Mark 2:21-22

This is the 2nd part of Pastor Kurt's latest sermon on the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 2:21-22 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Verses 21 and 22 tell us that Christianity was radically different then the old religion. Jesus was not reforming Judaism. He was coming to do something radically new!

So what’s new about it?

Matthew 23:23 23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

Jesus wasn’t anti-law, but we need to fulfill it with our hearts. Do it from justice, mercy and faith.

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

“As I have loved you”! We could almost love like others love us. Or maybe even as we love ourselves. But loving like Christ has loved us elevates the command to the near impossible. How does Christ love?

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

We don’t live for ourselves! We live for others! It glorifies God when we do. We are to walk in Christ’s love. However He loved – we should love! Christianity is to take the heart beat and love of Christ and give it to as many people as you can.

This is the test of love:

1 John 2:7-77 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.
9The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 4: 7-11 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

God loves us unconditionally. That’s how we are to love others. It was sacrificial. How do we give ourselves up for others? His love is selfless: all for the glory of God and benefit of others. His love was lavish!

There is no limit to the love and grace of God!

Thoughts from reading 1 Corinthians

Thought from 1st Corinthians

Christians must not first consider their rights, but how best shall they act in situations to glorify God and reveal Christ’s life in them.

Our all-absorbing preoccupation is to be holy in all matters of life and to come to a mature understanding of God’s will for us and our place in church life.

From 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We should look at ourselves to see if we truly reproduce Christ’s love in inward emotions, mental attitudes and outward actions. Am I: patient for a long time? Kind? Not jealous? Not boastful? Not arrogant? Not rude? Not insisting on my own way? Not irritable? Not resentful? Not happy over another’s fall or over wrong? Do I rejoice over another’s good? Or over right?

Love in view of eternity! God wants us to love!

Christian Love - a Choice not a Feeling

The apostle John tells us in 1 John 2:7-8; “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you have had since the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment which is true in him and in you.”

The commandment is to love others. It’s old because it comes from the law. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And it’s new because Jesus interpreted it a new way. In John 13:34-35 He says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Jesus raised it to a new standard. We are to love like He did. Jesus didn’t just love His neighbors. He loved sinners and He loved His enemies. The Jews used to believe God wanted to destroy sinners. The rabbis would say, “There is joy in heaven when one sinner is obliterated from earth.” But, Jesus was a friend to the outcast and sinners and He taught us there is joy in heaven when one sinner comes home. Jesus widened the boundaries of who we are to love until they included the whole world.

For Christians, loving others isn’t a feeling, but a choice. There will always be things about certain people we won’t like. But, we should never treat others as irritants or look down on them. We should never think they are unimportant compared to us. If anyone had the right to do that it would have been Christ,but He never did. He always had time for people. He always had compassion for them. Jesus was able to see into their hearts and know why they did what they did. As we become more and more like Christ on our journey we will be able to see others through His eyes.

We should never treat people like enemies; they should never be a nuisance to us and we shouldn’t ignore their needs. Our brother’s needs are our needs, his interests our interests. To serve him is why we are here and to fellowship with him the true joy of life.

John says loving our brother allows us to progress in our spiritual life, but hating him stops the progress. Your choice!

Teach your children less about the love of power and more about the power of love!


See more on Christian Love here