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Mark Chapter 2 Simplified: Weddings, Weaving and Wine

Published on August 2023 by DaveLeave a comment

Jesus entered back into Capernaum after a few days and people knew he was at home. Many people gathered around until there was no room to move, even at the door. He spoke the word to them.

Four people carried a disabled person to him. They couldn’t bring the person because of the crowd, so they removed the roof of the house. After digging through, they lowered the bed on which the disabled person was lying.

Jesus saw their belief and said to the disabled person, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

Some law experts were sitting nearby and thought about this to themselves. “Why does he speak like this; disrespectfully? Who can forgive sins except just God?”

Jesus, knowing in his spirit they were thinking like this, said to them, “Why are you thinking these thoughts in your hearts? What’s easier to say to the disabled? Your sins are forgiven or stand, pick up your bed and walk? So that you know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.”

He then said to the disabled person, “I’m telling you: stand, pick up your bed and go home.”

The disabled person stood, picked up his bed and left in front of everyone.

Everyone was amazed and praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen this before!”

Jesus then left again next to the sea, and everyone was coming to him. He taught them.

Going past Levi, Alphaeus’ son, sitting at a tax booth, Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

Levi stood and followed him.

Jesus was having dinner in his house with many tax collectors and sinners who were also reclining with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisee law experts saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and asked his disciples, “Why eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus overheard and replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. I’ve not come for the good people, but the sinners.”

Both John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came to Jesus and asked, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”

Jesus replied, “The groom’s attendants can’t fast while the groom is with them. However long the groom is with them, they cannot fast. But the time comes when the groom is taken from them and then they will fast.

You don’t sew a patch of unshrunk fabric on old clothes. The new patch pulls from the old fabric, and the rip gets worse.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins. The wine would burst the wineskin and both the wine and wineskin will be ruined. New wine goes into new wineskins.”

Jesus passed through farming land on the holy day and his disciples began picking heads of grain.

The Pharisees asked him, “Look, why are they doing what is not allowed on the holy day?”

Jesus replied, “Did you never read what David did when he had needs and everyone with him was hungry? He went into God’s temple during the high priest Abiathar’s time and ate the special bread that’s not allowed to be eaten, except by the priests, and David also gave it to those with him.

The holy day was made for people, not people for the holy day, so the Son of Man is also the master of the holy day.

Mark Chapter 2 Summary

Jesus shows His miraculous healing and teaching abilities, starting with a disabled person’s healing. The crowd’s large size forced four people to lower the person through a roof to Jesus. Seeing their belief, Jesus forgave the disabled person’s sins and healed him, causing controversy among the law experts who questioned His authority to forgive sins. Jesus then called Levi to follow Him, an invitation which Levi accepted immediately. Jesus later dined with tax collectors and sinners, causing the Pharisees to question His company. But Jesus said His mission is to help sinners, not the good people.

Jesus compared His presence with His disciples to a groom at a wedding, implying that fasting would occur when He was absent. He further illustrated this with the analogy of old and new wineskins. Lastly, when the Pharisees challenged His disciples’ actions on the holy day, Jesus said that He is the master of the holy day, saying the holy day was made for man’s benefit, not the other way around.

Mark Chapter 2 Bible Study Questions and Answers

What can we learn about faith from the friends of the disabled person in this story?
Answer: The friends’ actions show the importance of believing and how far one can go to seek Jesus. They remind us that belief can lead to amazing things and that we should not let obstacles stop us from finding Jesus.
Why did Jesus choose to eat with tax collectors and sinners, and what lesson can we draw from this for our own lives?
Answer: Jesus ate with sinners to show that His mission was to help the spiritually ill, not the good people. This teaches us the importance of understanding and including everyone, reminding us not to judge others but to love and help those in need.
How can Jesus’ response about fasting apply to our spiritual lives today?
Answer: Jesus’ response suggests that practices like fasting should have the right context and intention. This teaches us that our spiritual actions must align with the presence and purpose of Christ in our lives.
What did Jesus mean when He said that new wine should be put into new wineskins?
Answer: This implies that the old religious practices couldn’t contain His new teachings. We can interpret this to mean that we should be open to new teachings and experiences in our spiritual journey.
What does Jesus’ statement about the holy day teach us about our relationship with religious laws?
Answer: Jesus’ statement means that the holy day was made for the benefit of people, not the other way around. This instructs us to understand the point of religious laws, which are designed for our wellbeing, rather than blindly holding to them.

