Bible Notes- Mark chapter 2

 

Read Mark chapter 2

·        Jesus heals a paralyzed man

o   The first chapter of Mark’s Gospel ended with several healings, as Mark moves us in a fast paced narrative of this part of Jesus life. Chapter 2 starts out with another healing miracle, but in this account the man needing the healing can not get to Jesus because he can’t walk. He is lying on a mat that his friends carry. But even once they get to where Jesus is staying they cant get to Jesus because of the crowds. But they don’t give up, they know their friend needs Jesus. The house where Jesus was staying at in Capernaum was probably made of stone, but would have had a flat roof made from mixing mud and straw. The friends would have carried the man up the outside stairs on the side of the house to the roof where they made a hole in the roof and lowered their friend right down to Jesus.

§  Are we ever so preoccupied with what we are doing that we hinder others from being able to get to Jesus? Are we ever this way in the church?

§  How can we be more attentive to those who need to “get to Jesus”?

§  The friends took a great risk by digging a hole in someone else’s roof to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus! What risks are we taking to get our “paralyzed” friends to Jesus? Are we more concerned with the owner of the house and what he/she might think or are we moving with reckless abandon to Jesus?

§  Jesus said “your sins are forgiven” (GR word also means healed and/or saved). What relationship do you see between physical healing and the forgiving of sins? Is this part of the “wholeness” of an abundant life in Christ? How you answer someone who asked you “why does God heal some people and not heal others?” Picture yourself lying on that mat in the middle of room with Jesus kneeling beside you and saying, “your sins are forgiven.” How do you feel?

·        Jesus eats at Matthew’s house

o   Mark states that after Levi (Matthew) accepted Jesus’ offer to “follow” Him, that Jesus went to Matthew’s house for dinner and “many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples” (Verse 15). What is important about this statement? What should this mean to us as “followers” of Christ? What should this mean to us as the church?

·        Fasting

o   We have been talking about fasting this past week in regards to Lent. Fasting is an outward sign of humility and repentance from sin, and is also an inward discipline to clear the mind and keep the spirit alert. Jesus here emphasizes not the practice of fasting itself, but the motive behind the fast. If people fast only to impress others (or only because it’s Lent and everybody else is doing it), then the fast is being twisted into a personal agenda, without the focus on repentance/forgiveness/relationship.

o   Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom (verse 19), and this image portrays us as the bride of Christ. If you are married think back to your wedding day (if you are not married think about a wedding that you have seen.) How did you feel? How does the bride look? Was the groom waiting as she arrived? What expression is on the groom’s face when he sees his bride walking toward him? How does all this relate to our relationship (bride) with Jesus (groom)?

·        Picking wheat on the Sabbath

o   As Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field on the Sabbath (Saturday in this time) some of them apparently pick heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees (who at this point are watching everything that Jesus does so that they can find fault with it) accuse them of breaking a Sabbath law.

§  Read Exodus 34:21

§  They were not stealing when they ate this grain either per their custom (Read Deuteronomy 23:25). The edges of the fields were supposed to be left for travelers and the poor in the community.

§  Of course Jesus was not breaking a command to “not harvest on the Sabbath”, he and his friends were just getting something to eat.

o   Jesus uses an example from David’s life in his answer to the Pharisees.

§  Read 1 Samuel 21:1-6

§  For more info on the consecrated/show bread read Leviticus 24 and Exodus 25

o   God made the Sabbath (a day of rest and worship) for us as a gift.

§  For some people, the Sabbath rules had become more important that the Sabbath rest. Is it that way still today for some people? What do you picture when you hear the words “Sabbath Rest”? Is every Sabbath like this picture for you? Why or why not?

 

What one or two things have really impacted you from your reading of Mark 2 and listening to God’s voice today? And of course, the next question is “what are you going to do about it?”