germany, there were as many as 161 days a year when pious Christians were expected to either fast or abstain from certain foods.
 
 
Mar 2:19  And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
 
By using the figure of a wedding (the bridegroom), Jesus draws on a powerful picture among the Jews. During the weeklong wedding celebration, rabbis declared that joy was more important than observing religious rituals.
 
Rabbis known in the days of Jesus declared that if the observance of any law came in the way of having a good time during a wedding, you didn’t have to keep the law. You could just go and have a good time. “Marriage feasts were times of extraordinary festivity, and even of riot, among several people of the east.” (Clarke)
 
Jesus’ message is bold and clear: “I’m not like the Pharisees or John the Baptist. I am the Messiah, the bridegroom to the people of God. Wherever I am, it is appropriate to have the joy we associate with weddings.”
 
THE Pharisees had just complained to the disciples that Jesus ate and drank in questionable company. Now they join with the followers of John the Baptist in complaining to Jesus that His disciples eat and drink at improper seasons, when others fast. And as Jesus had then replied, that being a Physician, He was naturally found among the sick, so He now answered, that being the Bridegroom, fasting in His presence is impossible: "Can the sons of the bride chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them?" A new spirit is working in Christianity, far too mightily to be restrained by ancient usages; if the new wine be put into such wineskins it will spoil them, and itself be lost.

Hereupon three remarkable subjects call for attention: the immense personal claim advanced; the view which Christ takes of fasting; and, arising out of this, the principle which He applies to all external rites and ceremonies.

Jesus does not inquire whether the fasts of other men were unreasonable or not. In any case, He declares that His mere presence put everything on a new footing for His followers who could not fast simply because He was by. Thus He assumes a function high above that of any prophet or teacher: He not only reveals duty, as a lamp casts light upon the compass by which men steer; but He modifies duty itself, as iron deflects the needle.

This is because He is the Bridegroom.

The Disciples of John would hereupon recall his words of self-effacement; that he was only the friend of the Bridegroom, whose fullest joy was to hear the Bridegroom’s exultant voice.

John regards the Bride as the wife of the Lamb (Rev_21:9). St. Paul would fain present his Corinthian Church as a pure virgin to Christ, as to one husband (2Co_11:2). For him, the absolute oneness of marriage is a mystery of the union betwixt Christ and His Church (Eph_5:32).
 
They would have plenty of opportunity to weep and fast after he would be gone.
 
 
Mar 2:20  But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days.
 
The days will come . . . they will fast in those days: Jesus knew His physical, immediate presence would not always be with the disciples. When He was physically gone, it would be more appropriate to fast - but not now.
 
Shall be taken -- Causing an abundance of perplexity and sorrow, then fasting would be in order. Fasting is not obligatory, but a voluntary sacrifice of present and temporal good things that the mind and heart might go out more earnestly after the things not yet seen, but hoped for.
 
taken away:The same word is used by each of the Gospel writers, and implies a violent termination of His life.
 
In those days - Many of the best MSS. and versions read, “in that day;” that is the day in which Jesus Christ should be delivered up to the Jews and Gentiles.
 
This is the first open allusion recorded by St Mark, though probably little understood at the time, to the death, which was so soon to separate Him from His disciples.
 
 
 
Mar 2:21  And no one sews a patch of new cloth on an old garment, else it takes away from its fullness, the new from the old, and a worse tear occurs.
 
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment: The danger of trying to put something new on something old is clear in the illustration of a garment and its patch. But the same principle was true for wineskins. A wineskin would expand under the pressure of fermentation, so if you put new, unfermented wine in an old, brittle wineskin, it was sure to burst.
 
These two parables illustrate that before the blessing could come to natural Israel, spiritual Israel must be selected.


A piece of new -- Unshrunken. Cloth -- The fuller light of truth due at the first and second advents of the Lord.
The imputed righteousness according to faith, based upon the merits of Christ's own sacrifice for sin.

On an old garment -- An old sect or organization. The Jewish system and arrangement. The impossible (absolute) righteousness required by the Law.

The Gospel teaching is not a patch upon the Jewish Law, but is a new proposition.

To combine Christianity with Judaism would have been disastrous to both--the one demanding absoluteness of righteousness; the other demanding acknowledgment of the impossibility of personal righteousness.
 
Do you try to put a patch on your old way of thinking? Or do you surrender completely to the Word of God?
 
 
 
Mar 2:22  No one puts new wine into old wineskins, else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine spills, and the wineskins will be ruined. The new wine must be put into new wineskins.
 
New wine must be put into new wineskins: Jesus’ point was made clear by these examples. You can’t fit His new life into the old forms. Jesus traded fasting for feasting; sackcloth and ashes for a robe of righteousness; a spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise; mourning for joy; law for grace.
i. Through the centuries, old rigid forms could rarely contain the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the generations, God often looks for new wineskins because the old ones won’t stretch any further.
ii. The religious establishment of any age is not necessarily pleasing to Jesus. Sometimes it is in direct opposition to, or at least resisting His work.
 
Jesus came to introduce something new, not to patch up something old. This is what salvation is all about. In doing this, Jesus doesn’t destroy the old (the law), but He fulfills it, just as an acorn is fulfilled when it grows into an oak tree. There is a sense in which the acorn is gone, but its purpose is fulfilled in greatness.
 
Are you in a church or fellowship which is like the ways of the scribes and pharisees? Are you trying to reform it? To put a new patch on old cloth or new wine into old skins?
 
