Hardness of Heart

Heavenly Father, we come before you as people who, whether we know it or not, desperately need a touch from you.

Lord, we know that from you, many were healed when you walked this earth.

Many were cleansed when you walked this earth.

Many were relieved of oppression and possession when you walked this earth.

Lord, we are people who have professed our faith in you, and yet we still live in a broken world.

We still have our flesh that fights against the Holy Spirit that resides in us.

We still struggle.

Lord, we need a touch from you this morning, this afternoon.

Lord, would you please speak to us by your word?

Lord, minister to us by your spirit, and help us to love you and one another.

We pray all these things in Christ's name.

Amen.

Guys, I will nail that afternoon eventually.

It is baked inside of my being to say this morning or good morning.

Anyways, wouldn't that be wonderful if that was a big setup for, like, this opening intro to the sermon, but it's not.

So, I was talking to Christine about this.

I actually, I struggle sometimes with coming up with introductions.

But, so this was like a, this was like at the 11th hour, but I married two couples in my life.

A huge honor.

I mean, marrying and baptizing and some of those kind of big milestone moments are just wonderful.

Yeah, it's just, it's such a blessing and honor.

One of the things I said in the sermon to one couple I married was that I went into marriage personally with expectations.

And the expectations that I went into marriage were, I mean, they were kind of, they were very naive.

And I came to realize that the things that I thought were going to be hard in marriage were way harder than I thought they were going to be.

They were way, way more difficult.

But on the flip side, the things that I was looking forward to in marriage absolutely exceeded my expectations.

Like, it was unbelievable and it continues to be exceeding my expectations.

But it got me thinking about expectations in general.

We have expectations for things that we hope for, our desires, and oftentimes reality doesn't quite line up with our expectations, does it?

We think that if we are hoping for retirement to look a certain way,

if we are hoping for our children to grow up and pursue a specific profession in a kind of way,

if we have expectations, whether big or small, and it doesn't line up with reality,

we are, we have a choice before us how we are going to essentially change, how we are going to manage our expectations.

We can, we have the choice to either be upset and bitter, if they don't line up the way we want,

or we can adjust and ask the question, like, is this actually better than what I was expecting?

Or it's a bit of a mixed bag maybe, but you kind of roll with it.

You see that life isn't always the way you envision it, but, you know, this is the way reality is.

I'm going to make the most of it.

If you are joining us, or you've missed a week or two, we've been going through the first three chapters of Mark.

And right off the bat, it flavors the rest of the gospel.

Mark chapter 1, verses 14 and 15, Jesus says that he has come to proclaim the gospel.

Mark 1:14

The kingdom is at hand.

At hand, he is proclaiming the gospel.

Repent and believe in the good news.

We found out that that good news isn't just a get-out-of-jail-free card,

but the good news, the gospel of God, is Jesus himself.

His life, his death, his resurrection.

Jesus has come, and he is the Messiah that has been proclaimed in the scriptures.

And he has been messing with expectations.

The religious elite have this idea of who the Messiah is going to be,

and Jesus is, it just does not compute with them.

We are coming up to the end of kind of like a mini-narrative,

like a story within Mark.

Mark 2:1

Chapter 2, verse 1 to chapter 3, verse 6,

and we're going to wrap up chapter 3, verse 6 today.

Today, there's like a bit of a mini-narrative,

where Jesus, he is proclaiming the gospel.

He is healing people.

He is cleansing leprous folk.

He is casting out demons.

He is also forgiving sin.

He is also calling himself the bridegroom.

He is doing things that are only reserved for God.

And his authority and his ability continues to progressively grow.

And the religious elite, who know the Bible inside and out,

know who the Messiah is supposed to be,

as Jesus' ability and authority and revelation of who he truly is

gets progressively revealed,

their antagonism and anger and frustration progressively grows.

And it hits a fever pitch at the beginning of chapter 3.

Take a look with me.

Chapter 3, verses 1 to 3, it says this.

Again, Jesus entered the synagogue.

By the way, just pause real quick.

Chapter 2 ends with Jesus saying that he's Lord of the Sabbath.

Very offensive.

Very offensive.

We took a look at that last week.

For Jesus to say that he is the Lord of the Sabbath,

he is already rattling chains.

