Mark 2:18-3:6 (NKJV)

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for theSabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Poetry 

“1985, V”
by Wendell Berry
From A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997, Counterpoint Press

How long does it take to make the woods?
As long as it takes to make the world.
The woods is present as the world is, the presence
of all its past and of all its time to come.
It is always finished, it is always being made, the act
of its making forever greater than the act of its destruction.
It is a part of eternity for its end and beginning
belong to the end and beginning of all things,
the beginning lost in the end, the end in the beginning.

What is the way to the woods, how do you go there?
By climbing up through the six days' field,
kept in all the body's years, the body's
sorrow, weariness, and joy. By passing through
the narrow gate on the far side of that field
where the pasture grass of the body's life gives way
to the high, original standing of the trees.
By coming into the shadow, the shadow
of the grace of the strait way's ending,
the shadow of the mercy of light.

Why must the gate be narrow?
Because you cannot pass beyond it burdened.
To come into the woods you must leave behind
the six days' world, all of it, all of its plans and hopes.
You must come without weapon or tool, alone,
expecting nothing, remembering nothing,
into the ease of sight, the brotherhood of eye and leaf.

Who is This Man: Undiminished by Religious Expectations

As a chaplain, it is not uncommon for me to visit those who are in the hospital. I had been called by a family to come visit them and they shared with me news that was medically devastating. They explained to me that in their religious practice illness, sadness, and suffering were experienced only as outward signs of their god’s displeasure and judgment. I had been invited that day because they had done all the right things to appease their god and illness still found them. There were many tears and a spokesman for the family whispered, “we asked you here because we have noticed that your God is not diminished by sickness.”

A God undiminished is also the image shared in Mark 2 and 3. The religious men at the time are quick to notice, judge, and question Jesus’ behavior. They comment upon lack of adherence to their understanding of religious piety. Their expectations lead them to the conclusion that goodness, holiness, and righteousness must be absent. Liz Swindle paints their faces squinting to gain understanding of behaviors and control over their own righteousness. Their own religious expectations blinding them from seeing God Himself in human form in front of them.

Like the Pharisees, our own expectations of outcomes and right behavior can blind us to God Himself. A quest for pleasing God is not bad, unless our expectations of what pleases God detracts from God Himself and our need for a Messiah.

Undiminished. Jesus is not merely declaring His Messianic nature in His response to religious leaders. Jesus is making a declaration that He alone is “Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark emphasizes that it is God Himself that defines what true obedience and mercy look like—not merely adherence to external expectations.

In his poem, Wendell Berry paints a picture of God’s heart by describing a path through a field leading to a grove of trees. He describes the walk as one marked by “Sorrows, weariness, and joy.” His image of life’s journey is not limited by expected results of obedience but instead includes all ranges of emotions and experiences and is defined by God’s “shadow of grace” and calling to an unburdened life in God that is free from what is expected as God himself removes our burden.

The family spokesman continued, “A God undiminished is more powerful in suffering than a god controlled by it.” The image of the withered hand in Mark and the coinciding Sabbath day expectations did not diminish God’s response. In the hospital the illness before me did not diminish the truth that God spoke through this family and their suffering. We serve an undiminished God.

Prayer

Dear God, let us not diminish You through our expectations, but embrace You as Messiah in the unexpected. Increase our faith in who You are and let our religious structures, rhythms, and obedience draw us toward Your Lordship.

Amie Cross, M.Div.
Chaplain and Missionary
Alumna of Torrey Honors College
Biola University

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