Chapter Two

1–12. Healing of a paralyzed man in Capernaum. – 13–14. Calling of the tax collector Levi. – 15–17. Meal in Levi’s house. – 18–22. Discussion about fasting. – 23–28. Plucking grain on the Sabbath.

Mark 2:1. And again He entered Capernaum after some days; and it was heard that He was in the house. The evangelist Matthew also reports on the healing of the paralyzed man (see commentaries to Matt 9:1-8). But the evangelist Mark here gives certain details that are not in Matthew. Thus, already in the first verse he explains that Christ, coming to Capernaum, went into the house, of course belonging to Peter. It should be noted that this verse in the Russian translation is rendered inaccurately. Namely, the expression “after some days” is unfortunately placed at the beginning: it is not that “some days” passed while Christ was away from Capernaum, but rather, undoubtedly, some weeks; otherwise the indication Mark 1:39 of Christ’s preaching throughout all Galilee remains incomprehensible. Therefore, this verse should more accurately be translated thus: “when Jesus again entered Capernaum (according to the best reading: καὶ εἰσελθὼν πάλιν, not καὶ πάλιν εἰσῆλθεν), then after some days it became known that He had entered a house” (εἰς οἴκον – accusative case). Christ’s stay in solitude may have been intended for the instruction of the Gospel to the disciples, whom He had promised to make fishers of men (Mark 1:17).

Mark 2:2. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no room to receive them, not even near the door; and He preached the word to them. The evangelist Mark remarks that the Lord spoke “the word” to the gathered people, but does not report the content of this “word” or speech.

Mark 2:3. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralyzed man who was carried by four men. There were four men carrying the paralyzed man. Consequently, the sick person was an adult.

Mark 2:4. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralyzed man was lying. Only the evangelist Mark reports the particular energy that those who brought the paralyzed man displayed. They climbed onto the roof either by means of a ladder that led there from the outside of the house, or else they crossed over from the roof of a neighboring house, since the roofs of Eastern houses often touch each other. The evangelist Mark says that those who brought the man uncovered the roof and broke through it in order to lower the bed with the paralyzed man. This means that they first removed bricks or tiles, from which the roof was constructed, over quite a large area, and then either dug or made an opening in the light structure of beams that supported these bricks or tiles. This was relatively easy work (Edersheim, p. 633). All this testified to extraordinary trust in the love and power of the Lord, which those who brought him and the paralyzed man himself had, who was brought here, of course, not without his consent.

Mark 2:5. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man: Son, your sins are forgiven you. Mark 2:6. And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Mark 2:7. “Why does He speak like this? He blasphemes! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Here the evangelist Mark adds that the scribes said: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Among the Jews it was not supposed to be possible for a man, even a righteous one, to be given by God the power to declare the forgiveness of sins. This could be done either by God Himself or by someone 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). And besides, the scribes did not believe even John.

Mark 2:8. Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they thought so within themselves, said to them: “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Christ, according to Mark’s remark, knew the thoughts of the scribes “by His Spirit.” The prophets knew the hidden things by the Spirit of God, and not their own. Christ, on the other hand, knew everything by His own divine omniscience.

Mark 2:9. “Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? Here is added to what is found in Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 9:5) the expression “take up your bed.”

Mark 2:10. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins—“ He said to the paralyzed man, Mark 2:11. “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. Mark 2:12. Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this! Here the evangelist Mark adds that the healed man “went out in the presence of them all.” He had to show himself to the crowd gathered at the door, in order to testify to the power of Christ. Then, according to the words of the evangelist Mark, the people declared that they had never seen anything like this before. Indeed, although Christ had healed the sick before, He did not remit sins at that time, as He did here.

Mark 2:13. And again Jesus went out by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. Mark 2:14. As He passed by, He saw Levi of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him: Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. See Matt 9:9. In the history of the calling of Levi, the evangelist Mark precisely indicates that Christ went out from the house and went to the sea again, where He had taught before, and here He began to teach the people who followed Him. Of course, Levi had already known Christ before and was devoted to Him, as were the first four disciples (Mark 1:16 and following). The disciple-tax-collector Mark calls not Matthew, as Matthew the evangelist does, but Levi of Alphaeus. Since in Matthew’s Gospel to the name of the called tax-collector is added the expression “called” (λεγόμενον, inaccurately rendered in the Russian translation – “by name”), it is reasonable to suppose that the evangelist Mark gives us the true, original name of the apostle, while Matthew reports the one given to him by Christ when Levi became His apostle. Who Alphaeus was is not known.

