Mark 2:1 And when he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. 3 And four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 4 And when they could not bring him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 6 But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, he said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.” 12 And he arose immediately, and took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this.” NHEB
Mark has described several events as references to the power and authority of Christ. If we stop here, Jesus looks like us and seems like us but there is something more than meets the eye. He possesses a power and authority that is both extraordinary and mystifying. The story here starts a new section where we begin to hear from the people who are opposed to Jesus.
It is easy to think that we get sick as a result of sin or because of something we have done but like the paralytic, we are broken both spiritually and physically. Jesus heals the paralytic on the inside through forgiveness and then heals him physically. Same for us.
“Son of Man” is Jesus’ preferred way of talking about Himself. This title is not prominent in the Old Testament and for the most part, refers to a human or mortal. Only in Daniel does it speak to Messiah. (Also see John 5:27, Mark 13:24-27, Matthew 13:41, Matthew 16:28 and Matthew 26:63-66 for more references to Jesus as “Son of Man”).
Daniel 7:13 In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. 14And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. BSB
The Jews expected the Messiah to be a king like David. In this manner, the Messiah will assemble an army so they can throw off the Roman oppression. The problem is that if Jesus announces early on that He is the Christ and then tells the people He is going to die, they simply won’t understand. Although the idea of Messiah as a king is prevalent among many Jews of the time, there are other messianic expectations in the Old Testament. One example is in Isaiah 53 where God has a representative on earth (the suffering servant) who will suffer for His people. Although He does so later, at this point Jesus isn’t yet ready to go public (recall that He schussed the demon back in Mark 1 who recognized who He was).
Mark 2:13 And he went out again by the seaside. All the crowd came to him, and he taught them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him. NHEB
Similar story to the first four called back in chapter one. It is likely that Matthew and Jesus had some prior encounters since part of his job is to collect taxes from the trades (and Jesus practiced a trade for all of his adult life prior to His ministry). Again, Mark isn’t interested in the back story – just the fact that these guys immediately agree to leave everything and follow Him.
Jesus as a first century Jew would be conditioned to think of the world as clean versus unclean (i.e., acceptable versus non-acceptable). Among the unclean are tax collectors because they are perceived as being bad people. (In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about church discipline for someone who has stepped out of line. He lays out several steps to take and if all the actions fail, Jesus tells us to let that person be as a heathen and tax collector to us).
NHEB Mark 2:15 It happened, that he was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
This is scandalous behavior on the part of Jesus (as verse 16 confirms) because He is intimately connected with those at the table sharing food and dipping into the same bowls. (The New Living Translation uses “scum” rather than “tax collectors and sinners” in verse 16).
The difference between the scribes and the Pharisees is that the scribes are literate whereas the Pharisees are not. As a result, the scribes are the custodians of the text and the Pharisees rely on the scribes to tell them the meaning of the text. Their conversation isn’t directed to Jesus but He overhears them and responds in verse 17. In this verse, read “righteous” as “self-righteous” (similar to the Pharisee versus the publican). Those who are self-righteous don’t need a savior and if we don’t think we need a savior, then we aren’t going to be interested in this story.
The Jews had an acute sense of sin and a sacrifice system related to atonement. In addition, Judaism had a distinction between deliberate, high-handed sin and inadvertent sin. The intentional, high-handed sin is one that might not be covered by atonement. (See Numbers 15:30-31). Nevertheless, being given forgiveness isn’t at the forefront of their minds.
. Nevertheless, being given forgiveness isn’t at the forefront of their minds.
The standard for righteousness is obedience to the law. Early in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), Jesus starts a number of proclamations with “you have heard it said” and then follows with “but I say”. He is rejecting mere outward obedience and instead, pushes the question inward to our hearts. What this means is that while the Pharisees can give the appearance of righteousness by tithing, avoiding sinners and performing other works, they still can’t fulfill all of the law. This shortcoming is one that they were likely already aware of with or without Christ pointing it out to them. (Also see the seven woes Jesus pronounces upon the Pharisees later in Matthew 23).
Matthew 23:2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. BSB
Matthew is probably the least popular of the apostles. All of the others are similar but as a tax collector, he has separated himself and knows he isn’t righteous, yet Jesus has still invited him to the party and told him that he belongs because He came not to call the righteous, but the sinners.