Mark 2:1-17
In the house at Capernaum, the Lord Jesus makes Himself known according to Psalms 103:3 as the One who forgiveth all iniquities and who healeth all diseases. In the case of the paralytic, He fulfills both parts of this verse as a witness to everyone. Yes, He who pardons sins — a spiritual work — and who gives material proof of it in also healing the disease, can only be the LORD, the God of Israel.
The publicans collected taxes for the Romans. This made them rich (for a percentage came back to them) but, at the same time, brought them the contempt of their compatriots. But the Lord, in calling Levi and in accepting his invitation to dine, shows that He neither despises nor rejects anyone. On the contrary, He came for well-known sinners, those who would not hide their condition (1 Timothy 1:15). And He sits at table with them, having made Himself their Friend. Since the Fall, man fears God and flees from Him because of man’s bad conscience. Before saving His creature, God’s first task was therefore to approach him and to gain his confidence. That is what the Lord Jesus did, in humbling Himself even to meeting wretched man, in order to make him understand that God loves him.