Gospel in Art: Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'

Christ healing the paralysed man, by Bernardino Passeri. Preparatory drawing for engraving first published 1593 © The Royal Collection Trust

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 12 January 2024
Mark 2:1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, word went round that he was back; and so many people collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'My child, your sins are forgiven.' Now some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves, 'How can this man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God?' Jesus, inwardly aware that this was what they were thinking, said to them, 'Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven" or to say, "Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk"? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,' - he turned to the paralytic - 'I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.'

And the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astounded and praised God saying, 'We have never seen anything like this.'

Reflection on the drawing

It is often when we are in greatest need that we discover who our true friends are. We appreciate those who stand by us in difficult times, those who suffer with us when we suffer. We value these friends and recognise them as a great treasure to have in our lives. The paralytic in today's gospel reading seems to have had such friends. They were people of faith who cared enough for their friend to stop at nothing to bring him to Jesus. Even the crowds around Jesus and the roof above his head did not stop them.

Jesus could not but respond to such an expression of amazing faith. It may surprise us that the first words Jesus spoke to the paralysed man were not, 'Pick up your stretcher, and go off home', but, 'My child, your sins are forgiven'. This tells us a lot. Jesus recognised that his 'need for healing' went deeper than his 'need to walk'. He understood that the man needed first to be assured that he was being embraced by God in love.

Our drawing is by Bernardino Passeri, executed in the early 1590s. It is a preparatory drawing of plate 30 for the Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, an illustrated guide for prayerful meditation on the Gospels. The black letters which are drawn onto the sheet would have been accompanied by an explanatory text. This was to guide the reader as to what to look at in the drawing and what part of the Gospel to pay especially careful attention to.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-2-1-12-2024/