That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 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. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 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? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." 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!"

- Mark 2:1-12

Yesterday, we read of Jesus growing fame as preacher and healer, and His desire for times alone in prayer. He spends time in the wilderness in prayer - and is even sought there. Peter comes to Him saying, "Everyone is looking for You." Increasingly Jesus is unable to enter any city alone, and must preach in the wilderness, due to all those who seek Him, who "come to Him from every direction." See He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed.

My study bible has a significant note on the whole of today's passage. In the Orthodox Church, this is read on the Second Sunday of Lent. This passage gives a three-way understanding of preparation for Easter. As we are now in Epiphany, I suppose we may look forward to this time. My study bible notes, "(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."

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 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. My study bible points out that Jesus preached wherever there were people -- in the synagogue, on the mountain , on the plain, and here in a house. Yesterday we read that He began to preach in the wilderness for all the people who were coming to Him. Capernaum functions as a sort of headquarters town for Him and His disciples (also in yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' healing Peter's mother-in-law in the home of brothers Peter and Andrew there in Capernaum). Jesus has said of His preaching everywhere: "For this purpose I have come forth." His public ministry is for the preaching of the good news: that the kingdom of God is at hand. The healings and miracles are, in a way, an assistance to that preaching, His testimony. They are signs that point to the reality of the presence of the Father.

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, . . . My study bible points out that the heart in Scripture usually refers to the center of consciousness, "including the will and reason." Jesus' teachings (and His healing power) will serve as a similar stumbling block to His crucifixion: they open up what is truly in the hearts of others. Here the powerful good news of forgiveness (for illness was often seen as a punishment for sins, as in the case of the leper in yesterday's reading) forms a stumbling block in contrast with accepted understanding, and so the scribes "were sitting there reasoning in their hearts." We also note the powerful draw of Jesus, the crowds that fill the home, and the efforts of the man's friends to help him find healing. But first comes the spiritual healing, the good news, the announcement of forgiveness.

"Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" My study bible points out that the scribes are correct in saying that only God can forgive sins, and notes that they in fact unwittingly confirm the divinity of Christ. I think there is an important point to understand here: we don't stand judged before the world, but by God. God is the focal point, then, of how we must see ourselves and our spiritual reality. It is that relationship that gives us a central core of understanding of ourselves.

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? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? My study bible says, "The point is not that either one is easier, but that One who can say, Arise take up your bed and walk is also able to forgive sins." We must see the healing miracles as signs or testimony to the Father's Presence at work, to God's presence. They testify in this sense to Jesus' divinity; they are a part of His identity. Jesus' "coming forth" (as He put it in yesterday's reading) is for a powerful testimony, and all things He does add to that testimony. He is not afraid to take it another step further in the face of objection, to create an even more powerful witnessing.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." 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!" There is one all-important phrase here: "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins." Jesus heals in order to witness to that power. It confirms His identity, and it does so much more as well. The power to forgive is of God just as love is of the nature of God, and this is what we take away from this reading.

We began Mark's Gospel with the acts of John the Baptist, who preached baptism and repentance for the "remittance" of sins. Baptism is a symbolic death, repentance a kind of turning around, an about-face, literally a "change of mind." And sins are "forgiven" by the power of God, invested in the Son of Man. The words for remittance and forgiven come from the same Greek root: it means essentially they are "let go." They are no longer a part of who we are, they are "off the books" just as we pray for our debts to be forgiven in the Lord's prayer (again, the same Greek root is what is used in the Gospels). So let us focus on God's love, as we did yesterday in our commentary, and on the nature of God as love. God's love includes this letting go or forgiveness of sins, and it is before God that we are judged, not the world's judgment and sense of justice. The great powerful lesson here is the power in that forgiveness, and its healing ministry to us. We have the powerful witness in Jesus' immediate healing of the paralytic, but we are to also understand how this forgiveness works for us, even though we don't stand in the immediate presence of God Incarnate and His instantaneous acts of healing. What we do have, though, is our relationship through prayer and community, and the actions of healing as forgiveness works in our lives to renew us, to give us each new starts. Forgiveness and reconciliation in this relationship take on powerful forms in the lives of believers. We heal from all kinds of ailments through prayer and through God's power to give us the strength and wisdom and insight in our lives to understand forgiveness as a part of God's love at work in us, despite our imperfections. We are always free to begin again in that love and to address the things we carry around with us and within us. We are not expected to be without flaw; instead we are asked to be in relationship, restored and reconciled. This is the great difference between God's vision and perspective and our worldly perspective, which is limited in time and in space and in its notions of judgment. Jesus does not seek popularity or fame but rather to extend God's love, to preach the good news, because "for this purpose He has come forth." Can we accept and receive that, and learn it for ourselves? Healing and renewal take place through this love, and it is the core of His ministry and God's power at work in us. Let us not ever forget that, nor how it binds us to community, past and present, in loving relationship with God. More importantly, grace restores us to ourselves, "a letting go" of what binds us to false ideas or burdens, in order to give us hope and a way to go forward, to become ourselves in God's vision of who we are. We have but to turn to that love to find what that is, and grow into it throughout all of our lives, each day, and seek that renewal.