Disciples Global Network

Forgiveness connects the call of the tax collector to the healing of the paralytic – Christ’s authority to forgive sins  – Mark 2:13-17. When Jesus pronounced the paralytic man’s sins forgiven, he offended the Scribes and Pharisees. But he went on to alienate them even further by showing mercy “ to sinners ,” individuals considered unacceptable by religiously observant Jews. Seeing him eating with “ tax collectors ,” the Scribes and Pharisees insinuated that Jesus was also a notorious sinner – (Mark 2:1-17).

The literary unit in chapters 1 and 2 of the  Gospel of Mark  includes five stories highlighting the authority of Jesus as the “ Son of Man .” It also shows the growing conflicts between him and the religious authorities based in the Jerusalem Temple, especially over issues of ritual purity and Sabbath regulations. There are parallels between the present story and the preceding one about the cleansing of the leper.