-Sheri (member, the epic blog team)
As an avid sports fan, the thing that hooks me the most, is when a player comes along (in any sport) and changes the game as we know it. Usain Bolt awakened the olympic world to the fact that a gigantic 6'5" human could shatter the world record in the 100m sprint. Shaquille O'Neil forever changed the role of a dominant basketball center. Lance Armstrong dominated the cycling scene by winning an unprecedented 7 consecutive Tour de France victories. There is something about game-changing greatness that we as humans are just wired to be in awe of. And that's the way I feel as we move along through Jesus' earthly ministry as laid out in the Gospel of Mark.
This past Sunday, we continued in our study of the Gospel of Mark. And we spent the night unpacking Mark 2:18 - 3:6, where Jesus epitomizes our series title, "This Changes Everything". We already saw in Chapters 1 and 2, Jesus' breaking of the social and religious norm by healing the leper and by hanging out with Levi, the tax collector. And beginning in v18, Jesus deliberately and divinely goes right after the Pharisaic religious structure that so dominated the NT world at the time. But in order to fully understand the passage (and most of the Bible for that matter), we must get a good handle on the Law of God.
What is the Law of God?
The Law is the set of rules and regulations that were to govern the lives of God's chosen people (Israel). The Law is laid out in the first 5 books of the Old Testament. It can be summarized in the all too familiar 10 Commandments listed in Exodus 20. The 10 Commandments can be further summarized in Matthew 22:36-40 where Jesus explains to the expert in the Law that the 2 greatest commands are to "Love the Lord your God" and to "Love your neighbor".
What was the purpose of the Law?
There are many reasons why God gave His people the Law (ie. Separation from other nations, preservation, systematic orderly government, etc). But the ultimate over-arching purposes of the Law was to be a written reflection of the full character of God Himself. This was to be a standard of perfection to show man that they could not live up to it on their own. It was to act as a mirror in which man could see their true sinful state and that the need for a savior was absolutely necessary for salvation.
Fence/Hedge around the Law
Despite God's desire for the Law to show man their true fallen nature, the Pharisees instead treated the Law as a means of earning salvation by upholding it. And to make sure that they were keeping the Law, they also created hundreds of other supplemental laws ("a fence around the Law") that the Jews were required to keep. The more you restricted and deprived yourself, the "holier" you were.
Jesus the game-changer
In Mark 2:18 -3:6, we see 3 instances where Jesus purposefully attacks the heart of this Pharisaic religious system. Once He violates the religious rules on Fasting, and twice He violates the Sabbath laws. And in each of the three events, we see Jesus making two bold statements:
(1) On a surface-level, the religious rules of the Pharisees were contradictory, ridiculous and out-of-touch with reality (2:19, 2:25-26, and 3:4).
(2) On a deeper level, the religious rules of the Pharisees do not apply when Jesus was physically in their midst (2:20, 2:28 and 3:5).
And here is the key to our understanding of the Law of God: If the Law is the full expression of the character of God, and Jesus is the full manifestation of God in human flesh (John 1:14), then Jesus IS the human manifestation of the Law! As Matthew 5:17 says, He didn't come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it! He didn't come to do away with the Law, but to usher in a new way, and the only way in which sinful people can live up to it!
Meaning this...when you become a believer, and receive Jesus into your heart, your life becomes intertwined with the only One who has ever fulfilled the Law! Your life becomes indwelt by the Law incarnate! Then and only then can a sinful human live up to the Law. Salvation can only come through grace by faith in Jesus Christ who lives in you, and not by any human attempt to uphold a set of external religious laws and rules. Righteousness must come from the INSIDE-OUT...not OUTSIDE-IN!
What does this mean for the college students of EPIC?
As professing believers, we need to call into question our motives for the things we do as "Christians". Why do we go to church every Sunday? Why do we read our Bibles? Why do we sing songs and give offering? Why do we help others? And if our answer has anything to do with earning favor from God...then we are building religious fences just like Pharisees! We are putting new wine in old wineskins. We are putting a new patch on an old pair of ripped jeans (Mark 2:21-22).
Students, our answer for why we live out the Christian life with obedience needs to be because we love Jesus Christ more than anything in this world. And since He IS the LAW incarnate, obeying the Law should be the desire and longing of our hearts...naturally!
"This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome"
1 John 5:3
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