Tyndale Open Study NotesMark 2

This controversy story is also a miracle story. It includes both a dispute and an act of healing or power.

Because it contains a miracle, it connects with the earlier group of miracle stories in 1:21–45.

Five controversy stories (2:1–12, 13–17, 18–22, 23–28; 3:1–6) are grouped together because they share a common theme. Each story shows a conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. In these accounts, Jesus says or does things that challenge their beliefs and practices. These stories show the great authority that Jesus has.

He was home: See Matthew 4:13. The large crowd shows that Jesus was popular.

• through the crowd: See 2:1.

• Houses at that time usually had flat roofs made of mud, thatch (dry plant material), and branches. The men made an opening by digging through the roof.

• Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic and the four men who brought him.

• your sins are forgiven: Those listening understood the words of Jesus as a claim to having the same authority as God (see 2:6–10; Luke 7:48–49).

Only God can forgive sins, yet Jesus had authority to do so (2:10).

Which is easier: to say … 'Your sins are forgiven': This claim cannot be directly proved or disproved, while the claim to heal can be. Jesus showed his ability to heal in order to show his authority to forgive.

We have never seen anything like this!: Mark often shows how Jesus amazed people (1:22, 27; 4:41; 6:50–51).

• Levi was also called Matthew (see Matthew 9:9–10). Certain people are known by two names in the New Testament (for example, Simon is also called Peter; Saul is also called Paul; Judas son of James is also called Thaddaeus, see study note on Mark 3:18).

• This type of tax collector (Greek telōnēs) collected sales taxes, customs, and road tolls, unlike those who collected the poll tax (12:14). Other Jews disliked local tax collectors like Levi because they often charged the public more than they owed (Luke 19:8). As agents of the Romans, the Jews considered them to be traitors. Jesus invited Levi, a tax collector, to follow him, joining Peter, Andrew, James, and John (Mark 1:16–20).

This controversy is about Jesus spending time with sinners who had a bad reputation, such as tax collectors, and eating with them.

The Pharisees, who were teachers of religious law, regarded Jesus eating with sinners as him accepting them as friends (Luke 15:1–2; 19:5, 7; Acts 11:2–18; Galatians 2:11–12). Jesus showed that these tax collectors and sinners were welcome in the kingdom of God.

In his ministry, Jesus invited both Jews and Gentiles to share in the kingdom of God (Mark 5:1–20; 7:24–30; compare Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10; John 4:43–54).

Jesus answered his opponents with a well-known proverb. He compared himself to a doctor and sinners to sick people. Salvation is for those who know they are sinners, not for those who think they are righteous (Luke 16:15; 18:9; Romans 3:23).

This controversy deals with fasting, which Jesus did not practice with his disciples. The Pharisees regularly fasted two days a week, on Mondays and Thursdays (Luke 18:12). Jews often fasted when mourning or specially seeking the Lord's favor (Leviticus 16:29–31; 1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12; 12:21–23; Ezra 8:23; Esther 4:3; Matthew 6:16).

Jesus was like a bridegroom at his wedding, so fasting was not appropriate. It was a time to celebrate (Luke 15:23–25, 32). The disciples would fast after Jesus went up to heaven (see Acts 13:2–3; 14:23).

The old customs of the old covenant do not fit with the new arrival of God's kingdom. People know that a patch of unshrunk cloth sewn on old clothing will tear the old cloth as it shrinks. In the same way, cracking old wineskins will burst when new wine ferments in them. The fasting of the old ways cannot be mixed with the feasting that comes with the new.

In this controversy, Jesus and his disciples are accused of breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8–11). Picking grain by hand in another person’s field was lawful (Deuteronomy 23:25). The charge was that by rubbing the chaff from the kernels, the disciples were working on the Sabbath, which was forbidden (Exodus 34:21).

Jesus answered by referring to an event in the life of King David (1 Samuel 21). David and his men ate the sacred bread, the twelve loaves in the tabernacle that only priests were allowed to eat (see Leviticus 24:5–9). In that sense, they did what the law did not permit. But Jesus showed that a deeper principle was also at work (Mark 2:27–28).

Since Jesus is the Lord of humanity (1 Corinthians 15:25–28; Ephesians 1:20–22; Philippians 2:9–11) and since the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, Jesus is Lord even of the Sabbath. Like when Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins, this also showed that he claimed authority that belongs to God (Mark 2:7).