by Don Hatfield
The Gospel of Mark 2
The Road of Authority
Jesus Heals a Paralytic (1 - 12)
We traveled quite a bit up-and-down the countryside and we finely returned to Capernaum. I guess the news got out that we were back, because a large crowd gathered around the house. As I was sitting there listening along with all the others there was a great commotion on the roof. The next thing I knew the tiles of the roof were being torn off. As the roof opened up I saw what looked like a stretcher or a cot. Four men were lifting it up and I could see that it had ropes attached to its handles. Then to everyone's amazement they began to lower the cot through the hole they had made in the roof. On it laid paralyzed man. The cot came down to the floor right in front of Jesus. What he said next amazed all of us." Son, your sins are forgiven." Now there was some rather well-to-do looking gentlemen sitting towards the back of the room. I later found out they were called scribes. It's as if Jesus read their minds because he said to them," why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to say rise, take up your bed and walk?" I personally was thinking anyone could say your sins are forgiven. But I'd never seen anyone tell a paralyzed person to pick up his bed and walk. Jesus then said to them," but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" then he turned to the paralytic and said," I say to you, rise pick up your bed, and go home." The man got up, picked up his bed and walked out the door. Everyone was amazed and they begin to glorify God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!" I thought the well-to-do gentlemen would be equally amazed but instead they just glared at him. I think what was puzzling to me was the statement that Jesus had made your sins are forgiven. I wanted to ask him more about this but kept quiet.
Jesus calls Levi (13 - 17)
I was to learn something new about this man Jesus, he did not play favorites. Rich or poor, young or old, educated or uneducated all were the same to him. We were walking by the seaside and of course the crowd was coming to him and he was teaching. As we were walking he called out to a man," Levi come away from your tax booth and follow me", how he knew his name I do not know. This man named Levi rose up, just as the fishermen had done and followed him. These tax collectors were hated men in the land and yet the next thing I knew we were following this Levi to his house and sitting down to supper with him and some other unsavory characters. I saw out of the corner of my eye one of those Scribes or Pharisee approach John who was sitting next to me and I heard him ask John. Why does this man Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus must have overheard it also for he said to the man, "those who are well have no need of the physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." I know that I was relieved when he said this because a more upright, righteous, honest and trustworthy man like this man Jesus I had never met in my life. He was even letting me go with Him and, I knew in my heart that I was far from righteous, yet we were the very type of people He seemed to like to have around him. I do know that when we were around him we all seemed to be better men.
A Question about Fasting (18 - 22)
It seemed that where ever we went trouble just seemed to follow us. We were just minding our own business and some people came to us with this question. They asked us," why do John's disciples and the Pharisees disciples fast but your disciples do not fast?" This question scared me mainly because they were considering me as one of his disciples and I had never thought of my acquaintance with Jesus in that manner. He answered them and his answer puzzled me when he said," Can the wedding guests fast while the bride groom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken from them and then they will fast." This statement was puzzling enough. Who is the bridegroom and who is the bride? Was he calling himself the bridegroom and if so was he calling his disciples his bride? Then He puzzled me even more with his next statement, I do not quite remember all of it but part of it was about un- shrunk cloth on an old garment and putting new wine into old wine skins. Then He said new wine is for new wine skins. I still was not sure what he was talking about but I did realize He was saying that something new was going to replace something old. Something new was going to come about and something old was going to be done away with. But to tell you the truth I was still wondering about my role with this small band of men. Did I want to be one of his disciples?
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (23 - 28)
This subject of replacing something old with something new seemed to come up again as we were walking through a grain field of all places. Everybody was getting hungry and so some of the guys begin to pluck the heads of grain and eat them. All of a sudden these Pharisee who were strolling along behind us seem to become very upset about us eating the grain. They begin to rail on Jesus telling him that it was not lawful to pluck grain on the Sabbath. Jesus replied to them "have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he entered the house of God then ate the bread which was not lawful for any but the priest and then he also gave it to those who were with him." They became silent but it was obvious that they were enraged. He then said the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Later when we were alone I asked him what he meant and he in turn asked me what I thought it meant? I replied it sounds as if you're Jewish law states that you may not work on the Sabbath. But it seems to me if a person were hungry, picking a piece of grain, or an ear of corn and eating it would not be working. In my work as a blacksmith if a horse got a briar stuck in its hoof and was in great pain on the Sabbath I would take it out. It seems to me that these Pharisees are just looking for something to find fault with instead of looking at a persons need. He just looked at me and smiled and said my follower your eyes are beginning to open.
