This week's Bible Study - September 13, 2009
The People Jesus Knows
 Background Scripture:
Mark 2:1-17,23-28
Quote of the Week:
“Some people are like Slinkies - not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.”
-- Source Unknown
This lesson continues a series of lessons about who Jesus really is. In the previous lesson, we learned a bit about the Jesus that people should know. In this lesson, we begin to learn about the people that Jesus knows.
There are people that are outside the church that think that Christ only knows and cares about people in the church. (Admittedly, there are people in the church that seem to think the same thing!) Non church people are either indifferent to what goes on inside of church or merely think that it is only for the "privileged" few. If they could only see that Jesus knew the needs of people and cared about them, their perspective may actually change. Too often we believers portray that Christ only cares about what happens inside the walls of the church when we should be sharing the love of Christ to those outside the church.
As we look at this lesson, we see a few different groups of people that Jesus knew. Perhaps it will make you think about the others that you see in your daily travels, and give you a realization of how much Jesus cares for people. It may also make you think about yourself, in some ways, as you see the views of the Pharisees. We need to not get so caught up in the way we think things should be, according to us.
Wherever Jesus went, people followed. It is amazing to think of how many people seemed to follow Jesus. During his ministry, they were able to see many miracles and to hear authoritative teaching. Even today, such a person would have quite a following. Jesus took every opportunity to preach the word to them. In that day, just as today, there were many people with needs.
This passage speaks of four friends who had another friend that was a paralytic. They saw that their friend had a physical need and they could only hope that they could do something to help. It took four of them to transport their friend to Jesus and they had to be creative in the method they chose to actually reach Jesus. They wanted to get their friend to Christ, but the crowds were too dense. So, they went on top of the house and made an opening in the roof about Jesus. They lowered the man into the room. Jesus saw their faith, and told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
Often times, it helps for us to team with others in getting others to Christ. Do you share the needs of others around you with other believers, and are you willing to pray for and help in any way that you can? A lot of believers do see the needs around them - both physical and spiritual. They may truly care and desire to make a difference, but when we can share those needs with others, we have the potential to really make a difference.
In the crowd, there were teachers of the law that were thinking that Jesus was blasphemous - he was comparing himself to God, who alone can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them why they were thinking such things. Jesus asked them if it was easier to forgive sins or to make the paralytic to walk. To show that he had power over both, he healed the paralytic. The man got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. They were all amazed and praising God, except for the religious leaders and perhaps the owner of the house who wondered who would fix his roof!
As Jesus continued to walk beside the lake, he continued teaching the masses of people who followed him. It would be interesting to see how large groups of people followed Jesus, hearing him speak and being able to see him perform his miracles. Along the way, Jesus passed by a tax collector's booth. Most of the Jewish people did not care for the tax collectors, as they actually seemed to be working against the Jewish people collecting their money. They were widely known for fraudulent behavior and for making a profit on what they were supposed to be collecting. I'm sure people walked past the tax collector's booth often and didn't take notice. There are people that we walk past each day and to whom we pay little attention. They just blend into the surroundings.
Jesus noticed Levi, sitting at the tax collector's booth. It is amazing that Jesus noticed people specifically as he walked. In large crowds, it is easy to see the crowd as a mass of humanity. In the middle of teaching the crowds, he took time to tell Levi to follow him, so Levi got up and followed. Can you imagine the response of the crowd that Jesus would single out a hated tax collector and ask him to follow? Jesus could see more than others could see. In the eyes of the crowd and especially in the eyes of the religious leaders, Levi was a traitor and a low life. Jesus saw something else when he looked at Levi.
Jesus went to Levi's house for dinner. Levi also invited his friends, including fellow tax collectors (they had to stick together) and other "sinners". Jesus and his disciples ate with Levi and his friends. The Pharisees saw Jesus associating with this crowd, so they asked the disciples why Jesus would eat with the tax collectors and sinners. Again, Jesus heard their questions and said that it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Jesus didn't come for people who thought they were righteous, but for those who saw their need.
On one Sabbath Jesus was walking through the wheat fields and as he was walking along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees, the self appointed religious watchdog organization, saw this and commented on their doing what was unlawful on the Sabbath. Sometimes we are like the Pharisees, in deciding what we consider to be right and wrong and pushing those ideas on others. Granted, there are things that are black and white, but when we push our legalistic tendencies on others, we have missed the picture.
Regarding the Sabbath (originally Saturday, but believers celebrate this on Sunday, due to the day of the risen Lord), most of us have little issues with what happens these days. That has changed over the years. In many places, there used to be a Blue Law in effect on Sundays that kept retail businesses closed, with the exception of most restaurants and gas stations. As it is now, there are very few retail stores that are closed on Sunday. Chic-Fil-A is a restaurant that is closed on Sundays, and in St Louis, there is an appliance store, Goedekers, that is closed on Sundays. These stances are appreciated by many, but I have been among the crowd that was disappointed at not being able to eat at Chic-Fil-A on a Sunday. But, even in the most rigorous of days when Sundays were kept very special, I can never recall anybody getting upset about something as small as picking heads of grain.
Jesus answered the Pharisees and asked if they had not heard of what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need. David entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread which was only lawful for priests to eat. He also gave some to his companions. This was much more of a grievous offense than picking heads of grain. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not the man made for the Sabbath. Jesus saw that needs of people overrode the legalistic rules that people created. It would seem that Jesus was systematically dismantling the things that the Pharisees saw as most important.
Closing
In each of the passages, it was evident that Jesus knew the religious elite and it was also evident that they cared more for their 'processes' and less for what Jesus was doing to fulfill the prophecy that they knew. Religious people are one group that Jesus knows, but when they are more focused on the religion and less on other people, Jesus is displeased. He was then, and he is now. Are we sometimes like their leaders, who look and question what Jesus does in the lives of others around us?
In the first passage, we read about four friends who brought their paralytic friend to Christ. Jesus healed him physically and spiritually. Jesus saw how they cared for their friend, which undoubtedly heightened their friend's chances in being healed. Do we care for others who have needs and are we willing to join others in praying for those needs, as well as tangibly helping them?
In the second passage, we saw that Jesus associated with sinners and the 'low-lifes' of society. As believers, we tend to what to 'sanitize' our lives and the lives of our families, so that they do not have to associate with potentially bad influences. There are many reasons why we may desire to do so, but when we only associate with other believers, our influence is limited. Jesus knew people that needed to come to know him. Do we know others that are in need of Christ? You don't have to become steeped in sin to know these people, but you will sometimes have to go out of your comfort zone. Are you willing to take your Jesus to these people?
While Jesus didn't come to take away the Law, he came to show that the needs of people are more important many facets of the Law. Yes, it is important to remember the Sabbath and treat it in a special way, but needs of people came first. The Law really shows that, on our own, we all fall short of God's plan for our lives. The only we find peace with God is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. We should always strive to live in accordance with God's intended plan for us, but we are truly kept by Jesus Christ. Those who trust in him, these are the people that Jesus knows.
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