God With Us, Part 2 | Mark 2:8–12
8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit
that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question
these things in your hearts? 9 Which
is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise,
take up your bed and walk’? 10 But
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I
say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed
and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God,
saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
The scribes rightly questioned, for only God could do what Jesus
claimed to do. He claims to forgive sins,
and then he tells the lame to walk. Both
statements are easy to say for the liar or for the fool. Yet, Jesus reveals exactly Who He is, backing
up the claim with evidence.
Jesus says He has
divine authority. When He speaks, He
refers to Himself in the third person (known as an illeism), the same way in
which God does in the Old Testament speaks of Himself. This is both a humble expression of Christ’s
humanity (used also of the Ezekiel in Eze 2:1) as well as a Messianic
expression (Dan 7:13–14)—especially when coupled with the confession of divine
authority granted to Him “upon the earth.”
Jesus completely heals. This is the evidence of His God-given
authority. Being God, Jesus could command
the nerves and muscles within the paralyzed to begin functioning. A charlatan may have asked the man to attempt
to wiggle some toes, and then may have asked the crowd to watch the paralytic for
improvement over time. Yet, the Great
Physician restores the man whole, as the undoubted muscular atrophy reverses before
their eyes, and this man grasps his bed and stands upright. No wonder they were amazed (v. 12)—Only God
could do what they had witnessed!
Jesus completely
forgives. The point wasn’t to wow,
but to awe. Jesus isn’t just a physician
for the disease-riddled body, but also for the sin-riddled soul. Jesus was simply—an amazing word in this
context—simply proving what He said to the paralytic in v. 5, “Son, your sins
are forgiven.” If He has the divine authority
to know men’s hearts and to heal completely, then He has the authority to justify
the sinner completely. When you sin, repent
and place your trust in the One who casts your sins as far as the east is from
the west (Ps 103:12).
