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1–12. Healing of the paralytic in Capernaum. – 13–14. The Calling of the Publican Levi. – 15–17. Meal at Levi's house. – 18–22. Talk about fasting. – 23–28. Harvesting ears on Saturday. Mark 2:1. A few days later He came again to Capernaum; and it was heard that He was in the house. The Evangelist Matthew also reports about the healing of the paralytic (see comments on Matthew 9:1–8). But the evangelist Mark here gives some details that Matthew does not have. Thus, already in the first verse he explains that Christ, having come to Capernaum, entered the house, of course, belonging to Peter. It should be noted that this verse in the Russian translation is conveyed inaccurately. It is the expression “in a few days” that is unsuccessfully placed at the beginning: Christ did not spend “several days” away from Capernaum, but, undoubtedly, several weeks, otherwise the indication of Mark 1:39 regarding the preaching of Christ throughout Galilee remains incomprehensible. Therefore, this verse should be more accurately translated as follows: “When Jesus again entered Capernaum (according to the best reading: καὶ εἰσελθὼν πάλιν, and not καὶ πάλιν εἰσῆλθεν), then after several days it became it is known that He entered the house” (εἰς οἴκον – accusative case). Christ's stay in solitude could have been intended to teach the Gospel to the disciples, whom He promised to make fishers of men (Mark 1:17) 10. Mark 2:2. Many immediately gathered, so that there was no longer room at the door; and He spoke the word to them. Evangelist Mark notes that the Lord spoke a “word” to the assembled people, but does not report the content of this “word” or speech. Mark 2:3. And they came to Him with the paralytic, whom four men carried; There were four carrying the paralytic. Consequently, the patient was an adult. Mark 2:4. and, not being able to approach Him due to the crowds, they opened the roof of the house where He was, and, having dug through it, lowered the bed on which the paralytic lay. One evangelist Mark reports a special energy that was detected by those who brought the paralytic. They climbed onto the roof or along the stairs that led there from outside the house, or they crossed there from the roof of a neighboring house, since the roofs of eastern houses often touch each other. Evangelist Mark says that those who brought them opened the roof and dug through it in order to lower the bed with the paralytic. This means that they first removed the bricks or slabs from which the roof was made over a fairly large area, and then dug or made a hole in the easily constructed frame that supported these bricks or slabs. This was a relatively easy matter (Edersheim, p. 633). All this testified to the extraordinary trust in the love and power of the Lord that those who brought him and the paralytic himself, who was brought here, had, of course, not without his consent. Mark 2:5. Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic: child! your sins are forgiven you. Mark 2:6. Some of the scribes sat there and thought in their hearts: Mark 2:7. Why does He blaspheme so much? who can forgive sins except God alone? Here the Evangelist Mark adds that the scribes said: “Who can forgive sins except God alone?” The Jews did not think it possible that God would give a person, even a righteous one, the power to declare the forgiveness of sins. This can be done either by God Himself, or by a person specially authorized by God, for example, an Angel (Isa.6; Zech.3). John the Baptist received the right to perform baptism for the remission of sins “from heaven” (Mark 11:31). Moreover, the scribes did not believe John either. Mark 2:8. Jesus, immediately knowing in His spirit that they were thinking this way in themselves, said to them, “Why are you thinking this way in your hearts?” Christ, as Mark noted, knew the thoughts of the scribes “by His Spirit.” The prophets knew secrets by the Spirit of God, and not by their own. Christ recognized everything Himself, according to His Divine omniscience. Mark 2:9. What's easier? Should I say to the paralytic: your sins are forgiven? or should I say: get up, take your bed and walk? Here the expression is added to the one found in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 9:5): “take up your bed.” Mark 2:10. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic: Mark 2:11. I say to you: get up, take up your bed and go to your house. Mark 2:12. He immediately got up and, taking the bed, went out in front of everyone, so that everyone was amazed and glorified God, saying: we have never seen anything like this. Here the Evangelist Mark adds that the healed man “went out in front of everyone.” He was to appear to the crowds gathered at the door to testify to the power of Christ. Then, according to the Evangelist Mark, the people declared that they had never seen anything like it before. In fact, although Christ had healed the sick before, he did not forgive sins, as was the case here. Mark 2:13. And Jesus went out again to the sea; and all the people went to Him, and He taught them. Mark 2:14. As He passed, He saw Levi Alpheus sitting at the toll collection, and said to him: Follow Me. And he got up and followed Him. In the history of the calling of Levi, the Evangelist Mark accurately indicates that Christ left home and again went to the sea, where he had taught before, and here the people who followed Him began to teach. Of course, Levi already knew Christ and was devoted to Him, like the first four disciples (Mark 1:16 et seq.). Mark calls the publican-disciple not Matthew, as the evangelist Matthew, but Levi Alpheus. Since in the Gospel of Matthew the expression “called” (λεγόμενον, in the Russian translation inaccurately “name”) is added to the name of the called tax collector, one can think that the real, original name of the apostle is indicated by the Evangelist Mark, and Matthew reports the one that Christ gave him when Levi became His apostle. Who Alpheus was is unknown. Mark 2:15. And as Jesus reclined in his house, his disciples and many publicans and sinners reclined with him: for there were many of them, and they followed him. Mark 2:16. The scribes and Pharisees, seeing that He was