And he entered again into Capernaum after [several] days, and it was reported that he was at [the] house;
Jesus had spent days in lonely places outside the towns. Now He comes back to Capernaum, and the report that He is at home fills the house. Two questions sit in this verse: why had He stayed away, and why was this the town He came back to?
The "some days" away were not a rest He chose. Mark has just told us that a healed leper ignored the Lord's instruction to stay quiet, and the resulting publicity shut Him out of the towns.
After the healing, Jesus sent him off at once. He charged him to say nothing to anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest. The priest would then have clear evidence before him that the cure was real. The man disregarded this instruction. As soon as he left the Lord, he began to spread the news in the area around him. So Jesus could no longer go into a town. He stayed in desert places, and people came out to Him there.
Capernaum is not a random stop. It was the base He worked out from. That is why Mark can speak of Him being "at home" here at all.
This town, whose name means the city of comfort or consolation, seems to have been the chosen centre from which the Lord set out on His various journeys. Matthew calls it "His own city" (Matt. 9:1), and it was there, presumably because it was His place of residence, that the tax-collectors collected tribute from Him (Matt. 17:24).
He waited until the excitement had settled before going back. Even so, the news travelled fast, and the house filled.
But after some days, when the excitement had died down a little, the Lord enters the city again. Word soon spread that He was in the house. So many came together that there was no room to receive them, not even around the door. Jesus preached the word to them, because this service was always His first object. He was the Word, He was the Truth, He was Himself the very thing His word announced, the One whom man needed. His works also confirmed His word, and the people knew He had the power to deliver them from every evil.
"At home" points to one particular building. The same house keeps turning up in Mark, and each time something important happens in it.
This was the house Jesus and His disciples used whenever they came to Capernaum. Here the crowd gathered, and He healed the paralysed man who was let down through the roof (Mark 2:1-11). In the house He explained the parable of the sower to His disciples. In the house the Lord also asked the apostles in private what they had been arguing about on the road.
The rush to the house looks like a town waking up to the truth. Read alongside what the Lord later said about Capernaum, it looks very different.
It looked as if souls were eager to hear the truth. But sadly, a little later the Lord has to say, "And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades... it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." It was at Capernaum that the man was set free from the unclean spirit. There Simon's wife's mother was healed. There crowds brought all the sick to Him and He healed them, and there the paralysed man received the forgiveness of his sins. Capernaum was brought near to heaven, and to the power and grace of heaven, but all in vain, as far as most people were concerned. Then, as now, a crowd does not prove that souls are stirred or consciences awake. In their eyes the Lord's arrival was only a passing sensation. But before God, they heard such a ministry and did not repent, and that left them in a more terrible position.
- Absence. A healed man spread news the Lord had told him to keep quiet, and the publicity shut Jesus out of the towns. Fame can crowd out the work it advertises.
- Return. He came back "after some days," once the excitement had settled — timing, not reluctance, governed His movements.
- Home. Capernaum, "the city of comfort," was His base and His own city. The house He entered was one He used again and again, for teaching and for private talk with His disciples.
- Priority. The doorway was jammed, and He preached the word. That service was always His first object, and He was Himself the truth His words announced.
- Warning. Such privilege lifted Capernaum to heaven, and still the town did not repent. A packed house proves interest, not a changed conscience. The greater the ministry people hear, the more serious their refusal.
and straightway many were gathered together, so that there was no longer any room, not even at the door; and he spoke the word to them.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And there come to him [men] bringing a paralytic, borne by four;
Four men arrive at a house in Capernaum carrying a friend who cannot walk, and the crowd fills the place right up to the door. Their arrival raises the questions of the scene: what does paralysis picture, whose faith does Jesus answer, and why does He start with sin?
One writer sets this illness beside leprosy:
This illness is a fitting picture of how sin destroys power. Leprosy pictures the unclean stain of sin before God or man.
Faith here had to work around a man who could do nothing for himself:
Most listened only with their ears. But there was faith that kept going through the difficulties. It did not fail to make its appeal to Jesus. What could seem more hopeless? The leper at least could come to Him, could beg, could kneel down to Him. How could the paralysed man get through the crowd that stood between him and the Saviour? If he could not come himself, he could be brought. And so it was.
The crowd was a real obstacle, and it tested what kind of faith they had:
Suppose they had no urgent desire to be healed, and no full confidence in the power and love of Jesus. Then the crowd would have discouraged them, and they would have gone back, saying something like, "We will come again, we may be able to reach Him another time." But there are no difficulties for faith. Its principles are these: we need to find the Saviour, we need to feel our misery, and we need to feel that Jesus alone can heal us. His love is strong enough to look on us in our wretchedness.
