Picture this scene. I’m in a bar with two friends, Jen and
Alice. Alice punches Jen in the face. And then Alice turns to me. And I say, “I
forgive you.” If I’m Jen, I’m thinking, “Who are you to forgive Alice? I’m the
one she punched!”

It’s this same scenario that Jesus asks us to consider when
it comes to forgiveness. He essentially says that every violation of the moral
code–every punch in the face, every injustice, every mean thought, every act of
spite and anger–are not just violations from human to human. He says they are,
at their core, violations against God.

For the Jews in Jesus’ day, this concept would have made
sense. God created human beings and therefore has a say over human behavior.
Moreover, God actually loves human beings, and desires their wholeness. God wants
us to flourish. When we hurt one another, we hurt our common humanity, and it
causes separation and animosity to spread from human to human and between the
human, the one who bears the image of God, and God himself. The way to
begin repairing that separation and healing those wounds is through
forgiveness.

In Mark
2, a paralyzed man is carried to Jesus. Somewhat out of the blue, Jesus
tells him, “Your sins are forgiven.” (I’ve always wondered whether this came as
exciting news to the paralyzed man–all he seemed to want was the ability to
walk again.) He and his companions must have been puzzled. Not only was the man
not asking for forgiveness, who is Jesus to offer it? It’s rather like me
forgiving my friend for punching someone else.

The only way Jesus could offer forgiveness for sin is if Jesus is claiming to be God. To be the one who created each of us. The
one against whom we sin. The one with the ability to heal us and the power to
forgive.

So what does this passage mean for us?

Our spiritual healing is of utmost importance to God.

God, through Jesus, has the power and the willingness to forgive sin.

It is hard to believe. Just as the people in the room
wondered if Jesus really could forgive sin, we too have trouble believing that
we need forgiveness and that God wants to forgive us.

And yet, if we come to Jesus for forgiveness, we begin the
work of reconciliation that can then extend from person to person, to heal the
world.