Mark 2:17 - I have come to call sinners

2:17

The Pharisees and other religious types had no idea of what God’s purposes were. We all need to be on our guard that we do not fall into the same trap as the Pharisees. Jesus then explained to them why He had come. It is the ill who need a doctor, in the same way it is sinners who need a saviour. Jesus came as that saviour, to save us from our sins. The righteous have no need of a saviour. Schnabel seems to say that Jesus is saying that He came first to save sinners, and the Pharisees were a lower priority and less need. If my understanding of what he is saying (p71) is correct then I think he is totally wrong. We are all sinners, and various things that Jesus says about the Pharisees show clearly that they were not the least bit righteous in God’s eyes. We need to recognise our sinfulness, our need of a saviour. We also need to recognise that Jesus is interested in saving many more sinners, ever, especially, those we might regard as beyond the pale. It is a very human reaction, one that we are all prone to, to regard some people as far worse than ourselves.

2 Samuel 11:1,2 - But David remained in Jerusalem

11:1

We now come to the most infamous of David’s sins and the start of his downfall. Joab was out with the army, but David remained in Jerusalem. There is a common opinion that David should have been out with the army instead of remaining in Jerusalem, and it was his staying in Jerusalem which gave him the opportunity to sin, “the devil finds work for idle hands” scenario. The commentary casts doubt on this assessment, saying that the army was involved in a long siege, and David staying at home was not necessarily a sin. However, the text does draw attention to the fact that it was “the time when kings go off to war”, so it would seem to imply that David should have been with the army.

11:2

One evening David was walking around the roof of the palace. This would have been a flat roof! The palace would have been higher than the other buildings, so it gave him a good view of the surrounding area. Included in this view was Bathsheba, who is described as being very beautiful. A few years ago I heard someone on Premier’s Unbelievable arguing that the Bible portrays Bathsheba as being guilty, or culpable, tempting David. I have to say that in all my years of reading the Bible (45 years) I had never even thought of such a view. Having heard the suggestion I still can see no evidence for it at all. The Bible quite clearly presents David as being guilty, and seriously so.

Mark 2:15,16 - Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?

2:15

Later Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house. And a collection of other tax collectors and sinners were there eating with Him. Many of these had followed Jesus. This could be following in the sense of just following to see what was going on, or it could be a sign of a deeper commitment. ESV has “He reclined at table”, rather than the NIV’s “Jesus was having dinner”, “reclined at table” implies that Jesus was a welcome guest and friendship.

2:16

“The teachers of the law who were Pharisees wondered why Jesus ate “with tax collectors and sinners”. There were two reasons (at least) for their concern. One was that by eating with this lot Jesus could well make Himself “unclean”, for there was no guarantee that they had kept to the Pharisees’ food and washing rules. Another possible reason is their having a very low view of “tax collectors and sinners”, and the very fact of mixing with these people was not something that should be done.

2 Samuel 10:13-19 - The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites

10:13-16

The battle went very well for Israel, with both the Arameans and the Ammonites fleeing at the sight of the Israeli armies. Joab did not destroy the enemy, but returned to Jerusalem. In the meantime, the Arameans regrouped ready to do battle again. They also called up more troops.

10:17-19

David heard of all this and this time he gathered all the troops together and led them into battle. The Arameans again formed their battle lines ready to fight David, and again they fled before Israel. David inflicted heavy losses upon them, including the commander of the army. Now seeing that they could not defeat Israel, the Arameans made peace with Israel and became subject to them. The Arameans were now afraid to help the Ammonites.

Mark 2:13,14 - Follow me

2:13

The next incident brings another controversy. Again Mark gives prominence to the fact that Jesus was teaching. When saw people He began to teach them. We are all blinded by lies to some extent or other, and part of the task of the church is to teach the truth. It is definitely not to affirm people in the lies that society has taught them.

2:14

However, the focus of this incident is Jesus reaching all people. Jesus sees “Levi son of Alphaeus”, also called Matthew (Mark 3:18; Matt 9:9). The Romans had a variety of taxes, and tax collectors were not popular, some things never change. Tax collectors were also known to skim off a proportion for themselves. However, Jesus called Levi to follow Him.

2 Samuel 10:7-12 - David sent Joab out

10:7,8

In response to the insult David sends Joab out with the entire army. David is getting older now, and though up to this point he was known as a warrior, he is now much less so, and in the next chapter this may be part of the reason for his downfall. So the Ammonites and their allies/hired mercenaries line up for battle.

10:9-12

Joab was a complex man and prone to be impetuous, but here we see him in a good light. He arranged his men in an orderly fashion. His best troops would be deployed against the Arameans. The rest were deployed against the Ammonites under the command of his brother Abishai. The two groups were to go and help each other if it proved necessary. Joab encourages his soldiers to be “strong in the Lord, and to fight for Israel and their families. He also knew that the outcome was ultimately in the hands of the Lord.

Mark 2:9-12 - Get up!

2:9

Now at this point was it reasonable for the teachers of the Law to deduce that Jesus was God? Maybe not, but Jesus now does something that should at least cause them to think, rather than react. He presents them with the question “Which is easier to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Get up, take up your man and walk’?”. The first one is easier to say, for there is no immediate visible sign of someone’s sins having been forgiven, the second is quickly proven to be true or false.

2:10-12

Jesus then commands the man to get up, take his mat and go home, which of course the man does. Jesus has shown that He was not mouthing empty words. He also refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” for the first time in Mark. The term “son of man” can be taken in two ways. Ezekiel is frequently referred to as “son of man”, meaning that he is just a man. In Daniel 7:13 it is used in a messianic sense. Jesus deliberately uses the term ambiguously, maybe referring to both His deity and humanity.