Jesus Is Lord over Sin and Sickness (Mark 2:1–12)

As this chapter begins, Jesus had already performed several miracles. In chapter 1, the text says that the whole city had gathered at Peter’s house to see Jesus and that Jesus could not publicly enter a city. Since hospitality is one of the basic laws of the East, the people of Capernaum did not wait for an invitation but simply came to the house in droves. This meant that some of the truly needy people could not get close enough to Jesus to receive His help. Chapter 2 begins as a continuation of this theme. Jesus was speaking and the crowds were so large there was standing room only. Consider this scene through the eyes of the Lord Jesus.

I. When He looked up, He saw the four men on the roof with their sick friend.

1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

A. The paralytic was being carried by his four friends.

While Palestinian homes would have been accessible to someone wanting to get on the roof, it was by no means a daily occurrence. The houses were low, usually with an outside stairway to reach the roof.

The roofs were tiled and covered with thatch. The four men had to drag the cot up the stairs, tear up the tiles, and dig through the thatch. The hole would have to be large enough to get the cot through. Add to this the annoyance of the people below. Debris would be falling on them as they tried to listen to the words of Jesus. A further complicating matter would be the damage to someone else’s property.

B. We must admire several characteristics of these men, qualities that ought to mark us as “fishers of men.”

They were deeply concerned about their friend and wanted to see him helped. They had the faith to believe that Jesus could and would meet his need. They did not simply “pray about it,” but they put some feet to their prayers; and they did not permit the difficult circumstances to discourage them.

They worked together and dared to do something different, and Jesus rewarded their efforts. How easy it would have been for them to say, “Well, there is no sense trying to get to Jesus today! Maybe we can come back tomorrow.”

II. When our Lord looked down, He saw the palsied man lying on his mat.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

A. When Jesus saw their faith. Whose faith did Jesus see?

The text says “their faith.” He certainly saw the faith of the four men who would not let any barrier stand in the way of their friend’s need. But I believe that Jesus also saw the man’s faith. It took courage to lie calmly while people were hauling you up a flight of stairs and then lowering you through a hole in the roof. But perhaps there was even more evidence than that.

The reference to “faith” is significant. The inner conviction and trust of the paralytic and his friends in Jesus’ power is evident in the effort they made to get to Jesus. Mark commends their faith as it was manifest in their action. In Mark, faith is expressed concretely as it overcomes obstacles placed in its way .

B. Jesus went to the heart of the man’s problem—sin.

Even before He healed the man’s body, Jesus spoke peace to the man’s heart and announced that his sins were forgiven! Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs. It meets the greatest need; it costs the greatest price; and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results.

“your sins are forgiven”. This remark got Jesus into trouble with the theologians. In spite of the fact that it is expressed as a divine passive that attributes forgiveness to God.

III. Jesus looked around and saw the critics who had come to spy on Him.

6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

A. He saw the critical spirit in their hearts and knew that they were accusing Him of blasphemy.

After all, only God can forgive sins; and Jesus had just told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Jesus was claiming to be God! But the next instant, He proved Himself to be God by reading their hearts and telling them what they were thinking. Since they wanted to “reason” about things, He gave them something to ponder: Which is easier, to heal the man or to tell him he is forgiven?

Obviously, it is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven!” because nobody can prove whether or not the forgiveness really took place. So, to back up His words, Jesus immediately healed the man and sent him home. The healing of the man’s body was but an illustration and demonstration of the healing of his soul.

B. Jesus affirmed His deity not only by forgiving the man’s sins and healing his body, but also by applying to Himself the title “Son of man.

Suppose the religious leaders had opened their hearts to the truth that day, what could they have learned? For one thing, they could have learned that sin is like sickness and that forgiveness is like having your health restored.

This was not a new truth, for the Old Testament Scriptures had said the same thing (Ps. 103:3; Isa. 1:5–6, 16–20); but now it had been demonstrated before their very eyes. They also could have learned that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is indeed the Saviour with authority to forgive sins—and their own sins could have been forgiven! What an opportunity they missed when they came to the meeting with a critical spirit instead of with a repentant heart!