Shabbat Shalom! Go to the Gospel of Mark with me today, please. We are in Mark chapter 2, and we are going to read the first 17 verses of this chapter today. A beautiful second chapter that Mark recorded for us. And the Gospel, the "Besorah," as we say in Hebrew, is a presentation of the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, from His birth until His resurrection and ultimately His ascension. And Mark presents Him before us as the servant of the Lord, as Eved Yehovah, the one that God has called in order to send to this world to redeem mankind to Himself. And so we read in the second chapter, we'll continue on in a ministry, in those 17 verses, two important lessons that we learn here from this passage.

Let me read that passage first of all, and please follow after me. "And again, He entered into Kfar Nachum after some days, and it was noised that He was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together inasmuch that there was no room to receive them. No, not so much as about the door, and He preached the word unto them. And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of palsy, which was born of four. 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.

When Yeshua saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately, when Yeshua perceived in His Spirit that they so risen within themselves, He said unto them, Why do you reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee? Thy sins be forgiven thee? Or to say, Arise and take up thy bed and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He saith unto the sick of palsy, I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house.

And immediately He arose, took up the bed and went forth before them all, inasmuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. And he went forth again by the seaside. And all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Chalfai, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and he followed him. It came to pass that as Yeshua sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many, and they followed him.

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him, eat with the publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eats and drinks with the publicans and sinners? When Yeshua 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. This is the word of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. Wonderful passage for us in the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark. I would like just to mention again, in repeating what I usually say. Mark presents Jesus our Mashiach, Yeshua the Messiah, as the servant of the Lord.

Again and again he presents before us the way whereby Yeshua was behaving here on earth, and that he is truly the servant of whom Isaiah in chapter 42 said prophetically, "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentile. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, until he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law." This is what Isaiah predicted 750 years before the Messiah Yeshua was born.

He was speaking to our forefathers Israel, and he was telling them one day the Mashiach, the Messiah, will come, and he will be the true servant of Jehovah, the true servant of the Lord, and he will be the kind of a man that will introduce himself to Israel in order to bring Israel back to himself. But beyond Israel, he is intending to bring all nations of the world, whoever will trust in him, to provide for them salvation and redemption. And I would like, beloved brothers and sisters, to emphasize in this ministry meeting that this servant, this Yeshua the Messiah, of whom we read in chapter 1, that he had authority, first of all, authority over all that was around him, but also he was the servant who had compassion of all the nation, the nation of Israel and mankind at large.

In this second chapter, Messiah Yeshua is presented before us as the servant that has authority to forgive sins. I mean, this is amazing, beloved brothers and sisters. Who can forgive sins? Who is able to forgive your sins and my sins if it is not only the one that came from heaven? God who became a man and entered humanity in order to redeem us and to forgive our sins. Wonderful passage for us to study in this ministry meeting. Now, I want to draw your attention to two statements here in this chapter that I read in those 17 verses. Statement number 1 is found in verse 10 and statement number 2 is found in verse 17.

Notice those two statements. Verse 10, Yeshua said, The Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins. This is verse 10. Statement number 2 is found in verse 17 at the end. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. These two statements are extremely important for us to understand as we study the life of our Messiah Yeshua. And so, we continue on. Remember that when we concluded chapter 1, we found that Yeshua just healed the leper. And he told the leper, this "Metzorah" in Hebrew, he told them, don't say to anyone anything, just go to the high priest, go to the priest, and do what they tell you in order to go through what the law of Moses said.

But the leper, or the one that was leper, instead of not saying anything to anyone, what did he do? And to publish it much, verse 45 of chapter 1 of Mark, he blazed abroad the matter inasmuch that Yeshua could no more openly enter into the city. So Yeshua could not come publicly anymore, and he went to a solitary place, to a deserted place in the desert, and there he spent some time, and obviously we know that as the servant of the Lord, in prayer, he communicated with God the Father, but he was not presenting himself publicly, because everybody wanted this man Yeshua, the healer, the man that healed, come and heal me, come and fix this for me, and come and help me with this, or with that, but Yeshua wanted that the men, the people, the people of Israel, and you and I today, and mankind at large, will not only come to him as a healer, but will come to him as a savior, as a Messiah, to understand that he came to seek and to save that which was lost.