Notice the man's poverty, and then notice the manners of his friends:
The word used for his bed is the one always used for the miserable pallet the poor lay on. So this is a case of extreme poverty, and that brings out the grace all the more clearly. Here was a poor, powerless, helpless frame — a weak, shattered, paralysed body. And there were willing hearts that brought this case of distress to Jesus. Look at their earnestness. They do not stand on ceremony; they do not ask permission, as though they were intruding. The place was full and He was busy. But they read that heart so well, and understood its affections so clearly, that they knew all times and circumstances were alike to Jesus for showing mercy. In their earnestness they break up the roof, to bring this case of distress into personal contact with Him.
What these four men did is still open to us:
Mark alone tells us that four carried him and describes fully the obstacles in the way. They had faith in His love and in His power. How it must have refreshed His heart! As His servants we can still bring sinners into His presence and honour Him by our confidence.
They came for a cure. He started deeper, at the cause behind every sickness:
The Lord recognises their faith. As always in His dealings with us, He looks beyond the outward need that may bring us to Himself. He deals first with the root of the trouble. Behind the paralysed man's disease, as behind all disease, lies the question of sin. Sin has brought disease and death into the world. It may be that the man and those who carried him thought little about their sins. Even so, they had faith in the Lord. At once the Lord answers that faith and begins to unfold the blessings of those who believe.
Another writer asks what the man had done to earn those words:
Whatever had that man done, to whom Jesus spoke those wonderful words, "Your sins are forgiven"? Let us look at Mark 2:1-12. Why, this seems strange. He had done nothing. He was too sick to do anything. He could not walk, or even stand. What a picture of man's condition — sin-sick, and so helpless he can do nothing! True of you, true of me, true of all.
- Carried. Paralysis pictures how sin destroys power. The man's whole part is to be carried: he could not come, but he could be brought.
- Crowded. The obstacle was real. The house was full to the door, and faith that a crowd could turn back would have gone home and tried another day.
- Uncovered. Deep need and confidence in His love opened the roof. There are no difficulties for faith.
- Welcomed. The bearers asked no permission and stood on no ceremony. They knew every moment suits Jesus for showing mercy.
- Forgiven. He looked past the need that brought them and dealt with the root. A man who had done nothing — too sick to do anything — heard that his sins were forgiven.
and, not being able to get near to him on account of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was, and having dug [it] up they let down the couch on which the paralytic lay.
A house in Capernaum was packed to the door, and four men carrying a paralysed friend would not turn back. They opened the roof and lowered him in — a scene that asks what faith does when the normal way in is shut.
Picture the building and the shock fades. Houses there had flat roofs with stairs on the outside. The covering came apart and went back with little trouble.
Often there are stairs outside the house that lead to the roof. These let them carry the sick man up to the roof in Mark 2:4, when they could not get in by the door. The roof is often made of sticks, thorn bushes, mortar and earth, which often have to be rolled firm again after rain. You could easily break a hole through such a roof to let down the paralytic.
The man himself had to agree to the plan and bear the pain it cost him.
But nothing is as fearless as earnest, determined faith like this! The sufferer agreed to bear the pain the plan would cost him. They went up an outside flight of stairs to the flat roof of the house. There they removed the tiling or the thin stone roofing — not a hard task at all, and easy to repair. Then they lowered the paralytic on his bed, through the opening they had made, into the presence of the Master.
What stood between this man and Christ was not enemies. It was the crowd itself.
The crowd around Jesus cared little for Him, because they knew nothing of His person and work. So the mass of people got in the way of a helpless person, aware of his sin, who was coming to Jesus. So it is now... But thank God, whatever hindrances seem to stand in the way of souls coming to Jesus, His eternal purpose must stand. A living faith in a living Saviour lets nothing keep it from that object.
The easy choice was to come back another day. They would not wait, and one writer sees that refusal as the proof of their faith.
This was clear proof of their faith. It was the deep sense of need, and confidence in Jesus, in His love, in His power. Suppose they had not urgently longed to be healed and had not trusted fully in the power and love of Jesus. Then the difficulty of the crowd would have discouraged them. They would have gone back saying something like, "We will come again, we may be able to get at Him another time." But there are no difficulties for faith.
Difficulties are not a sign that something has gone wrong. Where God works in a soul, faith will meet them.
God's work is not done by mass movements, but by individual work in souls, and where there is faith there will be difficulties to overcome. The palsied man was in himself helpless, so was "carried by four men"; but even so, "they could not get near him because of the crowd." But faith overcomes every obstacle.
Everything in this verse happens to him. Others carry him, others lower him. Writers see in his paralysis a picture of what sin does.
Why, this seems strange; he had done nothing; he was too sick to do anything. He could not walk, nor even stand. He was carried by four men, and they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. What a picture of man's condition — sin-sick, so helpless that he can do nothing! Sin-palsied, so bad that he cannot walk, cannot stand. True of you, true of me, true of all.
The word used for his bed points to how little he had.
The word used for "bed," or "couch," is the word that always describes the miserable mat the poor lay on. So this is a case of extreme poverty. I say, thank God for that, because it brings out the grace all the more clearly before our souls.
They did not knock, ask, or wait for an invitation.
