Mark 2:6-10

Mark 2:6 (KJB)
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

Once Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, the Scribes automatically thought that Jesus had spoken inappropriately. They must have been sitting close to Jesus to hear Him say the man’s sins were forgiven. At this point they were pondering in their hearts what Jesus was telling this man. They had thought that Jesus was giving Him false hope.

Mark 2:7 (KJB)
Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

The scribes who were in attendance now accuse Jesus of blasphemy, of course, they said it within themselves and not out loud. They knew that God was the only one who was allowed to forgive sin. They could have seen Jesus as a prophet but the scribes had believed that prophetic ministry had ceased or that Jesus was claiming to be God. They had despised Jesus and that is why they spoke of Him as “this man” which would be speaking only of His humanity and not His deity.

Mark 2:8 (KJB)
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

Here should have been the answer to whom they were dealing with. Only God could know the inner thoughts of a man and here Jesus is pointing out the fact that they were thinking evil in their hearts toward Him. They should have realized that Jesus was more than a mere man when He showed He had the ability to read the hearts of man. He poses the question to them which should have shocked them because how could a mere man know the thoughts of another?

Mark 2:9 (KJB)
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

Here Jesus asks them a question which has only two possible answers. The first answer is that to God, it is very easy to heal a sickened body and to heal the soul by forgiving all their sins. The second answer would be the opposite. To a mere human being, it would be impossible for that person to do either. How can a sick or paralyzed person heal their physical body or how can a sinner cleanse their own soul? It is an impossibility on both. So to answer the question. If they say He is just a man, then what happens next will prove them wrong. If they say he is God, then what He does next will confirm that analysis. So they are caught between two answers which would cause their belief system much trouble.

Mark 2:10 (KJB)
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

Since there would be no way for the scribes to know if the man’s sins were truly forgiven, what Jesus did was to heal the man’s paralysis and once the man started walking again, then the scribes could assume that the man’s sins were also forgiven simultaneously. This outward manifestation of the healing represented the fact that the man’s sins were forgiven. The word for “power” in this verse carries with it the meaning of not only having the power to perform a miracle but having the right or authority to be able to perform that miracle. As the Son of God, Jesus had the authority to perform the miracles which were in keeping with His ministry.

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