So he spent some days in the desert, as the end of chapter 1 present before us. And now he came back. And you notice, brothers and sisters, in verses 1 to verse 12, Yeshua now comes back to the city of Kfar Nachum, Kapar Nachum in English, in Hebrew, Kfar Nachum, the village of Nachum, and he's coming back, and he wants to demonstrate to the people in the city of Kfar Nachum, that he's not only a healer that heal everyone from their physical infirmities, but that he has an authority to forgive sins. And the reason, beloved brothers and sisters, that God sent his son, the Messiah, to this world, is to pay for the sins of the world.

None of us can pay for our own sins, and that's why the Mashiach, the Messiah, had to come. And so you notice in those first 12 verses, Yeshua, the Messiah, demonstrate that he has authority even to forgive sins. He has authority even to forgive sins. And so we read, listen to this, the first four verses of Mark chapter 2, he is now interrupted as he is teaching in the house the people that came. He is interrupted by those who came with a man that had an infirmity. They brought this man to him while he was teaching the word of God. And so we read in chapter 2 verse 1, and again he entered into Kfar Nachum.

And notice, after some days, and it was noise that he was in the house. Now it seemed to be that the house of chapter 2 verse 1 is the same house of Simon or Shimon of chapter 1 and verse 29. You remember in our previous ministry meeting, he was in the synagogue in Beit HaKneset in Kfar Nachum. The Shabbat meeting ended and he went to the house of Shimon. There Shimon's mother-in-law was not well. He healed her and she continued to serve them there in the house. So apparently, the house of Shimon became a place where he was housed when he came to Kfar Nachum again. So he's coming again.

So he's coming again. Notice the word again in verse 1 of chapter 2. Because he was away. A few days passed by. And now he's returning from the desert to the house of Shimon and Andrew in the city and the town of Kfar Nachum. The second thing that we learned right here in these two verses, verses 1 and 2, that not only that he came into the house of Shimon and Andrew, secondly, he was preaching in the house. That's the reason that Yeshua came, is to preach the word of God. We read in verse 2, "Straight where many were gathered together inasmuch that there was no room to receive them, no not so much as about even the door, and he preached the word unto them." He did exactly what I'm doing right now.

He was sitting perhaps or he was standing there and he was preaching the word. You know, I am telling you, the word of God ought to be preached. Yeshua said already earlier in chapter 1, After that John was put in prison, verse 14 of chapter 1, Yeshua came into Galilee and he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Preaching is presenting the word of God before the hearers. You know very well what the Apostle Paul, Shaul Paul, saw to the Roman believer. He said, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." God have instructed the people of Israel to preach the word. The prophets of all preach the word.

The leaders of Israel preach the word. The apostles in the early church age, they preach the word. The ministry of the preaching of the word is essential if the people are going to be fed and encouraged. If the gospel is going to be shared and people will be saved, preaching and teaching the word of God. And so we find him in the house of Shimon and Andrew, preaching the word. And you notice what happened. There was no room in that house. It says in verse 2, "All the people, many gathered there together, and there was no room to receive them." The hospitality in the Middle East, in Israel, and the surrounding nation in the Middle East was essential.

So people was naturally, probably without invitation, you know, in the country in which we live in today, we set up an appointment. You're going to come to my home in a certain time, in a certain hour. A visit together. But in the Middle East, in Israel in those days, even today, beloved brothers and sisters, you come to the house, you don't tell anybody. You don't plan on that. You don't make a phone call or send an email or anything like that. You just come into the house. The house was cleaning and vacuuming the home. She'd simply leave everything, take the apron, set it aside, making coffee, preparing something for the guests to enjoy.

