Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Mark 2:1) And again He entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
At the end of the last chapter, Mark said that the fame of Jesus had grown so much that He could no longer stay in the city, but had to stay in the wilderness. It appears that after some days He did come back into the city of Capernaum. Although I am sure He came privately, it was soon heard that He was back in the house, which would have been Peter's house.
(2) And immediately many were gathered together so that there was no room to receive them, no, not even at the door. And He preached the word to them.
As soon as word got out that Jesus was there, there gathered so many people that there was no room for them in the house, not even about the door. Jesus preached to the people.
(3) And they came to Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four men.
Four men carrying a man sick of the palsy, or paralysis, on a mat or bed as told by Matthew in Matthew 9:2, attempted to come to Jesus in the house.
(4) And when they could not come near to Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was, and when they had broken through, they let down the bed where the paralytic lay.
When the men carrying the paralytic saw that they could not get near to Jesus because of the crowd of people, they uncovered the roof above where Jesus was preaching. When they had uncovered a large enough area, they let the paralyzed man on his bed down through the opening.
(5) When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."
When Jesus saw the great faith of the men in that they would work so hard to get the paralyzed man to Him, knowing He could cure Him, He said to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
(6) But there were certain scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, (7) "Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?"
There were some scribes in the crowd who, upon hearing Jesus's words, began to reason and question within their hearts about why "this man" would speak such blasphemies; after all, only God could forgive sins!
(8) And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?"
Jesus, demonstrating one of His Godly abilities, showing that He knew what they were thinking, asked the scribes why it was that they questioned within their hearts the things they heard Jesus say.
(9) "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, and take up your bed, and walk'?"
Jesus continued to speak to the scribes questioning within their hearts, and asked them which was easier for Him to say to the paralytic, that his sins were forgiven, or telling him to get up, take up his bed, and walk, thus suggesting (actually proving) to them that He could do either, or both, for that matter.
(10) "But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins," (He said to the paralytic), (11) "I say to you, arise, and take up your bed, and go your way to your house."
Then telling the scribes that He would show them that He indeed had the power on earth to forgive sins, and to heal the man, He told the paralytic to rise up, take up his bed, and go to his house.
(12) And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything in this manner."
Indeed, the paralyzed man rose up, being completely healed from his paralysis, and took up his bed and walked out before all the people. They were all amazed and glorified God, and said they had never witnessed anything like that before.
(13) And He went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.
Jesus then went out again by the seaside of the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberius, as it was called at Capernaum, and a multitude of people came to Him there, and He taught them.
(14) And as He passed by, He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt office of customs, and said to him, "Follow Me." And he arose and followed Him.
Jesus passed by the tax office, and saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the office. Jesus called to him to follow Him, and he immediately did. Levi was also called Matthew, as men often had two names in those days, and sometimes names were added to distinguish men with the same names from each other. Interestingly, as I am noticing for the first time, Levi was called the son of Alphaeus. In Matthew 10:2-4, the second James (not the son of Zebedee) was called the son of Alphaeus. It would appear that Matthew and James were brothers. However, as the scriptures often point out the sets of brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John, it never pairs Matthew and James together, so these were probably sons of two different Alphaeuses. These people known by only one name can be very confusing! Nothing is as confusing as all the Marys!
(15) And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at the meal in his house, many publicans and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples for there were many, and they followed Him.
The account in Luke tells us that Matthew made a great feast in honor of Jesus, and that is where Jesus sat. As Matthew had been a tax collector, it is reasonable to expect his friends also at the feast to be in the same line of work. Therefore, Jesus and His disciples sat among many tax men and sinners for many had followed Him into the feast.
(16) And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publicans and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?"
When the scribes and Pharisees saw Jesus eating with publicans, whom they looked upon as lowlifes and sinners, and Gentiles whom all called sinners, they asked His disciples why He did such a thing.
