Passage Overview · Free · Mark 2:1–12
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
Four men lower a paralyzed man through the roof because the crowd blocks the door. Jesus first tells the man that his sins are forgiven, provoking the scribes’ silent objection that only God can forgive sins. Jesus answers their unspoken reasoning by healing the man publicly and identifies himself as the Son of Man who has authority on earth to forgive sins.
Where this fits in the story: Mark is steadily widening the question of Jesus’ authority. Chapter 1 showed authority over teaching, demons, sickness, and impurity; here the controversy moves to an authority Scripture associates fundamentally with God—dealing with human sin. The title “Son of Man” will grow in importance until Mark joins it explicitly to Daniel 7 in chapters 13–14.