First, we talked about Jesus healing the paralytic sickness and forgiving his sins, and quoted what we had discussed before, and added what we had not discussed at that time. Second, we quoted what we had discussed before, talking about how to call the apostle Matthew, the tax collector, who is Levi, and discussed that we are all sinners who have received grace. Third, we quoted the fasting we had discussed before, mentioned that we should be sons of wisdom, and mentioned the words of wisdom. Fourth, we quoted the metaphor of “new wine into old wineskins” that the new and the old are hard to mix, and discussed what the wine here refers to. Finally, we quoted the previous discussion that the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath, and mentioned that Jesus is our example in upholding the true meaning of the Sabbath.
1. Healing the paralytic and forgiving his sins
“When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.””(Mark 2:1-12)
We first note that Jesus went to Capernaum to preach, “…for I was sent for this purpose.”(Luke 4:43) The same thing is recorded in Matthew 9:1-8 and Luke 5:17-26, where we see Him healing a paralytic who was lowered from the roof by four friends. Jesus healed the paralytic because of their faith. These verses do not specify who they are referring to? In “1049 Fishers of men, healings of the leper and the paralyzed man, and one way of Bible writing style – The image of Jesus (4)” under “3. Healing the paralyzed man, and one way of Bible writing style”, we explain how to answer this question in a practical way. Please go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click on “On spiritual understanding about life” to find this article.
We also discussed in this article the authority of Jesus to forgive sins. The Jews were right. No one can forgive sins except God. But Jesus is one of the three persons in the Trinity. He is a perfect man and a perfect God. He said it very clearly, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
As for the one He said here, “Which is easier, …”(Mark 2:9), from a human perspective, both miracles and forgiveness of sins are not easy. Only God can do them. This is how it is done in Christ in the New Testament era. Speaking of miracles, we can look at this verse, “While he (who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple asking for alms) was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? …And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”(Acts 3:11-16)
These verses clearly say that Jesus was doing it, and they were just a channel for performing miracles. In fact, it says “…so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, …”(Mark 2:12) They were giving glory to God, so some Jews knew very well that what Jesus did could only be done by God, just as it is recorded in this verse, “this man (Nicodemus) came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”(John 3:2)
Regarding the forgiveness of sins, this verse says, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.””(John 20:21-23) Obviously, it is also the Triune God who is doing this.
2. Calling Apostle Matthew, the tax collector, who is also Levi
“And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.””(Mark 2:13-17)
The same incident is briefly recorded in Matthew 9:9-13, with the addition of “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(Matthew 9:13) We are all sinners who have received grace. Regarding this point, sinners are our innate life, an identity, and an unchangeable fact. Originally, sinners had no way to avoid sinning, but now because we have a new life, we can rely on the Holy Spirit and not sin, that is, the sinner has been crucified with the Lord, and the sinner has died in status. This is what the Lord has accomplished, and it is an objective fact. If we want to live out this objective fact as a subjective experience, we must follow the Holy Spirit, and that is “Do not quench the Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 5:19) As long as our flesh is still there, our life from Adam is still there. But because of faith in the Lord, we also have the life of Christ’s resurrection. The battle between these two lives will continue until our flesh dies, that is, the “sinner” from Adam dies and disappears. Therefore, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; …”(Galatians 5:17) Such a struggle lasts for a lifetime after believing in the Lord.
There is a similar record in Luke 5:27-32. Previously, in “1050 The call of Matthew, fasting, and Sabbath -The image of Jesus” under “1. The call of the tax collector Levi who is also named Matthew”, we discussed Luke 5:27-32 in detail. Please find this article in the same way as before.
3. Fasting and the bridegroom
“John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.”(Mark 2:18-20)
Basically, the same verses are also found in Luke 5:33-35 and Matthew 9:14-15. The bridegroom refers to Jesus Himself, so this passage is very clear. The disciples do not need to fast when Jesus is with them, but as we have said before, Jesus Himself fasted frequently. In “2. The effectiveness of fasting” of “1050”, we also discussed the relevant verses in detail. Those who are interested can get more information from this article.
The Book of Luke records, “And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.””(Luke 5:33) This reminds me of this verse, “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”(Matthew 11:18-19) Just as Paul said, “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.”(1 Corinthians 8:8) We must always be sons of wisdom.
We know that the words of wisdom are the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:8). We should make good use of such gifts in faith, especially to discern whether we really have such gifts and use them to work for God. I have seen a pastor who said he had such a gift and often told others in public during meetings the words of wisdom he had received for that person. I really doubt whether he really has the gift from the Holy Spirit, because if he really received the words of wisdom for that person, he could just tell that person alone, and there is really no need to tell the congregation, especially I remember one time when he used the original text to interpret the Bible, and the original text of the Strong’s Concordance does not mean that at all.
4. The metaphor of “new wine into old wineskins”
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”(Mark 2:21-22)
Here we need to explain that new wine will ferment and expand. If it is placed in old wineskins, the old wineskins will not be able to withstand such pressure and will burst. New wineskins are more elastic and will not have such a problem.
We also see similar verses in Matthew 9:16-17 and Luke 5:36-39. In “1050” under “3. A parable of old and new things that cannot match”, we also discussed the relevant verses. In the parable of the wine, the Book of Luke specifically says, “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”(Luke 5:39) We know that “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”(John 1:17) The Jews at that time tried to keep the old wine of the letter of the Law, but the result was “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”(Mark 7:8) They did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and eventually crucified Him. As such, it is still difficult for them today to accept the new wine full of grace and truth.
5. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
“And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.””(Mark 2:23-28)
The same thing is recorded in Luke 6:1-5 and Matthew 12:1-8, and the records are similar. We previously discussed Luke 6:1-5 and related passages in detail in “4. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” of “1050”, especially when we talked about Jesus as our role model in upholding the true meaning of the Sabbath. We also mentioned in that section a similar passage in the Old Testament that was about two different things. At that time, we only mentioned that David was the only person involved in that passage. We should also add that Abiathar was not the high priest at that time. Those who are interested can find this section in the article.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
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