When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— 11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
Mark brings Jesus back to Capernaum “at home,” which the tradition commonly associates with Peter’s house serving as a base of ministry (Mk 1:29, 33). The detail matters because it shows how quickly the crowd presses in again: the house is so full that there is no room even at the door. Jesus is doing what he has been doing from the start in Mark—he “preached the word to them” (v. 2). In this Gospel, Jesus is not only a healer; he is the one who proclaims God’s saving message with authority, and his deeds will confirm what his words declare.
The friends arrive carrying a paralyzed man, but they cannot get near Jesus. Mark’s description is vivid and practical: they go up to the roof, open it, and lower the man down. Palestinian homes commonly had outside access to the roof, and roofs were typically built with beams and packed materials (such as thatch and mud), which explains how an opening could be made (v. 4). Archaeological evidence from Capernaum helps a reader picture a small, crowded house where such a bold plan would be the only way to bring the man into Jesus’ presence.
When the man is finally placed before him, Jesus “saw their faith” (v. 5). The faith here is public and active. It is seen in the friends’ persistence, and Mark’s wording can also include the paralyzed man himself within that circle of trust. Their faith is not simply an inner feeling; it takes the form of determined action that overcomes obstacles to reach Jesus.
What Jesus says next is unexpected: “Child, your sins are forgiven” (v. 5). The address “child” has an affectionate tone, but the statement generates controversy. The scribes’ reaction is immediate and, from their perspective, understandable: “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (v. 7). In Israel’s Scriptures, forgiveness is God’s prerogative. So the issue is not whether forgiveness exists, but who has authority to grant it. Mark stages this moment so that Jesus’ words bring the question of his authority into the open.
Jesus then does something else that heightens the claim: he “knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves” (v. 8). In Scripture, God is the one who sees the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Mark shows Jesus exercising that kind of insight, not as a party trick, but as part of the same authority now under dispute. The conflict is not simply about manners or wording. It is about whether Jesus is acting with an authority reserved for God.
Jesus frames the issue with a concrete comparison: it is easier to say “Your sins are forgiven” than to say “Rise, pick up your mat and walk,” because forgiveness cannot be verified by observation (v. 9). The healing, however, can be seen. So that they may know that he has real authority and is not merely speaking words, Jesus commands the paralytic to rise, take the mat, and go home (vv. 10-11). The man obeys at once, in full view of all, and the visible cure functions as a public confirmation of what Jesus has already declared invisibly about the man’s sins.
At the center of the passage stands Jesus’ own summary: “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth” (v. 10). In Mark, this is the first appearance of “Son of Man.” The title can sound ordinary—simply human—or prophetic, but it also resonates with Daniel’s vision of a figure to whom God gives royal authority (Dan. 7:13-14). Mark uses the title in a way that both reveals and conceals: it avoids turning Jesus into a political messiah while still pointing to a divine mandate that surpasses the expectations of the crowd and the categories of the scribes.
Mark’s closing line seals the intended impact. The crowd is “astounded,” they “glorified God,” and they say, “We have never seen anything like this” (v. 12). Their amazement is not only about restored mobility. It is amazement at a kind of authority they have not encountered before—authority that reaches into the deepest human need and restores a man’s life through forgiveness and healing. Matthew and Luke tell the same episode and preserve the same central claim and the same astonishment (Mt 9:1-8; Lk 5:17-26). Mark’s distinctive force is how tightly he binds Jesus’ word and deed together so that the healing becomes a sign that the forgiveness is real, and the forgiveness becomes the key that explains what the healing ultimately means.
Lord Jesus, give me the kind of faith that does not stop at obstacles, and bring me to you with trust in your authority to heal and to forgive. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark, notes on Mk 2:1-12 (pp. 67-68).
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: St. Mark (Four Courts/Scepter), p. 168.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), pp. 982-983.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), pp. 601-602 (para. 15).
- John J. Collins et al., eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (2020), p. 1248.
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