He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. 2 And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” 3 At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 7 He rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.
Jesus got into the boat again and went back across the lake to Capernaum where he lived (Mt. 4:13). Jesus had gained a reputation for healing, so a large crowd of people gathered outside of the house to see him. Some men bringing a paralytic to Jesus to be healed had to carry him up the outside staircase to the flat roof. They removed parts of the roof and let him down to Jesus (Mk. 2:2-4). Jesus was moved by their faith. The ancient Jewish belief was that illness was the result of sin (Jn. 9:2). Therefore, the man might have been concerned that Jesus would not heal him because of his sinfulness. Jesus said to him, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven (v. 2).” If sin was the cause of the disease, the forgiveness of sins must precede the cure. However, the paralysis was not caused by sin (Jn. 9:2-3) and the healing was a tangible sign of the work of Divine power. The basic proclamation of the Gospel by both John the Baptist and Jesus was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt. 3:2; 4:17).”
The Scribes, teachers of the Mosaic Law, understood that only God had the power to forgive sins because sins are committed against God and God alone; “It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses (Is. 43:25).” A ‘righteous anger’ arose in the Scribes because Jesus had committed blasphemy. They knew his parents and that he grew up in Galilee. He was from a lowly and humble beginning so he could not be Divine. Jesus knew what they were thinking. Since no one could prove that sins were forgiven by words alone, Jesus demonstrated that he had the divine power to cure the effects of sin (illness) and therefore the divine power to forgive sin. Jesus cured the body of disease and the soul of sin. The man picked up his stretcher and went home as instructed. Jesus saw the active faith of the men who brought the paralytic to him and cured the paralytic. The crowd was filled with reverential awe at Jesus’ miracle and praised God for giving such divine power of healing to a man like themselves.
Almighty God, grant us the faith to believe in the authority of Your Son who forgives sins and brings healing to our lives. May we find the strength to rise above our challenges and walk in the light of your grace. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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