IN HIS FOOTSTEPS 4 ... the Son can do nothing by Himself

A HARMONISING OF THE GOSPELS
IN ONE CONTINUAL NARRATIVE
First published in March 1993 as 12 individual A5 booklets
These are still available in the original form upon request.
As we continue in this fourth study of walking in the footsteps of `the Man Christ Jesus', we shall move out from the general framework which has been built up over the last three studies into what has been described as Jesus' Great Galilean Ministry, covering a period of about eighteen months. In the earlier studies we have drawn from the parallel Gospel narratives the drama which surrounded the birth of Jesus following the angels'announcement to Mary: (Luke 1:32)

"He will be great and will be called
the Son of the Most High. "
We had also seen the birth of John, who would become the herald announcing the coming King of Righteousness: (Luke 1:76)

"And you, my child, will be called a
prophet of the Most High; and you will go
before the Lord to prepare the way for Him. "
John's ministry in preparing the way finally brought the herald and the King together at Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan. Luke records this event: `When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. As He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended saying: `You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased'. Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry' (3;21-23). And we watched as the Pharisees and the Sadducees came out to Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan to investigate - as their custom demanded - this apparent Messianic Movement, and saw the beginning of their lengthy interogation of John the Baptist.

Certainly Jesus had caused a stir among the religious leaders at Jerusalem with His angry reaction at their misuse of the Temple: `To those who sold doves He said, `Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father's house into a market' (John 2:16). Enough stir had been caused to draw Nicodemus (himself a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin) to come `to Jesus at night (saying), `Rabbi, we know You are a teacher come from God . .' (John 3:2). But Jesus, knowing that much more remained to be done before He declared Himself to be the Messiah to the leaders in Jerusalem called His disciples and returned to Galilee, staying well clear of Judea - where He would have been travelling through a Province that was under the religious authority of the Sanhedrin! He travelled up through Samaria and on to Galilee, which was under the authority of Herod Antipas, and there He would stay for about a year and a half.

During this time we shall begin to see the clear and progressive strategy of Jesus, outworking a manifestation of His Messiahship to all who would honestly face what was happening. And in parallel with the manifestation of His Messiahship we shall see His clear teaching of His disciples, for they would be called to carry on His work and His teaching after His death. Finally, we shall see the growing hostility of the religious leaders from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to His claims as they follow Him to continue their interogation. After all, they had `seen off' other so-called messiahs, and no doubt this one could be dealt with in the same way! But all of this was within the purpose of God: (Ephesians 1:11)

"Who works out everything in conformity
with the purpose of His will. "
And so here in Galilee, safe for a time from the hatred and anger of the Sanhedrin, He would continue to do His Father's will - and here we shall pick up the continuing drama from the parallel Gospel narratives of `the Man Christ Jesus'!

Matthew merely records: `When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He returned to Galilee' (4:12) and `from that time on Jesus began to preach: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near' (4:17). But Luke fills these events out in this way: `Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him' (4:14-15). Here in Galilee, away from the authority of the Sanhedrin, Jesus began His great preaching and teaching ministry, and Luke records that the news spread `through the whole countryside . . . and everyone praised Him'. If we now move to John's Gospel we discover just how the news spread through the whole countryside: `Once more He visited Cana in Galilee, where He turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum' (4:46). This very familier story continues with the official begging Jesus `to come and heal his son, who was close to death'. This evoked a gentle rebuke from Jesus that people would always demand miraculous signs and wonders rather than simply believe in Him. Nevertheless, Jesus met the man in the faith and trust he had with the words, `You may go. Your son will live' (4:50). And John tells us that when the official discovered that the fever had left his son at the same time he had been speaking with Jesus, `he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee' (4:53-54).

