“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” he says to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise. Take up your bed and go to your house.” '
This is a central verse of the passage for it contains the essential message that this account is all about. The sudden switch in subject in the middle of the verse should be noted. It has caused some to see the original account as having been interfered with in one way or the other. But it is difficult to see how Mark could have got over his point so personally and yet so succintly, without using this method. It is in fact dramatic. Jesus makes His solemn declaration to the Scribes and then instantly speaks to the man, all in one breath, closely connecting the two. The repetition of ‘He says to the paralytic,' is not a simple repetition but Mark's deliberate contrast of what He says in Mark 2:5 with what He says in Mark 2:10. The repetition draws attention to the contrast. The point is brought home. The purity of the Greek takes second place.
His new claim is startling. Now He has moved from ambiguity to clarity. ‘So that you may know that the Son of Man has authoritative power on earth to forgive sins.' He is claiming that He has the special authority to forgive sins! ‘Forgive' is in the present infinitive, ‘to go on forgiving sins' as a personal activity. And we notice that the words are spoken directly to the Rabbis. It is they whose thoughts He is challenging.
We cannot hide from the fact here that Jesus has deliberately ‘provoked' this incident. In it we come to a high point in His claim to authority. He has revealed His authority in the calling if His disciples. He has revealed His authority in His teaching. He has revealed His authority in casting out evil spirits. And He has even more underlined His authority it touching a man who was unclean, and healing him instead of being made unclean Himself. But now He is lifting His claim to authority to a higher plain, to the plain of divine forgiveness
But we note first the title under which He claims the right to forgive sins. He does so as ‘the Son of Man'. Some have tried to make this mean simply ‘man' on the basis of the Aramaic, but Mark was an Aramaic speaker and yet he translated it as ‘the Son of Man', treating it as a title and making an unambiguous connection with the ideas that lie behind that term. It is significant that in the Gospels the term is only ever used on the lips of Jesus (Mark 8:31; Luke 24:7; and John 12:34 are not really exceptions for they are referring to what Jesus actually said), and in the New Testament only ever referred to Jesus. Thus there are no good grounds for denying these words to Jesus (some have tried to suggest that they are Mark's explanation to his readers, as though ‘you' was addressed to the readers, but this is not the style of the Gospels).
He had begun to develop the term ‘Son of Man' from the moment of His baptism. His first use of it was to Nathaniel at his call following Jesus' baptism, where He spoke of angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). He then used it to Nicodemus with clear heavenly connections, ‘No man has ascended into Heaven but He Who descended out of Heaven, even the Son of Man' (John 3:13). Thus according to John the Son of Man is closely connected with Heaven and has His source in Heaven right from the beginning.
We may well ask, Why does Jesus portray Himself as the ‘Son of Man'?
The title Christ (Messiah) had become connected with the idea of a revolutionary leader who would rally the people against the Romans, but this was not how Jesus wanted people to see Him. That was why, once His disciples had recognised Him for what He was, as ‘the Christ', He re-educated them into recognising what being ‘the Christ' involved in terms of ‘the Son of Man' (Mark 8:29-31). Once He had been crucified His Messiahship could be openly declared (Acts 2:36), but before that it was better veiled. Thus once the term ‘Christ' could be used openly after the resurrection, the term ‘Son of Man' fell into disuse following its final use (and its only use apart from on the lips of Jesus) by Stephen in Acts 7:56 of ‘the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God', where it again signified a triumphant figure in glory. Apart, that is, from in the Book of Revelation, where it is used of the glorious heavenly figure that John meets on ‘the Lord's Day' (Mark 1:10-20), and of the fearsome figure who initiates the judgment in Revelation 14:14-16. It is thus not used in any of the New Testament letters.
The phrase Son of Man could hold a variety of meanings:
'b7 In the Old Testament it regularly parallels ‘man' as a synonym (e.g. Psalms 8:4). Thus by it Jesus was holding Himself out as being true man.
· It is used by God to Ezekiel stressing that he, Ezekiel, is but a man, indicating his humble place when faced with God.
'b7 It is used in Daniel 7:13 of Israel and its King in contrast to the nation Beasts and their kings, and of one who comes as a representative of Israel before God's throne to receive universal power.
'b7 It is used, in apocalyptic literature, of Enoch in a heavenly ministry, spoken to as “you, son of man”.
