Your Sins Are Forgiven - Mark 2:1-12

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!”

In the beginning of the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we are back in Capernaum in the, "Galilee of the Gentiles".  This choice of setting by the community of Mark, who we believe had a large Gentile segment, was likely deliberate.  They may have found it important to portray Jesus as delivering his message primarily in areas that had a known Gentile population to reinforce to themselves that Jesus' teaching was not just for Jews.  There must have also been some importance to the community in telling the story of Jesus' early ministry as a rural populist movement.  They have him begin with rural grassroots support before moving him to the large urban centre of Jerusalem.

On his return to Capernaum, Jesus has gained quite a reputation and a large crowd has gathered to hear him; so large that they overflowed the meeting place and were surrounding the building to hear his word.  This must have irked the religious authorities to no end, particularly the, "teachers of the law".  These were religious leaders who had not yet gained the credentials to give their own interpretation, or teaching, but had completed the training and had the permissions to teach accepted interpretations and teachings from those who did.  

The teachers of the law, to get this title would have to have been the best at their Beth Sefer and then their Beth Midrash.  They may have already spent time as a student of a certified Rabbi in order to work their way to the point where they might someday be considered as a candidate for semicha, Rabbinic ordination, and be granted their own s'mikhahto, "authority", and be able to give their own teaching.  Now they had to watch this country bumpkin, shaman, and faith healer draw in crowds of admirers that had come to hang on the words of a teaching he had no right or authority to give.  Why should he get the honour and respect that should be shown to those like themselves who had worked for it and earned it.  No wonder they were spoiling for a fight and looking to find fault that they might discredit him with the people.

Jesus provides that fault when he tells the paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven.  Actually, Jesus identifies what their criticism is going to be before they even get a chance to say it.  "Only God can forgive sins.  Are you so deluded that you think you are God?"  The writer answers the question both for the crowd in the story and for those Jews that would have questioned the legitimacy of Jesus as a criticism of the writer's community.  He does it in a way that both denies Jesus' divinity and establishes his right to give his teaching.

The writer does this in two ways; first in the title he has Jesus claim, and second in the act of healing the paralyzed man.  In Jesus response to the question, "Do you think you are God", he calls himself, "the Son of Man".  This both denies any claim at divinity and names his authority as stemming from his role as one of God's Prophets, one that is chosen by God to speak on his behalf.

"Son of Man", literally in Hebrew, "Human Being",  is the title most often used by God in the Hebrew Scriptures to address one of his Prophets to emphasise the difference between God's divine stature and the Prophet's mortal humanity.  But, noting the semantics, the writer is having Jesus claim another source of authority as well.  Jesus doesn't just call himself a Son of Man, but, "the", Son of Man.  Thereby stating that he is the Messiah, God's chosen king for the new Messianic Age.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. (Daniel 7:13 NIV)

"The Son of Man", is a title referring to the final king in Daniel's vision in the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel who is described as being" like a son of man". In the vision, four future rulers are portrayed as beast like creatures.  After these leaders a fifth ruler is portrayed as a human/angelic figure.  This last king is given authority and dominion over the earth.  Note the semantics again.  The writer is not having Jesus claim to be, " The One Like a Son of Man".  He is claiming to be the person represented in the vision by an angelic figure, not an angelic creature himself.  Just as the preceding kings in the vision represented as beasts are revealed in the susequent interpretation in the passage as being human leaders of actual empires, the, "one like a son of man", is explained in the interpretation as being an actual man chosen by God to have authority and dominion over the earth.  And, as Jesus explains in the story, this includes the authority to forgive sins.

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14 NIV)

The second way Jesus establishes his right to give his own teaching and give authority to the claim he has just made in the story, is to heal the paralyzed man.  The fact that God performs acts of miraculous mercy through Jesus proves that God affirms Jesus' words.  If what Jesus says is not from God, why would God show his power through him?  This is why it was important for the writer and his community to include so many stories of Jesus', "mighty deeds".

The passage also raises a question about the community's view on the cause of illness and infirmaries.  It looks at first glance that they are attributing the cause of the man's paralysis to some sin that he has committed.  However, a closer look at the passage shows the forgiveness of his sin and the healing of his paralysis are two separate acts.  The man is still paralyzed after Jesus forgives his sin.  It is not until after Jesus decides he needs to give the religious authorities an object lesson on his right to forgive sin and commands the man to get up does the healing occur.

So, what was this sin and why in the story is it made more important for the man to be forgiven than healed?  Imagine the bewilderment of the man's four friends.  The man's reuse of his legs was obviously of great importance to them and they made a herculean effort to get him in front of Jesus in order to get that fixed.  They had just worked as a team to haul the guy up on top of the house, dig through the roof and lower him inside on a mat.  Then all Jesus does is proclaim that the guy's sin is forgiven.

Or, were they bewildered?  The modern reader might think they would be, but there is no response from them or the crowd that Jesus missed the point of what they wanted.  To the Jewish mind of the time, the need to have one's sin forgiven was extremely important and prerequset to being accepted by God and by the community.  This was done by making sacrifice at the temple.  But, as a cripple, this man was excluded from the temple, was excluded from forgiveness, and was therefore a social outcast.

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. 18 No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; (Leviticus 21:16-18)

8 Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), he shall be chief and captain.”Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” (2 Samuel 5:8)

The four friends would never have expected Jesus to forgive the man's sin, but it served for them the primary goal, to bring him back into full fellowship with God and their community.  This would have been an important part of the story to the community of Mark.  They were saying that none among them, were they Gentile, female, crippled, or homosexual, were by their nature, or by virtue of who they were, excluded from Jesus' kingdom, or the full fellowship of God.