Mark 2:1-12 (NRSV)

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!'

Today, we have 12 verses of the Mark's Gospel connected to the same healing of the paralytic man in Capernaum.  Unlike before, when Mark gave us so much information with Jesus going here and there healing and casing out demons, today’s story is complete and full of details.  The word “removed the roof” stands out to me.

At this point, there are several who are following Jesus everywhere, leaning on his every word and action.  A paralytic man is brought to Jesus, but they can't reach him because of the crowds.  They believed so firmly that Jesus could help the man, so they took extreme action and "removed the roof" to lower him down.  Jesus forgives his sins.  The scribes show up in this chapter, voicing their concern about Jesus’ authority.  When Jesus absolves the sins of the paralytic man at first, the scripture says nothing about ‘healing’ him.  We know that physical conditions in ancient times were often perceived as the result of some sin that he or his parents committed.

The scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy and challenge Jesus’ authority to forgive sin saying, Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Jesus offers them a conundrum, by asking what is easier – forgiving sins or telling the man to get up and walk?  Jesus shows the scribes his authority by telling the man to stand and take up his mat and go home.  This action amazed the crowd and the scribes.

The call I hear today is “forgive.”  Forgiveness is from God alone, and it is a Godly act to forgive the sins of another.  Like Jesus, who when he forgives restores things to correct order, when we search for forgiveness and when we forgive each other, we restore things to right relationship.  Forgiveness is not an easy task, and takes a letting go of self and taking on of the other.

In this season of Lent, we are digging into muck of our lives and bring our deepest sins to the surface in order to deal with them – in order to let God deal with them.  Through God we receive true forgiveness and we can be fully healed and restored to right relationship.