Mark 2:1-12
This
section marks the third teaching-miracle segment in this section of Mark’s
Gospel. Mark continues to alternate between teaching and miracles for much of
his book. Jesus’ authority as the Servant of the LORD is emphasized again in
this section. In these verses we see demonstrated Jesus’ ability to forgive
sins. And as you will see, this is a radical claim.
Mark
records one of the example of the difficulty of Jesus staying in the towns and
teaching which resulted from the leper spreading the news of what Jesus did.
Mark ends our chapter one with the broad statement about His inability to stay
in the towns and preaching because the crowds were too large. Mark gives us one
example of one such crowded incident.
The
crowd is so great that some men must dig a hole through the flat, mud roof in
order to get access to Jesus. Their friend needs healing, and they are going to
do whatever is needed to help him out, even if it means destruction of private
property. And so they dig through the roof above where Jesus is preaching. This
must have caused quite a commotion. But they persist.
Jesus
then does something remarkable. He ignores the man’s obvious physical
disability and He tells him that his sins are forgiven. I don’t know about you,
but at that moment I might have begun to questions my friends’ judgment in
bringing me to Jesus. He didn’t come for forgiveness, he came for physical
healing.
The
teachers who are present immediately recognize that Jesus is claiming a power
that belongs to God alone. Only God can forgive sins. They see that Jesus is
claiming to be God. If Jesus was not making this claim, it would have been easy
for Him to correct their misunderstanding at this point. He could have simply
restated what He said by making a distinction between God’s realm of authority
and His. But instead, Jesus makes the claim even stronger by connecting the man’s
forgiveness with his physical healing.
Forgiveness
is an invisible thing. It is something that takes place in the context of a
relationship. It is the repair after damage has been done. It is invisible, but
when it happens, actions change. The results can be seen as the forgiveness is
lived out in life. This man gets up and walks out. He carries with him his
former transportation vehicle, his mat.
The
people have the expected reaction. They are amazed. I would be too. And yet we
must not get our attention stuck on the physical healing. The physical was only
done to prove that Jesus could do the invisible. The physical without the
forgiveness would have been an empty healing. But with the forgiveness it
demonstrates that Jesus has the ability to forgive sins. When the man walked
away with mat in hand, he was walking proof that forgiveness is found in Jesus.