Mark 2 (calling the sick and sinners)

So far, so good :) I think we are on track to continue as planned with the CMS (Chapter Memory Study) in Mark. The outline acronym is holding up, so we'll stay with 'Jesus is the Ransom'.

We're on chapter 2, which brings us to the 'e';

• Extricates the paralytic
• Extracts Levi
• Explains fasting and Sabbath
  

As with chapter 1, I was able to multiply the memory hooks for this outline (not only starting with the same letter, but having the same second letter also). I can't promise this will always happen, but it's nice when it does.

The memory verse for chapter 2 is;

Mark 2:17 (ESV)
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Brief Commentary
The story of the paralytic and his 4 helpful friends has always been one of my favorites. But after studying it more deeply (and graduating from my archaic 'flannel board' version of the event) I discovered some profound implications tucked away in its midst.


Extricates the Paralytic (extricate = to release somebody or something with a difficulty from a physical constraint or an unpleasant or complicated situation)
Jesus was preaching (possibly in Peter's house) and many people had gathered to hear Him. There we so many people that the four men carrying their friend on a cot could not get close to hear Jesus or possibly get their friend healed. So these guys get up on the roof, start tearing apart, and lower their friend through a hole. There was no trap door. There was no sky light. They actually dismantled someone's roof right over top of all of the people who were inside the house listening to Jesus. Mark doesn't record this, but I'm guessing the folks sitting there were not too fond of the debris and noise these inconsiderate men were filling the house with. So, when all the craziness subsides and the paralytic is now laying right in front of Jesus (in the middle of a sermon, by the way)...'what's Jesus going to do with this guy?'

Well, here's what Mark gives us. Jesus saw their faith....pause. First, He saw faith in action. He looked past the annoyance and the interruption and saw straight to their faith. Next, He saw their faith. Notice that we never hear from the paralytic. We don't know how or how much he was paralyzed, we just know he obviously couldn't walk on his own. But Jesus doesn't say 'I notice how well you order around these slaves', or 'I'll give you points for effort', or 'because you have made an individual profession of faith'. He sees the faith of the group (at least the 4 guys who could walk and talk) and is moved with compassion to forgive the sins of the paralytic. We don't read here that He even acknowledged the other 4 guys. He goes right to the one who is sick (see theme verse :). I also wonder what the friends first thought when Jesus said that. 'Um, that's great, but we need a fifth guy for our arena-ball team, and we were hoping you could make him walk...at least enough to play goalie...' Were they disappointed? Were they confused? I can't imagine it was just the scribes who were thinking 'um, what was that all about?'

So Jesus does something radical, causes people to ask questions, and then brings home the point. (on a side note, I wonder what His sermon was about. I bet it was good, and I bet this fit right in :). He perceived in His spirit what they questioned in their hearts and He called them on it.

Mark 2:8-11 (ESV)
⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”

And the peoples' response? 'We never saw anything like this!' Amazing. I love how Jesus shows us that if we walk in the Spirit, no matter what we are doing we can always bring glory to God, help people, and proclaim the Gospel. I'm so glad Jesus sent another Helper to show us the way to love, serve, and proclaim like Jesus did.

Extracts Levi
So Jesus continues to teach the people who were following Him. Then He passes by a tax booth and sees Levi. What people saw was a suspicious tax collector who worked for Rome and, by reputation of tax collectors, probably dealt unfairly and unscrupulously with the Jews. I get the impression that these guys were even lower-regarded than the IRS is today :) But what Jesus sees is a man with the potential to love, serve, and follow Him as a disciple; not to mention write it all down as the first book of the New Testament.

But not only does Jesus talk to this tax collector (gasp), we soon find Him hanging out with all of this guys tax collector buddies and questionable characters. In fact, it says that now there were many of these unsavory individuals following Jesus. And the scribes were beside themselves. But notice who they complain to:

Mark 2:16 (ESV)
And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Remember, the scribes just got crushed by Jesus for what they were thinking. They might have been (justifiably) a little gun shy to confront Him again. So they went to His disciples and registered their disgust. But, as they soon learned, Jesus not only has a discerning spirit, but really good hearing :)

Mark 2:17 (ESV)
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This verse was easy to pick as the theme verse for the chapter. It draws the three stories (paralytic, Levi, fasting and Sabbath) together under one main thought; 'I didn't come for the people who think they are righteous and well, but for the ones who know they are sick and in need'.


Explains Fasting and Sabbath
I put these two together because they are linked in theme (and I wanted to keep the outline to three points :). The Pharisees tried to pin Jesus and His disciples down with the application of their law. Jesus, on both counts, refutes them by teaching that the Law (probably more specifically in this case, the rules established by Jewish custom) was made for men, not men for the law. Jesus' message (the Gospel) was not intended to fit into the 'old wine-skins' (the laws). Nor were those laws and customs to keep people from faith and trust in Jesus because of their rigidness and complex systems. The Gospel of grace confronts the religion of the law at every turn. Jesus continues to confront the established 'institution of religiousness' with His message of the Gospel.


Both confrontation of religion and presentation of the Gospel are just as critical today as when Jesus first preached it.