The Sabbath is, I mean, apart from the Day of Atonement,

in the Jewish world,

the Sabbath is the holiest day of the year.

And it happens every week.

Very, very, very, very holy.

So for Jesus to claim authority over the Sabbath,

he was putting himself in the very bootstraps,

or the very boots of God, so to speak.

So anyways, a bit of a background.

Chapter 3, verse 1.

Let's get into this really intense climax in this mini-story here.

Again, Jesus entered the synagogue,

and a man was there with a withered hand.

And they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath,

so that they might accuse him.

And he said to the man with the withered hand,

hit pause for a quick moment.

Jesus is, in the last chapter, he is a blasphemer.

He fraternizes with sinners.

He's eating dinner with sinners.

With another gospel account,

talks about prostitutes,

tax collectors as well.

He's an apostate.

He's a breaker of the Sabbath.

He's a troublemaker who leads crowds astray.

This is from the perspective of the religious elite.

They want him gone.

And they're quarreling with him.

And here, it's very clear

that they are looking for an opportunity

to just get him.

To level charges against him.

To accuse him.

Trial.

Conviction.

Execution.

Done.

Out of the picture.

And Jesus here has a chance

to pull the plug on his ministry.

Or at least postpone this healing.

The thing is,

it's not as if the religious elite

had some bone to pick with people getting well.

It's just that the way

the Sabbath began to be observed.

And I mentioned this last week.

That the command was in the Bible

for certain bits about prohibition,

about work.

But then the religious scholars,

they would build rules around the rules.

And calling those rules the rules.

And so on and so forth.

So there was this giant collection of rules.

Just for the Sabbath.

And one of the rules for the Sabbath is,

listen, if you get hurt on the Sabbath,

if it's not life-threatening,

it can wait.

It can wait until the Sabbath is over.

So an example of this,

if you break your leg or your finger,

you stub your toe,

and it is clearly broken.

It's not going to kill you to wait.

Set it on Sunday.

Like, put a cast on it Sunday.

Wait.

Why ruin the Sabbath for a broken toe?

So another thing was,

if a house collapsed,

yeah, you want to check the rubble for survivors.

But if you find some dead bodies,

like you can't clear the dead bodies out.

Wait for the Sabbath to be over.

Then you can clear out the dead bodies

and bury them.

The Sabbath,

you don't want to screw around on the Sabbath.

Don't want to mess things up on the Sabbath.

This man's been living with a withered hand his whole life.

Why couldn't it wait one more day?

Why do you have to heal on the Sabbath?

Why are you poisoning,

continuing to poison all the synagogue goers?

You're working.

What are you doing?

They were taking issue at what was about to happen.

So Jesus,

he could have waited.

You don't really,

if you're a bit of a troublemaker,

whether it's right or not,

you don't want to keep being a troublemaker

if you can avoid it.

Why didn't you,

like, Jesus could have waited.

He could have waited a day.

They wouldn't have got the dirt they wanted.

He could have,

he could have punked them,

played their own game.

He could have been strategic.

But Jesus does not do that.

He sees pain,

and he sees an injustice.

Because,

the Pharisees,

and the scribes,

and the religious elite,

the irony here is that,

they are trying to catch Jesus,

for doing good on the Sabbath,

all the while conspiring to kill him,

and to do evil.

And,

right in the midst of this,

forgotten in all this,

is this man with a withered hand.

And he's leveraged for the Pharisees.

He is commodified,

by the Pharisees.

By the Pharisees.

His dignity,

isn't that of somebody who's in need of help.

He's a pawn,

in their scheme,

to get Jesus,

absolutely crushed.

No love.

Complete injustice.

Jesus sees the pain,

and he does not wait,

till after the Sabbath.

What is the Sabbath for?

It is,

for rest,

but it is also this proclamation,

that God created all things,

and he made it good.

It proclaims,

the very goodness of God.

It takes disorder,

and makes it into order.

And Jesus is not having it.

This man has a withered hand,

but maybe his spirit is withered.

People with disabilities,

are often ostracized.

And maybe,

they're not made fun of to their face,

but they're gawked at.

And they're whispered,

whispered about behind their backs.

And in an agricultural society,

a man with a withered hand,

was a man who couldn't work the fields.

Sure, I'm speculating here.

It doesn't say anything about this guy's job,

or what he can and cannot do.

