Mark 2:1-12
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
These verses are so striking...We see faith, persistence, friendship, a miracle, and divinity in these verses...We learn from Jesus that healing someone and a miracle are equally impossible for man, but they are easy for God (our LORD can heal anyone of anything, by just saying "Get up, take your mat and walk")...
There are four men with great faith, helping a friend...They must be the paralyzed man's friend, because they spend much energy trying to get to Jesus...The four men cannot get into the house to see Jesus to have Him heal their friend...Jesus sees the four men's effort...He recognizes their faith...Then He tells the paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven...This is blasphemy, because only God can forgive sins, and the teachers of the law recognize this...For someone to forgive sins against themselves is right and should be done...But for you or someone to have the ability or right to forgive one who has sinned against another person doesn't seem quite right, especially if you have never met the person that was sinned against...In this teaching we learn about the duality of just one sin...Jesus knows when we sin we are actually sinning against two parties...The person you have sinned against and we have also sinned against God...God is perfectly and absolutely moral...This is why He had Moses write the law...The law represents His absolute morality...
Jesus knew the law perfectly...He comes along and forgives the sins of the paralyzed man against the other men (those he has sinned against), and He forgives those same sins against His Father...In the end when you hear Jesus forgiving the sins of the paralyzed man, He is speaking for God...Because in the end, we have sinned against God, because He created us in His image -and He needs to forgive us for the sins that we have sinned against Him...
Many read the gospels and are fascinated by His miracles...And we should be...But Jesus is in Israel and He is a Jew...He knows the first commandment...To act for God, and to speak for God is not and was not done in Israel, especially in Jesus' days...Forgiving others of someone else's sins is one of the most striking statements He could make...Only God can...Jesus part of the Trinity, and a part of God can...The only way to the Father is through Jesus (John 14:6)...Jesus said don't you believe I AM in the Father and the Father is in Me (John 14:10)...Who can forgive sins, but God alone?...Jesus can...The Word was with God and Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God (John 1:1)...He was with God in the beginning...