Mark Chapter 2 Explained

Mark Chapter 2 shows Jesus as a revolutionary figure challenging conventional norms and religious authority. The chapter begins with Jesus healing a disabled person, showing His authority over physical illness and sin. This power to forgive sins brings controversy, highlighting the tension between Jesus and the religious leaders of the time.

Jesus’ call to Levi, a tax collector, also sends a powerful message. Tax collectors were generally viewed as bad people during this period. By openly being with them, Jesus challenged societal norms and showed His inclusive love, indicating that everyone, regardless of their past, can be part of His Kingdom.

The dinner with tax collectors and sinners underlines Jesus’ mission to seek out and save the lost. It’s a reminder of His care and compassion, and His belief that everyone, even those considered sinners by society, deserves kindness and mercy.

Jesus’ reply to questions about fasting showed His understanding of spiritual practices as changeable based on contexts, rather than just tasks. His explanation of the new wine and wineskins shows the inability of old religious rules to contain the new spirit of His teachings.

Finally, Jesus’ stance on the holy day was a revolutionary one. Instead of accepting the holy day’s fixed observance, Jesus said that it was made for people’s benefit, prioritising human needs over formal observances. This chapter lays the foundation for Jesus’ teachings that challenge religious traditions and prioritises love, care, and respect.

To read the next chapters, you might like to follow or subscribe to this blog!

Continue exploring Mark 2

If you’d like to read Mark 2 in other translations, here are a few BibleHub links:
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, try Mark 2 in the English Standard Version.
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, try Mark 2 in the New International Version.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, try Mark 2 in the Contemporary English Version.

If you prefer to read the Bible in a hard-copy format, here are cheaper versions from Amazon:
[These are Amazon affiliate links which support the production of this blog]
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, ESV Economy Bible
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, NIV, Economy Bible, Paperback: Accurate. Readable. Clear.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version

If you’d like to explore Mark in more depth, here are two commentaries I would recommend:
[These are Amazon affiliate links which support the production of this blog]
Easy to access commentaries that include life applications:
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark
Mark (The Story of God Bible Commentary)
For a commentary that goes into more depth:
The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)

Matthew Chapter 23 Simplified: Jesus tells off the Pharisees

Published on March 2022July 2023 by DaveLeave a comment

Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples, “The Pharisees and religious teachers sit on Moses’ seat. So, do everything they tell you to do, but don’t do what they actually do. They don’t practice what they preach. They create heavy burdens that are hard to hold and place them on men’s shoulders but aren’t willing to move the burdens themselves with even their fingers. Everything they do is done to be seen by other people. They make their accessories and clothing fancier. They love to sit at the head of the table at banquets and in the front row in the assemblies, love being greeted in the markets, and being called ‘Teacher’. But, don’t call yourselves ‘Teacher’, because you have a teacher. You are all brothers. Don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father’, because you have a father who is in heaven. Also, don’t be called ‘Master’. Christ is your one master. The greatest here will be your servant. So anyone who helps themselves succeed will be made low, and anyone who makes themselves low will succeed.

I’m sorry for you, scholars and Pharisees. You are fakers because you close off the kingdom of heaven from everyone. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let anyone else in.

I’m sorry for you, scholars and Pharisees. You are fakers because you take over widow’s houses and say long prayers just for show. You will receive a harsher punishment because of this.

I’m sorry for you, scholars and Pharisees. You are fakers because you travel everywhere to convert people, and when someone converts, you make them ready for hell even more than yourselves.

I’m sorry for you, you guides to the blind. You say, ‘It means nothing to give promises to the temple, but if you make promises to the temple’s gold, you owe us.’

You blind idiots! What is more important? Gold, or the temple that set apart the gold for God? You say, if someone makes a promise on the altar it means nothing. But if someone makes a promise on the gifts on the altar, they are obligated to follow through with the promise.