 
Mar 2:23  And it happened that He went through the grainfields on the sabbath day. And as they walked His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.
 
His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain: There was nothing wrong with what they did, because their gleaning was not considered stealing according to Deu_23:25. The issue was only the day on which they did it. The Rabbis made an elaborate list of “do” and “don’t” items relevant to the Sabbath, and this violated one of the items on this list.
 
When the disciples began to pluck the heads of grain, in the eyes of the religious leaders they were guilty of:
• Reaping.
• Threshing.
• Winnowing.
• Preparing food.
Four violations of the Sabbath in one mouthful!
 
At this time, Rabbis filled Judaism with elaborate rituals related to the Sabbath and observance of other laws. Ancient Rabbis taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his right hand or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder. But you could carry something with the back of your hand, with your foot, with your elbow, or in your ear, your hair, or in the hem of your shirt, or in your shoe or sandal. Or, on the Sabbath, you were forbidden to tie a knot - except a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, you could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket!
 
Are you guilty of adding to the Word of God and making all sorts of rules and regulations that others have to follow?
Are you in a fellowship that does this? It might be time to leave!
 
 
Mar 2:24  And the Pharisees said to Him, Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the sabbath day?
 
 
Jesus never violated God’s command to observe the Sabbath, or approved of His disciples violating God’s command to observe the Sabbath. But He often broke man’s legalistic additions to that law, and He sometimes seems to have deliberately broken them.

The Law of course forbade reaping and threshing on that day, but the Rabbis tad decided that even to pluck corn was to be construed as reaping, and to rub it as threshing. They even forbad walking on grass as a species of threshing, and would not allow so much as a fruit to be plucked from a tree on that day.
 
That which is not lawful - That is, that which they esteemed to be unlawful on the “Sabbath day.” It was made lawful by Moses, without any distinction of days, but “they” had denied its lawfulness on the Sabbath. Christ shows them from their own law that it was “not” unlawful.
 
TWICE in succession Christ had now asserted the freedom of the soul against His Jewish antagonists. He was free to eat with sinners, for their good, and His followers were free to disregard fasts, because the Bridegroom was with them. A third attack in the same series is prepared. The Pharisees now take stronger ground, since the law itself enforced the obligation of the Sabbath. Here they felt sure of their position; and when they found the disciples, in a cornfield where the long stems had closed over the path, "making a way," which was surely forbidden labor, and this by "plucking the ears," which was reaping, and then rubbing these in their hands to reject the chaff, which was winnowing, they cried out in affected horror, Behold, why do they that which is not lawful? To them it mattered nothing that the disciples really hungered, and that abstinence, rather than the slight exertion which they condemned, would cause real inconvenience and unrest.
 
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees!
 
 
Mar 2:25  And He said to them, Have you never read what David did, when he had need and was hungry, he, and those with him?
 
Mar 2:26  How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave to those with him?

 
 
In referring to David’s use of the “holy bread” in 1Sa_21:1-6, Jesus shows an important principle - human need is more important than religious ritual. The Sabbath was meant to serve man (the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath).

i. This is exactly what many people, steeped in tradition, simply cannot accept: that what God really wants is mercy before sacrifice (Hos_6:6); that love to others is more important than religious rituals (Isa_58:1-9); that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart; these, O God, You will not despise (Psa_51:17).

ii. “God prohibited work on the Sabbath day, lest servants should be oppressed by their masters, that the labouring beasts might have necessary rest, and that men might have proper opportunity to attend upon his ordinances.”
  1. “Any application of the Sabbath Law which operates to the detriment of man is out of harmony with God’s purpose.” (Morgan)
 
 
David and his followers, when at extremity, had eaten the shewbread which it was not lawful for them to eat. It is a striking assertion. We should probably have sought a softer phrase. We should have said that in other circumstances it would have been unlawful, that only necessity made it lawful; we should have refused to look straight in the face the naked ugly fact that David broke the law. But Jesus was not afraid of any fact. He saw and declared that the priests in the Temple itself profaned the Sabbath when they baked the shewbread and when they circumcised children. They were blameless, not because the Fourth Commandment remained inviolate, but because circumstances made it right for them to profane the Sabbath. And His disciples were blameless also, upon the same principle, that the larger obligation overruled the lesser, that all ceremonial observance gave way to human need, that mercy is a better thing than sacrifice.

And thus it appeared that the objectors were themselves the transgressors; they had condemned the guiltless.
A little reflection will show that our Lord’s bold method, His startling admission that David and the priests alike did that which was not lawful, is much more truly reverential than our soft modern compromises, our shifty device for persuading ourselves that in various permissible and even necessary deviation from prescribed observances, there is no real infraction of any law whatever.
 
 
Mar 2:27  And He said to them, The sabbath came into being for man's sake, and not man for the sabbath's sake.
 
Mar 2:28  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the sabbath.

 
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath: The second principle is even more dramatic - Jesus declares that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. If He, the very Lord of the Sabbath, was not offended by His disciple’s actions, then these sideline critics should not have been either.
 
Do we make it our mission to find fault with others?
 
Are we so busy pointing out what we perceive to be other’s errors that we don’t see that we have a problem with our heart?
 
When we perceive that something is against God’s Word, do we go to God’s Word and search for the truth of the matter? Or just rely on what we think or what others think?
 
 
 
Commentaries used for this study: David Guzik, Charles Russell, The Expositor’s Bible, Adam Clarke, Albert Barnes, E.W. Bullinger and more.
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