But if you think for a minute,

there's more withered in this man,

than just his hand,

isn't there?

And Jesus doesn't play the game.

He doesn't play the game.

What does he do?

He sees pain,

and brokenness,

and injustice,

and he fixes it.

Right there on the spot.

Like I mentioned,

complete irony here.

The Pharisees,

who are trying to do good,

and keep the law,

are completely missing it.

And not just missing it,

by not doing it,

but are doing evil.

Look with me in verse 4.

And Jesus said to the religious elite,

Is it lawful on the Sabbath

to do good,

or to do harm,

to save life,

or to kill?

But they were silent,

and he looked around them with anger,

grieved at their hardness of heart,

and said to the man,

Stretch out your hand.

Jesus,

Jesus is angry.

And it's connected to the injustice

that he sees,

to this commodification

of a human being made in God's image

that he sees,

and he is angry.

And friends,

it is okay to be angry

at injustice.

It's okay to read the news,

and see some kind of horror

in the Middle East,

or in Asia,

or in parts of Latin America,

or in our backyard,

and to be angry about it.

And there's something

wonderfully righteous about that.

It is not something

that you're indifferent to,

that you're angry about.

Ephesians chapter 4 says,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

In your anger,

do not sin.

There's a way to be angry,

and not sin.

Even though oftentimes,

anger and sin are so connected,

Jesus here is completely sinless,

but he is angry.

And not just angry,

but he is grieved in his spirit.

This idea of being grieved in his spirit,

it's the same grieving in his spirit

that we'll see

when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It's not just that it bothers Jesus,

but he hates it.

He hates what he sees.

We can commodify people as well

if we use people

as a means to our ends.

If we see people as

a stepping stone for promotion,

or, you know,

if I'm friends with that person,

my reputation might get a bit better,

or, you know,

if I clown that person

at a party,

or at a dinner,

people laugh at me,

think I'm pretty funny.

Whenever we disregard

the dignity,

inherent God-given dignity,

for people,

we commodify them.

We use them for something

they were never meant to be used for.

That's why

sexual knowing

with many partners

is a form of

commodifying people,

treating people

as a means

for your own pleasure.

It is not a self-giving act,

it is a self-taking act.

We read the Bible,

and we see stuff like this,

and friends,

let's ask the Lord,

Lord,

am I like the Pharisees

in this?

Am I commodifying people?

Am I using people?

In any way,

small or big,

am I not treating people

as image bearers

of the Most High?

Because my guess is,

as Jesus is the same

yesterday,

today,

and forever,

his reaction

to us using people

might very well be

similar to what we see here.

Anger,

and deeply grieved.

But also,

it is permission

for us to be angry

at the things that we see,

the injustices

that we witness.

This type of injustice

is connected

to,

we'll see here,

their hardness

of heart.

We see that

in verse 5,

and he looked around

at them with anger,

grieved at

their hardness

of heart.

And more than

intellectual objections,

or differing

worldviews,

or even

different faiths,

it is,

it is a hard heart

that is the true enemy

of divine grace

and,

and,

and true faith.

A hard heart.

And how do we get

hard hearts?

Well,

the Pharisees

and the,

the scribes,

they knew the scriptures

inside and out.

They sought to keep

the commands of God.

The Apostle Paul

talks of the Pharisees

and the non-believing Jews

as their zeal,

they have zeal for God,

but not according

to knowledge.

They genuinely

want to follow God,

but not,

but based on

their own interpretation,

their own,

not coming under

the scriptures,

right,

but standing

on top of them.

The hardness

of heart comes

when we fail

to see the heart

of scripture.

And what is

the heart of scripture?

It's always that God

wants to dwell

amongst his people.

The opening

chapters of

Genesis,

it's this beautiful

picture of God

walking with Adam

and Eve in the garden

in the cool of the day.

Adam and Eve

are naked and unafraid

and unashamed.

They are completely

vulnerable

and yet cared for.

The tabernacle

when the Israelites

are going through

the desert

after their,

rescued from slavery

is this picture

of God dwelling

amongst his people.

The temple

when it's built

by King Solomon,

what does it represent?

God dwelling

amongst his people.

And now,

God himself

is clothed

in human form,

in human flesh,

fully God

and fully man.