There was no ceremony in this, nothing of the old reserve of the temple, no waiting for an introduction. This little company felt their need, knew the goodness of the Son of God, and believed that the two fitted each other — indeed, that the Lord carried His goodness, because needy sinners were carrying their need.
The man neither speaks nor moves in this verse.
His own condition rules out any approach on his part, but the faith of others carries him, through every obstacle, into the presence of Christ. How good to see the ready answer that such faith receives here.
- Blocked. The door was full, and the crowd around Jesus stood between Him and the one man who needed Him most.
- Determined. Faith did not wait for another day. It climbed the outside stairs and made its own opening.
- Helpless. Paralysis pictures what sin does. The man could not walk or stand, and brought nothing but his need.
- Carried. What he could not do for himself, four others did for him — their faith brought him into Christ's presence.
- Welcomed. They asked no permission and needed none. They counted on His heart, and the answer came at once.
But Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, Child, thy sins are forgiven [thee].
The house was so packed that four men had to open the roof to get their friend to Jesus. The first thing the Lord says is not about the man's paralysed body at all. It is about his sins.
The Lord saw their faith before He said a word. One writer describes what that faith was made of:
This was clear proof of their faith; it was a deep sense of need, and confidence in Jesus, in His love, in His power. Without an urgent desire to be healed, and full confidence in the power and love of Jesus, the crowd's difficulty would have discouraged them. They would have gone back, saying perhaps, "We will come again, we may be able to get to Him another time." But there are no difficulties for faith.
Ask what the man had done to earn the words spoken over him:
Whatever had that man done, to whom Jesus spoke those wonderful words, "Your sins are forgiven"? Why, this seems strange; he had done nothing; he was too sick to do anything. He could not walk, nor even stand. Four men carried him, and they let down the bed on which the paralysed man lay. What a picture of man's condition — sin-sick, so flat on his back that he can do nothing!
Four men carried a body through a roof. The Lord speaks to something deeper than the body:
Yes, this was the root of the evil, deeper than either leprosy or paralysis — sin. Man treats it as such a small thing, a mere moral scar on the surface! What must sin have been to Him who on the cross was made sin, who put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? He is filled with love, and He sees the faith that has sought Him out there. So He acts in the sovereignty of grace and speaks the wonderful words: "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Commentators differ on what the paralytic was actually worried about. One reads the scene as grace running well ahead of the man's own concerns:
The Lord recognises their faith. As always in His dealings with us, He looks past the outward need that may bring us to Him. He deals first with the root of the trouble. Behind the paralysed man's disease, as behind all disease, is the question of sin. Sin has brought disease and death into the world. It may be that the man, and those who brought him, were not much concerned about the sins. Still, they had faith in the Lord.
Another sees the man's illness as the result of his sins. So pardon had to come first, and the cure followed:
No word, that we read of, was spoken. It was a silent appeal, but evidence of the faith of those who carried him. For when He saw their faith, He said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." The governmental dealing with the man was removed. We may conclude that his sins were the reason he was afflicted. Those sins were forgiven, so healing followed at once.
The Lord calls him "Son" — a family word. And the story does not end with him lying there forgiven:
The house is full. So they take off the roof and let him down at the feet of Jesus. When He saw their faith He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven." And again, "Rise, pick up your bed, and go home." And he went out by the door. He had come in by the roof, lying on his back on the bed. So you see, whenever there is faith, the Lord owns relationship with the soul. Then He sends it out as a witness of His grace and power.
Jesus does not promise forgiveness for later. He announces it, and rest comes from that word:
The truth about pardon, peace, and acceptance must be received by faith. Only then can it be enjoyed, or its power felt. The moment the sinner is brought to Jesus in faith, the whole need of the soul is met — fully, perfectly, and for ever. When this is believed, the soul has rest; not, notice, in its own feelings, but in the word of Christ believed. He never says to anyone who comes to Him, "I will forgive." No, blessed be His name. In the plainest terms He says: "Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven; your faith has saved you; go in peace."
- Faith moves. It felt the need and trusted His love and power. The crowd could not turn it back — "there are no difficulties for faith."
- Faith carries. The paralysed man did nothing; he was too sick to do anything. Others brought him, and the Lord saw their faith.
- Faith is met below the surface. Jesus went past the paralysis to the root of the evil — sin, which man treats as a mere scar on the surface.
- Faith receives a name. "Son" is a family word. Where there is faith, the Lord owns relationship. Then He sends the person out as a witness of His grace and power.
- Faith rests on His word. He never says "I will forgive." He says your sins are forgiven — and rest comes from believing that word, not from feelings.
But certain of the scribes were there sitting, and reasoning in their hearts,
The house is packed, Jesus has just told a paralysed man that his sins are forgiven, and in that same room sit men who say nothing at all. Their silence is the point: Mark records no spoken word, only a verdict already formed inside them.
The scribes were the recognised experts in the law of Moses, and they had been watching. Something in the room kept their objection unspoken.
