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Jesus Heals a Paralytic To Prove He Has Authority To Forgive Sins

And having entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that He was at home[a]. And many were gathered together, so that the house was no longer having-room, not even the places at the door. And He was speaking the word to them. And they come bringing to Him a paralytic being picked-up by four men. And not being able to bring him to Him because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where He was. And having dug out an opening, they lower the cot on-which the paralytic was lying-down. And Jesus, having seen their faith, says to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven”. Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why is this One speaking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who is able to forgive sins except One— God?” And immediately Jesus, having known[b] in His spirit that they were reasoning in this manner within themselves, says to them “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? Which is easier— to say to the paralytic ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Arise, and pick-up your cot and walk’? 10 But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— He says to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, pick up your cot and go to your house”. 12 And he arose, and immediately having picked-up the cot, went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was astonished[c] and glorifying God, saying that “We never saw anything like this”.

Jesus Calls Levi The Tax Collector And Eats With His Friends: I Came For Sinners

13 And He went out again beside the sea. And all the multitude[d] was coming to Him. And He was teaching them. 14 And while passing on He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax-office[e]. And He says to him “Be following Me!” And having stood-up, he followed Him. 15 And it comes about that He was reclining [to eat] in his[f] house. And many tax-collectors and sinners were reclining-back-with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many, and they were following Him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, having seen that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, were saying to His disciples “Why is it that[g] He is eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And having heard, Jesus says to them that “The ones being strong have no need of a physician, but the ones being ill. I did not come to call righteous ones, but sinners”.

Why Do Your Disciples Not Fast? The Bridegroom Is Here. New Wine Needs New Wineskins

18 And the disciples of John and the Pharisees[h] were fasting. And they come and say to Him, “For what reason are the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not fasting?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of the wedding-hall[i] cannot be fasting while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long a time as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be fasting. 20 But days will come when the bridegroom is taken-away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise the fullness [of the patch] takes from it— the new from the old— and a worse tear[j] takes place. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine is lost, and the wineskins. But one puts new wine into fresh[k] wineskins”.

The Disciples Pluck Grain On The Sabbath. I Am Lord of The Sabbath

23 And it came about that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way while plucking[l] the heads [of grain]. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look! Why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?” 25 And He says to them, “Did you never read [in 1 Sam 21:1-6] what David did when he had a need and was hungry, he and the ones with him— 26 how he entered into the house of God in the time[m] of Abiathar the high-priest and ate the Bread of Presentation[n] which is not lawful for anyone to eat but the priests, and he gave it also to the ones being with him?” 27 And He was saying to them, “The Sabbath was made[o] for the sake of mankind, and not mankind for the sake of the Sabbath. 28 So then[p], the Son of Man is Lord even[q] of the Sabbath”.

Footnotes

  1. Mark 2:1 Or, in the house.
  2. Mark 2:8 Or, recognized, understood.
  3. Mark 2:12 Or, beside-themselves.
  4. Mark 2:13 Or, the whole crowd.
  5. Mark 2:14 Or, tax-booth. Levi (Matthew) was on the job, collecting taxes for Herod Antipas.
  6. Mark 2:15 That is, Levi’s house, Lk 5:29.
  7. Mark 2:16 Or, disciples that “He is... sinners!”
  8. Mark 2:18 On why these two groups may have been fasting, see Mt 9:14.
  9. Mark 2:19 That is, the attendants of the groom, referring to the disciples.
  10. Mark 2:21 In other words, Jesus is not a patch on the old Jewish system, sewn on to make repairs. He is a new garment, so His disciples act in a new way.
  11. Mark 2:22 Jesus cannot be contained within the worn-out Jewish system. A new system is needed.
  12. Mark 2:23 This was permitted under the Law, Deut 23:25. The Pharisees object because it was the Sabbath.
  13. Mark 2:26 This event indeed took place in the time of this pivotal high priest in the life of David. But Abiathar’s father Ahimelech was actually still high priest when David ate this bread.
  14. Mark 2:26 That is, the bread ‘set before’ God, ‘presented’ to God, consecrated to God; the twelve loaves of showbread, Lev 24:6-9.
  15. Mark 2:27 Or, came into being, came about. Mankind was not created for the purpose of keeping the Sabbath. Rather, that day was created for the benefit of mankind. In David’s case, the more urgent benefit he needed came at the expense of the normal Sabbath rules.
  16. Mark 2:28 Because Jesus is the Lord of mankind, He is the Lord of mankind’s Sabbath.
  17. Mark 2:28 Or, also.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man(A)

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers(B) that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,(C) carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”(D)

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”(E)

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man(F) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,(G) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”(H)

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners(I)

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,(J) and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”(K) Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 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. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees(L) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”(M)

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(N)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting(O)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.(P) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 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. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,(Q) and on that day they will fast.

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.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath(R)(S)

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.(T) 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”(U)

25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest,(V) he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.(W) And he also gave some to his companions.”(X)

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,(Y) not man for the Sabbath.(Z) 28 So the Son of Man(AA) is Lord even of the Sabbath.”