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The Gospels · New Testament

Mark 2

Mark 2: a roof opened, a tax office left, and questions about sabbath

General context

Back in Capernaum a crowd fills the house and blocks the door. Four men carry a man sick of the palsy, uncover the roof, break it up and let the bed down. Jesus tells the man his sins are forgiven; scribes sitting there reason in their hearts that this is blasphemy, since God only can forgive sins. Jesus says he perceives their reasoning, asks which is easier to say, and tells the man to take up his bed and go home, which he does before them all. By the sea Jesus calls Levi the son of Alpheus from the receipt of custom, and eats with many publicans and sinners; scribes and Pharisees put the question to his disciples, and he answers that the whole need no physician. Asked why John's disciples and the Pharisees' fast while his do not, he speaks of the bridegroom, then of new cloth on an old garment and new wine in old bottles. On a sabbath his disciples pluck ears of corn, the Pharisees object, and he cites what David did and says the sabbath was made for man.

Cited passages: Mark 2:1, Mark 2:2, Mark 2:3, Mark 2:4, Mark 2:5, Mark 2:6, Mark 2:7, Mark 2:8, Mark 2:9, Mark 2:10, Mark 2:11, Mark 2:12, Mark 2:13, Mark 2:14, Mark 2:15, Mark 2:16, Mark 2:17, Mark 2:18, Mark 2:19, Mark 2:20, Mark 2:21, Mark 2:22, Mark 2:23, Mark 2:24, Mark 2:25, Mark 2:26, Mark 2:27, Mark 2:28

Mark 2 (KJV)

1And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

2And straightway 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 come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12And 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.

13And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphæus 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 meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

17When Jesus heard it, he saith 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 sinners to repentance.

18And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

19And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber 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 shall they fast in those days.

21No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

22And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

23And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

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 an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which 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 also of the sabbath.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Mark identifies the new follower as Levi the son of Alpheus and does not say here whether he is one of the twelve; the later list names Matthew and James the son of Alpheus but does not repeat the name Levi. The house at the meal is called his house without the text specifying whose. The narrator reports the scribes' unspoken reasoning and then quotes it, so the charge of blasphemy is their thought before it is anyone's speech. The saying about David placing the incident in the days of Abiathar the high priest is Jesus' own statement inside the argument. The chapter gives no dates and locates events only in Capernaum, by the sea side, and in corn fields on a sabbath day.

Cited passages: Mark 2:1, Mark 2:5, Mark 2:6, Mark 2:7, Mark 2:8, Mark 2:13, Mark 2:14, Mark 2:15, Mark 2:16, Mark 2:23, Mark 2:25, Mark 2:26, Mark 2:28, Mark 3:18

Literary context

Four disputes run back to back, and each closes with a saying from Jesus rather than with his opponents' reply. The objections escalate in form: first unspoken reasoning, then a question aimed at the disciples, then a direct question about fasting, then a challenge about what is lawful. Mark interrupts his own sentence with a parenthesis to tell the reader whom Jesus is addressing, so the aside to the reader sits inside the quoted speech. The paired images of cloth and bottles make the same point twice in different materials, and the pairing of forgiveness with walking gives the crowd a visible answer to an invisible claim.

Cited passages: Mark 2:2, Mark 2:5, Mark 2:6, Mark 2:9, Mark 2:10, Mark 2:11, Mark 2:12, Mark 2:16, Mark 2:17, Mark 2:18, Mark 2:19, Mark 2:21, Mark 2:22, Mark 2:24, Mark 2:27, Mark 2:28

Key moments

  1. The roof broken up (Mark 2:4). Four bearers uncover the roof and lower the bed through it.
  2. Sins forgiven first (Mark 2:5). Jesus tells the man on the bed that his sins are forgiven.
  3. Scribes reason silently (Mark 2:7). The scribes think the words are blasphemy because God only can forgive sins.
  4. He walks out carrying the bed (Mark 2:12). The man rises and goes out before them all, and they glorify God.
  5. Levi leaves the custom table (Mark 2:14). Levi the son of Alpheus rises from the receipt of custom and follows.
  6. New wine, new bottles (Mark 2:22). Jesus says new wine bursts old bottles and must be put in new ones.
  7. The sabbath made for man (Mark 2:27). Jesus answers the corn field objection by saying the sabbath was made for man.

For reflection

The text says Jesus saw their faith, speaking of the men who dug through the roof rather than of the man on the bed. What weight does the chapter give to what other people do for the sick man?

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