Such an answer to faith was also a challenge to unbelief. The scribes were sitting there watching among the rest, and it was bound to stir them. They keep it in their hearts without speaking. That shows they still felt the power of His presence, or that for the time "the world had gone after Him." But there in their hearts it ferments: "Why does this man speak like this? He blasphemes: who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Two congregations were in that room, not one.
But Satan, too, had his congregation there... They were wise in their own eyes. They were judges of law and gospel, and neither doers of the one nor believers of the other. They rejected Christ and His mercy. Their proud reason looked down on the blessed truth of God, and their proud self-righteousness hated the grace they never knew they needed... Not that they cared for God or loved man, but they hated Jesus for His grace; and if it were the truth, their occupation was gone.
The word Mark uses describes an argument that has not yet reached the mouth. It grows in stages.
The word translated "disputings" is "dialogismos". From it we get our word "dialogue." It begins with an inward questioning that may be silent. Then these inward questionings become doubts. But when they grow bolder and are spoken out loud, they are disputings. You may see them well illustrated in Mark 2:6 and 8, where they are well translated "reasoning." The Lord often had to meet this spirit.
Nobody objected while He healed diseases and cast out demons. The objection starts the moment He speaks about sins.
The moment the Lord uses His power to forgive sins the opposition begins. Men did not object when He cast out demons, healed diseases and cleansed lepers. Those things relieved people of physical trouble without necessarily disturbing the conscience. As soon as He speaks of sins, that touches the conscience, and men begin to oppose.
Their theology was not the problem. The unspoken assumption underneath it was.
The words of the scribes were true: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But their assumption was false — that the One who had just spoken was not God. He was God "manifest in the flesh," as He proved so often before their eyes. But all human reasoning founded on disbelief in the person of Christ must be not only false but evil.
One writer traces this reasoning, and all human reasoning, back to a single root.
Is not the answer to their reasoning, and to all human reasoning, this: where there is no sense of need, there is no grasp of the glory of the Person of Christ?
Their thoughts stayed unspoken, but not unknown.
The same inward habit of harbouring evil thoughts against the Lord Jesus came out when they carried the paralysed man to Him on his bed. The first words of the Lord to him were, "Son, your sins are forgiven." The scribes were sitting in the audience. As these words reached their ears, they accused Him of blasphemy in their hearts, in secret. They wrongly assumed within themselves that the Lord had taken over the right that belongs to God, who alone has authority to forgive sins. But the Lord perceived in His spirit their inward reasoning (Mark 2:8). The words that followed from Him showed everyone present that He could read the secret thoughts of men.
- Sitting. The scribes sat and watched. Their objection stayed inside them, because they still felt the power of His presence.
- Reasoning. The word means silent questioning inside. It hardens into doubt, then breaks out as open dispute.
- Conscience. Healed bodies drew no complaint. The word about sins touched the conscience, and that is where opposition started.
- Application. Their premise was sound: God alone forgives. But reasoning built on disbelief in who Christ is turns a true principle into a false and evil conclusion.
- Exposed. Where there is no sense of need, no one sees the glory of Christ. Then the One they accused read their unspoken verdict aloud.
Why does this [man] thus speak? he blasphemes. Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?
The scribes stay silent, but in their hearts they accuse Jesus of insulting God for forgiving a paralysed man's sins. Their rule about God is right — the real question is whether they know who is sitting in front of them.
Start with the word behind their charge.
Blasphemy is one of the New Testament Greek words. Among the Jews it gained a wider meaning than it had in classical writing. There it meant simply "speaking against" a person. So a "blasphemy" was the opposite of speaking well of someone.
Their premise was not the problem. Notice, too, what set them off.
The moment the Lord uses His power to forgive sins the opposition starts. Men did not object when He cast out demons, healed diseases, and cleansed lepers. Those works relieved people of bodily trouble, and they did not have to touch the conscience. As soon as He speaks of sins, He touches the conscience, and men begin to oppose. They say, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Their argument was true in principle, for God alone can forgive sins. It was wrong in application. They failed to see the glory of the Person who was present — God manifest in flesh.
He looked past the paralysed body to the root of the trouble. And pardon still has a price.
The Lord uses the wretched state of the paralytic to point out the true root of all evils — sin. He had come because sin was in the world. And why did He come, if not so that sin might be forgiven? Since God is just, there must of course be a perfect atonement for sins before He can forgive them. But Jehovah, who knew everything, could grant the pardon through the Son of man... Psalm 103 celebrates Him as the One who would forgive all Israel's iniquities and heal all his infirmities.
Their objection stayed inside their heads. He answered it anyway.
Jesus was present as the One who pardons iniquities and heals diseases (Ps. 103:3). But He was also present as the One who searches the hearts, tests the inner life, and knows the innermost thoughts (Ps. 94:11; Jer. 17:10). He saw the faith of the five men, and He saw the reasonings of the scribes too. He saw them in His own all-knowing spirit. This was not a power given to Him for the moment, as it might have been with a prophet. No one but God could see into the secret workings of a man's spirit, as Solomon admitted in his prayer (1 Kings 8:39)... Who else could "hear them thinking"?
