The Paralytic

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’ (Mark 2:1-12; NRSV)
A couple things jump out to me in this text. First, I have never noticed before that in vs. 1 it mentions that Jesus returned to Capernaum and it was reported he was at home. I guess I never thought Jesus owned a house (or rented if he is like me), I just kind of always thought he moved from place to place, but this seems to indicate he had a place he would come back to. Interesting.
Second, I want friends like those this paralytic had. These guys were determined to get this man to Jesus, which speaks both to their faith in what Jesus could do, and their devotion to their friend to get him before Jesus. I would imagine it isn’t every day that people are digging through Jesus’ roof.
Third, Jesus doesn’t respond in the way these guys expect. Obviously Jesus has been healing people and casting out demons all over the region and these men most certainly had been present for a few of these “gospel meetin’s” (which would account for their faith). So when they drop the guy through the dug up roof, right into the middle of everything, I think it would be fair to deduce that they expected Jesus to lay hands on the paralytic and make him walk. But Jesus first addresses the paralytic bigger issue – his sin. Side note: I think that my relationship with God works this way a lot, I come to Him asking for something, and He responds in a way that is totally unexpected – but if I will just trust in Him I will see that He is doing something unbelievable in my life. Just like Jesus did something incredible in the life of this paralytic – he forgave his sins (I don’t know about you, but if Jesus looked at me with love in His eyes and told me that my sins are forgiven, it would be a memorable moment in my life).
Fourth, authority revisited. So, Jesus forgives sins now – blasphemer. The thoughts of the scribes are clear. They know that only God can forgive sins, so who is this – a mere human to offer forgiveness (especially when this paralytic hasn’t made all the ceremonial cleansing and offerings required for forgiveness – can anyone else hear Lt. Caffey saying “I know the law.”) I like how Jesus confronts the scribes here: “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’?” The answer is not that its easier to say your sins are forgiven, the answer is that neither is easier because I can’t tell the man his sins are forgiven any more than I can tell him to take up his mat and walk. The answer had to enter the minds of this group of scribes, which makes what Jesus does next amazing. Basically, what Jesus says is: you cannot do either, but to show you that I can forgive sins I say: take up your mat and walk – and the man is instantly healed. All the people glorified God and they were all amazed.