Mark 2:11

9 ^aWhich is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has¹ power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,

11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and ^aglorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Matthew the Tax Collector

13 ^aThen He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Mark 2:11 Mean?

Mark 2:3-12

In the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26), the physician Luke uses a medical term, "palsied" (KJV), the technical Greek word used to describe paralysis from disease in some part of the nervous system. Because his disease was so debilitating, the man needed comfort and healing. Jesus thus refers to him as "son," or more literally, "child," showing His fatherly compassion.

Paralysis represents sin's crippling power and the sinner's sheer helplessness to do anything to relieve his own suffering. The apostle Paul speaks of our initial lack of spiritual strength in Romans 5:6, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." With this miracle, Jesus forgave the penalty that the man had incurred through sin and raised him from his miserable state.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Paralytic (Part Two)

Mark 2:10-11

Jesus sets the spiritual and physical in the right perspective. Since sin was responsible for the man's paralysis, He deals with the cause first, then the effect. All actions are subject to the law of cause and effect; for every action there is a reaction. The man's physical ailment was not nearly as heavy a burden as his spiritual corruption. In reality, physical healing is meaningless without a sound mind. Psalm 103:3 can be seen as a prophecy that the Christ would forgive sins related to sickness and disease.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Paralytic (Part Two)

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Mark 2:11:

Psalm 103:2-3
Matthew 9:1-8
Luke 5:17-26
Luke 5:36-39

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Matthew the Tax Collector

What Does Mark 2:11 Mean?

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