Their problem was not the argument. It was pride.
They were wise in their own eyes. They set themselves up as judges of law and gospel, and they neither did the one nor believed the other... They rejected Christ and His mercy. Their proud reason looked down on the blessed truth of God. Their proud self-righteousness rejected and hated the grace they never knew they needed... The principle they urged was true, the application fatally false. How often religious unbelievers crash on this rock and perish!
The same blindness is not unique to them.
What is the answer to their reasonings, and to all human reasonings? Where there is no sense of need, there is no realization of the glory of the Person of Christ.
The scribes also had something to lose.
The religious rulers found this way of Jesus interfered with them. Their interest was to keep God and the people apart; for then they had hopes of being used themselves. So they were angry when the Lord said to the man, "Your sins are forgiven." It was a great interference with them. It trespassed on their position. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" — and God was in heaven. The Son of man forgiving sins on earth upset the whole system that kept them in credit and plenty in the world.
- Right rule. Only God forgives sins. On that, the scribes were correct.
- Wrong Person. They missed the glory of the One standing in front of them — God manifest in flesh.
- Real disease. He treated sin, not paralysis, as the root trouble. Pardon rests on a perfect atonement, and it was His to give.
- Silent proof. He answered thoughts they never spoke. Only God can search a heart like that.
- Real reason. Pride and position blocked them. Where no one feels the need, the glory of Christ stays hidden.
And straightway Jesus, knowing in his spirit that they are reasoning thus within themselves, said to them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
The scribes never opened their mouths. They formed the charge of blasphemy in silence, inside themselves. The Lord answered it anyway. Mark says He knew it "in His spirit" — which raises two questions. What sort of knowledge is this? And why did Jesus speak it out loud instead of letting it pass?
The verse does not describe a prophet given a flash of insight for one occasion. Commentators point to something bigger: who is standing in that room.
But Jesus was there not only as the One who pardons sins and heals diseases (Ps. 103:3). He was also the One who searches hearts, tests our inmost feelings, and knows our deepest thoughts (Ps. 94:11; Jer. 17:10). He who saw the faith of the five men perceived the reasoning of the scribes in His own all-knowing spirit (compare John 2:24; John 6:61). He did not know it by a power lent to Him for the moment, as might have happened with a prophet. Only God can see into the secret workings of a person's spirit, as Solomon admitted in his prayer (1 Kings 8:39; Ezek. 11:5). By answering their thoughts, the Lord gave the Pharisees proof of who He really is. Who else could "hear them thinking"?
The same words that show His divine knowledge also say something about His humanity. Scripture speaks of His spirit again and again.
The simple soul will turn to Scripture and find plenty of proof that the humanity of the Lord Jesus included spirit as well as body and soul. This spirit is distinct from the Holy Spirit given to Him. See Mark 2:8, "knowing in His spirit"; Mark 8:12, "groaned in His spirit"; Luke 10:21, "rejoiced in spirit"; "Into your hands I commend my spirit" — exactly as His servant said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" — Matthew 27:50, John 19:30; John 11:33, "deeply moved in spirit"; John 13:21, "troubled in spirit."
These men judged both law and gospel, and were sure of themselves. Kelly traces their objection back to the one thing they never saw.
They were wise in their own eyes. They set themselves up as judges of law and gospel, and they neither kept the one nor believed the other... They rejected Christ and His mercy. Their proud reason looked down on the blessed truth of God. Their proud self-righteousness pushed away and hated the grace they never knew they needed... "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" There was the secret. They did not know the glory of Jesus, and they left His divine dignity right out of the account. The principle they urged was true; the way they applied it was completely false. How often this is the rock that wrecks religious unbelievers and destroys them!
By speaking their silent thoughts back to them, He gave them evidence — and left them with no excuse.
These reasoners have no excuse, for the Lord goes on to give evidence of the glory of His Person. He shows them that they stand before One from whom no thoughts are hidden. They may have said nothing out loud. Yet the Searcher of hearts knew it all, and He can say, "Why do you question these things in your hearts?" Is not the answer to their reasoning, and to all human reasoning, that where there is no sense of need there is no grasp of the glory of the Person of Christ?
He does not debate the point. He turns them to what He is doing.
In our passages (Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:2; Luke 5:24) the Lord seeks to lead man away from his own reasonings and calculations to Himself and His works. He perceived that the scribes were "reasoning among themselves." Then He set before them what He was doing — "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, rise, pick up your bed, and go home."
Kelly weighs the two things the Lord could say to the man.
He charged them with their hidden thoughts. Then He asked them which was easier: to give forgiveness by a word, or to give a bodily cure. Which claim was easier to make? Who but a divine person, or one who wields divine power, could say either of them? Both were equally easy to God, and both impossible to man.
