Mark 2:1 – 12

(Focus on the authority of Jesus)

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now 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?” ⁸ Immediately 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? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He 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!”

The famous Christian writer, CS Lewis, wrote a reflection on this passage that really resonates with me. 

His view was that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord. 

He said that if someone bumps into us on public transport, we might expect an apology from them, and if we receive it, we would forgive them. But what if someone intervened and told that person that they were forgiven for bumping into us? We’d think that person was odd, maybe a bit crazy and full of ego. They’d be acting as if they were the person who was primarily offended by what happened, even though we were the one who was bumped into. 

That’s what Jesus is claiming here. He is claiming to be the main offended party to all offenses between people. He is claiming to be God. 

And for him to do that, he is either the biggest liar in history, one of the biggest lunatics, or he is, in fact, who he claims to be – with authority to forgive our boundless sin, and to heal every disease, sickness and wound. 

Let’s prayerfully reflect with reverence today on Jesus’ total authority over all creation

David Lather, Carina