We have never seen anything like this!

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so 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, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

- Mark 2:1-12

My study bible notes that this passage is read on the second Sunday of Lent in the Eastern Church. So, it is fitting that we are reading it today in the midst of Lent. It has a threefold symbolism for preparation for Easter. My study bible notes this threefold quality as follows: "(1) We must come to Christ in faith and let Him heal us of our spiritual paralysis. Sin is a paralysis of the soul. (2) We should let nothing deter us from getting to Christ, who alone can heal us, both in body and in soul. (3) We must help each other come to Christ."

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Here Mark the evangelist continues to give us a picture of Jesus' fame and renown, especially as a healer. So many come to him - this time at home - that there is no room left. My study bible points out that Jesus will preach wherever he finds a flock, wherever he can minister: on a mountaintop, on the plain, in the synagogue. Here, today, we are in a house.

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. We get many stories in the gospels of the healing of paralysis by Jesus. We've just gone through the first half of the book of John before taking up Mark's gospel again; in John's gospel it was the healing of the paralytic that first began to set the leadership against Jesus, for healing on the sabbath and for telling the man to take up his mat and walk. Here a paralytic is helped by his friends to get to Jesus any way he can, even by being lowered down through the roof. We are reminded, as my study bible notes above, that we are to bring each other to healing, to Christ. Faith and help work through a network of which we each are a part. Relatedness is something we should not forget as part of the work of Spirit.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ My study bible points out that the scribes inadvertently affirm Jesus' divinity with their question, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Here we have a glimpse also of the nature of healing in this context: it always takes into account all of what and who we are as human beings. It does not take place merely as a physical act of correction; it is, rather, included in a restoration of right relatedness, a restoration of full self in the love of God. There is no part of us left out of it.

At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so 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, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ While the scribes objected to Jesus pronouncing the man's sins forgiven, Jesus challenges them to an exercise in apprehension: which is easier? Can he say and do one, and not the other? The signs of his divinity are expressed fully through the action of healing on both of these levels. Again, there is affirmation not only of the origin of Jesus' works in the divine, but also of the completeness of the nature of love and healing at work. But most of all, there is that powerful presence, the immediacy of the new reality at work in the midst of them.

And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’ These are the words echoed again in the gospel of John by the temple police when they try - and fail - to arrest Jesus. There, they say, "Never has anyone spoken like this!" Mark's gospel seeks to open our eyes to something astonishing, and new. Jesus impacts the Jewish world and life of the spiritual community as something entirely new, that has not been seen before. This is a theme that is so far (and we are only at the beginning of the second chapter) running through Mark's gospel. (See The kingdom of God has come near.) The teaching and ministry and healing is all of one cloth, and it is all astonishing. Jesus is astonishing, and we are to understand that repentance, the "about-face" preached by John the Baptist, was in preparation for this astonishing, "head turning," if you will, person who is Jesus and his ministry.

The theme of the astonishing news which we prepare for is a good one for Lent. This is a time of preparation, after all. We are to be reconsidering at this time - reflecting, preparing to open our eyes to something new and different. But the kingdom of God is always "news" - it is always something new and astonishing that makes its way into our hearts via grace. For this we prepare, we pray, we set aside time and ourselves and our priorities to "make his paths straight," as it were. What do you put aside, in order to be astonished, to receive the good news? In order to be astonished, we set aside what we cling to and hold dear, the things we cling to that keep us from seeing that which is new and ready to open up to us in grace, to have our heads turned so that we do an about-face. Are you ready to receive the new, which is always new and working in us now to transform and open up our eyes to healing? My study bible notes, above, that "sin is a paralysis of the soul." We have to be willing to give up our own vision in order to see the new, to become "unstuck," to go forward in the process of salvation that continues for a lifetime.