Mark 2:1 And He entered again into Capernaum after a few days, and it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even at the door. And He spoke to them the word. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And being unable to bring him to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where He was. And when they had dug through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Child, your sins are forgiven. 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on Earth--he said to the paralytic, 11 To you I say, Rise, take up your mat and go to your house. 12 And he rose and immediately took up the mat and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We have never seen anything like this!
This paralytic signifies a sinner paralyzed by sin, one who is unable to walk and move before God. Their zeal in seeking the Slave-Savior's healing compelled the seekers to break through the proper barrier--something which might be considered a wild deed. Then through the roof they lowered the bed, a small mattress or pad, on which the sick man was lying. Verse 5 says, "And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, Child, your sins are forgiven!" This faith, issuing from hearing the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17), indicates that the seekers had heard of the Slave-Savior. Seeing their faith, the Lord called the paralytic a "child." This loving word of the Slave-Savior implies kindness. Here the Lord's human virtue was expressed. The Lord said to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven!" Sins were the cause of his sickness. The Slave-Savior's word here touched the cause so that there might be a different effect. Once the sins were forgiven, the sickness was healed. It is important and meaningful that the first incident in this section on the carrying out of the gospel service is a case of forgiving the sins of a sick person. This indicates that in carrying out the gospel the first thing that must be done is to help people have their sins forgiven. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 62-63. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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