Mar 2:1
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.: Here's a good map of the region during Jesus's time. Capernaum was in Galilee.
Mar 2:2
Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.: This was how popular Jesus was. So many people wanted to see Him that they couldn't fit any more people. Did Jesus get angry? Of course not. He preached the gospel to them. It was clear to the people who He was.
Mar 2:3
Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.: These are some good friends.
Mar 2:4
And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.: This would really infuriate me. They burrowed through the roof to let the man down next to Jesus. They couldn't get through the door, so they improvised. You have to admire their tenacity.
Mar 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you.": Do you think that's really what the paralized person wanted to hear? However, who can forgive sins? Only God. Jesus was declaring Himself God by forgiving this man's sins. Jesus obviously counted that as more important than his being paralyzed. I know it really sucks going through life with paralysis, but this life is so comparatively short to what awaits us in Heaven. We should be longing to hear from Jesus exactly what the paralytic heard. The rest is superfluous.
Mar 2:6
And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,: Who can read the heart of man? Only God. Jesus knew what they were thinking.
Mar 2:7
"Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?": Instead of realizing that they were dealing with God in the flesh, they instead accused Jesus of blasphemy. And what was the blasphemy? Jesus was equating Himself with God by saying that He could forgive sins.
Mar 2:8
But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?: Jesus was now addressing them, showing that He knew what was going on in their hearts. This should have made them realize that He was God.
Mar 2:9
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?: Just as Jesus had been doing, when He preached the word, He accompanied it with signs to prove his authority on Earth. It certainly is easier to just say some things that can't be proven. You can say to someone that their sins are forgiven, but how can you prove it?
Mar 2:10
But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"—He said to the paralytic,: Here is the proof that Jesus was God. What He was about to do is proof that He can forgive sins. If He can forgive sins, He is God.
Mar 2:11
"I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.": The proof that Jesus can forgive sins is that He can heal paralysis. And notice that He did this in the sight of the religious leaders. Remember how when Jesus healed the leper, He told the man to go to the priest so they could perform the Leviticus 14 rituals? These miracles should have been enough to convince the religious leaders that He was the Messiah, but instead, they wanted to kill Him. These leaders were as Jesus said, a brood of vipers.
Mar 2:12
Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!": This paralytic had faith. When Jesus told him to get up, he did. Me, I'd probably be like, "I've never walked before!" Jesus healing him cause the people to glorify God. The works that Jesus did always were to bring glory to God. And this is how we should approach anything; That whatever we do would glorify God.
Mar 2:13
Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.: It's very interesting that everywhere Jesus goes, crowds show up. He doesn't shun them or send them away, but teaches them.
Mar 2:14
As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.: Levi was the Apostle Matthew's real name. It's likely that Matthew was a name given to him when he became a disciple of Jesus, as it means, "the gift of Jehovah." Jesus, like the first four, tells Levi (Matthew) to follow Him, and he immediately does. No question. Gotquestions has a good article on why tax collectors were hated in Jesus's day.
Mar 2:15
Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.: Jesus came to the sinners, as we are the ones who need a savior. Why would someone who thinks they're righteous need a savior? Notice here that many believed in Jesus too. Us sinners know we need a savior, while the self-righteous, like the Pharasees, do not. They think they're already righteous.
Mar 2:16
And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?": Of course, the self-righteous ones, who think they're already righteous and don't need to be saved, ask this about Jesus.
Mar 2:17
When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.": Why would Jesus go to those who don't think they need Him? They think they're already holy. Jesus went to the people who would receive Him. These sinners knew who they were, and received Jesus. As the days of the coming of Jesus's return draw so much closer, we need to keep our hearts open because this can easily happen to us too. Don't think that this hardness of heart was only of the Jewish religious leaders. We all are disciples, and our bodies are the temple of God. We can be deceived just as easily by our own perceived righteousness. Be humble and keep your hearts open for correction because if you think you're good, that's where you're not.
Mar 2:18
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?": I'm not sure what these fasts that John and the Pharisees's disciples were doing, but it wasn't prescribed by the law. These were probably fasts that were created as custom, which Jesus didn't follow. Jesus wasn't interested in man's law, but God's law. God's law pointed to Jesus, while man's law tried to make themselves seem holy. I believe that Jesus specifically addressed this fasting in Mat 6:16-18.
Mar 2:19
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.: Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom, and the church is the bride. Jesus wanted the disciples to be happy while He was with them. There was no reason for them to fast. Why fast when God is with you? I seriously doubt there will be fasting in Heaven.
Mar 2:20
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.: Here is the first mention of Jesus's death. Jesus is referencing His death on the cross. Once He takes the sin of the world upon Himself and ascends to Heaven, then His disciples would start fasting. They went through many trials and tribulations, and prayed and fasted.
Mar 2:21
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.: How does this relate to fasting? I think it means that fasting before Jesus came was tied to the law, but after the New Covenant, fasting is done when led by the Holy Spirit. We have a mediator in Christ, and we live by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. If we do as the Spirit directs, we'll know when to fast. The idea is that you can't fast in the new way under the old system. The old system was being replaced by a new system.
Mar 2:22
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.": The idea is the same here. Jesus is bringing a new covenant, so fasting when He was there wouldn't work. The new covenant needed to be in place. Fasting would take place but guided by the Holy Spirit instead of fasting in accordance with the law.
Mar 2:23
Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.: There's no mention of Jesus doing this, only the disciples. The Pharisees saw this as working on the Sabbath, so they were doing an unlawful thing.
Mar 2:24
And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?": This is so dumb. Certainly not in line with the spirit of the law. These Pharisees were only interested in the outward appearance of making themselves appear holy. If this were the day before, they would have said nothing. But because it was on the Sabbath, now they're making a big deal of it. Besides, as we'll see in a couple verses, they missed the entire point of the Sabbath.
Mar 2:25
But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: Jesus's response here is to show them how they completely missed the point of the Sabbath entirely and changed it to make themselves look holy.
Mar 2:26
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 those who were with him?": This is a reference to (1Sa 21:1-6). This bread of the Presense was consecrated bread, and holy. Yet, when David was hungry, the priest gave it to him to eat.
Mar 2:27
And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.: This is a good article on what this means. Basically, the Sabbath was so people wouldn't work themselves to death. The pressures of life are so great that we will work so much we won't enjoy life. God wants us to enjoy life, and to spend time with Him. He wants us to delve into His word, but how can we do that if we're constantly working? Taking heads of wheat and rubbing off the chaff shouldn't be considered work. It was a pleasant thing to do, and why would you get mad about someone eating? These Pharisees created all kinds of weird restrictions that demonstrated an outward holiness that the law never intended.
Mar 2:28
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.": Since the Sabbath was meant to help man, and Jesus was sent as the sacrifice to fulfill the law, that means Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Also, Jesus is the Word, and the Word became flesh, so Jesus is quite literally the embodiment of the law, and therefore, the Sabbath.
No comments:
Post a Comment