And where does he dwell?

He dwells among

his people.

It's the heart

of the scriptures.

This is the

overarching story

of the scriptures.

scriptures.

But when the scriptures

are looked at

and seen

as just a bunch

of rules

to be kept

so that we may

please God

somehow at the end

on the cosmic scale

of good and bad,

then we fail

to see the heart

of the scriptures.

And our heart

becomes hard.

Self-righteousness

comes in.

And all of a sudden

we become

stiff-necked.

We see the Messiah

in front of us.

What happens?

We say

he is a blasphemer.

He is an apostate.

He is a friend

of degenerates.

And now

he is a Sabbath-breaker.

God himself,

the heart of scripture

is unfolding

in front of them.

God is dwelling

amongst his people

and they're blind to it.

Hardness of heart.

It's remarkable

that the hardness

of heart

has set in

in such a way.

And what is Jesus?

He is angered

but he's also grieved.

God's word

points to God's purposes

and to God's heart.

And God's

God's creation

is declared good

by God

but it is bent.

But it's still

God's creation.

And when we

treat God's creation

humanity

as the pinnacle

of that

made in his image

it grieves his heart.

It angers him.

Hardness of heart

is faithlessness

and it always

leads to some

sort of injustice.

So Jesus is

undeterred

and unwavering.

The kingdom

is at hand

remember.

He is

constantly being

the source

of healing

and cleansing

and he

says to this man

put out your hand

and it's healed

completely.

Right then

and there

you'd think

that

the Pharisees

and the scribes

and the Herodians

which I'll mention

in a brief moment

they would say

well hold on a second

isn't there something

divine

and wonderful

and beautiful

at play?

Again

the hardness

of heart

that can come

from self-righteousness

is blinding.

Look with me

in verse 6.

the Pharisees

went out

and immediately

held council

with the Herodians

against him

how to destroy him.

The Pharisees

were

they were

they were purists

they did not like

the fact that Rome

was in their land.

The Herodians

were

they were Hellenists

which means

that they were

deeply influenced

by Rome.

there was

a little sprinkle

of Israel

a little sprinkle

of Rome

and they were

conspires

with the enemies.

They were

natural enemies

the Pharisees

and the Herodians

and yet

because of their

hardness of heart

what united them?

The

destruction of Jesus.

Verse 6

again

how they held

council

with the Herodians

how to destroy him

and thus ends

this kind of

mini story

but one thing

we can take

from this mini story

is that

that the Messiah

has come

and he is

destroying

expectations.

Destroying the

expectations

of the Pharisees

the Herodians

the Sadducees

the scribes

even the crowds

and this will bring us

to the next section

here

starting in verse 7

read with me

Jesus withdrew

with his disciples

to the sea

and a great crowd

followed

from Galilee

and Judea

and Jerusalem

and Idumea

and from beyond

the Jordan

and from around

Tyre and Sidon

when the great crowd

heard all that he was doing

they came to him

and he told his disciples

to have a boat ready for him

because of the crowd

lest they crush him

and on one hand

there is a desperation

in this crowd

to touch Jesus

but a failure also

to understand who he is

and the crowd

in Mark

is never a positive thing

the crowd is always

getting in Jesus' way

and causing him

to change plans

and causing danger

to loom

so the crowds

are about to crush him

why?