However, if we move on to Luke's narrative we shall see recorded a different response to the Man Christ Jesus: `He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written . .' (4:16-17). It was the custom, and indeed privilege, for any male Jew attending the synagogue to be able to speak or to read from the Scriptures. Indeed, in later years Paul was to invoke this right in his efforts to reach his fellow Jews and, no doubt, the elders of the synagogue were delighted to have such a `famous son' of Nazareth attending their synagogue! There is also little doubt that they would have listened with devout attention to the passage of Isaiah being read:

" The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release
the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. "
The Jews would have recognised a Messianic announcement in those words, and we wonder if they became uneasy at this point for they would have been aware of the news that had spread through the whole countryside. And they would certainly have become very uneasy at the next words Jesus spoke as He announced His Messiahship: `Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing' (4:21). Were those pious Jews still trying to keep control of events with their response? `All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips: Isn't this Joseph's son?, they asked' (4:22). Their words sounded reasonable, but behind the words lay unbelieving hearts! `The Messiah? Surely not! After all, this is Joseph's son!' However, a few more words from Jesus broke through their politeness and revealed their true thoughts. Jesus, quoting other passages of Scripture, written by prophets who had been sent by God but were rejected by the Jews, soon broke through that religious veneer and drew out what really lay behind their words. `All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way' (4:28-30). `Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people' (4:31). And it was here in Capernaum, a town on the edge of the Lake of Galilee, where Jesus was to make His home during this part of His ministry - but even in this seemingly simple act we can still see the outworking of prophecy!

There was nothing of chance in the footsteps of `the Man Christ Jesus': His ministry was a walk of obedience to His Father's will and purpose, and for those who watched and listened - as good pious Jews who knew the Scriptures - Jesus continually announced and outworked through His speaking and actions His claim to be the Messiah of Israel. Matthew 4 records the particular fulfilment of Scripture when Jesus left Nazareth and `went to live in Capernaum, which was by the Lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali - to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah: (verses 13-16)

" Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea,
along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people
living in darkness have seen a great light; and on those
living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. "
These actions are not to be seen as a mere fulfilment of Scripture just for the sake of it, but were a continual development of the Messianic claims of Jesus - although to Gentiles reading these accounts centuries later they may seem inconsequential. But we need to remember that we are reading here of the coming of the Messiah who had been promised to the Jews of Israel. All His actions and public speaking in His Galilean ministry were a confirmation, a manifestation, of His Messianic claims, and accordingly the seemingly inconsequential moving of His home to Capernaum `in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali' was just one of the signs following His message, for `from that time on Jesus began to preach: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near' (4:17).

This would lead to Him calling more disciples to follow Him, for `as Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ` Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, `and I will make you fishers of men'. At once they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him'. These were not the actions of irresponsible men who merely decided to change their work for more exciting things! Neither was it a kind of `chance encounter' where people wander off, drawn by a force outside of their control! Andrew, Peter and John were first called to be disciples of Jesus at Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan and then returned to their work as fishermen for a while, but now the time had come for them to leave all and follow `the Man Christ Jesus'. These new disciples would have been among those who had heard the news about Him as it `spread through the whole countryside of Galilee'. They would have heard of the miraculous healing of the official's son from Capernaum whilst Jesus was in Cana. They would have listened to the news passed around after He had read from the scroll of Isaiah, when He announced His Messiahship. They would have remembered that first call at the River Jordan and the sign of God's anointing coming down on this man. These men might have been simple fishermen, but like all Jews they would have known and believed the Scriptures, and when the call came `at once they left their nets and followed Him' (4:20) (How often we need to remember that, once Jesus has revealed Himself we too might have to wait for the right time for Him to say yet again, `Come, follow Me'.) And so with His disciples now gathered to Him Jesus continued to demonstrate the claims of His calling as the long-awaited Messiah to the Jewish people. He had spoken in the synagogue in Nazareth, and encountered the people's rejection of His claims. Now He would demonstrate with actions the claims He made!