So that's the custom that was in the time of Yeshua, the Messiah, and still, in many ways, practiced today in the Middle East. People come because they heard that Yeshua was there. They all came to sit, and what does he do? Because it was his custom, he was preaching. And notice how beautiful it says in verse 2. "He preached the word unto them." Now, what's the word? Of course, in his days, in Yeshua's days, they didn't have the "Brit HaChadasha", they didn't have Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or John, or Acts. He had the Tanakh in his hand. The Old Testament is, no, in Hebrew we call it the Tanakh, the Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim.

Perhaps he was teaching them what Isaiah, what I just read in Isaiah chapter 42. "Behold my servant, is my delight in whom I found so much pleasure." And he says, "Listen, this is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke before I enter into this world." He preached the word. He may have turned to Genesis, or Deuteronomy, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or the Psalms. He taught the word. He taught the Hebrew scriptures. And that is exactly the example that he gave to us all, the importance of teaching the word. But you notice what happened. He was interfered. As he was preaching the word in verses 1 and 2 of Mark chapter 2, then immediately he says, there were others that brought the paralytic men to Yeshua.

It is found for us here in verses 3 and 4. Well, notice that immediately we find out in verse 3. "They came unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy." What is palsy? He was a man that cannot walk or cannot move because he's a disabled person, a paralytic. He had weak limbs. He couldn't stand. He couldn't walk. And they brought him to Yeshua. And you know, as they come, obviously the house is filled. There's no room. You look from the side, you cannot get in. You're trying from the window, you cannot get in. You come from the door. There were so many people around there, inside, outside the door that there was no room to get into the house to bring that man on that stretcher to Yeshua, who was preaching there.

And so we read, "He was born of four." Now, he had four friends, holding him in the stretcher, in Hebrew we call it alunka, holding him, four of them. He's laying there on that stretcher. These four are coming and they're looking around. They're trying to find a way to get into the house to bring him closer to Yeshua. They can't. He's somewhere in the center, sharing and speaking with the people in the house of Shimon and Andrum, presenting the word of God. They couldn't get in. So, immediately we find out, what did they do? Notice it says here in verse 4, "When they could not come nigh unto him, for the press," multitude, many people were there, "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." Now, this is amazing.

Can you imagine, if you have some guests coming to your own house and somebody wants to get in also, what does he do? He goes up on the roof, break the shingles, breaking apart, and bringing this down, this man, with four ropes, all the way down to the center. All of a sudden you look up and what do you see? You see the light. You see the sun is shining there and all of a sudden you wonder, you immediately, somebody said, immediately you think about the insurance company. And he said, what will happen when I need to fix this roof? Because these people came and apparently, as it says here in verse 4, they uncovered the roof.

Maybe they took off those shingles, whatever manner of the house covering that was. And then it says they broke it, according to verse 4, Now this is tremendous. These people must have been a unique people because we can learn from them certain things that makes you wonder if you and I would do some extreme thing like that in order to bring a person to the knowledge of the Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. We see a few things about these people in verses 3 and 4. First of all, we learn about the condition of the man. Palsy. Or as we read in other words, a man that was disabled.

A man that was paralytic, weak in the limbs. That's perhaps, I would like to suggest, represent the whole humanity. Unable to walk. Spiritually speaking, blinded to who God is. Unable to lift up ourselves and to be right with God. Like, if you remember, Mephibosheth. The man that was the son of Yonatan, who was the friend who loved David, the king of Israel. And Yonatan, when he died, his son Mephibosheth could not walk. He was lame on both of his feet. The nurse ran when the war happened. She dropped him, and Mephibosheth fell, and he became lame on both of his feet. And Mephibosheth could not come to David.

He needed someone to carry him and bring him to David, who is a picture of our blessed Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. By the way, the name Mephibosheth in Hebrew, out of my mouth I breathe shame. It's a representation of the whole human condition. We can't lift ourselves on our own. We need the help of the Lord. We need someone to bring us to Yeshua, the Messiah, who is the only one who is able to forgive our sins. And so we learn about the condition of this man. And I tell you, this is your and mine condition by nature. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

God will judge sin. And sin must be paid, either through the person of the Messiah, or the person who rejects God will have to pay for it on his own, one day. And so here, first of all, we learn about the condition of the person. But secondly, we learn from this passage about the concern that these four men had. You see what these men, they come, verse 4, could not come in to bring him now to Yeshua. So you can see that they were so concerned with the need of this man that they wanted to bring him to Yeshua, to Jesus the Messiah. How many lessons we can learn?

