What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Unpacking Mark 2: When Faith Meets Forgiveness
Have you ever sought one kind of healing only to discover you needed something entirely different? That's exactly what happened to the paralyzed man in Mark 2, whose friends tore through a roof to get him to Jesus.
Dive deep with me as we unpack this fascinating chapter where Jesus demonstrates his authority in unexpected ways. The paralytic came seeking physical restoration but received something far greater first: "Son, your sins are forgiven." This pronouncement shocked the religious leaders present—after all, who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus then proves his divine authority by commanding the man to pick up his mat and walk, demonstrating that spiritual healing and physical healing both fall under his jurisdiction.
The chapter continues with Jesus calling Levi (Matthew) from his tax booth—a man despised by society for collaborating with Roman authorities. Not only does Jesus call this outcast to follow him, but he goes to dinner at Levi's house where many "tax collectors and sinners" gather. When criticized for these associations, Jesus delivers one of his most profound statements: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
This passage challenges us to examine our own hearts. Are we like the paralytic, coming to Jesus with one need while he addresses something deeper? Are we like the religious leaders, quick to judge others rather than understanding Jesus' mission of mercy? Or are we like Levi, willing to leave everything behind when Jesus calls?
What strikes me most is how Jesus prioritizes spiritual healing while still addressing physical needs. He demonstrates that true wholeness begins with forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Subscribe now and join our ongoing journey through Mark's Gospel as we discover how Jesus continues to challenge our assumptions and transform our understanding of what it means to follow him.
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? Alright, in today's Bible study we are going to be reading Mark, the second chapter. Now I noticed in the last podcast I was talking about Mark in the New Testament and I really cut out a lot of things that I didn't mean to cut out and I don't know why. So I mentioned that Mark.
Speaker 1:The first time Mark was mentioned his name was mentioned was in Acts 8, where Peter was arrested. But I meant to talk about Mark going with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey and then Mark leaves them and goes back to Jerusalem. It doesn't say why, but this caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas later on and they ended up separating because of it. Now I know that Paul calls Mark again later on, like in 2 Timothy. He tells Timothy to bring Mark because he was useful for his ministry. So I know that whatever happened, it was dealt with and they all made amends. But we see Mark again throughout Scripture. Even Peter talks about him in 1 Peter 5 when he's signing off his letter and he says and Mark sends his greetings and he calls him affectionately his son. So it just wasn't that first time in Acts that Mark was mentioned. He was actually mentioned throughout the New Testament and I don't know why I left that out, but I wanted to rectify it today. All right, so let's begin in Mark 2.
Speaker 1:And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door, and he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes who were sitting there. 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, but that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose. And immediately he picked up his bed and it went out before them all so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying we have never seen anything like this. All right, let's stop here at verse 12.
Speaker 1:This is the one of the first things that really struck me about salvation by faith, because, if you really think about the story, these men knew Jesus had what they needed that this man could be healed, and they were willing to do whatever it took, even going on someone's roof, removing the roof tiles and letting this man down to Jesus. Jesus, seeing this faith, when he saw it, he says to the paralytic your sins are forgiven. Now think about this for a second. This man wasn't going there to be forgiven. He was going there to be healed, be forgiven, he was going there to be healed. So Jesus and his infinite mercy dealt with the most important problem, that's sin, the separation between us and God. And it's just a beautiful story. For me, it's something that really it always stood out after I noticed this, that this man went for one thing he went to be healed of his brokenness, but the brokenness was far deeper than what he ever imagined it. And Jesus, in his mercy, saw their faith and because of their faith he healed him. Now I know a lot of people say it's important who your friends are, because it says that Jesus saw their faith, not just a man's faith, and I get that. I see it. But I know that salvation is a personal interaction between you and Jesus. Now, each of these men who brought this paralytic man all had faith, and I can only imagine if Jesus was, if he was merciful enough to forgive this man of his sins, then he was also merciful enough, because of their faith, to forgive their sins. Though it doesn't say it, I can only imagine this to be true. If it was true about one, it must have been true about them all, and I love that.
Speaker 1:Jesus is so matter-of-fact when he deals with people who go the wrong direction. So the scribes, obviously they're all about the law and they're all about what they believe in their mind, the perspective of what the Word says. And when Jesus puts himself in God's spot, which is where he belongs because he's God, they get upset and they said how can this man say these things? Because he's putting himself in the place of God by forgiving sins. And then Jesus questions him and says which is easier? Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven, or rise, pick up your bed and go home. So this man is paralyzed, can't move. That's why they brought him to him, to show them that he had the authority to both forgive sins and to heal the sick. He does it right in front of them. Now we go on and we know that these men were offended by what Jesus did, and it blows my mind that we can see someone have the authority to heal someone who's paralyzed and then not get the whole fact that this, this very thing that Jesus is able to do, testifies about who he is.