First He would demonstrate His authority over spiritual beings - and Luke 4 tells us how: `Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at His teaching, because His message had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried at the top of his voice: `Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth. Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God'! `Be quiet!' Jesus said sternly, `Come out of him' (3:35). Jesus did not allow evil spirits to proclaim His authority, and at His rebuke `the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, `What is this teaching? With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!' And the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding area' (v35-37). We move on to Mark's Gospel to read of His authority over physical illness: `As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up, the fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but He would not let the demons speak because they knew who He was' (1:29-34). We see here that after Jesus had announced His Messiahship and had been rejected by the men of the synagogue at Nazareth, He now embarked upon a series of actions that confirmed His claims. Words could indeed be scorned and rejected, but actions would speak for themselves - and here we see again that Jesus was not requiring anyone, let alone demons, to confirm His authority. He had spoken . . . now His actions would confirm His word!

Mark goes on to record His next move: `Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed' (1:35). We find in these words the source of all the work and the life of Jesus! He lived in close communion with His Father - His whole being and ministry lay not in His understanding of whom He was, or what His work was to be. It lay in knowing His Father, from whom came all revelation and sustenance! Many times we read that before Jesus moved into the next stage of His ministry `He drew apart and prayed to His Father'. We saw this first in Luke 2, where Joseph and Mary were searching for Him, and finally they found Him in the Temple. `Why were you searching for Me?' He asked, `didn't you know I had to be in My Father's house?'. Here came the first public declaration that He knew a Father other than his natural father . . . and it set Him apart! The Jewish ceremony of bar Mitzvah was for Jewish boys of about thirteen years old who attained manhood through submitting themselves to the Mosaic Law, therefore becoming accountable for their own actions. There, at Jesus' bar Mitzvah, on the threshold of His adulthood, He proclaimed that He had a Father who was not of this world, and this developing understanding led Him in obedience to what was revealed to Him. No longer the son of Joseph, but the Son of God, Jesus grew in His understanding of who He was through an understanding of God as His Father, and with His awareness of God as His Father, He also became aware that He was the Son! And as He became aware that He was the Son, He knew that He was the heir to God's inheritance. But steeped as He was in knowledge of the Scriptures, Jesus knew what that inheritance meant, and how it was to be attained - through death and resurrection!

This developing revelation sprang first from His intimate knowledge of God as Father . . . indeed, all flows from this abiding revelation! We saw the developing revelation of His Sonship when He entered the waters of the River Jordan, baptised by John `to fulfil all righteousness'. His Sonship was confirmed for all to hear when `a voice from heaven said: `This is My Son, My only Son, whom I love. With Him I am well pleased'. These were no words chosen at random but were part of a Messianic quotation from Psalm 2:

" He said to Me, `You are My Son.
Today I have become Your Father'. "
This Psalm goes on to confirm that the Son was to be a King, making `the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession'. These words, spoken by the Father at the baptism of Jesus, confirmed His role as the Servant of God, as spoken through Isaiah: (Isaiah 42:1)

" Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,
My chosen One in whom I delight. "
But now in the words spoken at Jesus' baptism, God's Servant `whom He upholds' had become `the Son whom I love'! We can also see the role the Servant Son would be asked to fulfil - echoed in the words found in Genesis 22 where God tells Abraham: (v2)

" Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there
as a burnt offering. "
This was pointing forward to the day when the voice of God would again be heard by those who had ears to hear (at Betheny-beyond-the-Jordan, as Jesus went down into the waters of baptism) saying `This is My Son, My only Son, whom I love' - and this Son would become the final Sacrifice! Jesus' understanding of His Sonship sprang from an intimate knowledge of His Father . . . and if a Son then also an heir! The inheritance was placed before Him and He entered into it in full obedience to His Father. Now, at the beginning of His Galilean ministry, Jesus again drew apart in prayer to His Father for a deepening revelation of His Sonship and the inheritance to be received.

