Remember, Context rules! We saw in the previous chapter several verifications that Yeshua was the Messiah. In our discussion we discussed how John preached turning away from sin and taking a new direction. He did not preach “forgiveness” but rather “redirection”. This chapter starts with a marked situation where Jesus actually “forgives” sin. The idea is to pardon or consider the penalty to be satisfied. When He came as Messiah, He came to set people free from sin as well as disease. Let’s dig in to the study.

I continue to encourage the reader to keep an open Bible available. I cite many verses and expect you, the reader to look them up. It is vitally important to read the scripture, and read the context of the scripture to catch the full meaning. I do not want to fall into the “preacher” role where scriptures are pulled out of context to make a point. If the scripture is not accurate, then it should not be cited. With that said, let’s dig into the study.

In this chapter, there are three instances where the Pharisees and scribes an Pharisees are trying to challenge Jesus’ ministry (Mark 2:6-7; 16-18; 24).  They began picking at straws since Jesus did not fit into their view of a teacher.

Mark 2:1-13 (Matt 9:2-8; Lk 5:18-26) Healing of the paralytic. Yeshua came to set people free from bondage. His name literally means “salvation”. This healing emphasizes that, but it also emphasizes the truth of Yeshua the Messiah.

This is one of the most dramatic healing stories in the New Testament. We do not know if the man wanted or believed in healing or not. We only know that he was brought by four others and lowered through the roof of a house. It is obvious that the four who bore him believed that Yeshua could help him. There are many today that preach that you must have faith to be healed. In this case we have no record of any faith, so it was not important to the story. They understood that Jesus could heal and their task was to position the man so that he could see Jesus.

Remember, this is one of the first healings recorded after Yeshua’s ministry began. He had not developed a reputation for being a healer up to this point. The four men that lowered the paralytic down were willing to go through some heavy work in removing the roof and lowering a man down on a cot. This is beyond radical faith. I do not know how the roof was constructed, but it causes you to wonder. Regardless of the construction, there had to be silt and mess dropping on the people below. No one moved as Yeshua taught.

This is the first attack of the scribes on Yeshua.  They were concerned that Jesus forgave the mans sins. Jesus equated Himself with God with this action.  In essence, Jesus was claiming not only to have great authority, but by forgiving sins, he was claiming to be God.  Because only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25; 44:22; Psalm 103:3).  They were trying to fit Jesus into their theology. In their view of Torah, a teacher, rabbi, or any spiritual authority could not forgive sins. The only way for sin to be covered was through the sacrificial system.

Yeshua understood their concern and addressed it. He validated their argument and then put the argument to a test. If he was able to forgive sin, then the man could pick up his bed and go home. The man did just that. In the Hebrew way of thinking, He called upon God to verify that He had the authority to forgive sin. God answered. There are many stories in the Old Testament where prophets called upon God to answer through verification. These stories range from the challenge of the prophets of Baal to winning of impossible battles such as with David and Goliath (1 Kings 18:20-46; 1 Sam 17). The test is indisputable. Yeshua challenged God to answer the question. If he was able to forgive sin, then heal the paralytic. This man was healed.

Think about that for a moment. This man went from being paralyzed to completely restored in a split second. His muscles were instantly strengthened and he was able to get up from the bed without assistance and work by carrying the bed out. He had absolutely no therapy, no strengthening of the muscles, nothing. This miracle matched the radical faith that the four men had when they brought the man to Jesus. This was an indisputable act of God.

The the word scribe is often translated as lawyer.  Jesus did not fit in their God box.  The first attack is listed here, the scribes were more into religion than they were into faith.  Satan used religion to convince them that Jesus was not genuine.  If we were in their shoes would we be saying the same things?  Just imagine, if you were in a house listening to a preacher preach, and all this happened before Jesus came to earth.  Then he claimed to forgive sins.  It probably would raise a question mark in any knowledgeable person’s mind.

I don’t believe up to this point the scribes had made an error.  It was a logical response to the situation, that is the reason that the Lord gave the sign of the healing.  It was so that they would know that He was the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets (2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 147:3-6; Isaiah 38:16-17; Hosea 14).  Scripture makes it clear that only the Lord forgives sins, and the Lord would cause the healing.  If Jesus was sinning, surely God would not honor it.  The scribes had the wrong attitude of the heart but the right concern, therefore Jesus reacted.  I believe that Jesus being a just God, gave them the opportunity to verify the truth, that Jesus is the Messiah based on the scripture that the scribes had already diligently studied in preparing for their position.

Their error was based on the understanding that the Messiah was prophesied and that He must fit into the box that they had constructed for Him through their diligent study of the scriptures. They were watching for him according to the guidelines established in the scriptures but there were added stipulations that came from tradition. Yeshua verified that He was the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets.  He also verified that He did not fit into their “box”. They forgot that the scriptures gave an indication of what the Messiah would look like but did not give a detailed picture.

To the Scribe’s credit, there is not a reference that indicates that the Messiah would be able to forgive sins. Jesus then was not only challenging their theology, He was bending their thinking to consider that God had become a man. Only God can forgive sins, Jesus forgave sins, therefore Jesus is God.  Connecting the dots is easy for us, it was extremely difficult for them.  One indicator that should have helped them clarify this is that the people were glorifying God, not glorifying the action or glorifying Jesus.  The people did not connect the dots either, but they did recognize that only God could forgive sins.  This hinges on the simple truth that Jesus impressed on them in verses 9-10.  The litmus test was that Jesus challenged traditional thinking about God by taking a stand that if he was God, then the man would pick up his pallet and go home.  The man did just that.