Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 2:3
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
3. borne of four ] Notice the pictorial definiteness of the Evangelist.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See this miracle explained in Mat 9:2-8.
Palsy – See the notes at Mat 4:24.
Borne of four – Carried upon a couch Mat 9:2 by four men.
Mar 2:4
The press – The crowd, the multitude of people. Jesus was probably in the large open area or hall in the center of the house. See the notes at Mat 9:2. The people pressed into the area, and blocked up the door so that they could not have access to him.
They uncovered the roof where he was – See the notes at Mat 9:2.
When they had broken it up – When they had removed the awning or covering, so that they could let the man down. See the notes at Mat 9:2.
Mar 2:5
Their faith – Their confidence or belief that he could heal them.
Son – Literally, child. The Hebrews used the words son and child with a great latitude of signification. They were applied to children, to grandchildren, to adopted children, to any descendants, to disciples, followers, young people, and to dependents. See the notes at Mat 1:1. In this place it denotes affection or kindness. It was a word of consolation – an endearing appellation, applied by the Saviour to the sick man to show his compassion, to inspire confidence, and to assure him that he would heal him.
We never saw it on this fashion – Literally, We never saw it so. We never saw anything like this.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mar 2:3
And they came unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
The charities of the poor
Borne of four. The charities of the rich are published far and wide, and all men talk of them. Let us turn from them to think for a little of the charities of the poor. But how do we know that the paralytic in this story belonged to the poor? From St. Mark. When he says (Mar 2:4) They let down the bed, he employs a different word for bed from St. Matthew, viz., the Greek form of the Latin grabatus, the pallet or camp bed used by the poor (Cf. Joh 5:8; Act 5:15; Act 9:33). This is one of those graphic touches by which he so often gives additional interest and pictorial vividness to his narrative. (Cf. in the context, Capernaum, verse 1, about the door, verse 2, broken it up, verse 4, son, verse 5, and text, borne of four.) The story suggests as to the charities of the poor-
I. That they generally spring from neighbourhood-Four. Who were they, friends or kinsfolk? Most probably neighbours. There is something sacred in neighbourhood. It is an ordinance of God, and the source of countless kindnesses and sweet humanities.
II. That they are often nameless-Four. The deed of love is chronicled, but nothing is said to identify the doers. So of thousands. Their simple, unostentatious charities are unnamed and unhonoured. But their record is on high.
III. That they are called forth in cases of great distress-Palsy, Type of many. No place exempt from trouble. Multitudes of the poor suffer grievously.
IV. That they are characterized by much disinterestedness and generosity. Of the charities of the poor it may be said, as Spenser says of the angels, that they are all for love and nothing for reward.
V. That they are personally exercised. Most of the rich act by proxy. How different with the poor. They act for themselves.
VI. That they reach their highest form when they are the means of bringing souls to Christ.
VII. That they shall have a great reward. Happy day for this poor man and his friends. (W. Forsyth, M. A.)
Mutual help
Two, says Solomon, are better than one; for if one fall he can help the other, but woe unto him that is alone when he falleth! The cobbler could not paint the picture, but he could tell Apelles that the shoe latchet was not quite right, and the painter thought it well to take his hint. Two neighbours, one blind and the other lame, were called to a place at a great distance. What was to be done? The blind man could not see, and the lame man could not walk! Why, the blind man carried the lame one; the former assisted by his legs, the other by his eyes. Say to no one, then, I can do without you; but be ready to help those who ask your aid, and then, when it is needed, you may ask theirs. (Smith.)
A man with a palsy
Learn:
I. The blessedness of faithful friends.
II. The power of sin.
III. The result of perseverance.
IV. The philosophy of religion-Seek ye first, etc. (Anon.)
The sick man let down through the roof to Christ
I. Those who would be healed by Christ must come to him. Though in exceptional cases our Lord did cure sick people who were at a distance (e.g. Luk 7:1-10)
, His general rule was to heal by look, word, and touch-by the giving out of virtue from His living presence (Mar 5:30). Thus in the case before us the man was not cured till he reached Christ.
