4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

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4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy 5 lay. And Jesus 2 seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven. 6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting

7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

8 And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

9. Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say,' Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. 15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also

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7 there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak? 1he blasphemeth: 2 who can forgive sins but one, even God? And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your 9 hearts? Whether is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, 10 and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of 11 the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy 12 bed, and go unto thy house. And he arose, and straightway took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

was essentially true. Only God, or one speaking by divine authority, could forgive sins. 6. The scribes were originally copyists of the Scriptures (their copies of the Hebrew being made with minute accuracy and scrupulous care), and had by degrees come to be consulted as to the meaning of the Scriptures. They were commonly Pharisees (see ver. 16). 7. He blasphemeth is the correct Greek text in Mark-no difference in substantial meaning.

8-12. Jesus knows their thoughts (ver. 8). See other interesting examples of this in Luke 6:8;9:47; Matt. 12: 25, and compare John 2: 25. 8. Perceiving in his spirit, as opposed to perceiving through the senses. We cannot tell whether he stated what they were thinking or simply alluded to it by these things. To forgive sins or to heal diseases miraculously would in either case be a supernatural work, and he who can do the latter must be believed when he claims authority to do the former (ver. 9, 10). 12. The paralytic was not only healed but made strong in a moment, so that he straightway took up the pallet (comp. 1: 31). Effect of this upon the multitude. On this fashion, literally, "thus." He had not only wrought a great miracle but had thereby proved that he had authority to forgive sins.

II. MISSION TO SAVE SINNERS, 13-17. We have here a separate event, but in its significance closely related to the foregoing-authority to forgive sins, mission to save sinners. This latter he shows by calling a man of disreputable employment to be one of his followers and by encouraging very great sinners to come and listen to him.

13. Leaving the house in Capernaum, he went again along the shore of the lake of Galilee (1:16). Matt. 9: 9 shows that this was just after the healing of the paralytic. All the multitude may be the throng which had filled the house (ver. 2), or, more generally, the throng of Capernaum people. Taught, probably as in 1: 15, perhaps also as in 2: 10.

14. Calling a tax collector to follow him. Tax collectors are often unpopular, but in Palestine were particularly so, as representing the hated heathen rulers and because they often "exacted wrongfully" (Luke 19: 8). By comparing Matt. 9: 9 we see that Levi is but another name (the Jews frequently changed their names or added another, John 1: 42; Acts 13: 9) for Matthew, who became one of the Twelve and wrote the first Gospel. Luke (5:27) calls him a "publican," as he himself does in Matt. 10: 3. The toll was doubtless on the trade of the city of Capernaum-one of the many ways in which oppressive taxes were imposed. Levi (Matthew) at once left his lucrative calling, as the four mentioned in 1: 16-20 had left their employment, and followed the religious teacher (ver. 15). In many cases such following was but temporary, and so apparently in ver. 16, but the result shows that Matthew became a permanent follower, as the four others did.

together with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him."

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

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"sit down" said with reference to taking food it means recline. The persons invited by Matthew or the persons choosing to accept his invitation were chiefly publicans and sinners. The publicans disregarded public opinion by holding a disreputable office, and, as they associated much with the heathen, generally neglected the strict observance of the law, and so the Jews habitually classed them with 'sinners," flagrantly wicked people. Hence the frequent occurrence in the Gospels of the phrase, "publicans and sinners." 16. Eating with such persons involved special danger of ceremonial defilement, and the Pharisees shrank from it with sensitive scrupulosity and often complained of Jesus on this account (see especially Luke 15:1; Matt. 11: 19), as they did here. The scribes of the Pharisees, as some scribes were not Pharisees. They show the same spirit as in ver. 6.

