Reflections on Mark 2

Mark 02 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Jesus went back to Capernaum, and a few days later people heard that he was at home.
   
2. Then so many of them came to the house that there wasn't even standing room left in front of the door. Jesus was still teaching
   
3. when four people came up, carrying a crippled man on a mat.
   
4. But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they made a hole in the roof above him and let the man down in front of everyone.
   
5. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the crippled man, "My friend, your sins are forgiven."
   
6. Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were sitting there. They started wondering,
   
7. "Why would he say such a thing? He must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins."
   
8. Right away, Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, "Why are you thinking such things?
   
9. Is it easier for me to tell this crippled man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and pick up his mat and go on home?
   
10. I will show you that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth." So Jesus said to the man,
    
11. "Get up! Pick up your mat and go on home."
    
12. The man got right up. He picked up his mat and went out while everyone watched in amazement. They praised God and said, "We have never seen anything like this!"
    
13. Once again, Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee. A large crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.
    
14. As he walked along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at the place for paying taxes, and Jesus said to him, "Come with me!" So he got up and went with Jesus.
    
15. Later, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner at Levi's house. Many tax collectors and other sinners had become followers of Jesus, and they were also guests at the dinner.
    
16. Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees, and they saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors. So they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
    
17. Jesus heard them and answered, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners."
    
18. The followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees often went without eating. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do the followers of John and those of the Pharisees often go without eating, while your disciples never do?"
    
19. Jesus answered: The friends of a bridegroom don't go without eating while he is still with them.
    
20. But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.
    
21. No one patches old clothes by sewing on a piece of new cloth. The new piece would shrink and tear a bigger hole.
    
22. No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins. Then the wine would be lost, and the skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins.
    
23. One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through some wheat fields. His disciples were picking grains of wheat as they went along.
    
24. Some Pharisees asked Jesus, "Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that!"
    
25. Jesus answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his followers were hungry and in need?
    
26. It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into the house of God and ate the sacred loaves of bread that only priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his followers."
    
27. Jesus finished by saying, "People were not made for the good of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for the good of people.
    
28. So the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath."

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Mark recorded in this chapter four incidents between Jesus and the Pharisees that pit Jesus' authority over against the authority of Jewish tradition. Tradition is a powerful thing that brings with it the authoritative weight of not only many years of practice but also the approval of those we respect and whose respect we desire. The Pharisees were holding this authoritative weight up against the supposed authority of an unknown man - Jesus. At least, I suspect, that was how they saw it. However, Jesus accompanied much of what He said and did with an authoritative demonstration through miracles. This should have warranted some consideration on their part that Jesus just might be who He claimed to be.

Consider the first incident in this chapter, for example. The offense to the Pharisees was Jesus' statement to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Who had authority to forgive sins other than God? Indeed! That is the question! And Jesus' response to them should have gained some respect and consideration that He might really be the "Son of Man." Jesus' question to them of whether it was easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "pick up your stretcher, and walk," made the point that if He could do one, He could do the other. The healing was visible and verifiable, so if He could do this they could assume His authority to also forgive sins. And, since only God could forgive sins, they must also consider that He and God were the same. The question concerning their actions is one we must also ask concerning our own actions: what is it that keeps us from taking this or any other step of faith toward God? Is it a lack of verifiable evidence or is it the challenge to our way of life? Whatever step of faith we are faced with requires not only a faith acceptance of the question before us but also a life change in response to the newly accepted truth. If the appropriate life change does not occur then we have not truly accepted the truth.

This, I believe, is the main issue hindering the Pharisees from accepting Jesus and continues to hinder people from accepting Him throughout history. Accepting Jesus is a challenge to our own way of life and the belief systems we have come to accept. The other three incidents in this chapter between Jesus and the Pharisees are further examples of this challenge to the accepted religious practices of the Jews that Jesus posed. In the second incident it was the issue of having contact with supposed 'sinners.' The third had to do with practices of fasting, and the fourth with practices related to the Sabbath. In each of these challenges the real concerns posed by the Pharisees had to do with their own legalistic practices that had been layered on top of the laws God had instituted, thus losing the central purpose of God's intent for those laws. Jesus clearly pointed this out regarding practices of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had made the Sabbath a burden for the people, but Jesus pointed out that the real purpose of the Sabboth was for the benefit of man, not that man should satisfy a bunch of requirements for the day.

Our question always is whether it is better to meet God where He is regardless of the cost to our way of life, trusting that His way of life for us is better and brings with it greater joy, or if it is better to unquestioningly follow a religious system already approved by those for whom we have respect?