Matthew records that Jesus (together with His disciples) `went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon- possessed, the epileptics and the paralytics, and He healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed Him' (4:23-25). The whole of Israel was stirred by these events in Galilee, and large crowds from all the regions followed Him. No wonder the time came when the members of the Sanhedrin became alarmed. Jesus, still in comparative safety away from the Sanhedrin's area of authority, began a startling and miraculous work, as Mark records: `A man with leprousy came to Him and begged Him on his knees, `If You are willing, You can make me clean'. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. `I am willing', he said. `Be clean!' Immediately the leprousy left the man and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: `See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them' (1:40-44).

According to the Law of Moses, the priests were commanded to inspect a man suspected of having leprousy for seven days. If no evidence of leprousy emerged after seven days the priest was to declare the man healed and free to join the community again. However, from the time the Mosaic Law was declared to be complete - and up to the time of Jesus - there had been no record of any healing of the disease of leprousy at all! And so the Rabbis taught that although they were able to ask for and receive healings for all kinds of diseases, only the Messiah would be able to heal certain diseases. These were leprousy, the casting out of a deaf and dumb spirit, and healing of people who were born blind! Therefore this act of Jesus in healing the poor wretched leper was again proclaiming His Messiahship, not only with words but with very actions the Rabbis taught could only be performed by the Messiah! Jesus' words to the leper were therefore deliberate: `But go, show yourself to the priest, and as the prescribed sacrifices are offered and you are inspected for seven days this will be a testimony to them'! This miracle of the healing of the leper was meant to force the Jewish leaders to come to a decision concerning `the Man Christ Jesus', whose actions (as their own teachings ordained) could only be performed by the Messiah. Luke records this a little more fully, and we are told, `Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed' (5:15-16). He would not have to wait long before the news spread to Jerusalem and to the Sanhedrin!

Luke continues with the story: `One day as He was teaching, Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick' (5:17). The healing of the leper must have caused much consternation in the Sanhedrin, and so `Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, who had come from every village in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem were sitting there'! They were gathered there to further observe this man who was performing healing miracles, which they taught could only be performed by the Messiah. This time they not only saw but they heard more than they had bargained for: `Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said, `Friend, your sins are forgiven' (5:18-19). This brought the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law to their feet. It was one thing to perform miracles that they taught could only have been done by the Messiah - but to forgive sins? That was blasphemy! Only God could forgive sins - but here was a man who was performing miracles that only the Messiah could do - blasphemy!

We may lift our eyebrows at such an obvious contradiction in their thinking, but prejudice - blind prejudice, we would call it - can blind the eyes and harden the hearts beyond logical thinking. This man was the carpenter's son from Nazareth. Messianic miracles He might be performing . . . but to forgive sins? That was blasphemy! But `Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, `Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say, `Your sins are forgiven', or to say, `Get up and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .' He said to the paralysed man, `I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home'. Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God' (5:22-25).

The Pharisees had got what they had come for (trapped now by their own blind prejudice). Jesus calmly confirmed what is easier to say by peforming what is hardest to do - `But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home'. Little wonder that they who watched and listened were `filled with awe and said: We have seen remarkable things today' (v26). The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law now had no basis for their rejection of Jesus as Messiah! His words and His actions - the easiest to say and the hardest to do - both spoke and demonstrated to them who He was, but they only hardened their hearts against Him the more. Mark now takes up the narrative, and in chapter 2 we find Jesus still in Capernaum, adding to His band of disciples: `Once again Jesus went out beside the lake (of Galilee). A large crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them. As he walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. `Follow me,' Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and `sinners' were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him. When the Teachers of the Law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the `sinners' and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, `Why does He eat with `sinners' and tax collectors?' (v13-16).

