Mark 2: 1-12

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Mark 2:1-12

A Gratuitous Forgiveness

The sacrament of reconciliation was, until recently called, the sacrament of penance. We had to frequent it at least once a year. The conditions to fruitfully receive it were listed in the catechism: an examination of conscience, sorrow, resolution, confession, and penance. All these are the works of man. God entered only at the end to check if everything was done correctly and to trace, through the priest, the sign of the cross with which he declared that sins were forgiven. There remained, it is accurate, and it was not clear why, a penance to atone in purgatory, but that was not the problem. The fact that God had been relegated to control man’s work was more serious. Forgiveness depended upon the interior dispositions, man’s goodwill, and the judgment of the confessor.

Guided by the word of God, we began to realize that the Lord’s forgiveness is free and precedes man’s repentance. We approach the sacrament of reconciliation not to be ashamed of our miseries but to celebrate the unconditional love of God, to feel again that he embraces and accepts us as we are.

There is another equally important reason. The sacrament provides an opportunity to make the sweet experience of not being alone to fight against the evil forces that break us down and humiliate us. There is a community of brothers and sisters who understands our weaknesses, welcome us, and, with the tenderness and understanding of Christ, accompany us. Children must not be deprived of this experience but should be introduced with care. From an early age, they need to internalize the belief that the Father loves them, always and unconditionally, that the Christian community considers them her children and is on their side, especially when they are in trouble.

Forgiving freely, as God does, can be exhausting; it is risky because it exposes oneself to disappointment and abuse. But since only love and forgiveness, not always, but often disarm, it is worth the risk, as God does.

In this story, there are various rather improbable details. It is not realistic that some men put themselves up to uncover a roof—built with beams, twigs, reeds, and a thick layer of sun-dried mud. At the same time, in the room below, a group of people has continued unabated to converse and discuss as if nothing happened. Think of the noise and dust, dirt, and pieces of wood that were to fall on their heads. Could no one move to convince the stretcher-bearers to wait a moment and stop destroying the house? It’s hard to understand how these four managed to hit the exact spot beneath where Jesus was.

There are other questions that a minimally careful reader raises: how did one notice that there were four carriers? The detail is superfluous. The pardon granted by Jesus to the paralytic is also inconsistent due to the faith of the stretcher-bearers. In another moment of his life, Jesus rejects the interpretation of the disease as a punishment for sin (cf. Jn 9:2-3); why here, before performing the miracle, he forgives the sins of the paralytic who came only to be cured? The silence of the stretcher-bearers and the paralytic is also surprising. Healing and forgiveness are not asked but are freely granted by the Lord. Finally, the grammatical construction of vv. 10-11 is not smooth: there is an abrupt transition from the second person plural to the singular.

These observations lead us to approach the passage with a lot of attention: one sense immediately that Mark did not want to draw a page of chronicle but of theology. Jesus has undoubtedly healed a paralytic, but the images and language used reveal the catechetical intent of the evangelist. It is, therefore, rather tricky (and unimportant) to determine how the story occurred. What matters is the message that Mark wants to convey.

The characters appear divided into two groups. Let us consider who they are, the environments in which they are placed, and the attitudes they assume.

The first is located inside a house, set in a closed space, amassed around Jesus and listening to him. It consists of many people and some scribes who are “sitting” (v. 6), therefore immobile, impassive. We will meet them often in the Gospel. They are the experts in the Law, sure of themselves and their theological convictions. They belong to the sect of the Pharisees and share their attachment to tradition. They consider themselves righteous, of integrity, and blameless and do not let themselves be approached by sinners.

Their stillness is the image of their spiritual condition. They represent the Jewish religious institution that has drawn an impassable line of demarcation between the saintly and sinners. Their presence is an insurmountable obstacle for those who need to get close to Jesus to receive salvation from him.

In contrast to these static people are the four men bearing a paralytic. They are located outside of the house, not stationary but moving. Indeed, they are agitated because they cannot wait. They sense an irrepressible need to meet Jesus, but they cannot approach him because the door is blocked, and the access to the house is foreclosed on them.

They have with them a paralytic lying on a bed. The most complete immobility and passivity characterize the condition of this patient. He is not capable of helping himself, providing for his own life, and not even getting close to the one who can give him health. It is the symbol of humanity that cannot enter the house where the scribes are installed. He represents the pagans, sinners who can only be cured of the disease that prevents them from standing and walking by encountering Christ.