- Hidden. The scribes never spoke the charge of blasphemy. They reasoned it in the heart, where only God can read.
- Perceived. He knew it in His own spirit. He did not borrow that knowledge for the moment, as a prophet would. This is how the One who searches hearts knows.
- Human. The same phrase shows His true humanity: spirit as well as soul and body, and not the Holy Spirit given to Him.
- Exposed. Their principle was right: only God forgives sins. But they left the glory of Jesus out of the account, so they applied it wrongly.
- Answered. He turns them from their reasoning to His works. Forgiving and healing are both impossible to man and both easy to God.
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, [Thy] sins are forgiven [thee]; or to say, Arise, and take up thy couch and walk?
The question in this verse is not an idle riddle. Jesus had just told a paralysed man his sins were forgiven, and the scribes were accusing Him of blasphemy in their hearts.
The scribes never opened their mouths. Jesus answered them anyway.
But Jesus was present not only as the One to pardon iniquities and heal diseases (Ps. 103:3), but also as the One who searches the hearts, tests the deepest feelings and knows the innermost thoughts (Ps. 94:11; Jer. 17:10). He who saw the faith of the five men read the reasoning of the scribes by His own all-knowing spirit. He did not do it by a power lent to Him for a time, as might have been the case with a prophet. Only God could see into the secret workings of a man's spirit... Who else could "hear them thinking"?
The two sentences look very different to us. One can be tested; the other cannot. That difference only exists for people who can do neither.
He appealed to them whether it was easier by a word to convey forgiveness or a bodily cure. Which claim was quicker to make? Who but a Divine person, or the wielder of Divine power, could say either the one or the other? They were equally easy to God, alike impossible to man.
In most mouths a word costs less than a deed. Not in His.
But He pursues even the unspoken thought with His divine knowledge: "Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier" — a beautiful word, that "easier". With Him words must have their full worth, nothing less. So the word carries all the weight of the deed... Yet now His deeds shall vouch for His words, if only it may win them to faith.
The scribes were right that only God forgives sins. Their mistake was about who stood in front of them. Either sentence was within His power, and He chose to begin with the trouble nobody could see.
As God alone could heal a man of leprosy, so God alone could forgive sins; so far the scribes were right. Their great mistake was that they did not believe Jesus to be God... One was as plain as the other. He could have said either. He had a true and gracious spiritual motive for dealing with the real root of the evil first. The deepest necessity of man was not to rise and walk, but first of all to have his sins forgiven.
The man's illness was not his deepest trouble.
The Lord uses the wretched state of the paralysed man to point out the true root of all evils — sin. He had come because sin was in the world, and what was His purpose, if not that sin might be forgiven?
The scribes believed God forgives. What they could not accept was forgiveness handed out on the spot, on earth, by a man in front of them.
This was not the doctrine that God could pardon. They believed that. But God had intervened, and pardon was present. They would no longer have to wait for the last day, nor for a day of judgment, to know their condition. No prophet like Nathan would need to come and announce it for a God who was in heaven while His people were on earth. Pardon was come, in the Person of the Son of man come down to earth.
So Jesus does what everyone can watch, to prove what nobody can see.
The Lord answered them by stating a very important principle. He shows His ability to forgive sins by His ability to free the sinner from the consequences of his sin. I don't mean the physical consequences of sin. I mean the moral one, which is total powerlessness to walk for God. No one can see that another man has had his sins forgiven. But everyone can see the proof of it — the ability to walk for God.
The man carries out the very thing that carried him in.
His useless limbs grew strong, so that he got up at once. He was so well that he could take up the mat he had been carried to Jesus on, and carry it away in front of them all. That was undeniable evidence of his complete recovery. What had once proved his weakness now witnessed to his strength.
- Root — Jesus names sin as "the true root of all evils." So He meets the man's deepest need before his obvious one.
- Equal — the two sentences are not a hard one and an easy one: "equally easy to God, alike impossible to man."
- Weight — with Him a word is never just a word. It "carries all the weight of the deed," and the deed proves the word.
- Present — pardon does not wait for a judgment day, and no prophet has to bring the news. It stands in the room in the Person of the Son of man.
- Walk — nobody can see forgiveness. But everyone can see a man rise and carry the bed that once carried him. Power to walk is the visible proof of the invisible gift.
But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic,
Jesus had told a paralysed man that his sins were forgiven. The scribes objected: only God can forgive sins. This verse is His answer. He names Himself "the Son of Man," and He claims for that name a right the scribes gave to God alone.
He did not answer as Messiah, Israel's promised King. He took another name.
The Lord speaks here not as Christ or Messiah, but as "Son of man." That is how He always spoke. It is the title of His manhood, both in His rejection and in His glory. As such He blesses faith here. As such He will judge unbelief later (John 5)... He who pardons gives life and power, to the glory of God; and this as Son of man, the name of mercy to the ruined who bow to Him.
Another writer points to where the title comes from. God used it for prophets who served far from Judah.
