Mark 2: 1-5

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.  And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

These are the verses that get glossed-over in this section of Mark's gospel. The whole incident, as it is recorded, shows that Jesus, just as he can heal, is able to forgive sins. In fact, Jesus' own point is that he forgives sins. The end of the passage relates the scribes' reception of his claim - "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 

These verses, however, establish something crucial within the context of Mark's account: Jesus did not consider preaching to be peripheral. Certainly, it is important to recognise Jesus as being of equal status with God, but moving from that central truth, we can examine its implications and discover something of God's priorities.

The crowd that had gathered, came because they knew this man was able to cure people of their diseases. That is what Mark means when he writes: "And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men." They were there for the cure. They had not come to hear the preaching. 

They had come because a leper whom previously Jesus had healed, disobeyed his strict order, and spread news of his cure all around. The crowd either wanted to see him heal people, or to be healed themselves. Of course, Jesus knew what the result of his generosity to the leper might be, and how it would lead to restricted mobility, to fame and to difficulties in preaching the word. But yet, he healed the leper. 

There is another thing to notice here. Just as he emphasised forgiveness to the paralytic, so he had with the leper. He sent the man away to make the offerings that the law required. The law about this is spelled out in Leviticus 14, and it required the priest to kill the lamb of the guilt offering. Jesus linked healing to forgiveness. The healing was the occasion of the man's learning about forgiveness.

What is most instructive is this: Jesus did not just heal the paralytic. Here, in the presence of faith, Jesus offers forgiveness of sins before physical healing. The delay created tension. Notice, after all, the trouble the friends had gone to! They met together to fetch their paralytic friend. They carried him (who knows how far?) to the house on his mat. They broke-in through the roof, and lowered him down. They clearly planned it to the extent of going back to fetch the necessary tools to do the work when it became clear that they could not get in any other way than through the roof tiles. But all the while, Jesus preached. What did they want? Why did they go to all this trouble? They wanted their friend to walk. Did Jesus stretch out his hand straight away, and cure the man? No - he forgives him first. Physical cure is tangential to forgiveness. Where there is faith, Jesus forgives sins. Jesus is the one who blots out our transgressions for his own sake, and he will not remember our sins.