The Gospel of Mark: Peter’s Story of Jesusby Steve Petty

Bible Interpretation and study

Week 3: Mark 2: 1-17

Later, when we came to Capernaum, the word went out that he was back and peoplesurrounded the house again. So many gathered that there was no place to go, even the doorway to the house was blocked, but Jesus preached to them anyway.

Four men came, carrying a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him to Jesus, but the crowd was so thick they could not get through. So they climbed up on the roof and made an opening in it. When the hole was big enough, they lowered him down, still lying on his mattress. Jesus looked down at the man and up at his friends, and he was impressed by their faith. So he said to the man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Some scribes were watching and muttering to themselves, “Who does he think he is, talking like that? Only God can forgive sins. Does he think he is God? That is also a sin.”

Jesus saw them and he knew exactly what they were thinking, because he looked right at them and said, “Why would you think that? I could have just as easily said, ‘Get up! Take your mat and walk out of here.’ But that will only heal his symptoms. It is easier to heal his whole soul. But, just so you will know that I do have the power to forgive all sins ….” and he knelt down next to the man, who had not moved a muscle, and said, “Do this for me: get yourself up and run along home, and take your mat with you.”

So, the man got up, smiled at us, folded up his mat right there in front of everyone and walked out through the crowd. Everyone was amazed. The place exploded with talking and praising God. “We have never seen anything like this before.”

After that the house was too crowded, so Jesus moved out near the lake, and he continued to teach the people there.

We were walking by the lake one day and Jesus saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. He was a tax collector and he was sitting at his desk when Jesus said to him, “Follow Me!” And Levi got right up and joined us.

Levi invited us to dinner at his house and a number of his friends came by to see him and Jesus. These people were notorious sinners and tax collectors, like Levi. A lot of notorious people liked following Jesus and listening to him teach.

When the scribes and the leading Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they were pretty upset. One of them came up to me and said, “So, he eats with tax collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus overheard this and he said back to them, “People who think they are well don’t seek out a doctor, but rather those who are sick. I did not come to save the “righteous,” I am here to call upon the “sinners.”

Jesus and the Sinners

We sometimes think about Jesus as being so good he would only hang around with good people. But as we think about the crowds of people who gathered to listen to him we see all kinds of people. In truth, it was a small town and everyone was there. Sometimes we forget what a simple town this was and what simple life was like.

Consider, there are no schools, children are home all day or, if the boys are old enough, at work with Dad. Everyone breaks for meals at the same time. Anything happening on one end of town is instantly known on the other end of town, a couple hundred yards away, by children running in the streets to tell their friends to “come and see”. In the evening after work and supper, there was little to do but hang out with other friends in the town center. So, when Jesus shows up and starts healing people, it’s like there is only one TV in the whole town and it’s the Super Bowl. The only ones who would not come are those who cannot walk to the site, and our story is about such a man, this man has friends who carry him.

They arrive to find a huge crowd and everyone is there clamoring to be healed or to see the healings taking place. They are the unclean, for any sickness made a Jewish person unclean. They were rich and poor, men and women, the very young and the very old. They have all come to see the only show in town; Jesus.

In every crowd there are those who are eager to accept the new thing and there are those who are sure to reject anything new and different. This crowd is just like that.

The scribes, who are temple authorities, are sure that any healing going on that they are not involved with must be a fraud. But they can’t ignore the fact that people are being healed. So, when Jesus gives them an opening, they are eager to take it. Jesus forgives the paralytic for his sins. This is more than just healing it is taking the authority of God to cleanse one of sins. This is the opening they need to debunk Jesus position with the crowd. So, they start a whispering campaign, to get someone else to pass the word and condemn Jesus, and restore their position in the community.

Jesus doesn’t hear the whispers; he senses the change in the crowd and pinpoints the scribes as the source. Jesus recognized the nature of the illness wasn’t just the paralysis that was asymptom; it was the nature of his sin which paralyzed him. So, Jesus forgave his sins. Having forgiven him, he now commands him, by his own authority to show he is healed.

Most of us are more concerned about symptoms than cures. If we have a cough, we would rather the doctor cure the cough than tell us we have lung cancer and we have to go through radiation. But only a complete cure will relieve all our symptoms.

The Paralytic

Who had faith in Jesus to cure the Paralytic? ______

______

Did Jesus touch him to heal him? ______

What did Jesus do to heal the Paralytic? ______

What objections do the people have to Jesus healing the Paralytic? ______

______

What power does Jesus demonstrate here for the very first time? ______

______

What happens to the Paralytic? ______

What would you like Jesus to say to you? ______

Levi the Tax Collector and Sinner

Jesus calls Levi with a simple phrase: ______

What does Levi do? (Besides following) ______

Why does Jesus eat with sinners? ______

Would you like Jesus to eat with you? ______

Who would you invite to eat with you and Jesus?______

What are your symptoms? What is the nature of your paralysis? What is involved in your complete healing?

What are your symptoms?

What is the nature of your paralysis?

What is involved in your complete healing?

______