Speaker 1:Jesus says somewhere in scripture if you don't believe me, at least to believe the works that I am doing, believe on account of the works. To believe the works that I am doing, believe on account of the works. And it goes to say that this is what he's talking about. If you don't believe that I have the power and the authority to forgive sins, at least believe because of the works. Who can say to a man rise, who's paralyzed. Rise, pick up your bed and go home? Who can say that, with the authority to make it happen, if not God? And if God is among you speaking these things? Why don't you believe? All right, I wanted to point that out, and that was just a beautiful story, so let's continue at verse 13.
Speaker 1:He went out again beside the sea and all the crowds were coming to him and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth and he said to him Follow me. And he rose. And he followed him and as he reclined at the table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. But there were many who followed him and the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said to them those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick came not to call the righteous but sinners. All right, let's stop here at verse 17.
Speaker 1:Now we know that Mark calls Matthew Levi here. In this passage. We know Jesus only called one tax collector to be one of the disciples and that was Matthew, but Mark calls him Levi, son of Alphaeus. Now I dug into this, trying to figure out why this was, and I couldn't get any definite answers. There's no solid proof one way or another. Some people believe that Jesus changed Levi's name from Levi to Matthew, from Levi to Matthew. Others believe that Levi was his Hebrew name and Matthew was his Greek name, kind of like Mark and John. But there's no clear proof one way or another. So there's nothing said in scripture that says Jesus changed Levi's name to Matthew. I know that Matthew went by Matthew, even though they called him Levi. That being said, we see that Jesus goes to Matthew's house for dinner and, as he's reclining at the table, more sinners and more tax collectors are there at Matthew's house and they're sitting with Jesus and Jesus is talking to them.
Speaker 1:Now, when the Pharisees and the scribes they see this, they questioned the disciples why would your master and your teacher hang out with sinners and tax collectors? Now, tax collectors were almost considered worse than sinners because they were traitors to their people. They worked for the Romans, collecting tax from the people, and a lot of tax collectors were. They were a little greedy. They took more than their share. Well, that was lawful to add to their own pocket, and so they were considered worse than sinners and they were wanting to know why Jesus would be. What fellowship would Jesus have with these men? What could they be possibly talking about? When you hang out with the world, the world's going to talk about what the world talks about. When you hang out with Christians, you're going to talk about heavenly things and the world's going to talk about worldly things.
Speaker 1:In their mind, they couldn't understand what fellowship Jesus was having with these men, because if he's a teacher of teachers, should he not be offended by the world? But they didn't understand who Jesus was. Jesus was God who came down to save the world. And Jesus corrects them by saying it's not the righteous who have come to call. I've come to call the sinners. I've come to heal the sick. He's the great physician and that's why he gives this verse in the Bible. It says I seek mercy, not sacrifice. Then he tells them go find out what this means. Jesus came to save the lost mercy. They're more worried about what things look like. They're more worried about sacrificing certain things to get to a certain place, to look like they're holy. Jesus is more worried about the heart and what's important. And these men didn't get it. I can understand their concept because we also do it a lot of times ourselves, and I always get frustrated with people when they try to use this verse to justify bad habits. When they want to hang out with the world, when they want to fellowship with the world, they use this verse to justify their actions. They say well, jesus hung out with sinners and tax collectors. If Jesus can do it, why can't all of us do it?
Speaker 1:Purpose Jesus' purpose was to save the lost. What's your purpose? Why are you doing it? Is it to save the lost? Do you believe that you have the ability, the authority from God to save the lost? Is your heart truly there to preach the gospel? Is that what your purpose is? Because if it is, that's between you and God. But if it's not, then you got to question yourself why you're there. You can't seek after God and holiness and separate yourself from the world and yet chase the world. These two things don't align and I get that. But that's not what Jesus was doing.
Speaker 1:Jesus had the heart to save the lost. He went there to proclaim the good news to those who needed it. If that's your purpose, if that's what God's called you to do, that's different. You're doing the Lord's work, but if you're there simply because you enjoy being there. It shows your love for the world and that you haven't truly given up the world to chase after God. All right, there's a lot left in this chapter. I'm going to end this one here. All right, so we'll pick up at verse 18 in our next Bible study. Until then, I love you guys. God bless you, goodbye.