1. It is not enough to hear much of Christ. It is not enough to hear of a surgeon; a cure can be effected only by personal treatment.
2. It is not enough to seek help of those who are near to Christ. The crowd about the door could not heal the sick man.
II. There are those who will never reach Christ unless they are brought to him by others. The sick man was borne of four, and could not have reached Jesus without this help. It is the mission of the Church to bring to Christ those who are too helpless in spiritual indifference to seek Him of their own accord (Luk 14:21-23). Note-
1. The Church cannot cure the world of its sin.
2. Those who cannot do more, may be able to bring others under the sound of the word, by inducing them to attend places of worship, etc.
III. The selfishness of some who are enjoying Christian privileges is one of the greatest impediments to the spread of the blessings of the gospel among those who are as yet without them. The selfish crowd would not give place for the sick man.
IV. Earnest perseverance in seeking Christ will overcome the greatest difficulties. The readiness to give up before difficulties is a sure proof of half-heartedness. It is the sluggard who says, There is a lion in the path. Christ is always accessible, though not always with ease.
V. Though the way of coming to Christ may be irregular, His healing blessing will be certainly given when once He is truly found. There are cases in which the regular methods of the Church fail, and irregular methods seem to succeed. (W. F. Adeney, M. A.)
Healing the paralytic
I. Forgiveness is the chief blessing.
II. Adoption-Son.
III. Gladness-Be of good cheer.
IV. Faith-When He saw their faith. (D. Brotchie.)
Christs way of dealing with sin
I. The malady presented to Christ. The malady, apparently, was nothing more than palsy. But not as such did Christ treat it. As with their faith, so it was here. He went deeper than perseverance or ingenuity. He goes deeper than the outward evil; down to the evil, the root of all evil, properly the only evil-sin. Now sin has a twofold set of consequences.
1. The natural. By the natural, we mean those results which come inevitably in the train of wrong-doing, by what we call the laws of nature visiting themselves on the outward condition of a sinner, by which sin and suffering are linked together. Here, apparently, palsy had been the natural result of sin; for otherwise the address of Christ was meaningless. These natural consequences are often invisible as well as inevitable. Probably not one of the four friends, or even the physician, suspected such a connection. But the conscience of the palsied man and the all-seeing eye of Christ traced the connection. Such an experience is true much oftener than we imagine. The irritable temperament, the lost memory, are connected with sins done long ago. For nothing here stands alone and causeless. The Saviour saw in this palsied man the miserable wreck of an ill-spent life.
2. Now quite distinct from these are the moral consequences of guilt: by which I mean those which tell upon the character and inward being of the man who sins. In one sense, no doubt, it is a natural result, inasmuch as it is by a law, regular and unalterable, a man becomes by sin deteriorated in character, or miserable. Now these are twofold, negative and positive-the loss of some blessing: or the accruing of some evil to the heart. Loss-as when by sinning we lose the capacity for all higher enjoyments; for none can sin without blunting his sensibilities. He has lost the zest of a pure life, the freshness and the flood of happiness which come to every soul when it is delicate, and pure, and natural. This is no light loss. If anyone here congratulates himself that sin has brought to him no positive misery, my brother, I pray you to remember that Gods worst curse was pronounced upon the serpent tempter. Apparently it was far less than that pronounced on the woman, but really it was far more terrible. Not pain, not shame-no, these are remedial, and may bring penitence at last-but to sink the angel in the animal-the spirit in the flesh; to be a reptile, and to eat the dust of degradation as if it were natural food. Eternity has no damnation deeper than that. Then, again, a positive result-the dark and dreadful loneliness that comes from doing wrong-a conscious unrest which plunges into business, or pleasure, or society, not for the love of these things, but to hide itself from itself as Adam did in the trees of the garden, because it dare not hear the voice of God, nor believe in His presence.
