Welcome to Week Two in our study of the Gospel of Mark. In the first eight weeks, we seek to learn about who Jesus was. What was his identity?
Mark wants us to know this: Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. Over the course of the chapter, this is revealed in multiple ways.
Over the first two days, we will see one of the most famous stories from the life of Jesus, the healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof. Let’s get started!
Study notes by Mark Lautenschlager, prayer guides by Tracy Lautenschlager.
Index to Days 2 through 5
Day 1
Jesus Sees Your Greatest Need
Observe
The preaching of Jesus is interrupted by a bold move of four men bringing a paralytic to be healed. Jesus does the unexpected.
{Mark 2:1-5 ESV} {1} And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. {2} And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. {3} And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. {4} And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. {5} And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
{Psalm 32:1 ESV} {1} A Maskil of David. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
{Isaiah 6:7 ESV} {7} And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
{Psalm 130:4 ESV} {4} But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
{Luke 7:36-50 ESV} {36} One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. {37} And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, {38} and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. {39} Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” {40} And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” {41} “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. {42} When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” {43} Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” {44} Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. {45} You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. {46} You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. {47} Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” {48} And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” {49} Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” {50} And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Mark tells us Jesus had returned to his home base at Capernaum “after some days.” We know from chapter one those days were taken up in preaching and teaching throughout Galilee. Jesus had come to preach. By this time, he was so well known that the house where he was staying had been filled to capacity. Four men carried their paralyzed companion to the house and when they couldn’t enter through the door, up on the roof they went. This would be made from branches or sticks combined with clay. A well built house would lay these over clay tiles (Luke tells us this was the case here). Imagine the scene! They would have been making a good deal of noise digging on the roof, removing one tile after another until the opening was large enough, raining down dirt on everyone inside. They lowered the paralyzed man in front of Jesus. Why go to such lengths? They had faith that Jesus could help their companion. What they wanted would have been obvious to everyone there. So Jesus would almost certainly have shocked all the onlookers when he looked at the paralytic and said “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
- What is the greatest need anyone has?
- Let’s assume Jesus stopped right at this point and didn’t heal him of his paralysis, how would you feel about that?
Dear Jesus, Thank you for seeing every need of my heart and meeting my greatest need, for forgiveness, by your sacrifice. Yet I see in this passage that you care also for physical suffering and the pains of this world. You truly understand my suffering. Thank you also for all the times you have carried my burden and sent comfort and quieted my worry. Oh, how you love me! Amen.
Day 2
Jesus Has Ultimate Authority
Observe
Jesus shows divine power and proves his divine authority.
{Mark 2:6-12 ESV} {6} Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, {7} “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” {8} And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? {9} Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? {10} But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he said to the paralytic– {11} “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” {12} And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
{Mark 10:52 ESV} {52} And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
{Matthew 8:10, 13 ESV} {10} When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. … {13} And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
{Matthew 9:22 ESV} {22} Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
{Matthew 15:28 ESV} {28} Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
The scribes were right, of course. No one but God forgives sins. In the Old Testament, we find Samuel saying “The Lord has put away your sin.” (2 Samuel 12:13) Despite everything else the priests of Israel had done wrong, one thing we don’t have a record of is any of them claiming divine authority to forgive sins. Jesus did exactly that here, committing blasphemy in the eyes of the scribes, in saying the paralytic’s sins were forgiven. Furthermore, take note that it doesn’t say Jesus saw what they’d done forgave his sins. It says Jesus saw their faith and forgave his sins. Forgiveness then, just like today, is by grace through faith. In the same way as Jesus saw the faith within the men, he also heard the questions and disbelief that had sprung up in the minds of the scribes. He shows his divine power, first by answering a question they didn’t ask out loud, and second by telling the paralyzed man to stand up, pick up his bed, and go home. Only God could know a man’s unspoken thoughts and only God could raise the lame to their feet with a word. Jesus used these displays of divine power to establish that he had divine authority.
- When you read stories of Jesus displaying his divine power, how do you feel? Excited? Skeptical? Maybe a little jealous? What comes to mind as you read them?
- In all the ages before Jesus came, God existed apart from his people—outside of them. He empowered individuals as needed. Since Jesus came, God inhabits his people, they are now his temple. What does this mean for how God might display his divine power and authority today?
Heavenly Father, I confess that stories of your miraculous healing seem to be for others, for another time, not for me. Yet you are present in this world through your people, and your power to heal is undiminished. Lord, open my eyes to see your healing work among those who are sick, yes, but I pray also that you will use me as an instrument of your healing in my family relationships, in our church community and in our city. Amen.
Day 3
Jesus is Close to Those Who Need Him Most
Observe
Jesus calls Levi the tax collector (that’s Matthew!) to follow him. As he does so, he socializes with Matthew and his fellow tax collectors.
