I'm toying with the idea of trying out a crew cut. I wish I had the software to "try it on" virtually before I had it done. If I hate it, I've got to live with it for a few months. hmmm....
In the second chapter of Mark, we see Jesus playing a sold-out gig. The fans are everywhere and the backstage security is tight. A few people determined to get in His presence so that their buddy can get healed, so they sneak backstage in the middle of a song. Jesus sees them and stops the improvisational jam session (with three guitars and two drums, a theramin, a string section and dancers) and stares at the group of friends, with silly but shy grins on their faces. "Come on out on stage," He motions to them. Their paralyzed friend gets his sins forgiven and healed of his paralysis.
While that's a slightly different version from what my NIV translation read, it's basically what happened. Jesus was so impressed with the determination and faith of these guys that He completely overlooked the damage to the roof and the "sneaking in" nature of what was happening.
Later on we see the salvation of our HM intern -- Levi. He was sitting by a tax collector's booth, doing his job, ripping off people; and Jesus walked by and said, "Follow Me." At once Levi got up and followed Him.
Jesus was criticized later when He was eating at Levi's house. It's like a member of the Hell's Angels getting saved and Jesus Himself having a big dinner party at the guy's house, where (we read in other Gospels) this newly converted guy reaches out to all His friends, telling them about what Jesus did for him and how his life was now changed (he vowed to give back what he had taken from tax payers). It was real life, real church, happening in front of an open, public crowd -- religious and non-religious alike. "Why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they asked. Jesus rebuked them kindly, saying, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
That's the bumper sticker that should be on a lot of our cars.
These religious nuts later pointed out that the disciples of Jesus were not fasting like the others. Jesus made a reference to His role and identity as the bridegroom, Who would not be around all the time... When He was gone, then His friends would fast.
He faced some criticism later when His disciples picked some heads of grain as they walked through the fields. "This is unlawful on the Sabbath," they said. Jesus turned their attention to the Old Testament Scriptures, which told about David and his men eating consecrated bread from the house of God, which only a priest should do. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," He said. I love that look into the heart of God. It shows that He's not all about rules. Rules and Law are there to help us -- like guardrails over a bridge -- keeping us on the right path; not to destroy us with a weight that's too hard to bear. "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Just like His spoken forgiveness of sins earlier in the chapter, Jesus affirms that He is, was, and will always be God in the flesh. I love Him and I love His willingness to stand up to criticism.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 21, 2008 12:00 PM