The number of stretcher-bearers completes the symbolism. In the Bible, the number four—which recalls the cardinal points—indicates the entire world. The four and the paralytic are the humanity that can bring Jesus only its weakness and cannot even make the call for help.

The symbolic meaning of the house in which Jesus stays is also evident. The Jewish institution claims that salvation is reserved for the chosen people and prevents it from reaching other people. It is the House of Israel—an expression that occurs 119 times in the Old Testament. If it does not open her doors to the pagans, she is unfaithful to her mission. She must be uncovered or roofless, open wide to all. Jesus considers the work accomplished by the four bearers a gesture of faith.

This brings us to the story's central theme: The forgiveness of sins. The rabbis said the patient could not rise from his illness until his sins were forgiven.

At the time of Jesus, there were various ways to obtain this remission from God.

Those who imagined sin as a “stain” to wash or as an “impurity” to be eliminated were convinced that to be forgiven, it was sufficient to perform purification rites prescribed by law scrupulously. This idea of “purification” is also found in the Bible, which speaks of ritual baths and numerous ceremonies in which blood, fire, and the scapegoat were used to eliminate sin from the community.

Those who considered sinning an injustice against another saw no possibility of remission outside of repairing the damage done.

Finally, there was someone who, disgusted by the relentless spread of iniquity and injustice, was convinced that there was no longer any possibility of remission and that the sinner had nothing to do but wait with trembling for the intervention of God. It was said: one day, he will destroy all the wicked, will put an end to this world, and will create a new one.

In this context, Jesus takes a scandalous and shocking position to the spiritual leaders of his people. He directs to the paralytic, an epithet of tenderness and affection, “Son.” The sinful humanity was unaware of it, but God had always felt for her the feelings the father and mother have for their children. The sinner, even not repentant, remains a lovable child to God. This is the first message.

Then Jesus continues announcing the unconditional and gratuitous forgiveness of God. He does not ask if the paralytic is determined to change his life; if he promises not to commit other sins, he simply says, “Your sins are forgiven,” which means: “God forgives your sins.”

It is this generosity that shocked the scribes. They also believe that God forgives, but they are convinced that one should earn this grace through good feelings, good intentions, good works, and the performance of the rites prescribed by law. Jesus, instead, unhesitatingly proclaims the initiative of forgiveness from God, and this forgiveness is offered to people without their asking for it.

The perplexity of the scribes reflects the reaction that is now evident on the faces of Christians when some preacher affirms that God forgives everything, without the need of repentance or the purpose of repairing the damage. Yet this forgiveness represents nothing more than what God requires of us; has he not asked us to love our enemies, regardless of whether they apologize for the wrong done?

We are instinctively prone to retributive justice. We believe that the punishments and sanctions are the only way to restore the balance that has been broken. We would like the Lord to think like us. But he is not after retribution because he loves, and who loves does not punish, but eradicates evil.

To sin is to lose the objective, it is to build life on the wrong path and this failure cannot be solved with an eraser. God does not cover the mistakes that man commits, He does not pretend that nothing happened; when He forgives, He does not leave the situation as it was before, He transforms it internally, He heals moral illnesses, He changes hearts and from evil He brings good.

This forgiveness cannot be earned by repentance. Repentance is not the arrangement that causes forgiveness but is a sign that God’s love has been understood and that the word of life has been accepted.

For the scribes, there was another reason for scandal: Jesus claimed that God had entrusted the power to free us from sin to the “Son of man.” In the language of Jesus, this expression simply meant man. Therefore, God offered forgiveness through a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He makes it reach humanity through his disciples in whom he “dwells.” It is through the Christian community that today, he continues, with his word and his Spirit, to renew the face of the earth.

God's forgiveness has a healing power, it also has an influence on material reality. The sinner who accepts the word of Christ gets back on his feet and is able to build a completely different life and world. Jesus' command to the paralytic: "Rise, take up your mat and go home" (v. 11) indicates the signs of healing. The one who welcomes God's forgiveness 'rises' to a new life, takes in hand, exercises his power, over what once dominated him (the stretcher) and walks home. Not to the house of others, but to his own house, to the house that is truly his, the house of the Father who is in heaven.