Mark 2:11-15
Mark 2:11 (KJB)
I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Jesus heals this paralytic and then commands him to take his bed and to go to
back to his home. The man who was healed had said nothing during the entire
event. He was a testimony to the power of God. His body was healed and was now
strong plus his soul was now cleansed of all sin. Jesus then tells him to take
up his bed and the commands him to go back to his house.
Mark 2:12 (KJB)
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all;
insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it
on this fashion.
The man immediately obeys Jesus and arising from the bed, he now had the
strength in his body to be able to walk and he then took his bed and went to his
house. Could you imagine the look on the faces of those in his house when he
walked in and put his bed down? I can just imagine the joy that was experienced
in his house because his friends had no doubt, accompanied him back to his house
but this time, he carried his own bed. The crowd was amazed at what was
happening and even those Scribes which were in attendance and were saying that
they never saw anything like what just happened. Nevertheless, they were all
glorifying God for the healing which had taken place because not even the
Scribes could deny that a remarkable miracle had taken place.
Mark 2:13 (KJB)
And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto
him, and he taught them.
After this miracle healing took place, Jesus then decided to withdraw from the
house He was in and went to the seaside which would not have been too far from
the house. This is a familiar pattern with the ministry of Jesus. After a major
miracle takes place, He then withdraws to a solitary place but in this case, it
did not work because the multitudes had followed Him. Then He once again started
teaching the word without doing any recorded miracles in that place. He always
brought the crowds back to the word and to focus their attention on them and not
the miracles.
Mark 2:14 (KJB)
And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of
custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
There was a main trade route called “The Way of The Sea” which passed by
Capernaum. All goods which entered the port were subject to a tax at the tax
booth in Capernaum. This would be considered an import tax. The tax collectors
were normally Jews who became agents of the Roman Empire and were responsible
for collecting taxes for Rome. There were four basic taxes that Rome collected:
1) a land tax; 2) a poll or personal property tax; 3) an import or export tax;
4) in Jerusalem, a tax on houses. The tax collectors were despised by the people
because they would not only collect the required amount of taxes for Rome, but
they would collect extra to keep for themselves which was permitted by the
Romans as long as they received their required amount. Matthew was a tax
collector who collected import taxes. His Jewish name was Levi. Jesus saw him
collecting taxes and went up to him and said two words, “Follow me.” The words
“Follow me” are in the Present tense making it a following which is to be
constant and permanent. Immediately, Levi left the tax stand and followed Jesus.
I am sure there were many who had applied for Levi’s job.
Mark 2:15 (KJB)
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus 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.
Here we have a great feast in the house of Matthew. (Luke 5:28-29 KJV) And
he left all, rose up, and followed him. {29} And Levi made him a great feast in
his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat
down with them. If he was a tax collector and was collecting for himself
too then he would have been able to buy a large home where he could have many
people attend. Here we see that Matthew had probably invited all his fellow tax
collectors along with other nefarious characters that the Bible calls sinners.
Obviously he wanted to share the Gospel message with them and how he was now a
follower of Jesus. Since he invited Jesus to this gathering, all the other
publicans would now hear the Gospel direct from the mouth of Jesus. The Scribes
and Pharisees had considered themselves above other people and here Jesus broke
the tradition that they would hold in never fellowshipping with anyone but their
own.