Mark 2:1-3:6
Intro
Jesus and the Paralyzed Man
Mark reports that there were scribes “sitting there” (2:6). He seems to imply that it is standing room only in this crowded house, but the scribes were sitting. They probably claimed the places of honor and took the posture of a tribunal here to judge the ministry of Jesus. And they rendered a silent judgment in their hearts: blasphemy!
The irony is thick at this point. The scribes are both right and wrong at the same time. Here is their logic:
■ We know God alone can forgive sins.
■ Jesus claims to forgive sins.
■ Therefore, Jesus is making himself out to be God.
■ This is blasphemy.
They got the question right (“who can forgive sins but God alone?”), but the conclusion wrong (“he is blaspheming”).
Blasphemy is a frequent charge against Jesus in the Gospels. The clearest definition comes in John’s Gospel: “You, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33). The scribes understand the awesome audacity of this claim. But they do not see the sting in the tail of their conclusion. If Jesus is God and they say he is not, then they are the ones committing blasphemy. In fact, Jesus provides two compelling proofs of his deity in the rest of the story.
First, he demonstrates that he knows their hearts. Mark makes it abundantly clear that the scribes did not say these things out loud. The scribes were “questioning in their hearts” (Mark 2:6), and Jesus perceived “in his spirit” (v 8) that they had these questions “within themselves” (v 8), so he asked them point blank why the questions arose “in your hearts” (v 8). Jesus sees not as man sees. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Jesus turns to the paralyzed man and says, “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (Mark 2:11). The man cannot help but immediately obey the command of the Creator (v 12).
How do the miracles of Jesus relate to the message of Jesus? The miracles are not the point; they are pointers. Jesus can do what no one else can do because he is God. The miracles confirm the message: Behold your God! He has come.
And this story in particular demonstrates that Jesus did not come merely to show the power of God but to bring the salvation of God. The man left carrying his bed, but he no longer carried the burden of his sins on his back.
Jesus performed the healing so that everyone would know that he had “authority to forgive sins” (v 10). Jesus does not use the word “ability” (can he do it?) but “authority” (has he been authorized to do it?). He is the divine Son, who does not act independently. He goes forth with the Father’s authority to accomplish the Father’s plan.
Verse 10 is the first time in Mark that Jesus uses the title “Son of Man.” There is one place in the Old Testament that contains that title and the idea of authority: Daniel 7:13–14.
Jesus and the Tax Collectors
This would have been too much for any self-respecting scribe to overlook. It was bad enough to call one tax collector to follow you, but this looked like a moral pandemic—there were “many tax collectors and sinners.” They did not have a loose association to Jesus; they were defined as his followers (v 15). The scribes saw a wicked feast.
In truth, though, this feast is a celebration of salvation. The partygoers are not here merely because they are friends of Levi; they are here because they are followers of Christ. Mark tells us that there “were many who followed him” (v 15). These outcasts and outsiders have known rejection, but now know acceptance in the Messiah.
They did not occasionally transgress the traditions and teachings of the scribes but stood outside it as a way of life. The Jewish system of religion regarded them as hopelessly lost.
The scribes would say that tax collectors and sinners are morally unclean, just as those with leprosy are ritually unclean. Therefore, they conclude that eating with morally unclean people will make Jesus ritually unclean. The scribes are acting like ritual-purity police, and they blow the purity whistle on Jesus. He stands unclean and condemned according to their traditions.
But Jesus says he is the spiritual doctor (v 17).
The root characteristic of Jesus is that he has authority—he is authorized by God to do all that he does. He has authority to forgive sins and thus he can eat with forgiven sinners. He teaches as one who has authority (Mark 1:22). He always thinks, says, and does the things of God. The scribes are those without authority (v 22) because they do not teach the things of God but the “commandments of men” (7:6–7)
Jim Marshall was a gifted defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League. Unfortunately, he is mainly known for an infamous mistake. The opposing team fumbled the ball, and he picked it up and ran all the way to the end zone. He thought he had scored a touchdown for his team. The problem is that he ran the wrong way. Instead of scoring six points for his team, he gave the opposing team two points.
The scribes are the Jim Marshalls of Jesus’ day. They think they are close to scoring a touchdown and getting into the kingdom of God. They think they are further ahead than anyone else. Jesus is trying to help them see that they are actually running the wrong way.
Jesus and Fasting
The only prescribed fast in the Old Testament was fasting on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29, 31). Later fasts became traditional during the time of the prophets (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19). The Jews of Jesus’ day fasted to commemorate and mourn the great disasters of old. The Pharisees also fasted every Monday and Thursday. For them, fasting had become part of a religious performance—a badge to wear to show they were really serious about their religious practices.
But there is something else happening here. Jesus is saying that the people have the question all wrong because their entire orientation is off. They are asking how Jesus relates to fasting when they should be asking how fasting relates to Jesus.
The coming of Christ to save shows that Christians should be characterized by joy. Joy is an essential part of Christianity, not icing on the cake. It is not jewelry to dress up Christianity as an accessory; it is an essential part of the body of Christianity.
Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus is going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples begin to pluck heads of grain (v 23). Old Testament law established this means of provision for hunger: “If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain” (Deuteronomy 23:25).
They did not plant the crops or prepare the field; the food is left there for them by the command of God.
Jesus takes them to Bible school in verses 25–26 by going to 1 Samuel 21:1–6.
The priests would bake bread on the Sabbath and place twelve loaves on a table in the tabernacle. This bread was called “the bread of the Presence.” The priests (and only the priests) were allowed to eat it later in the week. But Scripture has a story about David and his companions when they were hungry. David ate the bread that only the priests could eat. Because they were with him, his companions were able to eat as well. Jesus’ situation has much in common with David’s. In both cases, something unlawful happens that is not judged by God as a sin. In both cases, the leader’s authority enables the companions to eat something that may be technically unlawful.
Man with Withered Hand
Bible scholar Rikk Watts says it exactly right:
“The Torah, which offered life and good, is perverted to keep a man crippled, to turn the synagogue into a house of bondage, and so it makes them mortal foes of the one who himself gives the life and does the good that the Torah promised.” (“Mark,” in Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament, p 144)
