Lenten Reflection for February 17

Mark 2:1-12

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

Reflection – Joanie Daniels

This passage reminds me that faith can make an impossible event or task possible. That is how I encounter Jesus in this passage. Jesus returned home and so many gathered that he had to speak the word from his doorway. A different group arrived, and because their faith was so strong in Jesus’s ability to heal, they took the roof off of his home and lowered a paralytic man down so he could be seen by Jesus. I see so much belief in Jesus here – I mean, the people took the roof off! I also think that this paralytic man must have been beloved and cared for, to have people bring him to Jesus. In those days, disabled people could be disowned and their only recourse would have been to beg for food to eat. But this man was truly loved.

The second place I encounter Jesus in this passage is when he innately understands that the scribes are questioning him in their hearts. Jesus explains, matter-of-factly I think, that saying “your sins are forgiven” is easier than “stand up and take your mat and walk.” The paralytic man probably needed to hear what Jesus said first because in his heart I’m sure his illness burdened him because of how it affected his family. So Jesus said the most “easiest” thing, but really he said what the man needed to hear. Then Jesus heals the man, and turns the skeptic scribes into believers in the process. I mean, Jesus could have ignored their skeptic questions, but instead he answered their questions. If I were one of those guys, I’d probably have been stunned to have been confronted. Jesus took it in stride though, and turned this event into a “teachable moment.”