Do you and I bring people to Jesus, to Yeshua? Do we share the message, the concern about the salvation of maybe a family, a friend, a parent, a child? What can we do in order to lead them to come to know the Lord? You can see the concern that they had. And you and I might not be able to bring everyone to a meeting or to bring anyone to even open the Bible and read it, but what we can do to have a sincere concern for them is to pray and to bring them before the throne of grace to present them to the Lord. But thirdly, we learn from this is verses 3 and 4.

look at the faith that they had. Look at the faith that they had. They believed that the one that was there in the midst of this house who teach and preach the word of God, he is the answer. So they brought him all the way into the house because they believed that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is able to heal that man. what an amazing faith these four men plus the one, the paralytic person, the one who was paralyzed on that stretcher. What an amazing lesson we learned from that. Fourthly, notice what it says here, we see that daring action that they have done. I mean, would you dare to be so extreme to the fact that you will go up and break the roof in order to bring someone to the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, it was an unusual thing to do.

Who go break roofs in order to bring someone into the house? Who does those things? Well, they were so eager to have these men hear the word of the Lord and Yeshua to heal him that they have gone through the extreme, extreme activity. They went up, climb on the roof, perhaps there is a steps to go all the way up. Usually in the Middle East, you have an outside step. You go up, you climb on the roof, you remove the shingles, you break the part that needs to be broken and they brought him down all the way right in the midst where Yeshua taught. And the first thing that I want to suggest that we learn from this passage is that they work together.

They were all together. Four of them made a decision together with the agreement agreement of these men who were sick of palsy that they are going to do whatever needs to be done in order for the Lord to see him and should he wish to heal him. What an amazing lesson we learn from Mark 2 verses 3 and 4. They could not come nigh unto him because of the press. They uncovered the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the bed of the sick person of palsy all the way down. And all of a sudden, everyone looks up and what they see, four ropes, stretcher with a man on it, going all the way down right in the middle of the room where Yeshua was preaching to the whole household and the guests that was there.

This is beautiful, beloved brothers and sisters, to learn of the way whereby people led other people to come to see Yeshua, the Messiah. we also need to share with others. Come and learn about this man by the name of Yeshua. Remember, the Samaritan woman said, come and see a man who has told me all that I have ever done. Is not this the Mashiach, the Messiah? Come and see a man. Come and see a man. And so in the next verses, 5, 6 and 7, hear what we read about the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who forgives the sins of this paralyzed man. You see what we read in verse 5, a great expression because here we read that when Jesus, when Yeshua saw their faith.

Now just pause here for a moment. How do you see their faith? You see, faith without works is dead. How do we know if one is truly a believer? is because his life has changed. His desires and appetites have changed. And his activities have changed. Oh, I used to live a life like that before I knew the Lord. But now when I came to know the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, things change. So Yeshua saw their faith. to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, faith in God, in his word, and in his son, the Messiah, the Messiah, is essential. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, as we read in Romans chapter 10.

The writer to the Hebrew believers said in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. faith in the Lord is essential. When Abraham, our father, many years ago in Genesis chapter 15, the Lord spoke to him and made for him a promise. We read, "And Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness." He just believed. When God sent Moshe, Moses, to the people of Israel when they were in Mitzrayim, in Egypt, and he wanted to let them know that he is going to deliver them, Aaron came to the people, to our own forefathers some 3,500 years ago and he told them what God was going to do and we read, "And the people believed his word." It is essential, beloved brothers and sisters, to believe in the Lord.

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Faith, believing, is essential. Without faith, it is impossible to please him, to please God. And so Yeshua saw their faith. Verse 5, look what he does. "He said unto the sick of palsy, "Son," "Ben," in Hebrew, "Ben," "Thy sins be forgiven thee." Now, it is amazing. Notice he said to him, "Son, thy sins have been forgiven unto thee." Now, apparently, there are certain sicknesses that come into our lives which are the results of our disobedience. Apparently, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, discerned there that there was a reason why this man ended up to be a paralytic, a man that had weak limbs, he is a paralytic, he has palsy, a disabled man.

