See the Big Picture. Dig In. Live It Out: A 5-Day Reading Plan in MarkSýnishorn

The Big Picture

Today’s reading is part of a larger section of material focused on the conflict between Jesus and the religious establishment (Mark 2:1–3:6). The five conflict stories help the reader better understand why many of the religious leaders hated Jesus. Each episode is punctuated by a question (the first four are from Jesus’ opponents): “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (2:7); “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (2:16); “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (2:18); “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (2:24). In the final story, Jesus asks the question, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). The section culminates with the Pharisees and Herodians conspiring as to how they might kill Jesus (3:6).

Digging In    

Jesus and his disciples return to Capernaum after their first tour of Galilee (2:1–12). As Jesus is teaching, the large crowd keeps any more people from being able to enter the house. A paralytic is brought to Jesus by four friends who refuse to be dissuaded by the size of the crowd. Since they cannot get him to Jesus through the front door, they take him to the roof, remove a portion of it, and lower him down before Jesus. Jesus sees the faith of the paralytic and the friends and pronounces the man’s sins forgiven. 

The scribes who witnessed the healing and the forgiving of the man’s sins concluded that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy because only God has the prerogative to forgive sins. Mark wants the reader to understand that the scribes were right in understanding that the ability to forgive sins is a divine prerogative and therefore Jesus must be God. Jesus knows immediately what they are thinking and asks if it is easier to forgive sins or to heal a man. In one sense, saying someone’s sins are forgiven is easier—how could you prove it since it is not visible and verifiable—but forgiveness requires a divine work to become real. Jesus heals the paralytic to substantiate the claim that “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (2:10). The man rises to his feet, and to the amazement of the crowd, takes his mat and leaves. The crowd responds appropriately by giving glory and praise to God. 

Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man,” which is Jesus’ favorite self-designation. The background to the title is found in Daniel 7:13–14. The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure that in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory, and power. Outside the four Gospels, Son of Man is used in the New Testament, only by Stephen (Acts 7:56) and John in Revelation 1:13; 14:14. Jesus used the term because most Jewish people did not understand it to be a reference to the Messiah. 

Many think that the main point of this passage is to encourage evangelism by bringing people to Jesus. However, the passage is about Jesus’ authority to forgive sin. Only God can forgive sin, and if Jesus demonstrates his authority to forgive sin by the healing of the paralytic, then the reasonable conclusion is that Jesus is divine.

In the second of the five conflict stories, Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) to be his disciple. Levi follows Jesus in discipleship just as the four fishermen did. Jesus is gathering around him an odd assortment of followers! The way Levi followed Jesus was by introducing his friends to Jesus, which is what being a fisher of men means. Evangelism is an important aspect of following Jesus. 

Jesus is associating with an unlikely crowd—“tax collectors and sinners.” These were the kind of people the Pharisees sought to avoid. The Pharisees were a strict sect within Judaism dedicated to living very devoted lives. They gave strict adherence to their oral traditions and would have considered association with seemingly irreligious people to have caused them to become spiritually unclean. They do not have the courage to ask Jesus directly but instead ask his disciples why he associates with such people. To eat with someone was a sign of friendship. 

Jesus responds by speaking a parable—comparing himself to a physician and the tax collectors and sinners as those who are sick. Jesus was speaking “tongue in cheek” when he implied that the Pharisees were not sick and did not need a physician. The truth is that a doctor can do very little for a sick person if they refuse to acknowledge their sickness. The point in this passage is that Jesus came to save sinners.

Living It Out

When one considers how to apply these verses, the larger context must be kept in mind. Mark has brought together a series of stories to help the reader understand why the religious establishment hated Jesus. We should not be surprised when we discover that the world we live in, hates him for many of the same reasons. The world may be willing to acknowledge Jesus as a good man, but to say Jesus is God and he has the authority to forgive sins is tantamount to religious intolerance in their minds. Saying that there are many ways to God is culturally acceptable. But, saying there is only one way to God is unforgivable. If we follow Jesus, we will find that the kind of opposition we will encounter is similar to the kind of opposition he faced. 

Too often we fail to understand that an essential part of following Jesus is doing what Levi did—introducing family and friends to Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can make an eternal difference in their lives. He has the authority to forgive sin! Levi demonstrates what it means to follow Jesus and to fish for people.