1. Jesus dealt with the *invisible* problem of the paralytic first -- “Your sins are forgiven” -- before dealing with his visible physical problem. Perhaps it was so that he could draw out the Jakims as was what happened, (“He’s blaspheming!”)
2. I suspect this wasn’t Matthew Levi’s first exposure to Jesus. Jesus had been known in Capernaum already, as evidenced by the crowds mentioned earlier. But Levi probably thought he was too “dirty” to be accepted, just like the Jakims did, (“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”) Jesus proved him (and them) wrong, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
3. What did Jesus mean by the “new wineskin”? It’s not fasting, since He did say we would fast after He’s gone. This -- new wine and new wineskins -- are terms that modern Charismatics throw around a lot, but from the context, it’s not so clear to me what Jesus meant. The New Covenant, replacing the Old Covenant? Fasting not as a ritualistic obligation but rather for spiritual growth? Maybe that’s what he meant, because he made more or less the same point in the next paragraph about the sabbath.
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