Mark 2:1-17
Key Verse: 2:17

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

* JESUS HEALS A PARALYTIC (1-12)
1. Read verses 1-2. Where had Jesus been, and what had he been doing just before? How did people respond when they heard that he had returned to Capernaum? How did he minister to them?

2. Read verses 3-5. When four men carrying a paralytic to Jesus could not get through the crowd, what did they do? Why might this have upset some people? What did Jesus think about their action? (5)

3. What did they believe? How did they demonstrate their faith? What is exemplary about their friendship? What other teachings or examples of friendship can you find in the Bible? (Cf. 1Sa 20:16,42; 2Sa 1:26); John 15:13)

4. What did Jesus say to the paralytic? (5) What does it mean that he called him “son”? What do Jesus’ words suggest about the man’s real problem? How is paralysis like sin?

5. What did the teachers of the law think about Jesus’ word? (6-7) Why? What did Jesus decide to do in this hostile environment? What did he teach them about himself? (10) What is Jesus’ hope for all people who suffer from their paralysis? (12) How did the people respond?

* THE CALLING OF LEVI (13-17)

6. What was Levi’s business? (14) What did this mean in that society? Why was a tax collector in that society called selfish? Why was he lonely?

7. How did Jesus meet Levi? What did Jesus say to him? (14) How did Levi respond? What was Jesus’ hope for Levi? (Mark 3:14-15) Why might Levi have followed so readily?

8. How did Levi celebrate his new life? (15) Why did the Pharisees criticize Jesus? (16) How did Jesus answer? (17)

9. In what respect might the paralytic and Levi be called a sinner? How did Jesus become a spiritual doctor to them? Write a sincere testimony based on Jesus’ healing mercy of my sin sickness.