Salem Magley Church

The religion you grew up with might be the very thing standing between you and Jesus.

That's not a comfortable sentence. But it's what happens in Mark's gospel, almost immediately. The Pharisees weren't villains twirling their mustaches. They were devout, serious, committed people who had spent their lives protecting the law of God. Rules on top of rules, fences around the law, so that nobody would accidentally wander into sin. Their intentions were good. Their devotion was real.

And Jesus walked in and told them the fence had become the problem.

He let his disciples eat grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry. He healed a man with a shriveled hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath while the Pharisees watched. When they challenged him, he asked them a question they refused to answer: which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil? To save life or to take one?

They stayed silent. And by chapter three, they were already plotting against him.

Here's what that moment is really about. The Pharisees were so committed to preserving the system that they couldn't recognize the one the system was always pointing toward. They had made the map more important than the destination. And when the destination showed up in person, they tried to eliminate him.

It's easy to read that story and feel distant from it. But the same drift happens today. It happens when the tradition becomes untouchable. When the way we've always done it becomes more sacred than the people it was supposed to serve. When following the rules feels safer than actually following Jesus.

Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God. And that kingdom has never been comfortable with religion that protects itself at the expense of people.

What is one thing you've been taught about faith that Jesus might actually challenge?

What was Jesus actually trying to do when he came to Earth?

Most people have a quick answer to that question. He came to save us. He came to show us how to live. He came to die for our sins. All of those things are true, but Mark's gospel pushes you toward a more specific answer before any of those ideas get unpacked.

Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God.

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