Apparently, he knows the reason that brought about this condition to this person. Now, that doesn't mean that every sin that we commit in our life bring about diseases and sicknesses into our life, but what it does mean that in this condition, in this situation, the reason that this man was paralysed is because of the certain thing that happened in his life. And that's why the Lord did not say to him anything else. He said, "Your sins have been forgiven unto thee." In other words, there was a reason why you are in this situation, but I am going to forgive your sins. Now, it had been said that the nerve, sometimes, the nerves that we have in our bodies often are getting, you might say, a little bit more weak and unable to function, because of some things that happened that caused it to come forth.

You know, sometimes, brothers and sisters, because our anger and perhaps because of our pride and because of our conflict with one another and things that happen to us in our life bring about certain things in our life that cause us no longer to be able to function right. a person just told me recently, he says, Brother Gideon, you know, because of certain things that happened, it was not anything wrong in his life, but he said, I cannot breathe right and I had to stop and I can't take it. I'm breathing heavy. I cannot function in a normal way. It's because something happened in his life that brought about this situation in his life.

Well, you ask a doctor, you ask a physician, he will tell you that sometimes because of the manner or the reaction to which we react, it affects us to the extent that it causes us to be sick. And many times, unfortunately, sometimes bitterness, covetousness, pride and ego, that which rises up within us bring about a lot of physical infirmities even in our own life. And so the Lord is telling him, notice that he says, son, your sins are forgiven unto you. He discerned that there was a problem in this man's life that his sins needed to be forgiven. And so, when he said this, he forgave his sins, according to verse 5, immediately there was a reaction by the scribes and the Pharisees that were there in the very same house listening to his word.

And so we read in verse 6 and verse 7, "But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and they reasoned in their hearts, saying, why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?" And while it is true, only God can forgive sins, the problem that they had, just like many of us, many people have today, they don't realize that Yeshua, the Jesus, the Messiah, is more than just an ordinary man. That he is indeed God who entered humanity and took the form of a man and he became, just like you and I, sin apart. He is indeed the Son of God, the eternal Son of God.

He hath an authority to forgive sins. But they didn't see it. And that's why they saw in him, as we read here in verse 6 and 7, they reasoned within their hearts. They began to think in their mind, maybe to speak to each other, and he says, "What? Look at this man." They saw in him only a man. This man speaks blasphemies, in Hebrew the word is "gidufim", slander, claiming that he can forgive sins which only God can forgive sins. Well, they were right because only God can forgive sins, but they were wrong in not knowing who he was and who he is. They couldn't see beyond the fact that he is only a man they could not see more than death.

And you know, it's easy to blame them, but you and I know very well that we had a lot of problems to understand the divine nature of the Lord. That he was indeed the Emmanuel that was promised by Isaiah, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and she shall call his name Immanuel God with us. They couldn't see it. They couldn't see it like many today do not see that Jesus that Yeshua is more than just another man. Had he had been only a man, a prophet, a good rabbi, whatever one wanted to call him, he could never forgive sins. who can forgive sins except God?

But he is God the Son. He took union humanity with his divine nature. He has an authority to forgive sin. The evangelist or John said who wrote a little bit later his Gospel in John chapter 1, he wrote about Yeshua the Messiah and he said in the beginning was the Word John 1:1 and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Verse 3 all things were made by him and without him nothing was made which was made in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. And then verse 14 says and the Word became flesh he became Basar he became a man and he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

He became a man. That is the most beautiful thing that we learn from the Gospel that the Messiah that God the Son had to enter humanity and become a man and become a man like you and I. The Hebrew writer said in chapter 2 Hebrews 2:14 for as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death that is the devil. he had to become flesh and blood just like you and I but they didn't see it. And that's why they said in verse 7 why does this man thus speak blasphemies who can forgive sins but God.

