MRK 2
2
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
Matt. 9:1-8; Lk. 5:17-26
1 When Jesus entered Capernaum again after some days away, word spread that He was at home in the town.
2 Many people gathered together, so many that there was no longer any room left, not even at the door of the house. Jesus was speaking the word of God to them.
3 Four men came, carrying a paralysed man on a mat, bringing him to Jesus for healing.
4 When they could not get near Jesus because of the dense crowd, they removed part of the roof above where Jesus was teaching. After digging through the clay and thatch, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying down through the opening.
5 When Jesus saw their faith—demonstrated by their persistent effort to bring the man to Him—He said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, observing everything and reasoning in their hearts with criticism.
7 They thought, "Why does this man speak in such a way? He is blaspheming! Who has the authority to forgive sins except God alone?"
8 Immediately Jesus, knowing in His spirit that they were reasoning this way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
9 Which is easier to say to the paralytic—'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Get up, take up your mat and walk'?
10 But so that you may know and be convinced that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—Jesus turned and said to the paralytic—
11 "I say to you, get up, take up your mat, and go to your house."
12 Immediately the man got up, took up his mat, and walked out in full view of everyone. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this before!"
The Calling of Levi
Matt. 9:9-13; Lk. 5:27-32
13 Jesus went out again beside the sea to teach. All the crowd kept coming to Him, and He was teaching them about the kingdom of God.
14 As He passed by the tax collection booth, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting there collecting taxes for Rome. Jesus said to him simply, "Follow Me!" Levi stood up and followed Him, leaving his lucrative position behind.
15 Later, as Jesus was reclining at the table for a meal in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were also reclining and eating with Jesus and His disciples. There were many such people, and they were following Jesus.
16 When the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors—people considered unclean and unworthy—they said to His disciples, "Why does He eat and associate with tax collectors and sinners?"
17 When Jesus heard their criticism, He responded, "Those who are healthy and well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous who think they need nothing, but sinners who recognise their need for God."
The Question About Fasting
Matt. 9:14-17; Lk. 5:33-39
18 The disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees were practising regular fasting. Some people came to Jesus and asked, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
19 Jesus answered them with an illustration: "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them at the wedding celebration? As long as they have the bridegroom present with them, they cannot fast—it would be inappropriate.
20 But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day when I am gone."
21 Jesus continued with another illustration: "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth onto an old garment. If someone does, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear results. The new and old are incompatible.
22 Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If someone does, the new wine will burst the wineskins as it ferments and expands—and both the wine and the wineskins will be destroyed and ruined. Instead, new wine must be put into fresh, new wineskins."
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
Matt. 12:1-8; Lk. 6:1-5
23 It happened that Jesus was passing through cornfields on the Sabbath day. As they walked, His disciples began making their way through the fields while plucking heads of grain to eat.
24 The Pharisees confronted Jesus, saying, "Look! Why are Your disciples doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" They accused the disciples of harvesting on the Sabbath.
25 Jesus responded, "Have you never read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his men were in need and hungry?
26 How David entered the house of God during the time when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence—the consecrated bread that was placed before the Lord—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests? Yet David ate it and even gave it to those who were with him."
27 Jesus then stated the principle: "The Sabbath was made for the benefit of people, and not people for the Sabbath.
28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
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MRK 2: AFINT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
