The healing of the paralytic puts two things into focus: Jesus' relationship with God and Jesus' work in relationship with God's work of forgiving sins. The particularities of this healing miracle story comes out if we compare it with a simple healing story. In Mark 1:29-31 we find Jesus healing the mother-in-law of Peter. The structure of that story is straightforward:
- There is an introduction giving the setting. Here, the house of Simon Peter.
- The sick person is presented to Jesus by others.
- Jesus acts
- The sick person is healed. ("Immediately, the fever left her.")
- The response to the healing. In this case, "she served them."
In the healing of the paralytic, we find the same structure, with interesting differences.
- Introduction: Jesus is in a house and a crowd has collected. It was so crowded that there was no space left.
- The person is presented by four men carrying him in a mat. They go above the crowd, destroy the roof and lower the man down.
- Jesus forgives the man
- The man is healed; he was even able to carry his mat with him.
- The response comes from the crowd: "We have never seen anything like it."
Jesus "saw" the faith of the men who brought the paralytic to him. (v. 5) What was so special about that faith is that it was creative and even bold. It was a faith that no crowd or roof can stop.
The meat of the story, however, is Jesus' forgiving the paralytic's sins. (v.5) The scribes who make their first appearance here were quick to point out the blasphemy in Jesus' utterance (vv. 6-7). The argument given by Jesus assumes that there is a connection between the man's sins and his paralysis. In Jesus' view, the man's paralysis is so connected with his sinfulness that in forgiving the sin, he would have also cured the paralysis and vice versa. In answer to the objection of the scribes, he employs a proof (proof from a lesser to a greater): the healing of the paralysis (vv. 9-11) to show that he has the authority to forgive sins.
The scribes were mistaken then in ascribing blasphemy to Jesus, although they were correct in pointing out that only God forgives sins. Their objection is reminiscent of Isaiah 43:25: "I -- I am the one -- who blots out your transgressions for my sake and remembers not your sins no more." By curing the paralysis however, Jesus proves to them that he has the authority of forgiving sins; in him, God is acting.
The response of the crowd to this -- "We have never seen anyting like it" -- is reminiscent of a passage in Isaiah 48. In verse 7, one finds these words uttered by Yahweh:
They are created now, not long ago
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say
'I already know that' (See also Isaiah 43:18)
Jesus inaugurates the new things God reserves for His people. In his ministry of teaching and healing, God is bringing to fulfillment His own promises.
