Yesus Kristus Ialah Tuhan Atas Hari Sabat (Matius 12:1-8)

Sabat asalnya daripada Kejadian 2:1-3 dimana selepas TUHAN Allah mencipta langit dan bumi serta segala isinya, pada hari ketujuh, Dia "beristirahat daripada segala pekerjaan yang telah dibuat-Nya." Hanya pada Keluaran 20:8-11, hari Sabat menjadi salah satu hukum (hukum ke-4) bagi orang Israel sebagai suatu bangsa. Allah telah berpesan kepada mereka bahawa akan ada tindakan keras dilakukan kepada sesiapa yang melanggarnya.

Apabila orang Farisi melihat para murid Yesus memetik bulir gandum dan memakannya, mereka mengadu kepada Yesus, "Lihatlah, murid-Mu melakukan sesuatu yang dilarang pada hari Sabat!" (Matius 12:2). Benarkah mereka melanggar hukum Sabat? Jika YA, adakah Yesus anti-Hukum-Taurat? Jika TIDAK, jadi, kenapa mereka membuat tuduhan itu? 😊📖⚡ #ServeToLead #InjilMatius

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus on Holiness and Sin and Our Traditions (Mark 7:1-23)

“So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’ He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions’”
(Mark 7:5-8, NIV).

Ever since God said, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2), His people have busied themselves writing lists of rules, regulations and codes of behaviour to enforce holiness in each other’s daily lives. By the time of Jesus, the Jews had a total of 613 specific “tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:3) which had been passed on from generation to generation since Moses. These were not Old Testament laws given and inspired by God, but they were rules and regulations the well-meaning religious leaders devised in an attempt to apply God’s law to specific daily situations.

By the New Testament times the tradition of the elders had become so ridiculous in their demands on the poor ordinary Jews that it was almost comical. Mark 7:1-4 is an example of just one tradition that stated that anyone who was not a Jew was considered unclean to the Jews. So, the tradition required the Jews to wash themselves after they “come from the marketplace.” Another tradition stated that even the shadow of a Gentile (non-Jew) passing over their kitchen utensils made the utensils unclean! Jesus was unimpressed by the Pharisees’ and scribes’ external show of “holy” behaviour. When they questioned him as to why his disciple ignored the tradition of ceremonial washing, Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 implying that his accusers had a lot of external holiness to “show” but were far from God in their hearts. The self-righteous Jews were so intent on following their own rules that Jesus said they have “let go of the commands of God” but instead “holding on to human traditions.”

The Pharisees made a basic error about holiness. By their behaviour they were saying that holiness was something a person do outside of his life by right conduct. “Obey the rules, do the best you can, pray three times a day or more and you’ll be holy,” they seemed to say. But according to Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, or anyone who followed their own line of thinking about holiness is far from the truth. The New Testament shows that holiness must be an attitude of the heart before it can affect the external appearances. Furthermore, sanctification – the act or process of being made or becoming holy – is not something a person does but rather something a person receives by being a believer in Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 6:11, Hebrews 10:10, and more). God makes us holy as a result of our faith in Christ. Our holy actions are by-products of God-given holiness, not by attempts to achieve holiness by ourselves.

The Jews made a similar mistake about sin. To them (even for some of us), sin was an external defilement such as contact with something or someone unclean. Jesus said, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them” (Mark 7:15). Sin is the opposite of holiness. Both is basically an attitude of the heart. Holiness springs from an attitude of Christ-centeredness and results in loving God and people. Sin, however, springs from an attitude of self-centeredness and results in selfishness which hurts and takes advantage of people.

It’s surprising how many Christians today read of the errors the Pharisees made regarding holiness and sin, shake their heads in disgust and then fall into the very same trap. We seem to get side-tracked keeping our own “holy traditions” while ignoring the lifestyle of love for God and people that is to be the basis of all commandments. Here are some of obvious “holy traditions” today: kissing the Pope’s feet and Jesus’ statues, Holy Water and pray for the Saints, Rosary prayer and bow down to the Cross, fasting on Friday and the Mass, lighting candles and singing hymns only, the use of olive oil to anoint ministers, father’s special sit, priests began to dress differently from the laity, Luther’s and Calvin’s doctrines become the standard to interpret the Scriptures, etc. (Type ‘amen’ on Facebook also have becoming people’s tradition today). There are also the not-so-obvious traditions that we unconsciously follow today. By the way, Jesus did not mean that all traditions, rules and regulations are to be tossed out. For example, the traditions of praise & worship before sermon and reading the Bible three chapters a day can be very beneficial. These and many more are not necessarily bad or sinful. But if the traditions become for us a substitute for the holiness which God produces in our lives, then they have become too important and we could correctly be labelled as “Pharisee.”

If God has made you holy from the inside out,

then let your holy obedience-action to God’s Word show it.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus wants Us to Live from the Inside Out

“Then Jesus called the crowd to come and hear.

‘All of you listen,’ he said, ‘and try to understand.

It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you;

 you are defiled by what comes from your heart’” (Mark 7:14-15, NLT).