eating with publicans and sinners, said to His disciples: How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners? Mark 2:17. Hearing this, Jesus said to them: It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Evangelist Mark notes on his own that the meal was held in the house of the publican Matthew and that tax collectors and sinners took part in it because they usually followed Christ in large numbers. According to Evangelist Mark, the remark to the disciples was made not only by the Pharisees, but also by the scribes. This expression, however, is better replaced by the expression of some codes “scribes from the Pharisees”, i.e. belonged to the Pharisaic party. Mark 2:18. The disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted. They come to Him and say: Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast? Mark 2:19. And Jesus said to them, “Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them?” As long as the groom is with them, they cannot fast, Mark 2:20. but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. Mark 2:21. No one puts patches of unbleached fabric on old clothes: otherwise the newly sewn garment will be pulled away from the old one, and the hole will be even worse. Mark 2:22. No one puts new wine into old wineskins: otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine will flow out, and the skins will be lost; but new wine must be put into new wineskins. (See comments on Matthew 9:14–17). Evangelist Mark, for his part, only points out that the question to Christ was proposed not by the disciples of John and the Pharisees, but by someone else (“they come and talk” - an impersonal expression) about the disciples of John and the Pharisees. These were probably scribes, but not from the Pharisaic party, who were interested in how Christ resolved the issue of observing traditional fasts (cf. verse 16). Then in verse 19 the evangelist Mark uses the direct expression “to fast” instead of Matthew’s descriptive expression “to grieve.” Other features relating only to style do not need explanation. Mark 2:23. And it happened on the Sabbath that He passed through the sown fields, and His disciples began to pluck the ears of corn along the way. Mark 2:24. And the Pharisees said to Him: Look, what are they doing on the Sabbath that ought not to be done? Mark 2:25. He said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need and was hungry, he and those who were with him? Mark 2:26. How did he enter the house of God in the presence of Abiathar the high priest and eat the showbread, which no one was to eat except the priests, and gave it to those with him? Mark 2:27. And he said to them: The Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath; Mark 2:28. therefore the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (See comments on Matthew 12:1–8). Evangelist Mark adds to Matthew's story that the Lord mentioned the name of the high priest who gave the showbread to David - it was Abiathar (verse 26). Since in 1 Samuel 22:20 et seq. the high priest with whom David entered into friendly communication is called not Abiathar, but Ahimelech, and Abiathar was his son, then many interpreters consider this addition in the Gospel of Mark to be an insertion made by the hand of a reader of the Gospel who is not well versed in Scripture (Stanton, 1903, p. 145). Others, recognizing this expression as genuine, suggest that the high priest bore both mentioned names (St. John Chrysostom, Victor), or that the main role in everything that happened was played by Abiathar, as the Jewish tradition said, which Christ adheres to here, and in the Old Testament the name of the high priest who then ruled over the liturgical affairs and was responsible for all the actions of the priests is mentioned (Lagrange). Also, one evangelist Mark cites (verse 27) the saying of Christ that “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” This means that the Sabbath, as an institution adapted to creation along with everything created, is placed in a service relationship to man, appointed in order to benefit him. Man, therefore, has the free right to dispose of the Sabbath: it is not an end in itself, not a ruler who imposes his yoke on the person subordinate to him. Similar expressions are found among rabbis. Thus, the words of Ex.31:14 about the Sabbath: “it is holy to you,” Rabbi Jonathan interprets as meaning that the Sabbath should be subject to the Jews, and the Jews should not be subject to it. Rabbi Judah said: “the laws, according to the Scriptures, were given so that a person might live through them (Lev. 18:5), and not so that he would perish” (treatise Yoma, etc.). Finally, the last saying about the Son of Man as “Lord of the Sabbath” (verse 28), which in the Gospel of Matthew is the basis for the above stated position about the innocence of the disciples of Christ who violated the Sabbath (Matthew 12:7), is given in Mark as a consequence - therefore (ὤστε) - in relation to the right of Christ to allow His disciples to violate the Sabbath. Christ wants to say by this that He, as the Messiah and, therefore, as a perfect Man, who has no sin in Himself and who has retained all the rights over creation and the Sabbath that were granted by the Creator to the first-created man at his very creation (this is the meaning of the expression “Son of Man” here), is already the undoubted Master of the Sabbath, and can permit or not observe it when it is necessary for the well-being of people. Other people themselves can achieve this right only when, in communication with Him, they again acquire the original human dignity they have lost. It should be noted that the issue of fasting and the Sabbath was very important for the readers of the Gospel of Mark, pagan Christians who, living among Jewish Christians, heard their demands for special respect for the mentioned Jewish institutions. This solution to the issue took a huge burden off of them. Edersheim explains this by the fact that at that time winter had already arrived, and in winter it was extremely difficult to travel preaching from city to city. This is also stated in Matthew 24:20 (Edersheim, “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,” vol. 1, p. 630). You might be interested in: