Helpfinder Sampler - Flipbook - Page 41
M AR K 3
page 897
Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town
anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded
places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
When Jesus returned to Capernaum several
days later, the news spread quickly that he
was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was
staying was so packed with visitors that there
was no more room, even outside the door. While
he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four
men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a
mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because
of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof
above his head. Then they lowered the man on
his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing
their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My
child, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the teachers of religious law
who were sitting there thought to themselves,
7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only
God can forgive sins!”
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were
thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to
the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or
‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I
will prove to you that the Son of Man* has the
authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus
turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand
up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat,
and walked out through the stunned onlookers.
They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this
before!”
2
Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew)
13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again
and taught the crowds that were coming to
him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of
Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth.
“Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to
him. So Levi got up and followed him.
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples
to his home as dinner guests, along with many
tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.
(There were many people of this kind among
Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of
religious law who were Pharisees* saw him
eating with tax collectors and other sinners,
they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with
such scum?*”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them,
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick
people do. I have come to call not those who
think they are righteous, but those who know
they are sinners.”
2:10 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 2:16a Greek
the scribes of the Pharisees. 2:16b Greek with tax collectors
and sinners?
A Discussion about Fasting
18 Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees
were fasting, some people came to Jesus and
asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s
disciples and the Pharisees do?”
19 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast
while celebrating with the groom? Of course
not. They can’t fast while the groom is with
them. 20 But someday the groom will be taken
away from them, and then they will fast.
21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing
with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink
and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even
bigger tear than before.
22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins,
and the wine and the skins would both be lost.
New wine calls for new wineskins.”
A Discussion about the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through
some grainfields, his disciples began breaking
off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees
said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the
law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read
in the Scriptures what David did when he
and his companions were hungry? 26 He went
into the house of God (during the days when
Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by
eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the
priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to
his companions.”
27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath
was made to meet the needs of people, and not
people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the
Sabbath!”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
Jesus went into the synagogue again and
noticed a man with a deformed hand.
2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies
3
• Reputation
MAR K 2 :1 5-17
As a tax collector, Levi (Matthew) was
considered to be a cheat and a traitor to
his own people. Yet Jesus looked at his
future instead of his past, and at his heart
rather than at his present reputation. Levi
responded to Jesus’ call and was transformed from Levi, the disreputable tax
collector, into Matthew, the disciple of
Christ. Regardless of your reputation,
Christ can move you beyond it to
become what God meant for you to be.