But the question was more pointed than that. In fact it was more of a statement than a question, seeking to destroy the credibility of Jesus. The question to the disciples was really this: If this Jesus really is the Messiah that He claims to be (and we need to remember that so far no claims had been made, only actions performed) how can He associate with those who are unclean (Amhaarez) whilst we Pharisees (Haberim) have separated ourselves unto God from the unclean. And this Levi (even more unclean, if it were possible, for he was a Levite set apart for service at the Temple, according to the Law) was acting as if he were a Roman tax collector! This was an action beyond the unthinkable! It led to a sharp retort from Jesus over their self-righteousness: `It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners' (2:17). Jesus knew the hearts of those He called: As a Levite, Levi (Matthew) had no land from which to provide for himself. Driven to the extremety of Jewish society to earn his living, an outcast among sinners, he too would have known of the work and preaching of the man who now said, `Follow me'. Levi knew that he was a sinner, but here was One calling him who could forgive sins and perform miracles of healing, `and Levi got up and followed Him'.

As we stay with Mark's narrative we read that `John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some of the people came and asked Jesus, `How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but Yours are not?' (2:18). Incredible though it may seem we see here the disciples of John agreeing with the disciples of the Pharisees - caught up in the strict observances and teachings of the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. It seems incredible that they could put aside, as it were, the reality of what they had seen and heard in the words and actions of Jesus, confirming His Messiahship, for the shadow of the observance of the Law. John's disciples clearly lacked a full understanding of the new Dispensation of Grace and Truth - as declared by their leader John the Baptist - and even though we look back with our `New Testament eyes' we would do well to remember how traditions can dull our spirits and our understanding of the fulness of the inheritance that is ours through the work of the Holy Spirit! This led to Jesus speaking in three short almost terse parables that would mean little to hearts that were hardened by prejudice, but among the disciples there would be those who were beginning to grasp what was happening. `Jesus answered: How can the guests of the Bridegroom fast while He is with them? They cannot, so long as they have Him with them. But the time will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. No-one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins' (2:19-22).

Those around Jesus who were open would understand how the teachings of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law - with their written and oral Torah, and with their detailed Mishnah (the teachings of the Rabbis on the Law) - had indeed built a `fence around Torah' so tight that it had become a prison of traditions - a heavy yoke that made it impossible to live with. Now a Bridegroom had come with a new beginning . . . a new life . . . a Dispensation of Grace and Truth . . . a breaking of the impossible yoke that the Mishnah imposed! There was no need for fasting at such a time! The new Dispensation of Grace and Truth could be no patching of old traditions . . . no pouring of new wine into old wineskins, for to do so would destroy both the old and the new. Whenever tradition is allowed to be grafted into the truth of Scripture it will always destroy the truth of Scripture and will therefore in its own turn be destroyed, for it has no basis of truth. Logic demands acceptance of this fact, and while we may nod our heads wisely at the blindness of the Pharisees, we need to look closely at the traditions of the Church, which through its own `Christian Mishnah' has almost (if that were possible) destroyed the truth of the new wine which the Holy Spirit seeks to pour into the new wineskins of the Church of Jesus Christ. Luke records the response to the three almost terse parables of Jesus: `And no-one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says: The old is better' (5:39). Jesus knew that the rejection of His Messiahship was nearing its climax. After all, tradition is comfortable; new wine is sharp. It disturbs `the fence around Torah'. It gives us security in our efforts to be righteous. This would lead to outright rejection, and the hostility to Jesus would intensify!

John then records that ` some time later Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a Feast of the Jews' (5:1). If we remember that all male Jews were required by the Law to attend the three main Feasts it was most probably the Feast of Passover that Jesus attended in Jerusalem. And, incredible though it might be, we are now half-way through His ministry, and the time was coming when He would be led to Jerusalem for another Feast of Passover - this last time as the Sacrifical Lamb of God for the redemption of the world. But at this `Feast of the Jews' Jesus would find Himself in the centre of the territory under the religious control of the Sanhedrin and, as such, in grave danger, for although opposition to Him was growing throughout the whole land, the hostility of the Jews in Jerusalem was even more open and violent. At this Feast the hostility breaks open and once again Jesus finds Himself in direct conflict with the Pharisees! `Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethsaida and which is covered by five colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, `Do you want to get well?' `Sir,' the invalid replied, `I have no-one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.

