Mk 2:1-12
Mark here employs his inside-outside theological image to the fullest. Jesus is “at home”; he is inside. Likewise, there is a large crowd inside with him.
There is one paralytic, however, who is outside. Those who carry him to Jesus want to get him inside. So they remove part of the roof and lower him down into the midst of the crowd. Now, the paralytic is inside. The four men who carried the paralytic look like they are outside but are in fact inside.
The scribes, Mark’s adversaries of Jesus, are also inside, but the reader discovers that they are really outside. Their concern is not the healing of the paralytic but the adherence to the law. For Jesus to declare the man’s sins forgiven is for Jesus to assume the role of God and thus lay claim to being God. This is blasphemy. This charge will surface later during Jesus’ trial before his crucifixion.
In the ancient world, any kind of disease was attributed to sin, either that of the person himself or herself or his or her parents. The scribes, when confronting Jesus with the charge of blasphemy, provides Jesus with the occasion to challenge this popular notion.
If Jesus cannot forgive the man’s sins—as the scribes maintained—then he will simply tell him to pick up his mat and walk. In a touch of Marcan humor, Jesus takes the second route and shows the scribes that the man’s paralysis is not due to sin, since no sin is being forgiven. Three interesting points are made by Mark in telling this story.
First, the emphasis is not on the healing of the paralytic, but on the dismantling of the popular notion that illness is caused by sin. Jesus effectively challenges this idea by simply telling the man to pick up his mat and walk.
Second, Mark is placing an emphasis on faith. The faith of the four men, who carry the paralytic and remove the roof and lower him into the house, is spoken of by Jesus. Faith shines outward from within. The faith of others is a powerful force to accomplish good, Mark is saying. Faith motivates people to do good deeds.
Third, healing comes from within. Jesus is within the house. The crowd is within the house. The paralytic is lowered into the house. The scribes look like they are within, but they are really outside. Their concern is not healing. Healing begins within each person and it flows outward—like the healed paralytic who goes away in the sight of everyone.