ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Mark 2.5-7

Book: Mark · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

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ASV:

"5. And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven. 6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God?" (Mark 2:5-7, ASV)

WEB:

"5. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 6. But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”" (Mark 2:5-7, WEB)

KJV:

"5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" (Mark 2:5-7, KJV)

YLT:

"5. and Jesus having seen their faith, saith to the paralytic, 'Child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.' 6. And there were certain of the scribes there sitting, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. 'Why doth this one thus speak evil words? who is able to forgive sins except one, God?'" (Mark 2:5-7, YLT)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV:

"3. And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of four. 4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay. 5. And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven. 6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God? 8. And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9. Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?" (Mark 2:3-9, ASV)

WEB:

"3. Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 4. When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. 5. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 6. But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 9. Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’" (Mark 2:3-9, WEB)

KJV:

"3. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8. 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? 9. 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?" (Mark 2:3-9, KJV)

YLT:

"3. And they come unto him, bringing a paralytic, borne by four, 4. and not being able to come near to him because of the multitude, they uncovered the roof where he was, and, having broken [it] up, they let down the couch on which the paralytic was lying, 5. and Jesus having seen their faith, saith to the paralytic, 'Child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.' 6. And there were certain of the scribes there sitting, and reasoning in their hearts, 7. 'Why doth this one thus speak evil words? who is able to forgive sins except one, God?' 8. And immediately Jesus, having known in his spirit that they thus reason in themselves, said to them, 'Why these things reason ye in your hearts? 9. which is easier, to say to the paralytic, The sins have been forgiven to thee? or to say, Rise, and take up thy couch, and walk?" (Mark 2:3-9, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: Jesus, in His early Galilean ministry in Capernaum
  • Audience: the paralytic + his four friends + the packed house + the scribes present (Pharisees per Luke 5:17 parallel) + the broader crowd
  • Location: a house in Capernaum (likely Peter's), on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, c. AD 27-28 (early in Jesus's public ministry)
  • Time period: events c. AD 27-28; composed c. AD 55-70 by Mark / John Mark (traditionally, on Peter's preaching; Rome)
  • Narrative context: the first explicit Christological-deity conflict in Mark's Gospel. Four friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus, lower him through the roof. Jesus's first response is not physical healing but pronouncement of forgiveness: "Son, thy sins are forgiven." The scribes immediately and silently object, "who can forgive sins but God only?" Jesus reads their thoughts (itself an implicit divine-prerogative claim), challenges them with the harder-versus-easier question (v. 9), and then performs the physical healing as proof of His authority to forgive (vv. 10-12). The narrative is constructed precisely to make the Christological claim unmistakable: Jesus has exousia on earth to forgive sins (v. 10).

Theological reading

Mark 2:5-7 is the first explicit deity-of-Christ confrontation in the Synoptic Gospels. The Christological argument is staged in the scribes' own logic: (a) only God can forgive sins (the scribes' premise, correct per OT teaching, Ex 34:7; Is 43:25; Mic 7:18); (b) Jesus has just forgiven sins; (c) therefore either Jesus is blaspheming (the scribes' conclusion) or Jesus is God (Mark's intended reader-conclusion). Jesus does not retract the forgiveness-pronouncement; He vindicates it by demonstrating the impossible-to-fake physical healing (v. 12), which the crowd recognizes as divine action: "We never saw it on this fashion."

The divine-prerogative claim

In second-temple Jewish theology, sin is against God and forgiveness is God's prerogative alone. A priest can offer sacrifices that mediate forgiveness, but the priest does not grant forgiveness, God does. Jesus's pronouncement "thy sins are forgiven" (using a divine-passive that implies God's action and Jesus's authority to declare it) is exactly the divine-prerogative claim the scribes recognize.