And so Yeshua had to respond to them. And in verses 8 to verse 12 of Mark chapter 2 Yeshua respond to the reasoning of the scribes. And beloved brothers and sisters these reasonings exist all the time. How many times in the ministry we hear of people who deny the divine nature of Yeshua the Messiah. Deny that he is the God-man one. one. Deny that he existed in eternity past. Deny his virgin birth. Deny his eternal sonship. Deny what the Bible teach concerning Yeshua Jesus the Messiah. He is indeed God the Son otherwise he could never forgive sins. And so Yeshua respond to them. In verses 8 to 12 Yeshua responded to them and notice Yeshua perceived that the scribes were reasoning.

they were reasoning. How does he even know that? Because it says in verse 8 immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they saw reason within themselves he said unto them why reason ye these things in your hearts? You know we learn that he knows the hearts of the hearts of every one of us. He searched the hearts. You remember in our previous meeting we quoted John chapter 2 many believe on his name but he did not commit himself unto them because he knew their hearts. the Lord the Lord Jesus the Messiah knows our hearts. He knows the heart of men and that's why he knew what they were thinking what they were thinking in their hearts and their mind.

He knew that. And that's why he said to them why are you reasoning within yourself? Then he said to them why you do so? And then he came up with a beautiful response. In verse 9 he said to them Mark 2:9 "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy thy sins be forgiven thee? Or to say arise take up thy bed and walk." Notice he used the word to say not to do but to say what is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee? Or to say arise take up thy bed and walk? Well of course it is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee?

But you have to prove it. Because if he said your sins are forgiven they would say well okay well prove to me that his sins were forgiven. But his sins were not forgiven unless God forgave his sins. So in order to prove to them that he can do so notice what he says in verse 11 he says I say unto thee arise take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house and immediately verse 12 he arose took up the bed he went forth before all inasmuch that they were all amazed and they glorified God saying we never have seen this thing done in this fashion before.

before. Can you imagine to say to someone arise take your bed go thy way into your house. Can you imagine to say this to someone someone who is sick with palsy someone who as we read earlier that they brought him one that is unable to walk disabled man. imagine to say this to someone those such words and immediately the man rose no delay immediately notice the word immediately in verse 12 he arose he took up his bed he went forth before all of them and they were all amazed when they have seen such a thing. Arise take up thy bed and walk he said to them.

and beloved brothers and sisters the expression that we have here in verses 11 and 12 shows us that this person by the name of Yeshua had the authority to forgive sins and the proof of that is that he is even able to heal those that were sick that were sick there such as this man that was without the ability to walk. I want to emphasize another point here in verse 10 but that ye may know he said that the son of man has power on earth to forgive sins. I want you to realize that the son of man has authority to forgive sins and he uses this expression the son of man many times the expression is found in the gospel son of man son of man son of man why does he use that expression the son of man because the word son of man is a messianic title.

It was already mentioned a long time ago in Psalm 8. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him. The word ben ha-adam in Hebrew is a messianic title. When Daniel in chapter 7 and verse 13 have seen that vision as he was there in Babylon and God have showed him a vision of one like unto the son of man ben ha-adam this is the pre-incarnate Messiah. But now he have entered humanity. He is now here on earth. The son of man has power on earth to forgive sin. He can forgive sin because he is also the son of God.

He is also God the son. He has an authority that had been given unto him by the Lord himself. The Gospel of Matthew at the end of the Gospel the Lord Jesus said all power all power all authority has been given unto me in heaven and in earth. Authority was given unto me as men here upon the face of this earth. I am the eternal son of God but I have authority here upon the face of this earth. here he is presented as the servant of Jehovah with an authority to forgive sin. And so he forgave yours and he forgave mine only because he paid for that when he died for us on the cross.

So what is happening here is always in view of what he was going to do. He didn't die as yet. Sin haven't been paid as yet. he will pay for it. But he knew that all along that one day he will eventually die on a wretched shameful cross where he will pay for the sin of this world. So in verses 1 to 12 of Mark chapter 2 Yeshua the Messiah demonstrates his authority over all but specifically in authority to forgive sins of mankind. of mankind. Now let's move along. Just to the next verses. Verses 13 to 17. Here we find another thing that is very precious that the Messiah Yeshua called a man by the name of Levi Matthew Levi Matai Levi and also the fact that he is sitting along with the tax collectors and the sinners visiting with them in order to reach them to come to know him as the promised Messiah.

