Mark 2:18-3:6

Mark has introduced Jesus as God in flesh (announced from heaven!), tempted by Satan, man of power and compassion who healed the sick and cast out demons. But in the first half of chapter two, Mark ‘raised the stakes’: Jesus could operate at a deeper level than any man – He could heal sin-sickness! This set the stage for a whole new way of looking at spiritual things… and Mark now shows how Jesus revealed that new way!

Three Encounters with the Pharisees
• To fast or not to fast…that is the question! (2:18-20)


• Picking grain on Sabbath: Breaking the Law! (2:23-28)


• Heals sick on Sabbath: Plans to kill Jesus! (3:1-6)


New and Old: Patches and Wineskins (2:21-22)
• The challenge of Jesus: Old laws don’t ‘fit’ any more


• The challenge today: Religion vs. Grace



Who Jesus is…Demands a Decision!

“The Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus, Mark 2:28

For Further Study

1. Let’s begin by looking at the three events which are connected topically by Mark in these verses. Read Mark 2:1-18-20. Why did the Pharisees fast? Contrast the motivation for fasting of a Pharisee (Luke 18:12) and the prophetess Anna (Luke 2:37). While Jesus did not instruct His followers to fast, He seems to expect that they will, and gave instructions on how to act when they did (Matt 6:16-18). What do His instructions indicate that Jesus wants those who fast to guard against? When might we fast as believers today, and why?

2. Read Mark 2:23-27. Picking grain on the Sabbath was not expressly prohibited in Old Testament Law, but Pharisees were good at ‘expanding’ fine points of the Law and then burdening everyone with their interpretation! Instead of arguing their interpretation, Jesus responds with a history lesson (25-26), a statement of the purpose for the Sabbath (27), and a declaration of His authority over it (28). While Jesus never criticizes the Sabbath per se, what truths is He trying to get the Pharisees to see in this encounter?

3. Read Mark 3:1-6. Although they are in a synagogue, there is no concern for the man with the withered hand, only a desire to find fault with Jesus (2)! Do Christians today ever exhibit this attitude? (That question is rhetorical!) Why is Jesus angry at the Pharisees (5)? What ‘grieves’ Him about them? How does their attitude (and their response, v6) illustrate what legalistic religion does to our hearts – even today?

4. Now go back and read Mark 2:21-22. What do these two parables illustrate? What is the “old”? What (who?) is the “new”? Although we don’t have the same tie to the Law which tripped up the Pharisees, we can have a similar tie to rules and tradition. In your own words, what would Jesus want us to understand from these two verses?

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