Mark 2:15. And it happened that He sat at table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. Mark 2:16. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw that He ate with tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples: “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners? Mark 2:17. When Jesus heard this, He said to them: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. See Matt 9:10-13. The evangelist Mark remarks on his own part that the meal was prepared in the house of the tax collector Matthew, and that tax collectors and sinners participated in it because they commonly followed Christ in large numbers. The remark to the disciples, according to the evangelist Mark, was made not only by Pharisees, but also by scribes. This expression is better, however, replaced with that of some codices “scribes from among the Pharisees,” that is, those belonging to the Pharisaic party.

Mark 2:18. Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him: “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast? Mark 2:19. And Jesus said to them: “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom 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 sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear becomes worse. Mark 2:22. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined; but new wine must be put into new wineskins. (See commentaries to Matt 9:14-17). The evangelist Mark only points out on his part that the question posed to Christ was not by the disciples of John and the Pharisees, but by someone else (“they came and said” – 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 would decide the question about the observance of traditional fasts (cf. verse 16). Then in verse 19 the evangelist Mark uses the direct designation “fast” instead of Matthew’s descriptive expression “mourn.” Other peculiarities, relating only to style, do not require explanation.

Mark 2:23. And it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and as they went, His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. Mark 2:24. And the Pharisees said to Him: “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? Mark 2:25. And He said to them: “Have you never read what David did when he was hungry and those with him were hungry? Mark 2:26. “how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him? Mark 2:27. And He said to them: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:28. “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. (See commentaries to Matt 12:1-8). The evangelist Mark adds to Matthew’s account that the Lord mentioned the name of the high priest who gave the showbread to David—this was Abiathar (verse 26). Since in 1 Sam 22:20 and following the high priest who entered into friendly communion with David is named not Abiathar, but Ahimelech, while Abiathar was his son, many interpreters consider this addition in Mark’s Gospel to be an insertion made by the hand of a reader of the Gospel poorly versed in Scripture (Stanton, 1903, p. 145). Others, acknowledging this expression as authentic, suppose that the high priest bore both names mentioned (St. John Chrysostom, Victor), or else that Abiathar played the main role in all that happened, as Jewish tradition said, which Christ here follows, while in the Old Testament the name is mentioned of the high priest who at that time was in charge of the services, responsible for all the actions of the priests (Lagrange). Also only the evangelist Mark cites (verse 27) Christ’s saying about the Sabbath being made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This means that the Sabbath as an institution, adapted to creation along with everything created, is placed in a subordinate relationship to man, ordained to bring him benefit. Man, therefore, has the right to dispose freely of the Sabbath: it is not an end in itself, not a master who lays his yoke upon the man subject to him. Similar expressions are found among the Rabbis. Thus, the words Exod 31:14 about the Sabbath: “it is holy for you,” the Rabbi Jonathan interprets as meaning that the Sabbath should be subordinate to the Jews, and the Jews should not be subordinate to it. Rabbi Judah said: “The laws, according to the words of Scripture, were given so that man through them might live (Lev 18:5), not so that he might perish” (treatise Yoma and others). Finally, the last saying about the Son of Man as “Lord of the Sabbath” (verse 28), which in Matthew’s Gospel serves as the foundation for the statement made above about the guiltlessness of Christ’s disciples in violating the Sabbath (Matt 12:7), appears in Mark as a consequence—therefore (ὤστε)—in relation to Christ’s right to permit His disciples to violate the Sabbath. Christ means to say that He, as Messiah and, consequently, as the perfect Man, having no sin in Himself and preserving all the rights over creation and the Sabbath that the Creator gave to the first man at his very creation (this is the meaning of the expression “Son of Man” here), is indeed the undoubted Master of the Sabbath, can permit it to be disregarded and not observed when necessary for the well-being of people. But other people can acquire this right only when, in communion with Him, they again recover the original human dignity they have lost. It should be noted that the question about fasts and the Sabbath was very important for the readers of Mark’s Gospel, Christians from the gentiles, who, living among Christians from the Jews, heard from their side demands for special respect for the mentioned Jewish observances. Such a solution to the question removed from them an enormous burden. * * * Notes Edersheim explains this by the fact that by that time winter had already come, and in winter it was extremely difficult to travel from city to city with preaching. This is also mentioned in Matt 24:20 (Edersheim. “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,” vol. 1, p. 630).