You blind men. What is more important? The gift or the altar which sets the gift apart for God. If someone makes a promise by the altar, they are making a promise by the altar and the gifts that are on it. If someone makes a promise by the temple, they are making a promise by the one who lives in it. If someone makes a promise by heaven, they make a promise by God’s throne and the one sitting on it.

I feel sorry for you teachers and Pharisees. You are fakers! You give mint, dill and cumin but have forgotten the more important law matters including justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have done these things, not forgetting to do anything.

You blind guides! You filter out the flies but swallow the camel!

I feel sorry for you, teachers and Pharisees. You are fakers! You clean the outside of the cup and dish but inside they are full of greed and no self-control. You blind Pharisees! Clean the inside of the cup and the dish first so that the outside can be clean as well.

I feel sorry for you, teachers and Pharisees. You are fakers! You are like graves that have been decorated. Outside they look beautiful, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and impurities. In the same way, you look good to people on the outside, but inside you are full of fake and illegal stuff.

I feel sorry for you, teachers and Pharisees. You are fakers! You build graves for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the good people. You also say that if you lived in the previous generation, you wouldn’t have taken part in killing the prophets.

So you admit that you are descendants of the people who killed the prophets. Finish what your ancestors started. You snakes! Sons of vipers! How are you going to escape hell?

This is why I’ve sent prophets and wise men and teachers to you. You will torture and kill some of them. Some of them you will flog in your synagogues and hunt them from town to town until all the good people’s deaths will be your fault, from the death of the good man Abel until the death of Berekiah’s son Zechariah, who you killed between the temple and the altar. I’m honestly telling you, All this will happen to this generation.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem is killing the prophets and stoning the people sent to her. I often gathered your children together, like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not interested! Look, the abandoned house is yours. I’m telling you, you won’t see me from now until you say, ‘We bless the one coming in the Lord’s name.'”

To read the next chapters, you might like to follow or subscribe to this blog!

Continue exploring Matthew 23

If you’d like to read Matthew 23 in other translations, here are a few BibleHub links:
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, try Matthew 23 in the English Standard Version.
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, try Matthew 23 in the New International Version.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, try Matthew 23 in the Contemporary English Version.

If you’d like to explore Matthew in more depth, here are some commentaries I would recommend:
[These are Amazon affiliate links which support the production of this blog]
Easy to access commentaries that include life applications:
The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew
Matthew (The Story of God Bible Commentary)
For a commentary that goes into more depth:
The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)

The Central Focus of Life

Published on September 2019September 2019 by DaveLeave a comment

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

What is life but a series of relationships?

When I was born, my first relationship was with my mother and father, and then my siblings, and then my extended family. After a few years, I started discovering relationships with people that were not blood relatives such as other families at church, classmates in pre-school, teachers at pre-school. And then there were classmates and teachers at school, and teammates at the soccer club, and more people coming and going at camps, birthday parties, hospitals, the shops etc. There were relationships for which I hope would go deeper than a stock-standard ‘relationship’. And there were relationships that turned from sweet to sour, and relationships that turned from sour to sweet. did I also mention the relationship I had with that irate customer who yelled at me when I wasn’t fast enough at the checkout? Or that girl I met at church one week who I thought was attractive and then never saw again? Or the relationship with the driver of the car I rear-ended? I went 20 years without knowing that my wife existed on the face of the earth, but we have a very, very close relationship now.

My life can be sorted, organised and defined by the relationships that I’ve had. But it’s my relationship with God that is an important relationship that I struggle to visibly sort, organise and define. My relationship with God is the reason I make certain choices and why I feel guilty when I make other choices. I know that my relationship with God is the one relationship that is the only enduring one and yet I’m not consistent in letting that reflect out into my life.

I have learned over the years first-hand that possessions and achievements don’t give my life fulfillment, and that had made me realise that fulfillment must come from relationships. Since relationships with other humans can turn sweet and sour, start and end over the years, that means the only truly fulfilling relationship can be with God; a sweet relationship for which there is no end. But having a relationship with God is reflected through my relationship with others here on earth. If the choice is between achieving a thing or achieving a God centered relationship, I need to choose the relationship, as that is a relationship with God. If the choice is between doing something to meet my own needs or the needs of someone else, I need to choose the needs of someone else, as that is a relationship with God.