Who can forgive sins but God alone?

 

 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 that, as soon as they had come out of the synagogue where Jesus had been preaching (and cast out a demon), they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.  So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.  And she served them.  At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. Now in the morning, having arisen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.  And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.  When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."  But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."  And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.  Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

 

  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!"  My study Bible emphasizes in ts comments that, as shown by this healing of the paralytic, faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith, we understand, is collective as well as personal, because the faith of the friends of the paralytic (the four men who carried him) helped in his healing.  It notes three signs of Christ's divinity on display.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, which is a power belonging to God only.  And finally, He heals by the power of His word.  My study Bible further elaborates on the fact that one purpose of Christ's coming into the world is to forgive sins, which frees humanity from its bondage.  It notes that to forgive sins is a greater power than physical healing.  As the scribes correctly note, God alone can forgive sins.  So, therefore, it is the easier task to grant physical healing.  Although Christ is fully God and He holds the authority to forgive, to heal this man is to condescend to those gathered in order to draw people to God, whom they then glorified.

In a worldly perspective, we would see the healing of this paralytic as truly a more extraordinary power than forgiving sins.  But from a perspective that includes some sense of the reality of God, the forgiveness of sins is more extraordinary, as noted by my study Bible (see commentary above).  Perhaps in our modern world, we take forgiveness for granted, as in what is now frequently called a "post-Christian" culture, we are inculcated into a sense in which for centuries we have prayed the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, which was given to us by Jesus, and in and through which we are taught to forgive as we are forgiven.  Forgiveness can be a tricky problem, as we don't necessarily think of it in the correct paradigm of understanding God's forgiveness as first and primary, and our own as something which is secondary to God's.  Christ teaches, in giving that prayer, that we can't ourselves realize God's forgiveness without being forgiving ourselves.  But the primary judge, our Lord, is the One who is the true arbiter of such forgiveness, as He shows in today's reading.  Once again, we may turn to the paradigm and culture of the ancient Jews which existed at the time of Christ, the context in which this event took place, and within which Christ so stuns the scribes in today's reading.  As discussed in yesterday's commentary, the system of sacrifices and institutions of the temple were a process whereby the people not only could understand what sin was, but in and through which they were reconciled to God.  Christ's remarkable forgiveness then, comes as a shock indeed to the scribes, for how could a man forgive sins?  Or, as they ask here, significantly, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  Indeed, and therein is the riddle that poses the question of just who Christ is.  Who is this Son of Man, as He refers to Himself?  And we know the answer, that Christ is both fully human and fully God.  It's within this understanding that the greater power is to forgive sins, but to express also the truth of the Son of Man, a miraculous healing is also given, expressing concretely the identity of the One who is present to them in a "worldly" sense that can be perceived and understood.  But if we don't have the mind and the understanding of the truth of the spiritual reality behind Christ and within which our world is created and known by God, then we moderns fail to understand the real impact of sin and its detriments to us.  Is it possible that this paralytic suffers from something sinful that has affected his condition?  This is possible, but one thing is clear:  although he suffers physically, he is still in need of forgiveness for his sins, and this is the great grace of God, and our Lord Christ, in response to the faith of his friends who help to carry him.  In the same way, we can pray for our friends and help to "carry" them to Christ.  Moreover, it's helpful to understand that in the tradition of the Church, paralysis is often seen as a metaphor for the condition of being "stuck" in a sin, unable to repent -- or to change -- that is, to get past it, to grow.  For sin is like paralysis, like slavery, as my study Bible describes it.  We are stuck in a repeated pattern, perhaps even despite our best efforts, and we need help to break it.  For that also, the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a gift of Christ and His Incarnation into the world, so that we have a Helper.  We might, today, take for granted this possibility of forgiveness, but for those who have experienced the freedom of God's forgiveness, the effect upon the soul and upon our lives is boundless, for we are set free to live differently, to establish something good in our lives, to live as we are taught to live in Christ's light.  Let us consider the power of God to forgive, for it is also the power to liberate us, to set us free from our paralysis within something detrimental to ourselves and our mental, physical, and spiritual health.  Let us also glorify God in return.