Something Greater
Greater than . . .
. . . ________ __________ (v. 3)
. . . the ______________ (v. 5)
. . . the ____________ (v. 6)
At Issue:
__________________ (v. 6, 8) ____________________ (v. 7) ________________ (Mark 2:27-28)
So What?
· Where are you trying to earn God’s favor through righteous works?
· Where are you seeking authority in someone or something other than Jesus?
· Where are you neglecting or withholding mercy from others?
· Where are you feeling the burden of religion instead of the peace and rest of Jesus?
For Further Reflection:
1. What do you think is the importance of Sabbath?
2. The Pharisees were honestly trying to honor God through keeping the law and “fencing the law.” What might a true and sincere follower of God, a Pharisee, be objecting to if it is not just strictly following a set of pointless rules?
3. Do you think Jesus was saying that the law no longer mattered? What might Jesus be arguing for if it is not just “stop worrying about the obeying the law?”
4. Do you consider God’s law to be a set of picky, pointless rules? Do you think God’s law is something to be followed strictly? How do you honor the spirit of the law without getting caught up in the letter of the law?
5. Are there ways in which we, like the Pharisees, might focus more on the rules of the Sabbath than its intended purposes? What about other rules, regulations, expectations?
6. What are ways that we may unconsciously be seeking to earn God’s favor through our righteous practices?
7. In what practical ways can we apply the principles of mercy and grace demonstrated by Jesus in this passage?
8. If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, what are the implications? What are the implications if Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17-20)? What does that even mean?
9. Why do you think this exchange and the ones that follow incensed the Pharisees so much that these highly religious men began to plot Jesus’ death?
Come visit us at Faith Community Church located at 1306 Riedel Rd Gambrills, MD, for our Sunday Services at 9am & 10:45am to learn about and worship our Lord Jesus Christ.