Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell the story of Jesus. All four discuss his death and resurrection, although only Matthew and Luke have anything to say about his birth. This story of the paralyzed man being told "Your sins are forgiven" and then being healed are in three of the Gospels. In Matthew it says that it happens in Jesus' hometown but doesn't say that it happens indoors; in Luke it doesn't say that it happens in Jesus' hometown but does say that "they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles" (Luke 519b). In Mark, the passage we're looking at for Sunday, we are told that this happens in Jesus' hometown, we are given the specific details that four men carried the paralyzed man's mat, and that "they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay" (Mark 2:4b). We also have another detail that is not in the other Gospels: not only is this Jesus' hometown, this is Jesus' home. This house belongs to Jesus.
So four men tore a hole in the roof of the house belonging to Jesus. And does Jesus get upset and angry at them? Does Jesus scream and yell and call the police and threaten a lawsuit--pretty much what anyone would do?
Here is Jesus' response: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5). His house is vandalized, and his response is to see that these five people have faith.
So many questions. Is his forgiving the sin of the paralyzed man actually forgiving that they ripped up his roof--and doing so because he was able to see that the man, and those who would support him in seeking his healing, matter more than his house? Don't know if insurance covers this kind of structural damage, but it does seem that Jesus understands that a roof can be repaired, but a life matters more.
How many structures in the world need to be "adjusted" so that healing can take place? This seems to me to be a big underlying point of this story. Our natural instinct is to be certain that our structures that we have worked so hard for stay intact, and that if some "healing" can take place while our own context is unaffected, then that's OK. But as we are reminded with this pandemic, and with the increased awareness of the ways systemic racism has been woven into the structures of our society, some structures need to be broken through.
Our employment-based healthcare is one of them. How does one get the healthcare needed, especially if diagnosed with COVID-19, if one has lost a job because of COVID-19 and therefore has lost healthcare coverage? And the aforementioned systemic racism has caused even what structures there are to be unfair--which too many of us didn't realize was the case as we live within our own structures. Some structures need to be dug through so healing can happen, and in some cases, the sin of those structures isn't something we see from the safety of our own homes. On the other hand, the sin we can more readily identify when it is MY structure, MY place of safety that gets messed with--we may need to forgive, so that healing--the moving past paralysis--can affect the wider society.
In his healing, Jesus was subversive. And in his forgiveness--even when it is his own home that is damaged--Jesus was also subversive. We are called to live the values that he taught, and embodied. Those values are subversive.
GOSPEL Mark 2:1-12
1 When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 3 Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ 8 At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— 11‘ I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ 12 And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’