II. Christs treatment of that malady. By the declaration of Gods forgiveness. The forgiveness of God acts upon the moral consequences of sin directly. Remorse passes into penitence and love. There is no more loneliness, for God has token up His abode there. No more self-contempt, for he whom God has forgiven learns to forgive himself. There is no more unrest, for being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Upon the natural consequences, not directly, but indirectly and mediately. The forgiveness of Christ did not remove the palsy, that was the result of a separate act of Christ. It is quite conceivable that it might not have been removed at all. Consider too, that without a miracle, they must have remained in this mans case. It is so in everyday life. If the intemperate man repents he will receive forgiveness, but will that penitence give him back the steady hand of youth? Or if the suicide between the moment of draining the poisoned cup and that of death repent of his deed, will that arrest the operation of the poison? A strong constitution or the physician may possibly save life; but penitence has nothing to do with it. Say that the natural penal consequence of crime is the scaffold:-Did the pardon given to the dying thief unnail his hands? Did Christs forgiveness interfere with the natural consequences of his guilt? And thus, we are brought to a very solemn and awful consideration, awful because of its truth and simplicity. The consequences of past deeds remain. They have become part of the chain of the universe-effects which now are causes, and will work and interweave themselves with the history of the world forever. You cannot undo your acts. If you have depraved anothers will, and injured anothers soul, it may be in the grace of God that hereafter you will be personally accepted and the consequences of your guilt inwardly done away, but your penitence cannot undo the evil you have done, and Gods worst punishment may be that you may have to gaze half frantic on the ruin you have caused, on the evil you have done. And yet even here the grace of Gods forgiveness is not in vain; it may transform the natural consequences of sin into blessings. It would give meekness, patience, and change even the character of death itself. A changed heart will change all things around us.
III. The true aim and meaning of miracles. It is the outward manifestation of the power of God, in order that we may believe in the power of God in things that are invisible. Miracles were no concession to that infidel spirit which taints our modern Christianity, and which cannot believe in Gods presence, except it can see Him in the supernatural. Rather, they were to make us feel that all is marvellous, all wonderful, all pervaded with a Divine presence, and that the simplest occurrences of life are miracles. In conclusion. Let me address those who, like this sufferer, are in any degree conscious either of the natural or moral results of sin, working in them. My Christian brethren, if the crowd of difficulties which stand between your soul and God succeed in keeping you away, all is lost. Right into His presence you must force your way, with no concealment. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Body and soul cured
I. Pardon, as such, is not a progressive thing. There is no such thing as half a pardon. There are no processes of forgiveness-Thy sins are forgiven thee. The sense of pardon will progress with growing holiness; but not the pardon.
II. We may notice further that the forgiveness of sins took the initiative of all the blessings. It was the first act of grace which led on to all the rest. Remember, we do not work up to our pardon, but from it. We receive it in the free, undeserved, sovereign grace of God.
III. And further, we gather from the story, that any temporal blessings that we receive may, to a devout mind, give evidence of gods love to the soul and of his tower to bestow further spiritual gifts.
IV. It is strengthening and assuring also to see by what tenures we hold our pardon-The Son of man, etc. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The paralytic let down through the roof
The scribes were right in their instinctive reflection; that none can forgive sins but God. As an illustration of the whole covenant of our redemption from guilt, and its penal consequences, Christ first forgives the sins of the paralytic, and then throws health into every fibre of his body. Does it not intimate that all judgment hath been committed unto the Son. Does it not cast a new light upon those passages of Holy Writ, in which the prerogative of giving life is attributed to Jesus, as though He were the original source of vitality. Let us regard this as an instance of Divine faith; it will help us to a view of faith as contrasted with reason, and of faith exercised in its proper department; also an example of the moral necessity of faith to the obtaining of blessings from heaven.
