Mark 2:1-12

Read Psalm 5

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

1. Ask about what has been happening so far in Mark.

Verses 1-2
“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.”
1. The leper going about talking openly about Jesus healing him added to the amount of people coming to see Jesus.
2. Despite the large crowd, Jesus is continuing to keep focused on what he was sent to do.
a. “Preached the word”

Verses 3-5
3 “And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
1. Despite the difficulty of what it would take to get the man to Jesus, the man and his friend’s do whatever it takes so that the man can get to Jesus.
2. Two characteristics of these men:
a. Resourceful
i. They get to Jesus by a method not used by the rest of the crowd; namely, through the roof.
ii. “An ancient flat-roofed house usually had a stairway to the roof, which would have enabled the [men carrying their friend] up without difficulty.” (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p.992)
iii. The roof would have been made of grass, clay, and other materials.
iv. Getting the man down to Jesus would have been easy, but it would have practically destroyed the roof.
b. Bold
i. (Read verse 1 of chapter 2)
1. Jesus was at home!
ii. This is where Jesus is staying. It is his dwelling place with his disciples. To be specific, it is Simon Peter’s house.
3. Jesus’ response has a sense of irony to it.
a. Jesus saying that the man’s sins are forgiven could very well have been referring to the man being the cause of there being a hole in the roof just as much as he could be referring to the man’s actual sins.
4. Verse 5: “Jesus saw their faith”
a. There is a sense that although Jesus could have been referring to the roof being destroyed, he is not talking about the roof.
5. Only two texts in the Old Testament where God Himself is speaking, declaring that He forgives sin.
a. The first Exodus
i. Exodus 34:6-7 (Read 34:1-8)
1. The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
b. The New Exodus in Isaiah
i. Isaiah 43:25 (Read Isaiah 43:16-25)
1. Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
c. Come back to later in the passage when Jesus declares Himself to be the “Son of Man”

Verses 6-7
6 “Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
1. The scribes are unsettled by Jesus’ claim of the man’s sins being forgiven.
a. Their reaction is understandable. No one but God can forgive sins.
b. The scribes did not know or believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

Verses 8-11
8 “And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
1. Jesus’ response to the scribes is NOT Him stating that one of the phrases was quicker to say or easier to speak than the other phrase.
2. Jesus response to the scribes is in regards to them not recognizing that the Messiah was in their midst.
3. In proclaiming the man to be forgiven, Jesus was declaring, once again, that the New Exodus had arrived.
a. “Jesus invites his opponents to acknowledge that God has been present and active in his ministry. If he heals by the power of God, then surely his authority to forgive comes from the same source.” (Mark, Douglas R.A. Hare, p.37)
4. In verse 10, Jesus calls Himself the “Son of Man”.
a. In the Old Testament, the phrase “Son of Man” is used by God to identify His messengers. This phrase is common in many of the prophetic books, especially in Ezekiel. The phrase is only used when God is speaking to His messengers; the phrase was NEVER self-designated.
5. In this passage, Jesus claims to have the power to forgive sins and the power of designating Himself as God’s messenger, something that was not at all common in Judaism. Jesus is claiming that his authority is equal to that of God’s.
6. Jesus moves from His being the Messiah as something that was implicitly stated based on what He did, to openly declaring Himself to be the Messiah.
7. “It is inevitable that Jesus’ lofty claims will meet stern resistance among those responsible for maintaining religious order. In the accusation “It is blasphemy!” we have the first foreshadowing of the passion; it will be on the charge of blasphemy that Jesus will be condemned to death by the high priest’s council (14:64). (Mark, Douglas R.A. Hare, p.37)

Verse 12“And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
1. “The people of Capernaum do not concur with the scribes. Even though they have already witnessed other healings at [Simon] Peter’s house (1:32-34), they now glorify God as a result of the paralytic’s double liberation from sin and paralysis. God’s honor has not been impugned by Jesus’ behavior but exalted.” (Mark, Douglas R.A. Hare, p.37)



Questions
1. Why is it important for Jesus to be preaching the word to the people who are coming to see him?
2. What do the actions the paralyzed man and his friends take to get to Jesus show about them? about what they believed about Jesus?
3. How do we respond to people who try to take rights over us in ways that only God can do?
4. What does coming under the lordship of Jesus mean and look like?
5. How do we respond to the lordship of Jesus and His rights over us? How should we respond to Him?
6. The paralytic probably came to Jesus with only the intention of getting his body healed, and nothing else. Yet Jesus heals not only the man’s body, but also his soul. Jesus met a need the man might not have even recognized that he had. In what ways does God meet needs we don’t even know we have?
7. What is the response of the crowd to Jesus’ healing the man?
8. What kind of shift is occurring already in Mark in this passage from Jesus making an explicit claim about His being the Messiah?
9. What from this passage can be applied to our lives? What from this passage stood out to you?