for he healed many

so that all

who had diseases

pressed around him

to touch him

and whenever

the unclean spirit

saw him

they fell down

before him

and cried out

you are the son of God

and he strictly ordered them

not to make him known

see it's interesting

it's not the crowds

that recognize

who Jesus is

it's not the religious

establishment

even not even

his disciples

the demons

for some reason

are the ones

who declare

who God really

who Jesus really is

we'll touch on that

in future weeks

but one of the things

that I want to

touch on

in verses 7 to 12

this middle section

of our reading

is that one of the things

that the Messiah

was prophesied to do

is to rescue Israel

from her enemies

and at this time

the religious elite

they thought

the enemies are Rome

the Messiah is going to come

draw his sword

and he is going to

whoop behind

he's going to destroy

these Romans

but again

failing to see

the heart of scripture

the Messiah

was always

going to

save Israel

from her enemies

but two things

Israel

would be reconstituted

it wouldn't be

ethnic Jews anymore

there's hints of that

throughout the Old Testament

that it wouldn't just be

the Jews

it would be the Gentiles

as well

and also the enemy

wouldn't just be

the enemy

in the here

and the now

but the eternal enemy

sin and death

so we see a bit of this

just hints of it

remember Mark

here is leading us

to the cross

progressively revealing

who Jesus is

in verse 8

Mark is giving this

kind of like

list of people

of where they come from

he says

Jerusalem

the Galilee

and Judea

Jerusalem

I do

and from beyond

the Jordan

and from Tyre

and Sidon

I'll pause here

Tyre and Sidon

are not

Jewish towns

they are

they're not

they are

they are not

Jewish towns

the people that are there

do not worship

the God of the Bible

in Mark chapter 7

Mark 7 · chapter mention

it's this

picture of

there's this

sort of interaction

with Jesus

and the Syrophoenician woman

who is desperate

desperate

to have her child

healed

and where does she come from

she comes from

Tyre and Sidon

and Jesus says to her

listen

I've come for the

children of Israel

it is not

appropriate

for me to feed

the bread

to the dogs

that is meant

for the children

very very very

offensive thing

to say to anybody

but this woman

she goes

even the dogs

get the crumbs

under the master's table

and Jesus heals

a non-Jewish

non-Israelite

daughter

and

he marvels

at her faith

it's interesting

we will partake

in communion

later on in the service

and there's this prayer

it's called

the prayer of humble access

you might recognize it

we do not presume

to come to this

your table

oh Lord

trusting in our own

righteousness

and it goes on

and that prayer

is fashioned

after Mark chapter 7

Mark 7 · chapter mention

this picture

it's a beautiful picture

of Jesus

this Jewish Messiah

reaching out

to the Gentiles

salvation is not

just for the Jews

it's for the Gentiles

it's not just

to kick out the Romans

it's to kick out death

and we start to see

bits and pieces

of that

all of a sudden

the crowd

is no longer

fully Jewish

is it?

