Unit: Gospel of Mark
Theme: Everyone’s Invited
Lesson text: Mark 2:1-17
Supplemental texts: Psalm 51; Mark 1:1-8; Romans 5:8
Aim: Respond to the call for repentance and forgiveness.
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Download a PDF of this week’s lesson material (the study by Mark Scott, the Application by David Faust, and Discovery Questions by Michael C. Mack): LOOKOUT_April16_2023.
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By Mark Scott
Years ago, an evangelist was preparing to hold a revival in a relatively small town. He wrote the ministers in the town and asked if they would send him the names of people they knew who needed to accept Christ. The ministers sent the evangelist a copy of their town’s phone book. The bad news is that everyone is a sinner (Romans 3:23). The good news is that all sinners are invited to the kingdom of God.
The lesson text contains the miracle of Jesus healing a paralytic and the call of Levi (aka Matthew) to be a disciple. Maybe John Mark viewed Levi’s call from tax collector to disciple to be a miracle of sorts. Mark placed several miracles side by side. The first is the cleansing of the leper (1:40-45). The second is the cleansing from sin and healing of the paralytic (2:1-12).
Removing Barriers for Sinners
Mark 2:1-4
During one of his first tours around Galilee, Jesus again entered Capernaum. Word traveled quickly that Jesus had come to town. The large numbers of people packed the house (Peter’s house?). Jesus spoke the “logos”—or gospel—to them (see Mark 1:14-15).
Four men brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. These men were willing to tear up a roof to get their friend to Jesus, and their faith was strong—which Jesus observed. The word on the street was that Jesus was a worker of wonders (see Mark 1:32-34, 39). The men dug through the tiles (Luke 5:19) and removed any barrier for their friend.
Forgiving Sinners
Mark 2:5-12
Jesus was taken by the four friends’ faith. Then he made a stunning declaration, “Son, your sins are forgiven [sent away or canceled].” This declaration was announced with no regard for what had occurred earlier (sacrifices) or what would occur later (the cross). These things do not matter to Jesus, for he is the embodiment of the New Covenant. So, by the power of his person, he declared the man forgiven.
This declaration immediately became a huge theological problem for the teachers of the law. To forgive sins was a privilege possessed only by God. So, by thinking, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” they were making Jesus’ point. Jesus is God—in flesh. Jesus knew (the word for epistemology) what they were thinking. He anticipated their objection.
The Master Teacher asked them, “Which is easier?” It was not a question of word count or pronunciation. Neither performing a miracle nor declaring forgiveness is easy, but God can do both. While not every miracle of Jesus has an apologetic purpose, this miracle did. Jesus, as God’s Son, had the ability to forgive sins, and he proved it by raising the paralyzed man—a messianic sign to be sure (Isaiah 35:6). Everyone was amazed and praised God when the paralyzed man took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. Jesus had begun to save the world even prior to the cross. The miracle was a brief preview into full future redemption for the entire universe.
Eating with Sinners
Mark 2:13-17
The Synoptic Gospels all place the call of Matthew following the healing of the paralytic. So, perhaps it was not too long after Jesus raised the paralytic that he walked by Matthew’s tax booth in Capernaum and said, “Follow me.” Levi son of Alphaeus is almost certainly Matthew (although David Garland builds a case for it being someone else in The NIV Applicational Commentary). Matthew did leave his tax booth, but, as one person put it, he remembered to take his pen.
Matthew had sold out to Rome; now he sold out to Jesus. And he did the only thing he knew to do—celebrate. He threw a party to introduce his friends to Jesus (Luke says that it was a “great banquet,” Luke 5:29). The criticism about whom Jesus ate with did not take long to surface. The Pharisees accused Jesus of eating with traitors (that is, tax collectors) and sinners. They knew, and Jesus knew, that to eat with someone meant several things—not the least of which was acceptance. Tax collectors and sinners are mentioned three times in the text, and Mark recorded, “There were many who followed him.”
Jesus justified himself by taking the role of a doctor. Only the sick need a doctor (a common secular proverb of Jesus’ day). The sad reality is that the supposed righteous were sinners just like the tax collectors and sinners—and all are invited.
Author: Christian Standard
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