Mark 2:5
And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
(a) Seeing their faith. Jesus saw the actions that accompanied the faith of those who carried the paralyzed man. The four men risked the ire of others by removing the roof of the house. They did this because they believed that Jesus could help their friend.
(b) Your sins are forgiven. Jesus forgave the paralyzed man to show us that God freely forgives us on account of grace and without any regard for our behavior (Eph. 1:7). Jesus died for us while we were sinners, and he forgave us while we were sinners (Col. 2:13). Before you repented, confessed, or did anything, the Lamb of God carried away all your sins – past, present, and future. See entry for Luke 23:34.
Mark 2:6
But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
Scribes; see entry for Matt. 5:20.
Mark 2:7
“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”
(a) Blaspheming. The original verb blasphēmeō means “to malign” (e.g., Tit. 3:2), “to abuse” (e.g., Mark 15:29), “to speak evil of” (e.g., Rom. 14:16), or “to slander” (e.g., Rom. 3:8). It is speaking falsely of someone in a way that injures their good name.
(b) Forgive sins; see entry for Forgiveness.
Mark 2:9
“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?
Your sins are forgiven; see entry for Mark 2:5.
Mark 2:10
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
(a) The Son of Man; see entry for Matt. 8:20.
(b) Forgive sins; see entry for Forgiveness.
Mark 2:14
As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
Levi the son of Alphaeus was probably Matthew the tax collector (Matt. 9:9).
Mark 2:15
And it happened that he was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following him.
Tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors (like Levi) were revenue collectors for the hated Roman occupiers, while sinners were the irreligious and those considered unrighteous (Matt. 9:13). The word “sinner” in the Gospels, typically refers to someone who does not keep the law (John 7:49).
Mark 2:16
When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”
(a) The scribes of the Pharisees. Some of the scribes (experts in the law) belonged to the party of the Pharisees. See entry for Matt. 5:20.
(b) Tax collectors and sinners; see previous verse.
Mark 2:17
And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(a) The righteous refers to those who trust in their own righteousness (Luke 18:9). Self-righteous religious people, in other words.
(b) Sinners. If the original language did not lack punctuation marks, the word “sinners” would be in quotation marks. Religious people called them sinners; Jesus called them lost sheep (Matt. 10:6, 15:24).
Mark 2:18
John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
(a) John’s disciples. Some of John’s disciples had left him to follow Jesus (John 1:35–37), but others did not. They remained with John, choosing the herald over the King. Even after Jesus rose from the dead, some were still preaching John’s baptism of repentance, even in far-away places such as Ephesus (Act 19:1–3).
(b) Pharisees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.
(c) Fasting. Strangely, John’s disciples had more in common with the Pharisees’ disciples than with the disciples of Jesus. Both groups were known for their frequent fasting and long prayers. Such reputations may impress people, but they do nothing to improve our standing before God (Matt. 6:5, 16).
Under the Law of Moses, one day each year was set aside for fasting: the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29–31; 23:27–32). On that day, the Israelites were commanded to “afflict themselves,” and this was traditionally understood as abstaining from food and drink. However, the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted far more often, presumably to demonstrate their devotion to God. In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the Pharisee even boasted that he fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12).
(d) Do not fast. While John and his disciples were known for fasting, Jesus and his disciples were known for feasting (e.g., Luke 5:29, John 2:1–11). Because he dined with Pharisees, tax collectors, and others, Jesus’ critics went so far to call him “a glutton and a drunkard” (Luke 7:34).
Mark 2:19
And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
(a) The bridegroom. Just as God was compared to a bridegroom in the Old Testament (e.g., Is. 62:5, Ez. 16:8, Hos. 2:19), Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom in the New Testament (e.g., Matt. 22:2, 25:1).
(b) The bridegroom is with them. Just as a wedding is a time for feasting not fasting, it is inappropriate for the disciples of Christ to fast while he is with them. The kingdom of heaven is a party, not a funeral.
Jesus brought life, freedom, and healing wherever he went. He opened deaf ears and blind eyes. He raised the dead and delivered the oppressed. Why would anyone fast when Jesus is around?
Mark 2:20
“But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
(a) Taken away from them. When Jesus was taken away to be tortured and crucified, the disciples would not feel like eating.
(b) They will fast. Jesus is making an observation, not issuing a command. In times of sorrow, people sometimes fast. David fasted when his child became sick (2 Sam. 12:16).
In the Old Testament, people fasted during the annual Day of Atonement and on a few other special occasions, such as after losing a battle (Jud. 20:26) or when Ezra read the Book of Law (Neh. 9:1). When they fasted, they were essentially saying, “God, forgive us.” In the new covenant, that prayer has been answered. In Christ, we are fully forgiven (Acts 13:38, Eph. 1:7). Fasting done to earn forgiveness, impress God, or draw him out of hiding is a dead work and a form of unbelief.
Mark 2:21
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.
Unshrunk cloth. New, unshrunk cloth stitched onto an old garment will shrink and tear at the first wash.
Mark 2:22
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
(a) New wine into old wineskins. New wine, which expands as it ferments, must be kept in a new wineskin that will stretch with it. If you put new wine in an old skin that has lost its pliability, the skin will burst. You will ruin the old skin and lose the new wine.
(b) The new wine represents the new covenant message of grace and the new reality of the kingdom that was at hand (Matt. 4:17). On the Day of Pentecost, when the Lord poured out his Spirit on the new church, onlookers mocked and said, “They are filled with new wine” (Act 2:13).
(c) Old wineskins. The old wineskins represent the old structures and traditions of rule-keeping religion. The old wineskins are not useless (see Rom. 3:1–2), but they cannot contain the new wine. The Spirit of God does not dwell in temples (or religions) made with human hands (Act 17:24).
(d) Burst the skins. Whenever Jesus (the new wine) engaged with the priests in the temple (the old wineskin), there was conflict and aggravation. The new wine of the new covenant wouldn’t go into the old wineskin of old covenant religion. The new wine needed a new wineskin, a new temple of the Holy Spirit.
(e) Fresh wineskins. The body of Christ, a.k.a. the church.
The message of grace revealed by Jesus was not embraced by the priests and temple worshippers. A new and more pliable wineskin was needed. So God provided a new temple, the body of Christ or the church. “For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16).
Mark 2:23
And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.
(a) The Sabbath was the day of rest mandated in the Law of Moses (Ex. 31:14, Lev. 23:3). The Sabbath day began at sunset on Friday and ended on sunset on Saturday.
(b) Picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees claimed the disciples were breaking the law (see next verse).
Mark 2:24
The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
(a) Pharisees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.
(b) What is not lawful. It was a violation of the Law to do any work on the Sabbath (Lev. 23:3).
Mark 2:28
“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
(a) The Son of Man; see entry for Matt. 8:20.
(b) Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a signpost that points to Jesus.
The Sabbath day of rest, which was enshrined in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:10) and repeated elsewhere in the Law of Moses (Ex. 31:14, Lev. 23:3), reflected the seventh day when God rested from his work of creation (Gen. 2:2–3). By saying he was Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus was essentially saying “I am the Creator who rested and who helps you to rest.” It was an astounding claim that would have shocked the Pharisees. The original Sabbath law, that some still strive to keep, was a mere shadow (Heb. 10:1). The substance or reality is found in Christ (Col. 2:17).
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