The scribes' principle, "who can forgive sins but God only?", is correct OT theology. The scribes are also correct that if Jesus is not God, then Jesus's pronouncement is blasphemy. The scribes' only error is the implicit assumption that Jesus is not God; everything else in their logic is sound. Mark uses this carefully to force the reader to choose: is Jesus blaspheming, or is Jesus God?

The harder-or-easier challenge (v. 9)

Jesus's response in v. 9, "Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?", is rhetorically brilliant. Saying forgiveness is easier than saying healing because forgiveness is invisible (no one can verify or falsify the claim) while healing is visible (easily falsified if it doesn't work). So Jesus says the visible-falsifiable thing as evidence of His authority over the invisible-unfalsifiable thing. The crippled man walks; therefore Jesus's word of forgiveness was as effective as His word of healing; therefore Jesus has authority both.

Patristic and Reformed reading

Augustine (Sermons 5): the passage establishes that the visible-evidence of healing is given precisely so that the invisible-claim of forgiveness can be vindicated. The Christological pattern is one of credentialed-claim followed by sign.

John Chrysostom (Homilies on Matthew 29, treating the parallel Matt 9:1-8): the scribes' reasoning is internally valid; their error is their refusal to accept the divine-identity conclusion that the evidence forces. The passage is a model of the apologetic argument: opponent's premise + Christ's actions = forced conclusion.

John Calvin (Harmony of the Evangelists on Mark 2:5-7): the scribes' challenge is rightly answered by Christ as a vindication of His divine identity. The healing of the paralytic is a christological credential, not merely a compassionate act.

Apologetic deployment

The passage is the principal Synoptic-Gospel proof-text for Christ's deity-via-divine-prerogative. It defeats:

  1. "Jesus never claimed to be God" (popular skeptic, Bart Ehrman, Reza Aslan). Counter: Jesus's forgiveness-pronouncement IS a divine-identity claim, recognized as such by the scribes, vindicated by Him with the healing. The scribes are the first-century-Jewish authoritative witnesses to what the claim meant; their reaction is the historical anchor.

  2. "Jesus was just an exorcist / healer" (popular liberal-Protestant). Counter: Jesus's first public-conflict moment in Mark is not a healing-controversy but a forgiveness-controversy. The Christological pattern is: forgiveness-claim → divine-identity-issue → healing-credential. The healings are not the central claim; the Christological identity is.

  3. "Only the Father is God; the Son is a lesser being" (Arian / JW). Counter: the divine prerogative the scribes invoke, "who can forgive sins but God only?", is exactly what Jesus claims for Himself. A lesser being cannot share a uniquely divine prerogative.

The Son-of-Man-on-earth claim (v. 10)

Jesus's response in v. 10, "that ye may know that the Son of man hath power [exousia] on earth to forgive sins", claims the Son-of-Man title (cf. Daniel 7:13-14, the apocalyptic figure given everlasting dominion by the Ancient of Days). The Son-of-Man title is loaded with divine-figure connotations in Jewish apocalyptic thought; Jesus's pairing of it with forgiveness-of-sins-authority makes the Christological claim unmistakable. See Son of Man Title.

Oneness Pentecostal reading

In the Oneness framework, Mark 2:5-7 displays the one God's incarnational forgiveness-authority. The Son-manifestation forgives because the Father-source IS the one God who alone has forgiveness-authority. The scribes' premise, only God forgives, is true; Jesus's action, pronouncing forgiveness, confirms that He IS God in incarnation. See Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism.

Canonical-theological connections

  • Matthew 9:1-8, Matthean parallel
  • Luke 5:17-26, Lukan parallel
  • Mark 2:10, Son-of-Man-has-authority claim
  • Daniel 7:13-14, Son-of-Man apocalyptic figure
  • Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions", divine-forgiveness OT background
  • Micah 7:18, "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity?"
  • John 5:21-23, Father-delegates-judgment-to-Son (rich hub: John 5.23)
  • Acts 5:31, "Him hath God exalted... a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins"

Key words

See also

Quoted in