In His messages to the prophet Ezekiel, Jehovah often uses the title "Son of man" when He speaks to him... Both Ezekiel and Daniel were prophets of the exile. They served away from Judah, which was then under Gentile power. The Lord took this title too. He was the despised Servant-Prophet, working in "Galilee of the Gentiles." So He proved His authority to forgive sins not as Jehovah of Psalm 103, and not as the Messiah of Israel, but as the Son of man.
Their objection was not nonsense. It failed on one point only.
The moment the Lord uses His power to forgive sins the opposition begins. Men did not object when He cast out demons, healed diseases and cleansed lepers. Those things relieved the body, and they did not have to touch his conscience. As soon as He speaks of sins, He touches the conscience, and men begin to oppose. They say, "Who can forgive sins but God only?" Their argument was true in principle, because God alone can forgive sins. It was wrong in application. They failed to see the glory of the Person standing in front of them — God manifest in flesh.
The Greek word behind "authority" means more than ability.
He says this with clear reference to Psalm 103:3: "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority [ἐξουσίαν — the right as well as the ability] on earth to forgive sins." ... The outward sign of power guaranteed the gift of grace. Both showed that the One who spoke was the Son of man on earth.
Nobody watching could see whether sins were gone. So the Lord gave them something they could see.
He asked which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Rise up and walk." If a man said either, nothing would happen. So He proved His authority to forgive sins by showing His authority as Son of Man over disease, where all could see it. At His word the paralysed man rose at once and walked. The paralysis was not all He healed. The man's body had lain unused and his muscles had wasted, yet the Lord gave him strength to act at once — to carry his bed home. He had used grace and power in such a wonderful way. Who then could dispute the grace and power of the Lord Jesus to forgive sins?
The two small words "on earth" fix the time and place of pardon.
He did not say, "That you may know that God in heaven will one day forgive sins." He said, "that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." ... He has authority from God, and He is God Himself. But still it is as Son of man, which adds greatly to the grace of His ways.
The Lord's preaching carried the same timing.
Our Lord also preached the precious truth that sins are forgiven now. This can be known, not only on a deathbed, but today... And did He not press it so that the people might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins?
One writer turns the scene into an appeal to the reader.
Why should you not take hold of such words of divine grace? They are for every soul of man that believes. They were not limited to that age or race or land. They are written in God's word, which never perishes, for guilty men wherever they are... Miracles may stop. But the love that forgives sins never fails, and it forgives every needy sinner who believes.
- Name: He answers as Son of Man — the title of His manhood in rejection and in glory, and the name of mercy for the ruined.
- Right: "Authority" means the right as well as the ability — He may forgive, and He can.
- Proof: The healing was visible proof of the invisible pardon. His word raised the body, so His word could clear the guilt.
- Place: "On earth" rules out a pardon put off to some later day. He forgives here, now, today.
- Reach: The scribes were right that God alone forgives; they missed who was standing there. The same word of grace still reaches every believing sinner, in any age or land.
To thee I say, Arise, take up thy couch and go to thine house.
The Lord has just forgiven this man, and the man still cannot move. Now comes the order to stand — and a room full of watchers will see whether a word can do what it says.
The religious teachers had already objected in their hearts to the word of forgiveness. This command answers them. Both sayings need the same power behind them.
He knew in His spirit that they were reasoning this way in their hearts. He charged them with their hidden thoughts. He asked them which was easier: to give forgiveness by a word, or to heal the body. Which claim was easier to make? Who but a divine person, or one wielding divine power, could say either the one or the other? They were equally easy to God, alike impossible to man... The outward sign of power guaranteed the gift of grace, and both showed that the One who spoke was the Son of man on earth.
One psalm joins pardon and healing in a single line: "who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases" (Psalm 103:3).
The great need of guilty Israel was this forgiveness, and Christ announces it... But God, the Jehovah of Psalm 103, was present there in the person of the Son of man. He gives proof that this right belonged to Him by fulfilling what that very psalm says: "who heals all your diseases."... Pardon and power to heal had come upon earth in the person of the Son of man. He had divine rights and divine power, yet He was down here on earth in humiliation, to bring the love and the power of God to the wretchedness of man.
Mark puts this story right after the healing of a leper. Together the two cases show sin from two sides.
In the one case, sin is seen as the great picture of defilement. In the other, sin is seen as guilt joined with total weakness. Man is completely unfit for the presence of God, and he needs cleansing from his disgusting impurity. That is what leprosy pictures. Man is completely powerless to walk here below, and he needs forgiveness as well as strength. That is the great truth set out in the case of the paralytic.
The man himself brought nothing to this. He could not even stand.
Whatever had that man done to whom Jesus spoke those wonderful words, "Your sins are forgiven"? ... Why, this seems strange. He had done nothing. He was too sick to do anything. He could not walk, or even stand... What a picture of man's condition — sin-sick, so helpless that he can do nothing! Sin-paralysed, so bad that he cannot walk, cannot stand... Jesus pardoned first, and then gave power to walk. And still He pardons first, and then gives power to walk in holiness before God.
