(Mark 2:1-12)
These words are a tremendous comfort to Christians. When Jesus says these words to us through his gospel it lifts a great weight from our shoulders. Even more than this, under the New Covenant Jesus says not only are our sins forgiven, but also they are completely taken away.
In this section we see Jesus is in a house with so many people in and around that no one could approach. There was a man who was paralysed and carried to Jesus on a pallet. They could not even get close to Jesus, so the men carrying him removed part of the roof and lowered him by the four corners of the pallet to where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus saw the extent they had gone to and their faith that Jesus could heal the paralytic he said, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” (Verse 5) He would have been comforted in these words, but there was still more to come.
There were scribes around him who questioned in their hearts over this statement saying to themselves, “It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Verse 7) But they were wrong on both counts for they failed to recognise that Jesus is the Son of God and that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus aware of their thoughts then proceeded to prove to them he had both the power and authority to make this statement.
In this world it is impossible that anyone can heal a paralytic just by saying the words, “Be healed.” But Jesus as the Son of God and using the power of the Holy Spirit could easily do this. However he was trying to show by this action that his power and authority extended even further than just the healing. This is why he first said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.”
In my recent posts I have shown that one of the main purposes of the miraculous healings was to confirm the truth of the gospel as shown in Mark 16:20. Here too we see Jesus using the power of healing to confirm and prove the truth of his power and words. By making the statement that this man’s sins are forgiven through his faith, he then healed him saying, “Rise, take up your pallet and go home.” (Verse 11) This was a proof to the scribes that he did indeed have the power on earth to forgive sins. Had the man not been healed they could have argued Jesus was indeed blaspheming, but as his words were confirmed by the healing of the paralytic the scribes could not argue Jesus’ ability to forgive sins. He had both the power and authority to do these works.
In this healing he showed he could and would be able to take away the sins of mankind. This is an important point for without the removal of sin we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. No sinner will enter God’s Kingdom, but in Jesus our sins can be taken away for he has both the power and authority to do so, which he proved in this healing.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