17. Jesus vindicates his course. The illustration is easily understood and very beautiful. Whole is literally "strong," that is, healthy. The righteous is, literally, “righteous (persons)," without an article, thus not implying that there was an actual class of persons really righteous, not saying whether there were such persons or not. Luke 5: 32 adds "unto repentance." Some students early wrote that on the margin of their copies of Matthew and Mark and subsequent copyists thought it a part of the text. There are very many such cases, in which one Gospel has been enlarged from the parallel accounts in another, but they are of little substantial importance, since it is enough if the phrase is given in any one of the Gospels. This is one of our Lord's great sayings, strange to the Pharisees, precious to the penitent and believing.

III. COMPLAINT THAT THE DISCIPLES DO NOT FAST, 18-22. The persons complaining are here both John's disciples and the Pharisees, as appears from comparing Matt. 9:14 and Luke 5:33. John was in prison (1:14), but some disciples of his were probably expecting him to reappear, and at any rate were holding aloof from Jesus, perhaps jealous of him, as having eclipsed their teacher (John 3:26). Thirty years after this there will still be persons "knowing only the baptism of John" (Acts 18: 25; 19: 3). John's disciples appear as maintaining the practice of fasting, which was common among the strict Jews. 18. Were fasting. This may have been one of the semi-weekly fast days kept by the Pharisees (Luke 18: 12), but that cannot be known and does not matter. They all thought it strange that any deeply devout men should fail to join them in fasting.

Our Lord's reply (ver. 19, 20) states the great principle that fasting is right when it is natural and wrong when it is unnatural. He illustrates, as he so often did. 19. The waiters at a wedding, sons of the bride-chamber, cannot fast-it is unnatural and practically impossible-during the time of festivity. When the bridegroom is taken away then sorrow will make it natural to fast. When profound grief inclines to abstinence such abstinence may deepen the grief, but abstinence where grief cannot naturally exist is unsuitable. Our Lord thus intimates that his disciples will in the future practise fasting and shows the principle which is to regulate it.

By a natural association of ideas he goes on to teach by two other illustrations (ver. 21, 22) the general principle that in religion we must not unite things that are by their nature incongruous,

21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment; else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.

22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of

corn.

24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was a hungered, he, and they that were with him?

26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, d which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

21 day. No man seweth a piece of undressed cloth on an old garment: else that which should fill it up taketh from it, the new from the old, and 22 a worse rent is made. And no man putteth new wine into old 1 wine-skins: else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine perisheth, and the skins: but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.

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2 And it came to pass, that he was going on the sabbath day through the cornfields; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears 24 of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day 5 that 25 which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Did ye never read 7 what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they 26 that were with him? How he entered into the house of God when 8 Abiathar was high priest, and did eat the shew bread, which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests, and gave also to

ment be patched with a piece of undressed cloth-all-wool cloth (like flannel), unfulled and so not shrunken-then the first time it becomes wet and dries again it will greatly shrink, bursting the old cloth all around it, and so a worse rent is made. 22. If new wine is put into fresh wine-skins they will stretch when the wine ferments, but an old wine-skin, hardened and incapable of stretching, must burst. So in religion, do not mix incongruous things. Our Lord seems clearly to design two applications of this principle: 1. It is unsuitable to propose fasting in a time of joy. 2. It is improper to combine his teaching with that of the rabbis. Their teaching tended to sadness, imposing intolerable burdens (Acts 15: 10), while that of Jesus offered "rest" and joy (Matt. 11: 29, 30). 3. Does he not also mean to intimate that there is an essential difference between the olá dispensation and that new one which he is introducing and that they must not be mixed? The expressions in these two illustrations vary somewhat in Matthew and Luke, and there is also variation in the Greek text and translation of Mark, but nothing that affects the substantial meaning.

not fenced, and the grain grew right beside the road or path. It has always been common in the East for a passer-by to supply his immediate wants from fruit trees (11: 13) or standing grain and the law of Moses expressly allowed this (see Deut. 23: 24, 25). What the Pharisees complained of was that in plucking the ears of wheat or barley and rubbing out the grains (Luke 6: 6: 1) they were doing work on the Sabbath (Exod. 20: 10). The rabbis had immense discussions of just such points, making many absurdly strict rules as to the observance of the Sabbath. See curious examples in Geikie's "Life of Christ," Chap. XXXVIII.