the next scene

is the last scene

and

Jesus goes up the mountain

we can read it

in verse 13

and Jesus went up

on the mountain

and called

to him

those whom he desired

and they came

to him

and he appointed

twelve whom he also

named apostles

so that they might

be with him

and he might send

them out to preach

and have authority

to cast out demons

and I'll

hit a pause button

there

the wonderful thing

about the Bible

is it doesn't

have a whole list

of footnotes

I mean

Crossway here

puts footnotes

in it

your Bible

has footnotes

in it

but the Bible

doesn't have

a bunch of footnotes

it doesn't say

hey this is from

Isaiah chapter 49

Isaiah 49 · chapter mention

and then you can

scroll back

literally in a scroll

and take a look

at it

but throughout

Mark

and the other

gospel writers

there's hints

there's whispers

allusions

to the Old Testament

and all of a sudden

here we see

we have another example

and Jesus

went up

on

the mountain

the mountain

whether it is

from Elijah

where he is battling

the prophets of Baal

but especially

when Moses

climbs up the mountain

Mount Sinai

to receive the law

the mountain

is always

where God's power

comes

where his revelation

comes

and in this case

the mountain

it's alluding

to Mount Sinai

Moses goes up

on the mountain

and he

he witnesses

God himself

he comes down

his countenance

has changed

he has

encountered the living God

and Jesus

goes up the mountain

and he calls

whom he desires

it's interesting

that Jesus

is the one

who takes

the initiative

the new Moses

he is the new Moses

he is

he is the Moses

that is better

than Moses

who goes up

the mountain

that is better

than Sinai

and he calls

people

whom he desires

and what does he do

he sends them out

no no no

he does

but he doesn't

send them out

right away

what does it say

and he appointed

twelve

so that they

might be with him

and all of a sudden

he draws

disciples

first and foremost

to be in communion

with him

to know him

and

Jesus here

is

drawing twelve

disciples

twelve

tribes of Israel

and we're starting

to see these

connections with

the Old Testament

where Jesus

is reconstituting

Israel

no longer is

Israel just

Jewish people

but it will be

constituted

with people

of all

ethnicities

every tribe

every tongue

this picture

of the Messiah

is much bigger

than what the

Pharisees

and the religious

elite see

the salvation

reaches to the

ends of the

earth

it's a beautiful

picture

of what does he

do

first he gathers

his disciples

and the apostles

are very unique

in what they do

a very unique

time

in the history

of the church

but the call

of discipleship

is still the same

God first calls

us to himself

he initiates

that

he calls us

to himself

and then what

then he sends

us out

and he sends

us out

with the same

authority

that he has

verse 15

so that they

might be with

him

and he might

send them

out to preach

and have

authority to

cast out

demons

the very

thing that

Christ does

himself

and this is

what it means

to be a

disciple

first it's

being and

then being

sent

and it's

on the

initiative

of Christ

himself

and he

draws

whom he

desires

if you are

drawn to him

it's because

he desires

you

in the same

way he

desired to

heal the

man with

the withered

hand

he desires

to do

good

to not

do evil

to bless

and not

to curse

to proclaim

that this

is the day

of the

Lord

to do

away with

sin and

death

the eternal

enemies

forever

not for a

moment

forever

and what

will he

do

he will

be hung

on a

cross

and we

see little

bits of

it here

right at

the end

of our

section

the 12

are named

and then

verse 19

it says

and Judas

Iscariot

who betrayed

him

Jesus will

be betrayed

by one

closest to

him

but just

like every

other

time in

history

where evil

tries to

thwart the

plans of

God

God will

use it

and turn

it on

its head

death

tried to

end

Jesus

and he

defeats

death

by dying

but does

he stay

dead

he does

not

three days

he rises

again

never to

die again

and that

promise of

new life

is ours

friends he

is calling

you to

himself

today

he has

reconstituted

Israel so

that all

of us who

are not

Jewish people

can call

Abraham their

father

that can

say that

their history

goes all the

way back to

Genesis 1

in a spiritual

sense

that God is

doing a

mighty mighty

work in

all nations

to all

people

and

we

retire in

Sidon

and we

think man

that is

not in

the vicinity

of

Judea

and Jerusalem

and Galilee

we are in

North America

that wasn't

discovered by

Europe

until 500

years ago

we are the

Tyre and

Sidon times

a hundred

times a

thousand

we are the

far off

ones

we are the

ones that

are like

the end of

the earth

away from

Jerusalem

and Judea

and the

Galilee

and God's

grace extends

to us

and not

because

there's the

internet

or mail

or whatever

ships that

sailed across

the sea

in the

1400s

is because

God's

purposes

can't be

stopped

they

can't

hell

rages

against

God

and what

does he

do

he

defeats

it

it's a

wonderful

thing

it's a

wonderful

promise

and it

is ours

today

friends

let us

not have

hard

hearts

let us

not think

with smugness

that we

are self

righteous

because of

what we

do

or what

we

know

we

don't

want

the

living

God

to

grieve

because

of our

hard

heartness

even worse

we don't

want him

to be

we don't

want to

kindle his

anger

against us

but friends

we don't have to

taste death

do we

because Christ

tasted it

for us

so let us

strive

by God's

strength

to be

God's

people

doing

God's

things

and when

we fail

and fall

we go

back to

Mark chapter

Mark 1:14

1 verses

14 and

15

we repent

and believe

in the

gospel

we keep

repenting

and we

keep

believing

in the

gospel

we come

to the

table

and it's

like our

marriage

vow

is

reestablished

it's like

we are

renewing our

marriage vow

with Christ

at the

table

receiving

him

afresh

saying

I sin

please

forgive

me

I believe

help

my

unbelief

heavenly

father

we thank

you so

much

for

your

goodness

that

your

purposes

are

to

bless

that

you

did

not

wait

till

Sunday

or

even

Saturday

evening

to

heal

the

withered

hand

you

healed

it

on

the

spot

you

knew

that

it

would

get

you

in

all

sorts

of

trouble

and

hot

water

and

you

did

it

you

had

compassion

on

that

man

with

the

withered

hand

you

knew

the

pain

and

the

struggle

that

was

going

on

in

his

withered

life

what

did

you

do

you

restored

and

that's

what

you

do

today

Lord

help

us

to

be

people

that

believe

in

your

restoration

that

you

will

heal

and

that

you

will

restore

and

that

you

will

mend

and

that

all

the

bent

ness

and

brokenness

will

be

made

straight

and

restored

Lord

help

us

to

believe

we

pray

that

comes

out

to

аний