Jesus called out to the crowd, wanting them to beware of those who would lead them astray and to be careful to get their values and priorities straight. The Pharisees taught that eating with unclean or defiled hands would defile a person before God (Mark 7:5). Jesus explained that they had it backward. Defilement is an internal matter, not an external one.

Certainly, God is concerned about our actions, but focusing on outward actions can pull us away from the more important issue – the condition of the heart. Just as the Pharisees’ emphasis on traditions had caused them to ignore God’s commands, emphasis on external issues can cause us to neglect internal ones. Conversely, a person who is right on the inside will reflect that reality with how he or she looks at life, speaks, acts, and relates to others. The Pharisees should have known this. Often God had told his people that he valued mercy and obedience based on love more than merely observing rules and rituals (for example, you can read it from 1 Samuel 15:22-23; Psalms 40:6-8; 51:16-19; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8).

Concern about the inside, the “heart,” should come first and then outward actions. Think about this: While we don’t have a long list of ceremonial rituals and regulations like the Pharisees, we make our own lists. These may involve food and drink, clothes and entertainment, worship style, and more. Some believers go even further, adding their own behavior tests of a person’s commitment to Christ. Yet we are painfully aware of the people we’ve known who looked good on the outside but were far from God (Could it be you?). Instead, God wants us to live from the inside out. Lord Jesus said, “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart” or positively put, God “sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Living inside out.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus challenges the Pharisees: Who You Come to See? Are You Displaying a Christ-like Disciple?

“One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to – such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles). So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, ‘Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony’” (Mark 7:1-5, NLT).

                                                                                                                

 Many were coming to “see” Jesus because they thought he might be the promised Messiah; some of these people were honest seekers who truly wanted to know him. Others weren’t quite as involved, but they came with good motives, too, wanting to see the one who was teaching, healing, and changing lives. But these religious leaders came “to see Jesus” and then the next verse says, “they noticed.” They, however, were neither seeking information nor merely satisfying their curiosity. They actually came to scrutinize Jesus as they tried to find fault in order to judge and silence him. Unable to discover anything wrong with Jesus’ actions, they turned to his followers and “noticed that some of his disciples” hadn’t washed their hands before eating.

After seeing the non-traditional actions, the religious leaders asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition?”  [I smiled] At least they were honest about the fact that this was their tradition, not a divine command, although they often gave their traditions and interpretations of Scripture almost the same authority as God’s Word. Since the common people did not follow all of the extra restrictions and rituals of the Pharisees, they considered them ignorant. The fact that Jesus’ disciples did not follow all of the laws of the Pharisees’ tradition led them to resent Jesus’ teachings and try to discredit him. According to the Pharisees, if Jesus were truly a rabbi, he and his disciples would follow all of the traditions. The Pharisees had religious blinders on their eyes, seeing only their own rituals and traditions.

Do you know? During the centuries since the Jews’ return from Babylonian captivity, Jewish religious leaders had added hundreds of religious traditions to God’s laws, regulating every part of Jewish life. The Pharisees and scribes considered these traditions to be as binding as God’s law itself. They were wrong, of course, as Jesus pointed out.

Think about this: Firstly, today people still come “to see Jesus” with a variety of motives. Some sincerely seek the Saviour. Many look with curiosity. But we still have cynics and critics who try to pick apart Jesus and his followers, looking for problems and negative evidence. Maybe it’s good to ask our own motive “to see Jesus,” it is mere curiosity? Find faults? Or really want to know the truth? What drew you to Jesus? How did you first come “to see” him?  Secondly, although the religious leaders’ attitudes and actions toward Jesus and the disciples were wrong, we know that in reality people often form their opinions about Jesus by watching his followers. As those called “Christians” (‘Christ-ones”), we bear his name and enhance or detract from his reputation. So, what opinion of Jesus do you think people might form just by watching you?

Please continue to read Mark 7:6-23 to know Jesus’ response.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

They Made Plans to Kill Jesus (A Reflection on Mark 3:1-6)

“Then Jesus went back to the synagogue, where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand.

Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong;

so they watched him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the Sabbath”

(Mark 3:1-2, GNB)

From the Law that says “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) the religious authority had written many details of what is or is not permitted on the Sabbath. Thirty-nine classes of forbidden work had been identified. But that is just only the beginning, for there are endless subdivisions and qualifications. For example, (as in my notebook) a broken limb may not be set, you may not cut your finger-nails or search your clothes for fleas, writing more than one letter is forbidden, a bucket may be tied to a belt but not to a rope, looking at the mirror is forbidden because you may see and try to pull a grey hair out and thus, break the Law! All of these and more are considered as working on the Sabbath!

So you see Jesus was not against the Old Testament command to keep one day holy, He was against the religious authority for making the Law so complex and burdensome for people to obey. Jesus was not against the Sabbath observation but the how they observe it. They have turned God’s blessing to cursing. Jesus sets priority when He asked: “’What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone’s life or to destroy it?’ But they did not say a thing.” (Mark 3:4) Jesus asked these questions because there was a religious rule that only allows medical care on the Sabbath if, and only if, there is actual danger to life. He was “angry” because of their insensitivity “but at the same time he felt sorry for them, because they were so stubborn and wrong” (Mark 3:5).

