Marcos 2

Marcos 2

Morgan - “Jesus seeing their faith.” That is the statement which first arrests attention on reading the story. Details are not given here, beyond that of the faith with which these men came. (Mark) tells us that they broke up the roof, and let the sick man down into the midst. The fact here standing out is, that “He saw their faith.” There has been a good deal of speculation as to whose faith is referred to, but of one thing we may be perfectly sure, it was not only the faith of the men who brought him. “Their faith” demands some other interpretation; it demands the faith of the man, as well as the faith of the men who brought him, because Christ said to him, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” It would appear that our Lord saw that in his heart there was a desire for something deeper than physical healing; and that he was conscious that physical disability was the result of his own sin (THIS MAY BE TRUE AND MANY COMMENTATOR'S MAKE SIMILAR STATEMENTS - HERE IS THE POINT - THE TEXT DOES NOT SAY THAT THE MAN'S PARALYSIS WAS THE RESULT OF SIN - WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL ADDING TO THE TEXT WHAT IS NOT IN THE TEXT); and therefore with a great tenderness, in words thrilling with the music of the evangel He had come to create, He said to him, in effect: “Be of good cheer I am able to deal with the deepest matter; thy sins are forgiven.” That word was a response to faith. And yet, while we believe there was faith in the heart of the man himself, we must not miss the important fact here that there is such a thing as vicarious faith. It is possible to help a man’s faith. “Jesus seeing their faith.” Craig Evans on seeing their faith - In what sense does Jesus see their faith? In the other healing stories in Mark where faith is mentioned (cf. Mark 5:25–34; Mk 5:21–24, 35–43; 10:46–52) we read of people who overcome obstacles or in some sense take pains to approach Jesus. The episode of the paralyzed man fits this pattern and in fact is the first example of it. What is the object of their faith? Given the context, where the preaching of the word is mentioned, we should probably assume that their faith consists of belief in the message that Jesus proclaims. Of course, belief in the message entails belief in the messenger. But we should not read into their faith an element of christology (i.e., that Jesus is God’s son, Israel’s Messiah, or the Savior of the world). Rather, they believe that the kingdom of God approaches and that the proclaimer of the kingdom is able to make the presence of the awaited kingdom felt in tangible ways. Jesus had blessed others with healing. Surely, they reason, he can heal their paralyzed friend. (Ibid) Barclay on seeing their faith - When Jesus saw their faith—the eager faith of those who stopped at nothing to bring their friend to Jesus won his cure. It still happens. (i) There are those who are saved by the faith of their parents (ED: He means because the children were led to Jesus by their parents' faith, their examples of faithful living for Christ. The children were saved because they repented and believed in Jesus Christ - there is no other way to be saved!). Carlyle used to say that still across the years there came his mother’s voice to him, “Trust in God and do the right.” (ED: I would change that slightly to be more specific because of Acts 4:12+ - "Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and do the right enabled by the Spirit of Christ.") When Augustine was living a reckless and immoral life his devout mother came to ask the help of a Christian bishop. “It is impossible,” he said, “that the child of such prayers and tears should perish.” Many of us would gladly witness that we owe all that we are and ever will be to the faith of godly parents. Faith (4102)(pistis) as it relates to God, is the conviction that God exists and is the Creator and Ruler of all things well as the Provider and Bestower of eternal salvation through Christ. As faith relates to Christ in this specific context it represents a strong conviction that Jesus could meet the needs of the paralytic, for similar healings had already occurred. This is the first mention of pistis in Mark's Gospel THE SHOCKING STATEMENT To some ears Jesus' words would be shocking, but to other ears they would be salvific! THOUGHT - Have you heard these words dear reader? Perhaps you are a believer and you are continually reminded of some heinous sin/failure you had before you came to Christ. If so, may the Spirit use Jesus' words to this lame man, and your ears be opened and your heart be receptive to hear and assimilate the glorious, grace filled words "Son/daughter, your sins are forgiven!" How can Jesus make such a claim? While He had not yet borne the sins of men on Himself on the Cross (1 Pe 2:24+, 2 Cor 5:21+), He knew that His word Tetestelai (It is finished! Paid in full!) would resound and resonate not only into the future but into the past, so that all who ever believed in His death in their place for their sins would experience the forgiveness of sins forever and ever. Amen Said to the paralytic (see paralutikos) "Son, your sins are forgiven - Lenski = "Dismissed are thy sins!" Imagine the 4 friends watching from the roof above -- they were blessed with a ring side seat to history! Won't it be fun talking with them in Heaven? And you've gotta love Jesus! The others in the room see this man's physical paralysis, but Jesus sees his spiritual paralysis, and forgoes the less vital physical healing, for the more critical spiritual "healing". Oh, to have eyes to see others as Jesus sees them! Let it be Lord. Amen! Mt 9:2+ adds that Jesus said "Take courage (tharseo) son." Luke 5:20+ says Friend instead of son. This is the first time in Matthew that Jesus directly declares a person to be forgiven. When Jesus said your (singular) sins are forgiven imagine the reaction of the religious "super elite" - their legalistic, hypocritical, evil stingers would have "popped up" so to speak, vibrating like scorpions ready to inject their deadly venom (25 species are known to be able to kill humans)! While their theology was largely corrupt, this much was orthodox, for they knew that only God could forgive sins. But notice the striking irony. The ones that were suffering from the more deadly unseen paralysis were the Pharisees, not the man on the cot. They were paralyzed by their critical spirit, their lack of love, their inability to show compassion and worst of all their hard-hearted unbelief. Indeed, the scribes and pharisees were spiritual cripples, and without faith in Christ the Healer, their "paralysis" would take them to perdition, while a forgiven paralytic would pass on to paradise! Amazing irony! Amazing grace! And the verb are forgiven is in the present tense, indicating his sins were continually forgiven. The very One pronouncing this forgiveness, would a few years later become the very One who would assure continual forgiveness by becoming the Lamb of God Who takes away (present tense) the sin of the world (Jn 1:29+). I heartily agree with R C H Lenski's comment as one of the most accurate and honest regarding the relationship between the man's sin and his paralysis because Lenski's comment stays within the "boundaries" of a literal reading of this text (and many good expositors venture outside those boundaries which is another reason we each must conduct our own inductive study before we allow ourselves to be biased by the commentaries! see inductive Bible study) - "The conclusion is hasty that this man’s ailment was the direct result of his sinful life. Paralysis is so common in those who live the most careful lives that even from this angle the conclusion is unwarranted. In John 5:14 we have a notable case; in John 9:3 one that is entirely different. As regards the paralytic we can assume only that his paralysis brought all his ordinary sinfulness to mind just as every sickness and misfortune tell us that we are indeed nothing but sinners. To assume more in this case calls for a plain intimation in the text. The Christian rule of charity holds good also in exegesis, namely that we should not make any man worse than the facts demand." (ISMG) COMMENT - When you compare Lk 5:20+ where Jesus declared "Friend, your sins are forgiven you," the same verb aphiemi is used as in Mark 2:5, Matthew 9:2+, and Luke 5:20+. In Luke's version forgiven is in the perfect tense (see more below) which indicates the abiding state of the forgiveness, in essence the permanence of divine forgiveness! Once Jesus forgives a person's sins, He does not take that declaration back and "un-forgive" a forgiven person. Once forgiven by Jesus, forever forgiven! Jesus' words are forgiven are in the present tense, which A T