Chapter Three...Relationships (Part Three)

Towards the Disciples.

Chapter Three...Relationships (Part Two)

Towards the Crowds...(7-12)

The thing that really jumped out at all of us while talking about this passage was how many people there were and what happened to them after Jesus touched them?

Lots of people showed up from many different places.  That's great, but what happened to them after Jesus touched them?  After they got what they wanted?

What happens to us after Jesus touches us?  After we get what we "want"?  What are our true motives for following Jesus?  

It appears as though Jesus is willing to touch all who come to him, even if they are coming out of their own convenience.  How should we treat those that do the same with us?

The relationship that Jesus had with the crowd was not a deep relationship, but he loved them and touched their lives anyway.  For lack of a better word, the relationship was "superficial."

What is your relationship with Jesus?

Chapter Three...Relationships (Part One)

Towards the Pharisees...(1-6)

This could really be a continuation of the previous passage about the Sabbath.  The Pharisees once again are there to accuse Jesus of breaking the law.  With the man with the shriveled hand standing up in front of everyone, Jesus asks the Pharisees, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  No one said anything and Jesus became angry and "deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts."  Jesus does good on the Sabbath, he heals the man with the shriveled hand.  In turn, the Pharisees use that to accuse Jesus and plot a way to kill him.  Ironically, the ones who were so tight with wanting to obey the law turned around and contradicted themselves, plotting to kill.

It looks to me like this was not so much the Pharisees wanting Jesus to keep the law, but a way to get rid of someone who was accumulating a gathering; another way to look at it is that Jesus was attracting people to his congregation and their former pastors were upset...jealous!  Does that really happen today?  Do Pastors get jealous because someone in their congregation decides they want to go to a different church??

One word comes to my mind when I think about the relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees...TENSION.

What kind of relationships are you involved in that can be described this way?  Who is right?  Where does the tension come from?  Is there a way to resolve it?  How should we really treat one another?  If we really want to "fulfill the law," what should we do?  See Romans 13:8-10.

Chapter Three...Relationships

As we looked at chapter three, we saw six different relationships in which Jesus was involved:

• Towards the Pharisees
• Towards the Crowds
• Towards the Disciples
• Towards his Earthly Family
• Towards Satan
• Towards his Spiritual Family

We just finished this chapter.  It was exciting as the guys involved themselves in the discussion and it was neat to see that God is speaking to their hearts.