'b7 Rabbinic literature also later identified the son of man in Daniel 7:13 with the Messiah.
The phrase, therefore, stressed both humiliation and glory, and was not open to being politically manipulated, while at the same time bringing out Jesus' role as the representative of mankind. It was precisely because as Man He was the mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5) that He could pronounce the forgiveness of sins.
The passage in Daniel deserves special mention in this regard. There Israel as God's people are compared with the nations round about who are described as ‘beasts' and as behaving in beastly fashion. Israel alone (seen in its ideal form as obedient to God) is truly human ‘like a son of man', for when true to God His people behave like moral human beings. Because of this the people of God (and by inference their ruler) are subjected to suffering under the beasts (see especially Daniel 7:25) until the end of the age. Then comes ‘one like to a son of man' with the clouds of Heaven to the throne of God, to receive power and glory and universal rule (Mark 7:13). He is the representative of ‘the people of the saints of the Most High' (Mark 7:27). While the son of man is certainly true Israel, the very vivid portrayal in Daniel requires that they approach God in the form of a representative, their king, in the same way as the beasts represented the nations and their kings.
So we may sum up by saying that the phrase ‘Son of Man' in Daniel represents One who suffers in weakness at the hands of brutish man, followed by a triumphant entry into the presence of God to receive power and glory. Jesus Who saw Himself as the Servant of Yahweh of Isaiah used the title as summing up Israel in Himself as the Suffering Servant.
The Special Use of Son of Man in Mark
The Synoptic Gospels in general reveal Jesus as using the title in all kinds of situations. In them (apart from in Mark) there is the connection to the Son of Man as signifying primarily a true human, which is as common in them as its use of the heavenly Son of Man, but that is not so in Mark. Mark deliberately selects sayings of Jesus which bring out what to him is the essence of Jesus' claim to be the ‘Son of Man' and connect with his own aim to present the Son of God.
'b7 ‘The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' (Mark 2:10) (i.e. on earth as well as in Heaven).
· ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath' (Mark 2:28). He has authority to pronounce on God's ordinances.
'b7 ‘It is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer - and rise again' (Mark 8:31; Mark 9:12; Mark 9:31: Mark 10:33; Mark 14:21) - because the son of man in Daniel suffers and then rises to the throne of God, and because only so can He give His life as a ransom for many. Notice the constant repetition of these ideas throughout. This is His destiny and is now His constant theme and the disciples must be made to understand the two sides that there are to it.
'b7 The Son of Man will give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
· The Son of Man will take His seat at the right hand of God and will come on the clouds of heaven, in the glory of the Father, with the holy angels (Mark 8:38; Mark 14:62). (This directly links Jesus with Daniel 7:13).
So to those who would see it Jesus, by this title, was declaring Himself to be here with heavenly authority, for the purpose of suffering and rising again, so that He may ransom men for Himself, with the purpose of then receiving power and authority, and finally coming in the glory of the Father.
Here in Mark 2:10 Jesus represents Himself as the Son of Man Who has authority on earth to forgive sins. This was clearly a claim to special authority and power and by implication connected Him equally with Heaven (the emphasis on ‘on earth' indicates a contrast with Heaven), and with earth, the latter as the place to which He had come and where He now exercised His heavenly authority. It made clear that as a result of His coming forgiveness was now here to be received through Him while on earth. Yet its usage in the third person left the Rabbis and the disciples to consider who exactly He was speaking about.
‘Power (authority) on earth to forgive sins.' This is clear and unambiguous. It is a claim that this ‘Son of Man' can act directly in the forgiveness of sins while on earth. And as the Rabbis had so clearly indicated, this demonstrated His divine nature, which is what Mark wants to bring out. To others He would give the authority to declare sins forgiven (‘he whose sins you shall forgive, shall have been forgiven' - John 20:23), but He alone could actually and personally, as the Judge and Redeemer in union with His Father, forgive sins.
‘So that you may know --.' His act of healing will demonstrate that what He has said is not blasphemy. If He were a blasphemer God would not hear Him, especially in the context of His blasphemy. Thus if the man really is healed it can only demonstrate that God is pleased with what He has said, and that He is therefore His ‘beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased' (Mark 1:11), and does have this power that He has claimed.
‘He says to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise. Take up your mattress and go to your house.” ' Jesus then turned to the paralytic and bid him stand up, pick up his mattress and go home. And to the amazement of all he did so.