Mark 2 - The religious leaders oppose Jesus
Introduction:
In the first chapter of the gospel of Mark we saw that Mark is writing to a Roman audience about the life of Jesus. Mark presents to us the witnesses that prove that there was a man named Jesus who lived on the earth. Mark further showed that Jesus exercised great authority over Satan, diseases and illnesses, and all things on earth and in heaven. In the second chapter we are going to notice the Jewish leaders' opposition to the actions and teachings of Jesus. It is clear to all who met and saw Jesus that Jesus acted with great authority. The Jewish leaders are going to challenge this authority to see whether it is from God or not.
Opposition to Jesus Forgiving Sins (2:1-12)
Healing a paralytic
Jesus is in a house in Capernaum and the city learns of his location. Immediately, many of the city gather to the house--so many of them that there is no room in the house. You could not even get in near the door. So Jesus is preaching to this great crowd in the house. Four men come to the house carrying a paralytic, but they cannot get into the house because of the great crowd. So they get on the roof, remove a section of the roof, and lower the paralytic down on a bed. This must have been an interesting sight. This great crowd is in the house and suddenly you look up and see these four men lowering a paralytic down through the roof, all while Jesus is preaching. Verse 5 tells us that when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." There are some things about this part of the story we need to notice before we go on. First, faith is visible. Jesus looks and he sees their faith, the text tells us. This is the nature of faith. Faith is not something that can be contained. Faith is not something that is only personal. Nor is faith something that can be bottled up. To have faith means that it must be expressed. Faith causes us to act; otherwise, we do not have faith. Faith is visible. It is not possible for us to have faith in Jesus Christ without its being a life changing event. We cannot think that we have faith if it is not clearly seen in our lives. If people have to wonder if we have faith, then we really do not have it.
How do you know that I am a San Diego Chargers fan? Because I wear shirts and polos that have the Chargers logo. I have stickers on my car with the Chargers emblem. Further, I talk about the Chargers so that you know that I am tied to them. Though a crude illustration, I believe the same is true for faith. Faith will be visible in our lives. We will talk about our faith to each other and to unbelievers. Our actions will show Jesus Christ in our lives. Otherwise we do not have faith at all. Jesus saw their faith.
The second point that we need to look at is whose faith Jesus saw. Did Jesus see the faith on the paralytic? No, he saw the faith of the four men. Their faith in Jesus caused this paralytic to be healed. Our faith in Jesus should lead others to be healed. It is our actions and our life choices that should cause others to want to know more about Christ and lead them to want to have the salvation we have. Our faith must be showing to others. It cannot be covered up.
Reaction of the scribes
What Jesus says in verse 5 causes a stir among the scribes. Notice that Jesus did not heal the paralytic at this point. Jesus forgave the sins of this person. But the paralytic was not there to receive the forgiveness of sins, as far as we can tell. The paralytic was there to be healed. Jesus said these words, however, to create an opportunity to teach. The scribes are now reasoning within their hearts about this. Verse 7 shows the implication of Jesus' words. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" The scribes are absolutely correct. No one can forgive sins but God. This is the point that Jesus is making to these scribes. Jesus is God. Now, imagine if we encountered someone who said they had the power to forgive sins. I think we would likely have the same reaction. No one can forgive sins but God alone. To say that we have the power to forgive sins is blasphemy. We would be taking the power of God upon ourselves. Jesus notices the conflict that is going on in their minds. This, of course, is interesting because the scribes were apparently not saying these words out loud, but only within themselves. But Jesus, reading their thoughts, wants to know why they are troubled by these things in their hearts. Jesus then poses a question in verse 9. Which is easier to say to a paralytic: Your sins are forgiven, or Take up your bed and walk? This is an important question that Jesus is going to use to prove himself as God. Imagine that we had a paralytic on the stage here today. Someone who had been paralyzed all of his life. Which is the easier thing for someone to say to the paralytic: Your sins are forgiven, or Take up your bed and walk? The easier thing to say is Your sins are forgiven. No one can see if sins are forgiven or not. You have to assume that the person has the power to forgive sins. However, to say to a paralytic, Take up your bed and walk is much harder because then this would require a visible act. You would be able to see if the person was healed or not.
This is the point that Jesus is making in verse 10. If Jesus can do the harder thing, which is to heal a paralytic--which is a miracle everyone can see--then Jesus can also do the easier thing which is forgive sins, something people cannot see. In verse 11 Jesus says to the paralytic to take up his bed and go to his house. In verse 12 we see that immediately he arose, took up his bed, and went out from the presence of them all. The miracle is the evidence that Jesus had the power to forgive sins. Therefore, Jesus has the power to forgive our sins as well.
Opposition to Jesus' Proximity to Sinners (2:13-17)
Calling of Matthew
Jesus is passing by and he sees Levi, who we later know as Matthew. Matthew is sitting in the tax office. There was the Great West Road that went from Damascus to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a toll road, paying for the commerce that people would bring to and from the other regions. So Matthew is sitting in his booth, collecting taxes, when Jesus comes along and says, "Follow Me." What is the reaction of Matthew? Does Matthew say that he is in the middle of a job right now, but I will get to you after work? Does Matthew say that it will have to wait till the week end when he has some time? Matthew arose and followed Jesus. In the Luke account we read that Matthew forsook all and followed him. Matthew left it all behind to follow after Jesus. This is what Jesus is looking for in his disciples. If we want to be a follower of Jesus, we must leave everything behind. Jesus was not kidding when he said that we would have to forsake all things to be his disciple. Here is another example of it. In chapter one we saw Peter and Andrew and James and John leaving everything that they were doing to follow after Jesus. Now Matthew does the same. Why do we think we can be any different and still claim to be a disciple of Jesus? If we have not given all things up for Christ, then we are not his follower; we are not a Christian.