The "bed" was not furniture. It was a light mat, easy enough for a healed man to pick up and carry.
In the East the beds were simply mats that could be rolled up in the morning and put away in any corner. This explains why the people who were healed were told to "take up" their beds.
Carrying it turned his whole situation around.
Not only is his need met, but power is given... In other words, what carried him, he carried. What a demonstration of power!
Telling a paralysed man to stand means nothing — unless the one who speaks also gives him the strength to obey.
Here again the miracle was instant and complete. The man had been completely helpless. He got up at once, picked up his bed and walked out in front of them all. Every mouth gave glory to God. The Lord commanded and the man had only to obey, for the enabling went with the command.
The Lord does not leave him lying there. He sends him home, and He sends him for a reason.
So you see, wherever there is faith, the Lord owns a relationship with that soul. Then He sends the soul out as a witness of His grace and power. There ought to be no cripples in the Lord's camp.
- Pardon first. The man had done nothing and could do nothing. Christ forgave him before a muscle moved.
- Proof next. Both sayings were "equally easy to God, alike impossible to man." The cure they could see guaranteed the gift they could not.
- Power given. The enabling travelled with the command. The Lord did not ask him to try; He made him able.
- Weakness reversed. What had carried him, he now carried. The bed that showed his weakness now showed his strength.
- Sent out. He walks home forgiven and strong, a living witness of the grace that reached him.
And he rose up straightway, and, having taken up his couch, went out before [them] all, so that all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it thus.
This verse ends the account of a paralysed man carried to Jesus. How can anyone know a word of forgiveness is real when no one can see it? Here is the answer, given in public.
The crowd could not see sins lifted, so the Lord gave them something they could see. One writer asks who could say either word.
Which word was easier to say? Who but a divine Person, or one wielding divine power, could say either one? Both were equally easy to God, and impossible for man… The outward sign of power guaranteed the gift of grace. Both showed that He who spoke was the Son of Man on earth.
A paralysed man cannot obey an order to stand. What made obedience possible was not effort but the One giving the order.
Here again the miracle was instantaneous and complete. The man had been utterly helpless. He got up at once, picked up his bed and walked out in front of them all. The sight drew glory to God from every mouth. The Lord commanded and the man had only to obey, for the enabling went with the command.
The mat had been the plain proof of his weakness. Watch what it becomes.
These words carried His own authority ("I say to you"). He did not speak for someone else. They took effect on the paralysed man at once. Strength came into his useless limbs, and he stood up. He was so well that he could pick up the mattress on which they had carried him to Jesus, and take it away in front of them all. That was undeniable evidence of his full restoration. What had previously proved his weakness now became a witness to his strength.
The order of the two words matters. One writer shows why the walking could not come first.
The order of blessing is full of meaning. First, "your sins are forgiven you," and then "rise and walk." The load of unforgiven sin is too heavy. No one can lift it and still find power to walk in a way that pleases God. With pardon made sure by Him, the soul rises with the strength found in this new joy in Him. All is changed for it. The path is a path with Him, not a path to find Him… The legal principle "do and live" cannot work. It has given way to the gospel one, "live and do."
Some in the room were arguing about who Jesus was. They could not follow a claim about forgiveness. But they could not deny what their eyes saw.
While they debated Him and His Person, they could not understand mercy, nor the divine presence of Jesus. But they could grasp the evidence of that mercy in things they could see. So miracles do not convert, though they may draw attention. They leave people without excuse, and they also confirm and convince. So He said, "But that you may know that the Son of Man…" Here was a great truth of the highest importance: the Son of Man is a divine Person. And being that, He still served in ministry.
Everyone in the room glorified God that day. Yet faith built on sight has a limit.
The miracle was also an undeniable testimony to the claims of the One then in Capernaum. The sight made a deep impression on the crowd. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this." Israel will one day see and believe on the evidence of sight. But the Lord said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). This applies to the Christian today.
One writer hears these words reach far past the room that first said them.
This is what the rejoicing man now has: forgiveness of sins. It is not a mere possibility under strict conditions. It is not something he will only learn when he is called to meet God. It is his now, "on earth," fully assured and made his own. The new life flowing through him is the seal of it… No wonder they were amazed, and glorified God for it! And not only they: to earth, hell, heaven, it was the marvel of marvels. This company of earth's fallen creatures were, in their misery, the objects of the love that brought Him down. Angels were saying in adoration along with them: "We never saw anything like this."
- Word — the enabling went with the command; the man had only to obey what he had no strength to do.
- Pardon — forgiveness comes first. No one can walk to please God while still carrying guilt.
- Proof — the visible healing guaranteed the invisible gift, showing who was speaking.
- Walk — the mat that once proved his weakness left the house as the witness of his strength.
- Wonder — the crowd glorified God at what they saw. A greater blessing rests on those who believe without seeing.