Jesus Heals Sin and Paralysis
Mark 2When he returned to Capernaum after several days, people heard that he was home. So many gathered together that there was no more room, not even by the door, and he spoke the word to them. Some people came, bringing a paralyzed man to him, carried by four of them. When they could not get near to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. When they had dug through it, they lowered the mat that the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this is what they were thinking to themselves, and he said to them, “Why are y’all thinking such things in your* hearts? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat and walk?’
“In order for y’all to know that the Son of Humanity has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go to your house.”
Immediately, he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi
He went out again by the seaside. A large crowd came to him, and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. When the scribes and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
No Fasting When the Groom is Present
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and on that day they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear becomes worse. No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead, they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
One Sabbath day, he was passing through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some ears of grain as they made their way. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
He said to them, “Haven’t y’all read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? When Abiathar was the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests. And he also gave some to those who were with him.”
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Humanity is lord even of the Sabbath.”