Matthew's banquet
In verse 15 we find Matthew having a dinner with all of his friends. His friends, of course, are tax collectors and sinners. People in the world have friends that are just like themselves. Jesus and his disciples sat down to eat with them. Now, in case you are not aware, tax collectors were despised by the Jewish people. They were considered traitors to the Jewish because they essentially worked for the Roman empire and the emperor. The Jewish people revolted against the Roman empire many times in an effort to exercise independence from it. The scribes and the Pharisees see him eating with tax collectors and sinners and they are horrified. These scribes and Pharisees are rather bold. They go up to Jesus' disciples and ask them, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" How can you be around those kinds of people? They will defile you.
Notice verse 17. Jesus hears what these scribes and Pharisees are saying. Jesus makes a very simple point: Does a doctor spend time with the well or the sick? The sick. When do we go to the doctor, when we are well or sick? Only when we are sick. To make people well, you have to spend time with those who are sick. You cannot treat the sick by being around those who are well. This is such an important point. Brethren, we cannot save the spiritually sick of this world if we spend our time only with the righteous. You and I will never bring a soul to Jesus Christ if we are not with those who need to hear the gospel. Further, do we see the proximity that Jesus had to these sinners? He was eating dinner with them. Jesus did not stand afar off, hold a meeting, and hope that all the town came. Jesus got in with them, spent time with them to have the opportunity to change their lives.
To be a follower of Christ means that we must have close proximity to sinners. We must look at ourselves carefully. Are we spending any time with any sinners? We cannot teach them if we are not around them. We cannot be salt when the salt is not touching that which needs to be flavored. Further, this was not a one time event. Look carefully at verse 15 again--"for there were many, and they followed Him." To the Pharisees' mind, Jesus had a band of rogues following after him. Jesus saw himself as a doctor and the sick were in need of his help. What is our view of the world? We cannot see the sinners of this world as disgusting creatures who will defile us. They are sick and need a doctor that we can show them.
Opposition to Jesus' Neglect of the Status Quo (2:18-22)
Question about fasting
The disciples of John and the Pharisees want to know why the disciples of Jesus are not fasting. Everyone is fasting. Why are Jesus' disciples not fasting? Now the law of Moses commanded only one fast during the day of atonement. However, the Pharisees made regulations that fasting should be practiced twice a week. Jesus, using three different analogies, shows that there is no need to fast unless there is purpose. What purpose would the disciples of Jesus have had in fasting when the good news is being preached? Jesus uses the image of a wedding in verse 19. Would one fast during a wedding? No, for it is a time of joy.
Application
Jesus did not come to maintain the status quo. Jesus did not come to uphold the way things have always been in Palestine. Jesus did not have the "this is what everyone believes" or "this is what everyone else is doing" mentality. We cannot become rattled or shaken in faith when we see all the other religious groups doing something that we do not do ourselves. The Pharisees are arguing on the basis that everyone else is doing it, why do you not join in. Jesus did not care what everyone else was doing. He was going to do the will of His Father. The majority of the religious world believes baptism is not necessary. They believe that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. They believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Christ upon the earth at the end of time. We do not need to be shaken in faith because everyone else is doing something and we are not. Many can be doing something and be completely wrong. People have a herd mentality. We must have a truth mentality, that even against the odds, we will do what the scriptures teach.
Opposition to Jesus' Neglect of Tradition (2:23-28)
Pluck grain on the Sabbath
Jesus and his disciples are going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, plucking the heads of grain. In verse 24 the Pharisees make the accusation that what Jesus and his disciples are doing is not lawful on the Sabbath. However, we must ask the question: What law was Jesus and the disciples breaking? Go to the law of Moses and find the law that you could not pluck a head of grain to eat on the Sabbath. You cannot find it. The Mishnah lists 39 laws defining what work is on the Sabbath. The Jews had made rules regarding the Sabbath. The Lord said that you were not to work on the Sabbath. But this was not defined enough for the Jews. So they wrote their laws defining what "work" was. The Pharisees had forgotten what the purpose of the law of the Sabbath was, and they were more concerned about defining what work was, when work should have been rather obvious. The purpose of the Sabbath, according to Deuteronomy 5:15, was to remember how the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and God led them out. The Pharisees had turned the law into a burden upon the people that even those who were hungry could not go out and pick grain to eat. But the Sabbath was not meant to be a burden. Jesus was not violating the law of the Sabbath. He was simply going against the traditional teaching of the Jews concerning the Sabbath.
Application
God did not make laws to try to oppress us. God did not make this book so that our lives would be difficult and miserable. God's laws are to help us be like Him and serve Him properly. This must be our attitude towards God's law. Our view of law is very important because it paints what our actions will be like. When we viewed our parents' rules as trying to limit our freedom, we tried to break the rules. Once we understood that the rules were to protect us and help us, we then could live by them. When we view the rules of government as trying to limit our freedom, then we try to break them. Once we see that the laws are to protect us from others, then we can live by them. When we view God's laws as trying to limit our freedoms, it is very easy to develop a rebellious attitude toward the commands of God. But that was not the Lord's intent. When the Lord gave the law to the people of Israel he said the purpose was, "that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life." God gave us these commands so that we will please him and have a long life. God loves us and does not hate us. We must see God's laws in their proper light.
Conclusion:
Repeatedly, Jesus answered the opposition of the Jews through teaching or through miracles. We must be like the master in all things. We need to do the work that Jesus did. He has the power to forgive sins. Will you not let him do the work on you today?