And so we read in verse 13 Yeshua we find again in this next verse that he went forth again by the seaside and all the multitude resorted unto him and he taught them again. Brothers and sisters you notice how the Lord is always teaching always preaching the word. He comes he goes now to the sea of Galilee this is the Kinneret Tiberias Tveria he's on a seashore walking along the shore he went out of Kfar Nachum which is very close to the seaside and he's going out now and he's walking he went out there and people resorted unto him. People came from everywhere they came to the person of Yeshua the Messiah.

They wanted to heal from him. They wanted to see what he has to say. Many of them wanted to be healed by him. But many came to him but he taught them and he taught them and he taught them again and again. I'm thinking of what Shaul Paul said to Timothy in the second epistle. Preach the word in season and out of season. make sure that you give the word of God because faith cometh by hearing and hearing it is indeed by the word of God. So he preached the word there by the seaside. And as he preached the word he passed by and look at this it says in verse 14 he passed by he saw Levi the son of Chalfai in Hebrew it says Chalfai in the English it says Alpheus.

Levi ben Chalfai he was sitting at the receipt of the customs and he said unto him follow me and he arose and he followed him. Now Levi is apparently one of these tax collectors. In other Gospels if you read in Matthew chapter 9 his name is actually Matai Matthew. I'll read this verse in Matthew chapter 9 verse 9 and as Yeshua passed forth from hands he saw a man by the name of Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom and he saith unto him follow me and he arose and he followed him. Apparently the Gospel of Matthew written by Matthew he mentioned his name Matai Matthew while in Mark we read of him by the name of Levi.

Same person. The word Levi obviously comes from the tribe of Levi. If you remember in Biblical time names were given for a reason. A descendants of the tribe of Levi were named Levi's or Levites. some of them were Kohanim they were priests so their name might be Kohen but he was a man by the name of Levi. He was a tax collector. A tax collector were basically among the Jewish people were Jewish men who were serving or working along with the Romans. the Romans. The tax collectors were not liked so much. Why? Because apparently they were not always treating the rest of the nation in a right way.

Perhaps they were over taxing them. Or perhaps they were taking more than they should. They give some to the Roman government and the rest they keep for themselves. And you know none of us like the tax collectors, right? And it is not because they are bad people but they come and take taxes from you. Well apparently here we find out that this man by the name of Levi was sitting there at the receipt custom and apparently it was not the first time that he saw him. I am sure if we look at the record you will find out that he must have heard about Yeshua long before.

Because Yeshua already was there in Kfar Nachum earlier. He was next door somewhere in one of the areas where the tax had been collected by those tax gatherers and he came to Levi and he said to him Levi he says follow me. Follow me Levi. And Levi immediately said notice he arose and he followed after him. If you read in other Gospels you find out that he left all and he followed after Yeshua. You might almost say he burned all the bridges that he had. He left all and he just followed after Yeshua. Apparently he believed on him already. And Yeshua called him for the ministry.

Called him to be a disciple. We have a whole Gospel of Matthew that was written by this man by the name of Levi. Matai Levi. By the way the name Matai or Matityahu come from the Hebrew word a gift that Yah that Jehovah has given unto me. Or Matityahu Jehovah is a gift for me. The Lord is a gift that has been given unto me. And we can say Yeshua Jesus is a gift of God that had been given to this man by the name of Matai Matthew Levi. Matthew Levi. And he left everything. And he followed after Yeshua. It says here and not only that he left everything and followed after Yeshua in fact we find out in the next verse that he invited Yeshua and he brought him to his home.

You notice again brothers and sisters it says in verse 15 and it came to pass that as Yeshua said to eat at his house. Many publicans and sinners sat also together with Yeshua and his disciples for there were many and they follow after him. You notice how interesting. When Shimon followed Yeshua he brought him home. When Levi followed Yeshua he brought him home. When Zakkai Zakkia Luke 19 accepted Yeshua he brought him home. They are all bringing him home. Why? Because they realized that he is that one for whom they were waiting the Mashiach the Messiah. They brought him home. They wanted to have him as part of their lives.

