As Jesus was preaching in Capernaum, four men came carrying a paralytic. But because the place was too full of people, they could not get to Jesus. So they went onto the roof and made an opening above Him and lowered their friend down to Jesus. Verse 5 says that Jesus saw their faith and told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven (though he did not yet heal him).
The teachers of the Law were near and thought that Jesus was blaspheming, that he did not have the authority to forgive sins. (They did not know that he was the Christ). Jesus, who knew what they were thinking said to them, " Why are you thinking these things?" He asked which would be easier: to forgive the man, or to heal him. He reminded them that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."Verse 12 says he got up, took his mat, and went home!

In V13, Jesus goes out to teach by the lake. When a man named Levi (a tax collector) is spotted sitting at his booth, Jesus says "Follow me." Levi got up and followed Jesus. Jesus went to have dinner at Levi's house with many other tax collectors and sinners. When the Pharisees saw this, they wondered why he did this and they asked. When Jesus heard, he told them that He did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners.

Verse 18 says that the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. People came to Jesus and asked him why his disciples were not. He responded saying that they will not fast while he is with them. "But a time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast."

Verse 23 says that on the Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were passing through a grainfield when they began to pick some of the heads of grain. The Pharisees who were nearby pointed out that they were doing something that was unlawful on the Sabbath. But Jesus responded by asking them if they had read the Scriptures what David had done when he and his companions were hungry. He reminded them that even David had entered the House of God and ate of the consecrated bread. In Verse 27, Jesus says, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."


1. Jesus proves his authority to the Pharisees by works in the presence of many witnesses
2. Jesus says he has come for the sinners
3. Jesus shows that it is about more than just ritual, but about the meaning behind things (fasting)
4. Jesus references Scripture to show that the Sabbath is not about laws, but about people.

Mark 2:1