Mark 2:5 (AV)
When Jesus¹ saw² their faith³,
he said unto the sick of the palsy⁴,
Son⁵, thy sins⁶ be⁷ forgiven⁸ thee.
¹) Ἰησοῦς Iesous (pronunciation: ee–ay–sooce’) of Hebrew origin עַוּשׁיֵ Jeshua, which is a later form of עַוּשׁוֹהיְ In the Amplified Version it appears 975 times and it is translated with Jesus (972x), Jesus (Joshua) (2x), Jesus (Justus) (1x). The name Jesus means “Yahweh is salvation”.
²) Observed, turn His attention to.
³) Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.
⁴) Paralytic
⁵) The name transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between men by the bonds of love, friendship, trust, just as between parents and children.
⁶) The meaning of the word Sin is: to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, or to be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law. It points to that which is done wrong, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
⁷) Are
⁸) To disregard, to do away the consequences of the sins
From other translations:
And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven [you] and put away [that is, the penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God]. [AMP] And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." [ESV] Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, "Son, I forgive your sins." [MSB] When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. [KJV] When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." [NIV] Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven." [NLT] When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." [NKJV]
We just have read a part of the history of the healing of the paralyzed man.
Mark describes this history more complete than any of the other evangelists.
There is a special conversion in this story of that paralyzed man who was brought to the Lord Jesus by friends. We bring each other to the world and the service of sin much more easily than to Him.
And then there is one more thing. They are prevented by the people from putting that lame man at the Savior’s feet. But they break through all objections. They even cut a hole in the roof to lay their lame friend before the Lord Jesus.
The main thing in this story is not that the man regained two healthy legs, although we must of course not belittle this. Everything the Lord Jesus does is great! But if that man had only regained two healthy legs, he would still have been deeply unhappy and for time and for eternity. Jesus knew what this man needed most, and He gave it to him.
Smijtegeld once said: “I can miss arms and legs, but Jesus Christ I cannot miss.” We can also say that we cannot miss the forgiveness of sins. The paralyzed man was saved from the worst evil and received the supreme good.
How glorious the Savior’s words sound: “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
That is what we all need, first and foremost: the forgiveness of sin. We need that even more than healthy feet. But the Lord Jesus also gives that man to that. He shows that He has power to forgive sins. That is why He also heals his legs and feet. Who has experienced the miracle, the miracle of the forgiveness of sin?
How rich we are then. Then we have a God for time and eternity.
And notice, he heard from the mouth of the Savior Himself that his sins were forgiven! So he did not hear it from others. So we must also hear it from His Own mouth. It is of no use to us when others say this to us.
Anyone paralyzed because of sin will not be able to do it with the words of others. He needs to hear it from the mouth of Jesus!
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