Not only their personal life their home life and how wonderful it is to see that he brought him home and not only that he must have made for him a certain you might say time where he gathered all his friends from the past and wanted to introduce them to the person of Yeshua the Messiah. So he brought him home and we find out in this verse 15 and publicans and sinners sat also together with Yeshua and his disciples there for there were many that followed Yeshua that followed him. Apparently he brought many to see about the men that he followed after and he is just you might say leaving his job his past work and he is now following Yeshua the Messiah.

People came into his house he introduced them to Yeshua to Jesus the Messiah he prepared their food and drink and so on and they all the time together where the Lord could share with them who he was that he was indeed the promised Redeemer. But again you always have those that don't agree. You always have those that oppose who Jesus who Yeshua is and so in the last verses here of our section in this ministry today we find out we find out that the question was raised by the scribes and by the Pharisees. In verse 16 when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eat with the publicans and the sinners they said unto his disciples how is it that he eats and drinks with the publicans and the sinners?

you see they made you might say the publicans which were the tax collectors as far as the Pharisees were concerned they were sinners they were working with the Romans they were collecting taxes for the Romans they were oppressing the nation of Israel the Jewish people they were against you might say against the people against God against God and against the people so for the Pharisees and the scribes the publicans the tax collectors were equivalent to sinners and indeed they were truly they were working for the Romans and you can just imagine how much oppression the Jewish people have received from the Romans and those that work with them and those that help them you might

say it was a time a difficult time for the Jewish people but the Pharisees and the scribes did not see that Jesus came in order to seek and to save all those sinners all those who needed his help and so we read in verse 16 how is it they asked the disciples that he is sitting with the publican and with the sinners and here is the answer of the Lord and I would like to conclude with this what is the reason that Jesus came what is the reason that God sent the Messiah the servant of Jehovah to this world here is the answer he said to them in verse 17 Yeshua heard what they said

to the disciples and he came with an answer and he said to the Pharisees Pharisees and the scribes he said they that are whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick I came not to call the righteous but I came to call sinners to repentance to repentance the reason that I came down from heaven is not to call people who think that they are righteous but I came to call people who are sinners who know that they are sinners I came to call them to repent and receive forgiveness of sins and you see this is exactly the problem with the Pharisees and the scribes and it is a problem of many

men and women around the world today who do not think that they are sinners who never like to hear the fact that they have sinned and failed short of the glory of God they don't like to admit that they have a sinful nature they like to assume that they are fine and that's why the Lord cannot lead them or cannot save them because they are okay they don't need God they don't need a Messiah they don't need a Messiah but those who have you might say the ability to be honest with God and honest with themselves and to say I am a sinner and I need forgiveness and I repent of my sins I admit

that I am a sinner that's why it is necessary to repent in order to receive forgiveness of sins not only to understand that I am a sinner but to repent repent of it and that's why he said I came not to call the righteous but I came to call sinners to repent so they will be able to receive forgiveness of sins the healthy people they don't need a doctor the sick people they need a physician so I came so I came not to call those who assume that they are whole and that they are not sick but I came to call sinners in order that they will repent will repent and beloved brothers and sisters

this is the reason why Yeshua came he came as we read in those two statements he came he has power and authority to forgive sins and the reason that he came and he came to call sinners in order that they will repent and I'm closing with Acts chapter 17 and verse 30 the words that Apostle Paul said in his preaching for the time of this ignorance God winked it but now he commandeth all men everywhere to repent why because he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained therefore he said he has given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised

him from the dead this is Acts chapter 17 verse 30 and 31 so beloved brothers and sisters Mark chapter 2 present before us verses 1 to 17 our Lord Jesus the Messiah Jesus the Messiah as the man that has authority to forgive sins and thank God we have accepted him and our sins have been forgiven because Yeshua paid a price for our sins for our sins can we say amen to that to that