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2
A paralytic—the evaluation
1 Well a few days later, He again entered Capernaum, and it was heard that He was at home. 2 Without delay so many were gathered together that there was no more room, not even around the door, and He was speaking the Word to them. 3 Then four men came, carrying a paralytic to Him. 4 And not being able to get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where He was;*The roof was presumably flat, with an outside staircase leading up to it. I suppose damaging someone else's roof could be considered a crime, but they were determined. If Jesus was in His own house, there would be no problem. upon breaking through they lowered the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 So seeing their faith Jesus says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: 7 “Why does this guy speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning within themselves†Time and again the Inspired Record will point out that Jesus could read people's thoughts. and said to them: “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier:‡I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn't, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes' inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God! to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins have been forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and start walking!’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of the Man§That is what the Text says, “the Son of the Man”, which appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself. The phrase does not make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man. has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—He says to the paralytic: 11 “To you I say, get up, pick up your pallet and go to your house!” 12 So forthwith he got up, picked up his pallet and went out in front of them all; so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”*Quite right; they never had!
Matthew called
13 Then He went out again by the sea; and the whole crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them. 14 As He passed by,†Presumably this happened as He headed out toward the sea. He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow me!” So he got up and followed Him.
15 Now it happened, as He was reclining at the table in his house,‡Matthew's—he evidently put on a big dinner and invited all his associates. that many tax collectors and sinners§‘Tax collectors and sinners’ seems to have been almost a frozen idiom. A Jew who collected taxes for Rome was viewed as a traitor and held in very low esteem. joined Jesus and His disciples at the table; for there were many and they followed Him. 16 The scribes and the Pharisees, seeing Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to His disciples, “Why is it that He is eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 Upon hearing it Jesus said to them: “It is not the healthy who have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”*Perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘to repentance’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.
Fasting
18 Now John's disciples and those of the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John's disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” 19 So Jesus said to them: “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom to themselves they cannot fast. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast, in those days.†Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘day’ instead of ‘days’ (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.), but presumably the fasting would take place on more than one day.
Cloth and wineskins
21 “Further, no one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new tears away some of the old, and a worse hole results. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine spills out and the skins will be ruined; rather, new wine must be put into new wineskins.”‡There is no way of renewing an old wineskin. Whenever a church becomes an ‘old wineskin’, any introduction of new wine will always cause a split. Anyone who wants to obey the Holy Spirit will probably not be welcome in such a church. To be with Jesus it is often necessary to go ‘outside the camp’ (Hebrews 13:13).
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath§Between verses 22 and 23 all of John chapter 5 takes place—that chapter revolves around the second Passover of His public ministry, in 28 ad A year and a half have passed since His baptism.
23 Now it happened, on a Sabbath, that He was passing through some grain fields, and His disciples began to make a path, picking the heads of grain. 24 So the Pharisees said to Him, “Just look, why are they doing on a Sabbath that which is not permitted?” 25 And He said to them: “Did you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him? 26 How he entered the house of God (making Abiathar high priest)*My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high priest’. As a direct result of David's visit, Abiathar became high priest. For a complete discussion please see the Appendix: Abiathar is not Ahimelech. and ate the consecrated bread, which only priests are permitted to eat, and shared it with those who were with him?” 27 Then He said to them: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.†This is a crucial point. The Pharisees, etc., had turned the Sabbath into an instrument of domination that they used to impose their authority on the people. 28 Therefore the Son of the Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”‡The Lord of the Sabbath can change the rules, or even retire it! Jesus' claim was totally unacceptable to the Pharisees; He was depriving them of their favorite instrument.

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*2:4 The roof was presumably flat, with an outside staircase leading up to it. I suppose damaging someone else's roof could be considered a crime, but they were determined. If Jesus was in His own house, there would be no problem.

†2:8 Time and again the Inspired Record will point out that Jesus could read people's thoughts.

‡2:9 I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn't, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes' inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God!

§2:10 That is what the Text says, “the Son of the Man”, which appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself. The phrase does not make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man.

*2:12 Quite right; they never had!

†2:14 Presumably this happened as He headed out toward the sea.

‡2:15 Matthew's—he evidently put on a big dinner and invited all his associates.

§2:15 ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ seems to have been almost a frozen idiom. A Jew who collected taxes for Rome was viewed as a traitor and held in very low esteem.

*2:17 Perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘to repentance’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.

†2:20 Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘day’ instead of ‘days’ (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.), but presumably the fasting would take place on more than one day.

‡2:22 There is no way of renewing an old wineskin. Whenever a church becomes an ‘old wineskin’, any introduction of new wine will always cause a split. Anyone who wants to obey the Holy Spirit will probably not be welcome in such a church. To be with Jesus it is often necessary to go ‘outside the camp’ (Hebrews 13:13).

§2:22 Between verses 22 and 23 all of John chapter 5 takes place—that chapter revolves around the second Passover of His public ministry, in 28 ad A year and a half have passed since His baptism.

*2:26 My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high priest’. As a direct result of David's visit, Abiathar became high priest. For a complete discussion please see the Appendix: Abiathar is not Ahimelech.

†2:27 This is a crucial point. The Pharisees, etc., had turned the Sabbath into an instrument of domination that they used to impose their authority on the people.

‡2:28 The Lord of the Sabbath can change the rules, or even retire it! Jesus' claim was totally unacceptable to the Pharisees; He was depriving them of their favorite instrument.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD