Mark 2:3 Commentary and Bible Study

When the four friends carrying the paralytic reach the door of the house they discover they cannot get near Christ, and yet this is why they have come. You would have thought that sympathy would have let him through; yes, but they were so packed that you could not move to make room. As Christ said, they have great faith. If this was just a long shot hope, they would have made efforts to get in and then given up. It is good to have such friends, who care about us so much that they will face our trials together with us. These men, just as the paralytic, had faith. The obstacle was great, but extraordinary needs call for extraordinary measures to be taken. They dismiss any fear of embarrassment at what they are about to do. They realise that they are never going to reach the Lord by conventional means and their desperation inspires them to great resourcefulness. One thing they are not afraid of is that Christ will disapprove of their plan, for they sense that he will always commend faith. No matter if the roof of the house had to be temporarily removed; they were doing it in the interests of their friend, and that was of greater importance than the rules of convention. They made quite a big hole; they had to. Dust and debris are falling on those dignified men below. Having removed part of the roof, they lower the sick man down to the Lord Jesus. The people below watch with amazement as first the roof was dismantled and then this paralytic was lowered precariously by the four friends, but Christ understood the situation perfectly. In fact, he saw what no one else saw: that the greatest sense of need of this paralysed man’s was to have his sins forgiven, greater even than to be healed from his paralysis. Christ had been teaching but now this extraordinary occurrence became the centre of attention.The man is gaunt, wizened, immobile, very sick. The scribes watch carefully, hoping this will put the Lord to shame. This case will perhaps be too hard for him. But they also fear that he may succeed; they will then look very foolish. What will he do? People want to know who will triumph; he may heal in a moment and vindicate his power. But no, he puts first a spiritual lesson. ‘Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee’ – staggering words, as the scribes rightly judged. There is no need to assume that because Christ said this, the cause of his sickness was sin. This was the case with some (John 5:14), but not with every case of sickness (John 9:3). The order of words in the original places all the emphasis on the word forgiven. This was the amazing and wonderful power of Christ, that he had the right to say such things, because he is the Son of God who has come to earth to suffer and die for sinners. The great joy of the Lord is to pronounce forgiveness even though it was at such personal cost to himself. This man did not need any of the preaching of the law. His heart was already prepared. When the Lord forgave his sins, he was not forgiven present or past sins only, but all sins – past, present and future. He was saying, the obstacle to you entering heaven is now removed. There is no greater blessing that we could desire. It is the beginning of all further blessings that God will give us.