4: Preaching, healing, and calling Levi – Mark 1:35-2:17

1 ³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷ When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸ He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. 

⁴⁰ A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³ After sternly warning him he sent him away at once,
⁴⁴ saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
⁴⁵ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

2When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³ Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
⁴ And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?
⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” ¹² And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³ Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 

¹⁵ And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What does Jesus do first thing in the morning? How do the disciples respond? What does Jesus tell them in return?

2. Who approaches Jesus for healing? What is significant about Jesus’ response to this man, [see notes]? What does Jesus tell the man to do after he is healed? How does the man respond to this?

3. Who is the next person to be healed? How does this person get into Jesus’ presence? How did Jesus respond to the man’s “entrance?” How would you have reacted if you had been there?

4. What does Jesus say to the man? How did some of the people react? Why is this such a big deal? How does Jesus respond to the teachers? What does he say to the paralyzed man? 

5. How does the crowd react to all of this? How might you have reacted if you had been in the house? If you were the one who was healed?

6. Where does Jesus go next? Who does he meet? How does the man respond to Jesus’ command? Who has a problem at the party? How does Jesus deal with it? What detail does Matthew include?

Get Personal

How do the three Gospels describe the relationship among sin, disease and demons? How does Jesus deal with these problems? How has God helped you understand health and wholeness in your life? In others’ lives?

(cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)
1:35. Luke says the crowds searched for Jesus, not the disciples; and when they found him they did not want him to leave them. Luke reports Jesus responding “I was sent for this purpose,” (not “what I came to do”), and that he preached in the synagogues of Judea, [4:42-44].
Matthew does not include this incident.
1:40. Leprosy — the term covered a wide variety of skin conditions. Jewish law of the time required people with “leprosy” to avoid other people and forced them to live in very poor conditions on the edge of the community.
What Moses commanded — Mosaic Law required a person whose leprosy was cured to make specific sacrifices of thanksgiving [Lev 13-14].
Luke includes the incident of the man with leprosy with a few differences, [5:12-16]. Luke calls it an “advanced case,” and Luke does not report the man telling what happened, only that the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. Luke also says Jesus would withdraw to deserted places and pray. Matthew also includes this incident, but omits the details about news of Jesus power spreading and many people coming to him for healing, [8:1-4]. 
2:1. Luke’s version of this incident

is almost identical to Mark’s [5:17-26]. Luke refers to Pharisees as well as teachers and notes: they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. Luke also says the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Jesus’ declaration of the power to forgive sin is the same in both. Luke closes with the crowd saying “We have seen strange things today.”
Matthew’s version is much briefer – but it does include the key exchange about forgiving sins, [9:1-8]. Matthew has the paralyzed man simply brought to Jesus, not lowered through the roof. Matthew reports Jesus calling the teachers’ remarks evil in your hearts, and he says, when the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
2:13-17. Luke includes the calling of Levi very close to Mark’s narrative. Luke includes that Levi left everything and followed Jesus. Jesus’ response to the Pharisees is identical in Luke [5:27-32].
Matthew’s version of this incident (some believe this is his own calling) also closely follows Mark’s, but uses only his name. Matthew adds Jesus’ admonition to the Pharisees: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ [9:9-13; the Scripture Jesus quotes is Hosea 6:6].