Jesus, like always, went beyond that. He wanted to demonstrate that to heal is more important than observing the rules. To refuse to do good (‘to help’ and ‘to save someone’s life’) on the Sabbath was surely to choose to do evil (‘to harm’ and ‘to destroy someone’s life’). So, “Jesus said to the man, ‘Come up here to the front’… Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it became well again” (Mark 3:3, 5).  Sadly, the people don’t praise the Lord for the healing that Jesus had performed. Rather, they were offended. The Pharisees especially were being humiliated in public. Jesus was adding insult to the injury and so “they made plans to kill Jesus” (Mark 3:6).

There are two significant lessons (and reminders) that I’ve learned from Mark 3:1-6; 1) People are the subject of God’s concern, so people come before rules. It was for people that the Law of God had been given, and it must be with regard to people that it is interpreted; and 2) throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was to be hated, hounded, and eventually tortured to death, and we as His followers need not hope for any better treatment. Remember: “They made plans to kill Jesus.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus, the Savior Calls Levi, the Sinner (A Reflection on Mark 2:13-17)

“As [Jesus] walked along [the shore of Lake Galilee],

he saw a tax collector, Levi son of Alphaeus, sitting in his office.

Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Levi got up and followed him” (Mark 2:14, GNB).

Since I begin my reflections on the Gospel of Mark, I now discover personally that Jesus is a very controversial figure. He always surprises us with His words and actions. He challenged His disciples and offended the Pharisees. He puzzled His companions and breaks the religious traditions. He shocked those who follow Him and annoyed those who do not. And now, He recruits a tax collector among His followers… What a superb plan!

His action doesn’t surprise us because we don’t see any visible tax collectors in every city in Malaysia until I tell you that they are similar with illegal money lenders who charge high rates of interest as they wishes (or check tax charge in your bill next time). They collect tax for the enemy, the Roman Empire, and extra for their own pocket money. Thus, they are considered traitors and outcasts. They were the ancient-gangsters (with Roman guards), dishonest and greatly disliked by their fellow Jews. What did Jesus think when He said to Levi “Follow me”!? I don’t know. I still amaze and wonder.

“Levi got up and followed Him” was the immediate response. Levi probably has heard one of Jesus’ preaching. Nevertheless, it was instant and risky decision. If the fishermen like Peter and John one day decided not to follow Jesus anymore, they can always return to their occupations – but not Levi. He can’t return to his previous job that easily. Stupid? Perhaps. But I bet Levi doesn’t regret his decision that day. I know it because “later on Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s house.” He throws a party with his fellow “tax collectors and other outcasts” (Mark 2:15). Jesus and His disciples (good guys) mixed with Levi and the outcasts (bad guys) under one roof. Partying, drinking and eating together.

That was why the Pharisees asked, “Why does [Jesus] eat with such people?” (Mark 2:16) They were playing religious game which prohibited ‘righteous’ people (like them of course) from dirtying their hands with known sinners. They are like this friend of mine who asked me why I go karaoke, watching movies, BBQ, play bowling and futsal, and hang out with drinkers and smokers outside church circles. “Jesus heard them and answered, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.” (Mark 2:17). Jesus is saying that He come for those who realize that they are sinners in need of a Savior, not to those who called themselves ‘righteous.’

Remember, Jesus calls us to be “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Salt cannot accomplish its purpose while sitting in the salt shaker. We need to sprinkle ourselves among the unbelievers in the world in order to affect them. If we only have Christian friends, attend only Christian activities and going only to Christian places, we’re guilty of not being “the salt of the earth” in the world. We must communicate God’s love firsthand, as Jesus did to Levi, to those who need the Savior, Jesus Christ.

[Fyi: Levi, the tax collector is Matthew (another name), the apostles.

He is the one who wrote the Gospel of Matthew]

I wonder; what if he did not answered Jesus’ call that day? Hmmm…

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

People First, Traditions Second

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NLT)

Jesus puts people first, regulations second. Human needs come first, traditions second. The Kingdom of God comes first – and everything else second. In practical terms, that means we must sometimes violate “sacred” traditions (or in student ministry terms “senior” traditions) and tear down barriers. Sometimes that takes great courage and wisdom.

We who would follow Jesus don’t break traditions simply to break them. Customs can bring great benefits. Usually they come into being for good reasons. Yet when custom interferes with human need, we do well to consider breaking the rules. “The Sabbath was made for man.”

In reality, we are faced with so many traditions. We need to know when and how to apply it. Always remember this: Jesus always emphasis on loving God with all our hearts and tied this to loving our neighbors as ourselves. When I read this, I can’t separate it in my mind into two commandments but in practical – both are the same commandment. How better can we show our love to God and serving people than by the way we treat them? Sometimes, because of Christ’s love in us, we need to break human customs to meet human needs.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.