While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me'. Then Jesus said to him, `Get up! Pick up your mat and walk'. At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked' (5:2-8). In his narrative John then proceeds to tell us that the day on which the man was healed was the Sabbath. This increased the angry response from the Pharisees - that the man was not allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath - once again revealing the heavy burden or yoke the teachings of the Pharisees had placed upon the backs of the people! The whole Mosaic Law contained 613 detailed requirements, one of which was to keep the Sabbath as a day holy unto the Lord, with the added injunction to do no work. To this one commandment the commentaries of the Rabbis (the Mishnah) had added 1,500 additional requirements! Indeed it was a yoke impossible to live under! (A point to remember when we hear the angry cries of certain `Rabbis' of today as they seek to impose a form of Mosaic Law upon a people who have no regard for or knowledge of the Law of Moses, let alone worship of Jesus!) The Pharisees, ignoring the miracle of the healing of the paralytic, not seeing the joy and wonder of the man made whole after thirty-eight years of misery, pointed to him carrying a mat on the Sabbath - a direct conflict with the teaching of the Mishnah. This caused trouble for Jesus that He had not looked for, for His time had not yet come. When the Pharisees questioned the man further he was unable to identify the one who had healed him. Only later when he met Jesus again did he understand who He was, and `the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well' (5:15).

The clash was now unavoidable: `So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Him. Jesus said to them, `My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working' (v16-17). In Jewish thinking, with their strong patriarchical culture, a son enjoyed equal standing with his father in the community. Indeed they were considered to be equal, the son being under the authority and protection of his father for as long as the father lived. The son's inheritance was so assured that in a social sense he enjoyed all the privileges and standing as though he had already entered into his inheritance. Therefore, when Jesus told them `My Father is always at His work' He was in effect saying that He was equal in standing with His Father. `For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath (according to the teachings of the Mishnah) but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God' (5:18). We see here that even in this conflict with the Pharisees over the Mishnah Jesus still made no overt mention of His Messiahship. If Jesus had done so He would have stepped beyond what the Father required at that time, and He would have precipitated the collision that was inevitable at a time yet to come. At this point in His ministry Jesus merely returned the question with another question, using Scripture as His advocate: `I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man' (24-27). Once again He uses Scripture as His advocate, for the Law states that:

Deuteronomy 19:15
" One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or
offense he may have committed, and a matter must be established
by the testing of two or three witnesses. "
Jesus now calls four witnesses to His defence: `You have sent John (the Baptist) and he has testified to the truth' (5:33) - pointing here to the intense interogation of John at Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan by the Pharisees, sent by the Sanhedrin to investigate an apparent Messianic Movement. But Jesus continues, `I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given Me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent Me' (v36). Here Jesus was pointing to the healing of the leper, which, according to the teaching of the Pharisees themselves, only the Messiah could perform. Jesus continues to call upon the witnesses as to who He was: `And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me' (v37) - pointing back to His baptism in the Jordan `to fulfil all righteousness', when the voice from heaven spoke the Messianic blessing: `This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased' (Matthew 3:17). Finally, Jesus points to their own actions: `You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life' (v39-40). Jesus had no need of the praise or acceptance of men; there were higher authorities testifying to His Messiahship! This sharp intense conflict with the Pharisees would leave them even further hardened in their hearts, and with an intensified desire to kill Him, and this confrontation finishes with the condemnation of Jesus over their unbelief and hatred. His words ring out: `You have more than the Law requires; you have four witnesses concerning Me - but do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He wrote about Me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?' (v45-47).

