Mark 2
2
A Paraplegic
1-5After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
6-7Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, “He can’t talk that way! That’s blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins.”
8-12Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, “Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,’ or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . .” (he looked now at the paraplegic), “Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, stunned—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
The Tax Collector
13-14Then Jesus went again to walk alongside the lake. Again a crowd came to him, and he taught them. Strolling along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” He came.
15-16Later Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: “What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the misfits?”
17Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit.”
Feasting or Fasting?
18The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees made a practice of fasting. Some people confronted Jesus: “Why do the followers of John and the Pharisees take on the discipline of fasting, but your followers don’t?”
19-20Jesus said, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!”
21-22He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.”
23-24One Sabbath day he was walking through a field of ripe grain. As his disciples made a path, they pulled off heads of grain. The Pharisees told on them to Jesus: “Look, your disciples are breaking Sabbath rules!”
25-28Jesus said, “Really? Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was hungry, along with those who were with him? How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, with the Chief Priest Abiathar right there watching—holy bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat—and handed it out to his companions?” Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no yes-man to the Sabbath. He’s in charge!”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Mark 2
2
Mark 2
1¶ And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house.
2And soon many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door; and he preached the word unto them.
3And they came unto him, bringing a paralytic, carried by four men.
4And when they could not come near unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof of the house where he was; and when they had broken it open, they let down the bed in which the paralytic lay.
5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the paralytic, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.
6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and thinking in their hearts,
7Why does this fellow so blaspheme? Who can forgive sins but God only?
8And Jesus, knowing afterward in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said unto them, Why think ye these things in your hearts?
9What is easier to say to the paralytic, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and take up thy bed and walk?
10But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (he spoke to the sick of the palsy),
11I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed and go to thy house.
12And by and by 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 anything like unto this.
13¶ And he went again unto the sea; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15And it came to pass, that as Jesus sat at the table in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also at the table together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many and they had followed him.
16And the scribes and Pharisees, seeing him eat with publicans and sinners, said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?
17When Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.
18¶ And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees did fast and therefore came and said unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
19And Jesus said unto them, Can those who are in a wedding fast while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days.
21No one mends an old garment with a new piece of cloth, or else the new piece that filled it up tears away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
22And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are lost; but new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
23And it came to pass that as he went through the planted fields again on the sabbath day, his disciples began, as they walked, to pluck the ears of grain.
24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those that were with him?
26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?
27And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath;
28therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International