The Son of Man Forgives and Heals Gospel reading: Mark 2:1-12 Video clip: https://youtube/watch?v=VW4-wxIB1pA The Son of Man Forgives and Heals 2 When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them.3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” **Verses 2:1-3:6 This section of scripture contains five instances of conflict related to Jesus’ authority. In each, Jesus was accused of blasphemy, challenged because of His association with sinners, rebuked for neglecting religious customs, and accused of breaking Sabbath laws. **Verse 2:1 ‘He was at home’ mostly likely refers to Peter’s house. **Verse 2:2 ‘The message’ (Gk. “logos”) was later used to refer to the Christian missionary preaching (Ac. 6:4; 8:4; 17:11; Gl. 6:6; Col. 4:3). Here, it refers to the good news (Mk. 1:14-15). **Verse 2:3 This the only time that Mark makes mention of ‘a paralytic’. **Verse 2:4 ‘Removed the roof’ can be literally translated as “unroofed the roof”. According to scholars, most houses in that day were single-story, flat roofed structures with an outside staircase. The roof was accessed by this staircase and was used for drying laundry, sleeping, or prayer. Over the crossbeams small poles or branches were placed and covered with mud and thatch. ‘Broken through’ (literally “digging it out”) suggests that there were debris falling down on the people below. A ‘mat’ was a poor person’s pallet. **Verse 2:5 ‘Their faith’ refers to those who carried the paralyzed man as well as the paralytic himself. Rather than a word of healing, Jesus spoke forgiveness over the man after addressing him as ‘son’. ‘Your sins’ is plural and possibly specific to this man. Only here did Jesus link sin and ailment which suggests that there may have been a direct relationship between this man’s sins and his paralysis. **verse 2:6-7 ‘The scribes’ supposed Jesus was ‘blaspheming’ when He declared that the man’s sins were forgiven. Death by stoning was the penalty for the offense of blasphemy (Lv. 24:16; Jn. 10:33), and it was the charge on which Jesus was ultimately executed (Mk. 14:64). **Verse 2:8-11 The answer Jesus gave to the question was ‘which is easier’ is the unverifiable claim to have forgiven the man’s sins. After all, anyone can claim to forgive sins, as there is no visible evidence to support the act. However, Jesus did have the authority to forgive sins, and to prove this, He coupled it with the verifiable act of healing the paralytic. ‘Son of Man’ was Jesus’ favorite self-designation and it is derived from Dn. 7:13-14, where the messianic Son of Man is given ‘authority’. **Verse 2:12 The scribes accused Jesus of assuming God’s authority (v.2:7) but the crowd ‘gave glory to God’ because of Jesus. HCSB Study Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:08:32 +0000
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