(17) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "They who are whole have no need of the physician, but they who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
When Jesus heard what the scribes and Pharisees were asking His disciples, He told them that He was with the people who needed Him. The righteous did not need His healing, but the sinners did.
(18) And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
At that time the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came to Jesus and asked why it was that His disciples did not fast as they did. In the beginning, all the questions of the Pharisees were not necessarily bad. They had more knowledge so as to ask more questions. It's what they did with the answers in their hearts that mattered and began to show later.
(19) And Jesus said to them, "Can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast."
Jesus said that the bride and bridesmaids of the bride chamber could not be expected to fast when the bridegroom and the time of the wedding had come. That was a time of celebration, not fasting. As Jesus was considered the bridegroom with the church as His bride, His analogy, of course, meant that while He was present with them, it was a time for celebration, not fasting.
(20) "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."
Jesus went on to say that there would come a time when He the bridegroom would be taken away, and then it would be a time for fasting.
(21) "No one also sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment, or else the new piece that filled it pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse."
Sewing a new unwashed and unworn piece of cloth on an old garment would not work because the new piece would shrink and pull away from the old fabric and cause a bigger tear. Jesus's point was that now that He was here, some rules did not fit. Bringing the new for the people Messiah into the scene did not fit for the old ways of fasting, but for joy and celebration, a new thing now that their much anticipated Messiah was there.
(22) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins and the wine is spilled and the wineskins will be ruined; but new wine must be put into new wineskins."
Likewise, Jesus said that new wine could not be put into an old wineskin for it would burst the old skin; it must be put into a new wineskin. This new thing with Jesus now on earth among men called for a new way. That is not to say that Jesus came to change the old law; He didn't, but He did come to teach the spirit of the law and to do away with the legalistic laws of man. Another way to look at this is that Jesus bringing His message of repentance and salvation to the old scribes and Pharisees would only fill them with rage and fury to the point they burst, metaphorically. This new testament was better received by sinners who would be new Christians.
(23) And it came to pass that when He went through the cornfields on the sabbath day, and His disciples began as they went to pluck the ears of corn, (24) The Pharisees said to Him, "Behold, why do they do on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?"
Then came the time when Jesus and His disciples walked through the cornfields on the sabbath day, and His disciples began to pluck ears of corn. The Pharisees asked Jesus why it was that His disciples did that which was not lawful for them to do on the Sabbath.
(25) And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him? (26) How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to them who were with him?"
Jesus asked the Pharisees if they had ever read about David, the man after God's own heart, when he was hungry and in need of food, had no difficulty in eating the shewbread, which by law was meant only for the priests and their families. He not only ate it, but gave some to those who accompanied him. I like the way Matthew Henry put it, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Ritual observances must give way to moral obligations; and that may be done in a case of necessity, which otherwise may not be done." God is love, and His laws were made to teach us how to love God, our neighbors, and our parents and authority. When we become so legalistic and strict about the letter of the law that we cease to love and actually hurt people because of it, then that law should give way to love and moral obligations.
(27) And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."
Jesus went on to tell them that the Sabbath was made for man, for his good and not for his hurt, a day of rest for both his body and his soul. Man was not made for the Sabbath of which laws he must obey even at the cost of hurting himself and others. I can't help but think of environmental laws we have on the books that would save a tiny reptile at the expense of denying people water. There is a moral order to things, and people are more important than animals that God put on earth for man. A baby's life is more important than the convenience of its mother. Doctors and hospitals must work on the Sabbath in order to save lives.
(28) "Therefore, the Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath."
Jesus the Messiah, God on earth, the Supreme lawgiver, who made all things, had the right to dispense with any law He had made. In this case, it's not so much that He was dispensing with the law, but He taught the spirit of the law, and how it was meant for the good of man. Therefore, plucking and eating a few ears of corn on the Sabbath when they were hungry, especially when you consider their jobs were ministry and not tending farms and preparing food, was not a sinful act.
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