{Mark 2:13-17 ESV} {13} He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. {14} And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. {15} And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. {16} And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” {17} And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
{1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV} {9} I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– {10} not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. {11} But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one. {12} For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? {13} God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Again, today’s passage opens with Jesus teaching the people who came to him. He came to declare the good news about the kingdom of God and the forgiveness of sins. Logically, therefore, Jesus would be most attracted to those around him who acknowledged their sin and wanted forgiveness. That kind of thing didn’t sit well with the religious teachers of the day, who had spent many years dividing things into clean and unclean, lawful and unlawful. Your level of righteousness should be obvious to everyone, they reckoned. You were just as good as your life said you were. But that was a fresh coat of pain on rotting timbers or, to put it in modern terms, a carefully posed Instagram photo. They expected Jesus, if he were some new teacher of the law, would want to be one of them, but far from it. Not only wasn’t he avoiding tax collectors and sinners, Mark tells Jesus reclined at table with them. That’s a level of comfortable socializing that implies acceptance. Jesus shows us the way again, as he maintains both personal purity and genuine, undiluted fellowship with those who needed mercy.
- It’s natural to form bonds with those who hold common interests. What are some of your interests? Do you separate them into categories of Christian and secular?
- When deciding whether to engage socially with an individual or group, what do you consider?
Dear Lord, I confess that I often choose to live my life in this “holy huddle,” surrounded by people who know your gospel. But you, the Holy One, sought out all types of people with all kinds of sin. You sought me, Lord. Your message is for sinners, and you’ve saved me and chosen me as a messenger. So make me brave Lord, to share my life with all types of people and to explain my life to them by the message of your gospel. Amen.
Day 4
Jesus Brings a New Era
Observe
Jesus answers a question about fasting, and in doing so reveals a truth about something much larger.
{Mark 2:18-22 ESV} {18} Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” {19} And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. {20} The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. {21} No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. {22} And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins–and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
{Luke 18:11-12 ESV} {11} The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. {12} I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
{Matthew 6:16-18 ESV} {16} “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. {17} But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, {18} that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Mosaic Law required just one fast each year, on the Day of Atonement, but fasting for various other reasons was common in the Old Testament. The Pharisees apparently fasted twice each week. (Luke 18:12) Jesus seemed to assume that his disciples would fast. (Matthew 6:16) The problem here wasn’t that John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, the issue was they wanted to impose their rituals on Jesus’ disciples, who as of yet had no reason to fast. The bridegroom had come! It was time for feasting, not fasting. Jesus continued, however, and gave two illustrations to teach that what he was bringing was not simply a patch to the old system, or some fresh wine to go in their old wineskins. The kingdom of God doesn’t integrate with archaic old order, but replaces it.
- If the ritual fasts from the Old Testament no longer apply, but Jesus does seem to say that his followers would fast at times, what reason do you think we might have for fasting today?
- Can you think of some other examples of archaic institutions and rituals that Jesus has replaced?
Father God, If I judge people by rules other than love, forgive me. If I look down on them for their sin, while I hide and excuse my own sin, forgive me. If I exclude people from my life who are seeking you, because they live differently than some standard I set for church people, forgive me. Only you were in a position to judge people for their sin, yet you loved. Teach me to love as you have loved. Amen.
Day 5
Jesus is The Lord of Rest
Observe
Once again, Jesus answers a question and in doing so reveals a truth about something much larger.
{Mark 2:23-28 ESV} {23} One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. {24} And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” {25} And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: {26} how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” {27} And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. {28} So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
{Deuteronomy 23:25 ESV} {25} 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.
{1 Samuel 21:1-6 ESV} {1} Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” {2} And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. {3} Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” {4} And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread–if the young men have kept themselves from women.” {5} And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” {6} So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
It’s ironic that plucking the heads of grain while passing by was permitted. (Deuteronomy 23:25) But Jesus didn’t go there at all. Instead, he dealt with a bigger question. Does genuine human need supercede religious laws restricting use? Jesus reminds them of David when he was fleeing for his life from King Saul, exhausted and hungry, eating the bread of the Presence (this was bread made specifically for the priests to eat) despite it being unlawful to do so. (1 Samuel 21:1-6) Jesus goes one step further and tells the Pharisees they have completely misunderstood the Sabbath. It was not made so people had more rules to follow, it was made so they would dedicate time for rest (apart from your ordinary work) and worship. God created the Sabbath for your flourishing, not to scourge you. Bible text scholars say verse 28 was probably not part of what Jesus said, it was Mark stating the obvious: if Jesus could say with authority why the Sabbath was created, then he was lord of the Sabbath (that is, God who created the Sabbath).
- How do you regard the Sabbath? Do you have one day each week during which you do none of your ordinary work? If not, why not?
- Why do you think God wants us to set aside a day for rest? What does he ask us to do on that day?
Dear Jesus, I have thought at times that I don’t need a sabbath rest and that my work is too urgent and important to lay it down for a day. It’s all just false pride. You know me best; you know how you have formed me, and that I need rest. I need uninterrupted time to worship you. Nothing I can do with my time has more value than time spent with you. Thank you Lord for each reminder of this, and for your peace. Amen.