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.