Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to his hometown. Here they brought a paralyzed man to him, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, «Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven». Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, «This man insults God». Jesus was aware of what they were thinking, and said, «Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? You must know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins». He then said to the paralyzed man, «Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home». The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
Source: http://evangeli.net/gospel/
Analysis
This passage is a truly meaningful passage, it may be short, but it contains many important messages and allusions to some important concepts. The passage describes Jesus healing a paralyzed man. When He does, apparently the teachers of the Law, i.e. scribes and pharisees, were looking and said to themselves that Jesus insults God. Jesus was aware of this, and chastised the teachers for thinking so, then He asked which is easier to say, saying that one's sins are forgiven or commanding them to stand up and walk. Eventually He orders the man to stand up and walk to prove that Jesus has authority to forgive sins. The man then got up and went home. Meanwhile the crowds saw this and praised God afterwards.
When the people carrying the man arrived to Jesus, Jesus praised them for their faith. Wait, is that praise not addressed to the paralyzed man? Maybe it also includes the paralyzed, but I believe it is more towards the people carrying the man. After all, they were the ones who probably decided to bring the poor man to Jesus, and help him. As such, it is their faith that brings the paralyzed man to salvation. After that, the teachers spoke in their hearts that Jesus had insulted God, why is that? Well you see, Jesus didn't say that He healed the man, He said to him that his sins are forgiven. Of course in Jewish tradition, only God can forgive sins, but Jesus' act shows us an allusion, to His sacrifice.
Jesus chastised the teachers, and proved that He has authority to forgive sins by commanding the man to stand up and walk. One might ask, how is this related to forgiving sins? You see, Jews thought that our physical diseases are caused by our sins, or is a curse from God. What Jesus did was symbolic of His sacrifice, where He actually forgave everyone's sins. He did this by taking on the full weight of death that humanity was about to endure, thus effectively erasing any spiritual consequences of sin. So while the man's physical ailments are healed completely, his spiritual ailments, which may exist or not, is actually transferred to Jesus, and the same can be said for everyone.
On the last part, the crowds praised God and it is written, "for giving such power to human beings". This is very simple, as the people there had no idea who Jesus truly is. As such, it is only natural that they see Jesus as a blessed human being. However, what they said reminds us of two important things, that humans are indeed capable of what Jesus is doing, with enough practice of course. And that Jesus is still by nature a human being. This means Jesus is susceptible to human desires, and thus human sins, this again reminds us of Jesus' fallibility and the necessity for us to look at Him in a critical lens. Simply because Jesus is the son of God does not make Him exempt from critical examination, after all, He is only human, and we are only God. I believe that is all I have to say right now, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
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