On Line Bible Study - For the week December 15-21, 2008
Lesson 366
Mark 2: 1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He [immediately] got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
We seem to have two things going on here - a healing, and a controversy, both of which take place under the umbrella of immediacy, or urgency.
Several things are important.
1. Mark demonstrates knowledge of how Palestinian houses were put together. With roofs made of mud, it had to be "dug through". (Matthew omits the roof scene altogether – 9:1-8; and Luke refers to a tile roof – 5:19.)
2. The faith that makes the difference here is not the faith of the paralytic, but of his friends.
3. The man's condition is associated with his sinfulness. The religious world view in Jesus' day was that suffering of any sort was related to sin.
From a textual standpoint, we may have two stories combined. The "standing room only" crowd makes one ask: Why were teachers of the law sitting? Perhaps they were assigned places of honor, but that seems unlikely. It may be that the healing and the controversy are two separate situations that Mark has combined.
Something else to be aware of - and it is not as clear as it could be in the NIV translation above - is the continued sense of urgency. In verse 8 Jesus is aware immediately what they were thinking. In verse 12, I have added the word immediately - it is clearly present in the Greek (and the King James and Revised Standard Versions both contain the word). The sense is that Jesus knows what is going on - both outwardly and below the surface; but his power goes beyond "knowing". He has the power to act - and to act now.
Both of these - the knowing, and the doing - are christological (therefore messianic) claims. Only God knows the human heart; only God can forgive. And, in this case, the interpretation of the man's physical condition had theological ramifications - his sin would have made him unclean, unworthy to be able to worship, and unfit to be included in the life of the faith community.
Jesus' "healing" is associated with forgiveness, because the assumption everyone would make is that forgiveness is what the man needed. Thus "forgiven", he could return to the synagogue and be welcomed back into the faith community.
Welcomed back into the faith community - is that what Jesus accomplishes for us? That is the point Mark seems to be making here!
More on Mark 2 next time.
Mark 2: 1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He [immediately] got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
We seem to have two things going on here - a healing, and a controversy, both of which take place under the umbrella of immediacy, or urgency.
Several things are important.
1. Mark demonstrates knowledge of how Palestinian houses were put together. With roofs made of mud, it had to be "dug through". (Matthew omits the roof scene altogether – 9:1-8; and Luke refers to a tile roof – 5:19.)
2. The faith that makes the difference here is not the faith of the paralytic, but of his friends.
3. The man's condition is associated with his sinfulness. The religious world view in Jesus' day was that suffering of any sort was related to sin.
From a textual standpoint, we may have two stories combined. The "standing room only" crowd makes one ask: Why were teachers of the law sitting? Perhaps they were assigned places of honor, but that seems unlikely. It may be that the healing and the controversy are two separate situations that Mark has combined.
Something else to be aware of - and it is not as clear as it could be in the NIV translation above - is the continued sense of urgency. In verse 8 Jesus is aware immediately what they were thinking. In verse 12, I have added the word immediately - it is clearly present in the Greek (and the King James and Revised Standard Versions both contain the word). The sense is that Jesus knows what is going on - both outwardly and below the surface; but his power goes beyond "knowing". He has the power to act - and to act now.
Both of these - the knowing, and the doing - are christological (therefore messianic) claims. Only God knows the human heart; only God can forgive. And, in this case, the interpretation of the man's physical condition had theological ramifications - his sin would have made him unclean, unworthy to be able to worship, and unfit to be included in the life of the faith community.
Jesus' "healing" is associated with forgiveness, because the assumption everyone would make is that forgiveness is what the man needed. Thus "forgiven", he could return to the synagogue and be welcomed back into the faith community.
Welcomed back into the faith community - is that what Jesus accomplishes for us? That is the point Mark seems to be making here!
More on Mark 2 next time.
posted by Mark D at 4:45 PM
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