Mark 2

Jesus went to Capernaum again and was in a house. When the crowds heard He was there, they went into the house to see Him. There He preached the Word of God to them. 

There was a paralytic on a bed carried by four men, and they went to see Jesus, but they could not get into the house. Therefore, they climb up onto the roof, broke through the roof, and lowered the man down into the house. When Jesus saw their faith, He told the man, "Your sins are forgiven."

The scribes who were present questioned in their hearts why Jesus blasphemed like that because only God could forgive sins. Jesus, who knows all hearts, asked, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins." Then He told the man to get up, take your bed, and go to your house, which the man obeyed. 

Later, Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, also known as Levi, and told him to follow Him, and he did. When Jesus was at the house of Matthew and other disciples, and the scribes saw Him eating with tax collectors and sinners, they questioned why. Jesus told them, 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.

Next, the Pharisees questioned why Jesus' disciples did not fast. Jesus asked how the friends of the bridegroom could fast while the bridegroom was with them; but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. 

Finally, He and His disciples were in the grain field, plucking heads of grain, and again, the Pharisees accused them of doing what was not lawful on the Sabbath. Jesus pointed out that David ate the showbread when he was hungry. And He said: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

COMMENTARY

Jesus left Capernaum in chapter 1 because word got out that He had healed the man with palsy, which was why Jesus did not want the man to share what He had done. He did not want His ministry to turn into a healing show because that was not why He had come. He came for a spiritual purpose, to die on the cross for the sins of the world. If people only come to Jesus for physical healing, that obscures the gospel. 

Nonetheless, Jesus returned to Capernaum and was in a crowded house sharing the Word of God when a paralytic man was let down through the roof with the help of his friends. First, Jesus was amazed by the faith of the four men who broke through the roof of someone's house just to let their friend down to see Jesus. It took faith and courage! 

Then Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, which offended the scribes. But the scribes were right. Only God has the power to forgive sins on earth. But what they misunderstood was that Jesus was not blaspheming God. Jesus is God. 

But the scribes who thought these thoughts in their heads were too afraid to answer Jesus when He confronted them. Since Jesus can do both, forgive sins and heal the man, He then told the paralytic to arise, pick up his bed, and go home. 

On fasting, Jesus gave an illustration about the old and new wine skins. Jesus said that no one puts a new piece of cloth on an old wine skin. He meant that He brought a new way to live and love and have fellowship with God, not to repair the Law or to add to the Mosaic system. He is providing something new and better. 

Under the old Law, man had to work towards his relationship with God, which represented the old worn out garment. The new garment is the from the Lord, like a robe of righteousness, that the new believer receives when He believes. This will enable him to stand before the Lord God Almighty.