The leper was unsure if Jesus would want to heal him. The friends of the paralytic had no doubt, so took him to Jesus. Jesus' power came from who He was & still, He withdrew to send time with His Father.
5:21-24 Jesus claims to be God alone, the Son of Man having authority on earth to forgive sins.
Jesus' 4 encounters with Scribes & Pharisees show opposition to Jesus because:
He spent time with tax collectors and sinners
His disciples continued eating and drinking when John's fasted and prayed
His disciples did what was 'unlawful' on the Sabbath
He was going to heal on the Sabbath
Jesus had come to call sinners to repentance, to celebrate with His disciples while He was with them, to live to please God not people and to do good and save life, not destroy life by following ever letter of the law.
Jesus came to bring new life, a new covenant not just patch over the old. The old has gone, the new has come!
6:12-19 When the pressure was on, Jesus withdrew and prayed.
6:20-26 A Christian is happy when they are poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, insulted or rejected because they know their reward is great in heaven.
6:27-36 Who God is and what He is like should be the motivation for making us behave similarly. We are to love not just those who love us, but those who don't also.
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