Mark 2:6 Commentary and Bible Study

The crowd says what is this about? A murmur goes round among the scribes: ‘Who is this that speaketh blasphemies?’ They think they have got him, but they are about to be further put to shame. Every attack on God and his people – even in thought only – rebounds against the attacker. They were afraid to speak out loud immediately, but they would certainly do so once they were alone together – full of scheming and plotting.‘Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’ That question, implying the answer ‘no one’ is essentially correct. No one but God can forgive sins, so that Christ’s claim to be able to do so was nothing less than a claim to deity. He has not and never will delegate this power to any other being: not to angels, not to popes, not to earthly priests. How could he? Only God knows whether the confession of sins is genuine, whether there are further unconfessed sins being held back, whether there is true sorrow for sin in the heart. Christ knew all these things, and he knew that this paralytic desired forgiveness more than anything else. Did the scribes have any real concern for God’s name, or were they really concerned that blasphemy had taken place? No, they thought this out of all sorts of selfish and simple motives. They had become prejudiced against Jesus and were only too ready to find something against him if they could. They were jealous of his power to attract the people, and they were jealous of his authority as a teacher. They therefore jumped at the opportunity to find something against him. They knew from Scripture how great a claim it was to be able to forgive sin, and their opinion of Christ made them unable to consider his claim valid for a moment. They looked down on the common people who in their view did not have the acumen to discern this gross theological error. Christ makes use of their miserable attitude to sharpen the significance of what he was doing. The scribes’ attitude was also heartless towards the paralytic, who they were quite happy to deprive of forgiveness in the interests of their own pride. Satan was therefore hard at work you, and attempting to spoil the joy of this newly forgiven man, even before he has started to enjoy it. But Christ steps in and does not let Satan do so.