Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

2 A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. ² Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even ·outside [near; in front of] the door. And Jesus was ·teaching them God’s message [^Lspeaking the word to them]. ³ Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. ⁴ Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. [^CPalestinian roofs were generally flat and made of thatch and dried mud.] When they got through, they lowered the ·mat [cot] with the paralyzed man on it. ⁵ When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “·Young man [Child; Son], your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Some of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this man ·say things like that [speak this way]? He is ·speaking as if he were God [^Lblaspheming]. ·Only God can forgive sins.” [^L“Who can forgive sins but God alone?”; cf. Is. 43:25].

⁸ Jesus knew immediately [in his spirit] what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things [^Lin your hearts]? ⁹ Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your ·mat [cot] and walk’? ¹⁰ But ·I will prove to you [^Lso that you may know] that the Son of Man [^Ca title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I tell you, stand up, take your ·mat [cot], and go home.” ¹² Immediately the paralyzed man stood up, took his ·mat [cot], and walked out while everyone was watching him.

The people were [all] amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi to Follow Him^(B)

¹³ Jesus went to the lake again. The whole crowd ·followed him [came to him] there, and he taught them. ¹⁴ While he was walking along, he saw a man named Levi son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax collector’s booth [^Cprobably a tariff booth for taxing goods in transit]. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁵ Later, as Jesus was ·having dinner [^Lreclining; ^Caround a low table, the posture for a formal banquet or dinner party] at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating there with Jesus and his followers. Many people like this followed Jesus. ¹⁶ When the ·teachers of the law [scribes] who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they asked his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [^CTax collectors were despised because they worked for the Roman rulers and were notorious for corruption and extortion.]

¹⁷ Jesus heard this and said to them, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to ·invite [call] ·good people [the righteous; ^Cmeaning the “self-righteous” who feel no need to repent] but to ·invite [call] sinners [^Cthose who recognize their need to repent].”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(C)

¹⁸ Now the ·followers [disciples] of John [^Cthe Baptist; 1:4–8] and the Pharisees often fasted [^Cgiving up eating for spiritual purposes]. ·Some people [^LThey] came to Jesus and said, “Why do John’s ·followers [disciples] and the ·followers [disciples] of the Pharisees often fast, but your ·followers [disciples] don’t?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “The ·friends of the bridegroom [or wedding guests; ^Lchildren of the wedding hall] do not fast while the bridegroom is still with them [^CJesus is referring to himself; John 3:29; Rev. 19:7]. As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ·time [^Ldays] will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and ·then [in that day] they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old ·coat [garment]. Otherwise, the patch will shrink and pull away—the new patch will pull away from the old ·coat [garment]. Then the ·hole [tear] will be worse. ²² Also, no one ever pours new wine into old ·leather bags [wineskins]. Otherwise, the new wine will break the ·bags [skins; ^Cas the wine ferments and expands], and the wine will be ·ruined [lost] along with the ·bags [skins]. But new wine should be put into new ·leather bags [wineskins].”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(D)

²³ One Sabbath day, as Jesus was walking through some fields of grain, his ·followers [disciples] began to [make a path and] pick some grain to eat [Deut. 23:25]. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath day?” [^CGleaning was viewed as work, and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath; Ex. 34:21.]

²⁵ Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and ·those with him [his companions] were hungry and needed food [1 Sam. 21:1–6]? ²⁶ ·During the time of Abiathar [or, In the account about Abiathar] the high priest, David went into God’s house and ate the ·holy bread [consecrated bread; ^Lbread of presentation], which is lawful only for priests to eat [Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:5–9]. And David also gave some of the bread to those who were with him.”

²⁷ Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath day was made ·to help people [^Tfor man]; ·they were not made to be ruled by [^Tnot man for] the Sabbath day. ²⁸ So then, the Son of Man is ·Lord [Master] even of the Sabbath day.”