Our Lord's defense of his disciples is by two arguments: 1. That it was lawful to satisfy pressing hunger on the Sabbath, as David did (1 Sam. 21:1-6). This is the principle of necessity. 26. When Abiathar was high priest, and yet 1 Sam. 21: 1, 8 makes Ahimelech the high priest, whose son Abiathar afterward succeeded him. Abiathar became a famous man and may perhaps on that account be taken as representing the period. Others have supposed that Abiathar was traditionally represented as assisting his father on that occasion; others that the father also was named Abiathar (2 Sam. 8 : 17). These explanations are possible but not very satisfactory. In many similar cases what was long regarded by opposers as an error in the Bible narrative has been fully explained by modern exploration or research, and here also it is easy to suppose that some circumstance to us unknown would clear up the whole matter. Even in uninspired ancient writers it is unwise to insist that there must have been an error where our information is very scanty, and it is still more unwise in dealing with inspired

writers. If a preacher or teacher cannot explain in such a case, let him say quietly that he cannot and go on to something he can explain. 2. The other argument is in ver. 27, a great saying of our Lord which Mark only records. The Sabbath was designed as a means of benefit to mankind and not an iron machine to crush them, as it was practically regarded by many Jews. The obligation to observe it is not absolute and unchangeable, but may be altered or suspended by proper authority. 28. So that, etc. Here again our Lord asserts his authority. He taught with authority (1: 22), had authority over the unclean spirits (1:27), proved his authority to forgive sins (2: 10), and is lord even of the Sabbath. Two other arguments in defense of what the Jews called breaking the Sabbath are recorded by Matthew (12: 5-7). Another follows and still another is given in John 5: 18, which probably belongs chronologically (see Harmonies) about the same time as those in Mark and Matthew. When Jesus first healed on the Sabbath (1:21) there was no complaint.

SIDE-LIGHTS.

The house. The lowering of the paralytic into Jesus' presence through the roof becomes natural and simple of explanation when the character and construction of the Palestinian houses are kept in mind. Doctor Thomson, who examined the modern Arab houses to see if he could get light on the act described in the lesson, says in "Land and Book":

"We must banish from our minds every form of European or American houses. Those of Capernaum, as is evident from the ruins, were, like those of modern villages in this same region, low, very low, with flat roofs, reached by a stairway from the yard or court. Those who carried the paralytic . ascended to the roof, removed so much of it as was necessary, and let down their patient through the aperture. Examine one of these houses and you see at once that the thing is natural and easy to be accomplished. The roof is only a few feet high, and by stooping down and holding the corners of the couch-merely a thickly-padded quilt, as

at present in this region-they could let down the sick man without any apparatus of ropes or cords to assist them. And thus, I suppose, they did. The whole affair was the extemporaneous device of plain peasants, accustomed to open their roofs and let down grain, straw, and other articles, as they still do in this country.

"I have often seen it done and have done it myself to houses in Lebanon, but there is always more dust than is agreeable. The materials now employed are beams about three feet apart, across which short sticks are arranged close together and covered with the thickly matted thorn bush called bellan. Over this is spread a coat of stiff mortar and then comes the marl or earth which makes the roof. Now it is easy to remove any part of this without injuring the rest... I have the impression, however, that the covering (in the instance of the lesson) was not made of earth, but of materials more easily taken up. It may have been merely of coarse matting or it may have been made of boards or even of stone slabs (and such I have seen) that could be quickly removed. The latter would explain Luke's phrase, 'through the tiling,' or tiles. All that is necessary, however, for us to know is that the roof was flat, low, easily reached, and easily opened, so as to let down the couch of the sick man, and all these points are rendered intelligible by an acquaintance with modern houses in the villages of Palestine."