Welcome back to the Tattoo Church Reading Plan, today we are reading Mark 2. Here are some notes and things to think about.
- Jesus comes back to the city he was in for Mark chapter 1 and the people flocked to him in great numbers.
- Then perhaps one of the greatest illustrations of friendship is recorded. This dude is sick and a few of his friends want to take him to Jesus to be healed but the crowd wont let them in. So what do they do? The climb the roof and cut open a big hole and drop their sick buddy down to Jesus! Crazy right? I’d imagine Jesus was annoyed by the disruption, wouldn’t you? Nope, Jesus forgives the man of his sins and heals him!
- The religious leaders of the day (teachers of the law) we thinking that what Jesus was saying was blasphemy and Jesus responds to their thoughts! I bet they were like “Oh crap! Did I say that out loud or did this guy just read my mind?!?”
- Jesus leaves them and goes out walking beside a lake and tells a tax collector to follow him, which the guy did. Then the guy throws a party for Jesus and invites all his friends over.
- Some other religious leaders of the day (Pharisees) saw Jesus eating with people they considered too bad to come to God and start asking why Jesus would hang out with them? Jesus promptly tells them these are the people he came to earth to reach out to.
- Verse 18 talks about fasting. Fasting is something the Bible teaches people should do from time to time as one way to grow closer to God.
Are you noticing a trend with Jesus yet? He reaches out to normal people to become his followers. Also, Jesus seemed to feel most at ease with people who the world would perceive are farthest from God. Yet the people who most would say are closest to God Jesus had to keep correcting their practices and motives. Apparently, the religious leaders of Jesus’ time had a difficult time accepting people until they cleaned up their lives but Jesus clearly tells them that is not how he works. Funny thing is that the same thing still happens today. Often people who claim to be Christians judge people based on their outward appearance or what they do. The cool thing is Jesus always has looked past the outside and at the person on the inside. Then Jesus helps people realize their fullest potential.