The danger of staying in Jerusalem was now so great that we find Mark recording that Jesus returned to Galilee. `One Sabbath day Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as His disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn' (2:23). The Pharisees were obviously staying very close to Jesus, seeking all the time to find a reason to accuse Him: `The Pharisees said to Him, `Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?' (v24). Again the conflict with the Pharisees was not over Scripture but over the yoke of the Pharisees . . the Mishnah . . with its minute detailed interpretation of the Mosaic Law that had produced the self-righteous, rigid legal bondage of Pharasaical Judaism that had taken such a hold of the people. But Jesus merely pointed to the authority of Scripture alone, and to David's actions when he and his men were hungry: `He (David) entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for the priests to eat' (v26). Jesus was not concerned with breaking the traditions of men, and He continued: `The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath' (27-28). Again this was a covert reference to who He was. He was Lord of the Sabbath and free to perform acts of mercy on any day of the week. The Sabbath was set aside for man to rest and keep holy to the Lord - not to place him in bondage to one special day.

However the determination of the Jews did not waver: Jesus was now back in Galilee and in comparative safety from the Sanhedrin, but Luke now records what was most probably a definite `plant' in order to catch Jesus out. Again the Pharisees were in conflict with Jesus over His breaking of their interpretation of the Law, the Mishnah. `On another Sabbath He went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shrivelled' (6:6). We say this man was most certainly a deliberate plant, for the narrative continues: `The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched closely to see if He would help him on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shrivelled hand, `Get up and stand up in front of everyone'. So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, `I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath; to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?' He looked round at them, and then said to the man, `Stretch out your hand'. He did so and his hand was completely restored' (6:7-10). Again Jesus merely demonstrated an act of mercy. His Lordship was over the Sabbath, which according to Scripture was made for man as a day to cease from his labours and to glorify God. But the conflict was over the Mishnah, and the status quo of the Pharisees was threatened. Their religious way of life was being shown for the sham it was - to the point of even denying the joy of a man with a shrivelled hand who received his healing on the Sabbath. Surely he did indeed glorify God on the Sabbath! However their hearts were hardened beyond belief, and we read that `they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus' (6:11). Mark also records that `the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus' (3:6).

Remembering our understanding of the attitude of the Pharisees to all who were not part of their sect, this plot is even more incredible. The party of the Herodians was entirely secular, having some sort of political allegience to the house of Herod, and in normal times the Pharisees would never have considered any kind of association with such people. But now we find the beginning of a very powerful force gathering against Jesus! When secular forces join forces with religious forces a power is formed over circumstances and people that reaches into every part of every social situation. The gathering storm was now beginning to show itself. But that, too, was in the hands of the Father, and although it was noticed by Him it did not deter Jesus from His task. Mark continues with the record: `Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all that He was doing, very many people came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd He told His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him, to keep the people from crowding Him. For He had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch Him. Whenever the evil spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried, `You are the Son of God'. But He gave them strict orders not to tell who He was' (3:7-12). Jesus was not yet ready to openly declare who He was. The testing of John the Baptist; the testing of His works and the Father's audible voice at His public baptism; the testing of Scripture; these were all that were required to reveal who this `Man Christ Jesus' was, and all who walked in His footsteps could see and hear these testimonies for themselves - `but the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus'!

We will close this fourth study of walking in His footsteps with the narrative of Matthew's Gospel, for we believe that it records the quiet dignity, authority and compassion of `the Man Christ Jesus', who, aware of all that was breaking out around Him, continued to do His Father's work! `Aware of this (the plotting of the Pharisees and the Herodians) Jesus withdrew from that place (after the conflict with the Pharisees over the Mishnah teaching against picking ears of corn on a Sabbath). Many followed Him, and He healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: (Matthew 12:15-21)

"Here is My Servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put My Spirit on Him.
and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no-on will hear His voice in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break,
and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out,
till He leads justice to victory.
In His Name the nations will put their hope. "
He was quietly and determinedly doing His Father's work, even though the storm clouds were fast gathering around Him. And even here, in what was the comparative safety of Galilee, we find that Jesus needed no other witnesses to whom He was, other than His actions confirmed by Scripture.

They should be the only witnesses that are required for all who would follow as disciples in the footsteps of the Man Christ Jesus!

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