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Mark 2

Jesus answers mounting objections by showing his authority to forgive sins, call sinners, and rule over the Sabbath.

Four people break through a roof in Capernaum to lower a paralyzed man before Jesus, who first declares his sins forgiven. Scribes question his authority, and Jesus heals the man as evidence that the Son of Man can forgive sins. Further disputes follow as Jesus calls Levi from his tax office and eats with sinners. Questions about fasting and Sabbath grain gathering bring his identity into focus through the images of a bridegroom and new wine, and his claim to lordship over the Sabbath.

guilt and confessionillness or diagnosissermon or Bible study notes
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1When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was at home.
2Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them.
3Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him.
5Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts?
9Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk’?
10But 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.”
12He arose, and immediately 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!”
13He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he taught them.
14As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17When 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 to repentance.”
18John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
19Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.
20But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made.
22No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
23He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain.
24The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
25He said to them, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry—he, and those who were with him?
26How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?”
27He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Mark 2:5Jesus responds to their visible faith with forgiveness, setting up the dispute over his authority before he heals the man.
Mark 2:7The scribes identify forgiveness as God's prerogative, bringing the question of Jesus' identity to the center of the healing.
Mark 2:17Jesus explains his table fellowship through a physician's work, naming sinners as those he came to call to repentance.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Luke recount the same healing and disputes about meals, fasting, and the Sabbath, sharing Mark's focus on Jesus' authority and his disciples' conduct. Jesus' appeal to David eating the priestly bread reaches back to the event recorded in 1 Samuel.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Jesus declaring forgiveness before healing the paralyzed man?

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How does Jesus' image of the physician shape your understanding of his meal with sinners?

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Questions people ask about Mark 2

Why did Jesus forgive the paralyzed man's sins before healing him?

Jesus' declaration brings his authority to forgive sins into question. When the scribes object, he heals the man as visible evidence that the Son of Man has that authority on earth. Mark does not say that a particular sin caused the man's paralysis or explain why forgiveness came first.

What do the new wine and old wineskins mean in Mark 2?

The images follow a question about why Jesus' disciples do not fast. Jesus compares his presence to a bridegroom's presence at a wedding, then describes the damage caused by mismatched cloth and wineskins. The point concerns the mismatch between what Jesus brings and existing expectations; he also says his disciples will fast after his departure.

What does Jesus mean that the Sabbath was made for man?

Jesus says this after the Pharisees challenge his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath. His appeal to David's hunger places human need within the discussion of lawful practice. The Sabbath serves human good, and Jesus concludes by declaring the Son of Man's authority over it. He does not dismiss the Sabbath as worthless.

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What the Bible says about guilt →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).