Mark 2
COMMENTARY:
: 5 When Jesus saw their faith, HE said to the sick of the palsy, So your sins be forgiven you. (4102 “faith” [pistis] means strong confidence in, reliance on, what can be believed, trust, conviction, honesty, oath, assurance, fidelity.)
DEVOTION: In Jesus day it was thought that those who were sick or handicapped were the worst of sinners. Sometimes they thought that it was the sin of the parents that caused the people to be sickly or handicapped. They even thought that because they were not sick then they were good with God.
Jesus came to set the record straight. HE was confronted with a man who had palsy. His friends cut a hole in the roof of the house to let him come down to be healed by Jesus. The house was crowded with people. There was no other room left for this man and his four friends to see Jesus.
Jesus saw the faith of these five men and made a statement that confused the people in the room. The Pharisees called it blaspheme because they thought only God could forgive sins. They didn’t want to admit that Jesus was the Messiah who was God.
Jesus knew what people thought in HIS day on this earth. HE knew the thoughts of the people in the room and the thoughts of the religious leaders. HE wanted to correct their thinking.
Were they corrected? Not really but because this is recorded in the Bible our thinking can be corrected. Not everyone who is a worse sinner than anyone else. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
So healing of physical sickness is not as important as healing of spiritual sickness. Jesus came to heal spiritual sickness in those who realized that they were not right with God. HE also healed physical sickness in some but not all.
CHALLENGE: Physical sickness will not send anyone to hell but spiritual sickness will.
: 10 But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (he says to the sick of the palsy) (863 “forgive” [aphiemi] means to send away, to expire, to let go, to leave, to go to another place, or give up a debt.)
DEVOTION: Jesus wanted the religious leaders to see that he had power to send away sin from an individual. HE wanted them to know that HE could heal the sick in both a physical way and a spiritual way. Some people think that all people should have physical healing if they believe in the LORD. That is not always true. They can always have spiritual healing from sin but not necessarily physical healing. Some people are called to have a physical problem and still bring glory to the LORD.
The religious leaders didn’t like the fact that HE said HE could take away sin. They thought only God could send away sin – and they were right!!! HE was making a statement that HE was God.
Many thought that the only reason people were sick or had something wrong with them was because of sin in their lives. Jesus used this reasoning to correct their wrong concepts of sickness. Some sickness is for the glory of God. Some sickness is caused by sin and only when the individual asks for healing from sin will the sickness go away.
That is why we have the warning at the LORD’S SUPPER to examine ourselves, so that, we are not given weakness or sickness or premature death. God can send away all our sins through Christ. HE does that for those who trust HIM. Remember when we become a follower of the LORD we are JUSTIFIED. That means that from the LORD’S perspective all of our sins are gone. They are buried in the deepest sea. They are as far as the east is from the west. A genuine believer is covered by the blood of Christ for all of his sins. That means his sins of the past, present and future. Our standing before the Father is clear. Jesus is our advocate. Praise HIS name.
However, our daily fellowship with HIM is conditional to our confession of sin not our salvation once we have put our trust in HIM for real. Many people think that they are Christians and live as they please and don’t seem to have the weakness or sickness or premature death talked about in I Corinthians but the problem is that they might never have trusted Jesus in the first place. For whom the LORD loves HE chastens. Let’s remember to keep short accounts with God for our daily fellowship with HIM. Also, we need to remember that HE will not forgive us IF we don’t forgive others!!
CHALLENGE: Examine your life to see if there is anyone you have not forgiven. If so, ask the LORD to help you forgive that individual or those individuals that have hurt you. All of us have been hurt!
: 12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying We never saw it on this fashion. (1839 “amazed” [existemi] means astonished, to throw out of position, throw into wonderment, besides one’s self, surprised, or to drive out of one’s senses.)
DEVOTION: Watching the people react to what the LORD was doing is amazing. HE healed the man of the palsy. The man that hour walked away with his bed that four men carried him in.
The Pharisees were there to criticize everything that Jesus did and said. They accused him of blaspheme. They thought HE was wrong for saying anything about sins being forgiven.
What was the people’s reaction? They were amazed at how the LORD had worked the miracle of healing and answering the questions of the Pharisees. They wanted HIM to not have the power to forgive sins. They didn’t want to admit that HE was God in the flesh. They just wanted to see HIM put down but the people were amazed AND glorified God.
Our reaction to the LORD doing a miracle in someone’s life should be the same. Not the same as the Pharisees but the same as the general public. We should give glory to God for all that HE does in our life daily.
Praise should be a normal activity of a believer. Are you regularly praising the LORD for all the blessings HE is giving you? Have we seen HIM work in others life and praised HIM for it?
CHALLENGE: How long does our praise last?
: 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners? (2068 “eat” [esthio] means devour, to take food, eat a meal, consume, or live.)
DEVOTION: Here we find Jesus going into a person’s home and taking some food together. HE is sharing a meal with a new disciple. HE had just called Levi or Matthew to be HIS disciple. Matthew/Levi invited HIM to his house to enjoy a time of fellowship together.
Matthew/Levi invited some of his friends to join them for a meal. Remember that tax collectors were outcasts in Jewish circles. So his friends were outcasts as well. He had other tax collectors there as well as those who would accept him into their world which were called sinners by the Pharisees.
So Jesus is having a meal with the outcasts of society. HE is confronted by the Pharisees who thought it was very improper for HIM to be in their company.
What was Jesus’ response to them? HE stated that those who are not sick don’t need a physician but only the sick. The Pharisees thought they were whole or not sick or not sinners and therefore didn’t need the message that Jesus was preaching.
So Jesus was going to those who thought they were sick and needed healing from sin. HE even stated that this was HIS mission. HE was not going to deal with those who thought they didn’t need HIS message. HE was only going to deal with those who were willing to listen to HIS message and repent. HE was on this earth to call sinners to repentance.
We need to help people understand that they need the message we are bring to them. The only way we can do that is to help them realize that they are not meeting the standard God set for their life. This is not easy because most people are like the Pharisees who compare themselves with other people and think they are better than them.
Confronting people with the Word of God and what it has to say about their sin is our responsibility.
CHALLENGE: Know what you believe and make sure it meshes with the Word of God. Tell them to compare themselves to Christ alone.
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