I. The consideration of the text will help us to a right view of faith as contrasted with reason. It was clearly faith which brought the men to the city where our Lord was; whereas reason might have kept them at home. Let it be assumed that faith and reason are independent processes of the mind, as being exercised on different things; faith cometh by hearing, and simply accepting testimony; reason, on the other hand, looks rather to the lessons of experience. The four friends of the palsied man having heard of the cures wrought by Jesus, determined at all hazards to carry their friend to Him. Now we call the moral temper which so influenced them-it may be in the twinkling of an eye-faith. They accepted the statements of those who had been at Capernaum. They did not argue concerning the supernatural power of our Lord, or inquire whether it was consonant with the usual course of nature; such would have been the exercise of reason. Reason would have contended that no force of words could restore palsied limbs to health. Faith, so far contrasted with reason, was ready to make the journey. To put the contrast in another view. There are many who would contend, that our last remark goes to depreciate faith, and to say that it is a moral quality, lower than reason; dependent, after all, upon it, and content to make its decisions and pursue its conduct upon a less precise and more vague amount of evidence. Nay, more, that it may be confused with reason, and is but a certain form or process of reason. This is practically the view of all those modern thinkers, who, wanting to get rid of the motive powers of the gospel, seek first to depreciate the very principles of which they are constituted. But it may be replied, that reason is not the origin and source of faith, because it sometimes comes in to test and verify its discoveries, any more than the judge at your tribunals is the origin of the innocence of those whom he righteously acquits; or the critic who decides about the structure and the plot of an epic, is to be confounded with the poet, from the depths of whose abounding genius its rich thoughts have welled forth. From what we have said it may be presumed that we claim for faith something not unlike a separate identity in the breast. We think that we hardly disparage conscience-itself not far apart from reason, as exercised in a high and holy manner, and yet, though near, distinct-if we seat faith by her side, in the banquet of the souls uppermost chamber: if we claim for faith the prerogatives of a separate instinct and power-a moral temper and standing, apart in the breast; and coming in its brighter forms not merely of ourselves, not as a natural evolution of any ordinary inward powers, but as the special gift of God. Nor is this to confound it with that superstition of fanaticism by which the pretended votaries of faith are sometimes led away, and which renders it so obnoxious to men of the world. But not to continue longer this desultory contrast of faith and reason than the necessity of the times requires, and leaving its development rather to your private meditations, we shall only dwell on one more point, as displayed in the case of the earnest friends of the paralytic. This conduct forms a strong illustration of the truth that faith is a principle of action, as reason of minute investigations. We may, if we will, think that such investigations are of high value; though, in truth, they have a tendency to blunt the practical energy of the mind while they improve its scientific exactness. This remark brings us to the gist of our whole argument. We are surrounded by men who would persuade us that the world is to be regenerated, and all its paralytic prostrations healed, by the careful balancing of certain philosophical truths, by courses of speculative inquiry, by the exercise of the reason alone. Of the height of faith in its higher forms they know nothing. We venture to tell them that whether for the rescue of a pauper or a world their plans and principles are powerless. While reason is speculating and balancing things, and doubts which way to proceed, faith moves rapidly and majestically forward, and sheds blessings at every footstep. While reason inquires whether the waters can possess any healing power, faith steps in, and is made whole. If, then, reason and faith are to stand opposed, let us stand, with the just, by faith. Reason, set up in denial of faith-in morals, gave men the fictions of Rousseau-in religion, of Thomas Paine-in politics, of the French Revolution. Irreverence, captiousness, the spirit of division, the denial of the divinity of our blessed Lord and all sacramental mysteries, the sneers at prayer-these are the genuine products of reason, attired as a harlot, carried as an idol, and set in antagonism to faith. Of extremes, that of the rationalist is the worst. I had rather be superstitions than sceptical. Wherever I am, oh Jesus Christ, give me the spirit of simplicity, learning, and loving; lest Thou shouldest be near, and I knew it not-lest others should be pressing to hear Thy words and seek Thy face, taking, with holy violence, the kingdom of heaven by force, and I should linger apart from Thee; lest my soul should be left with its leprous taint of sin uncured, while others came from Thy presence, with souls like that of a little child; lest my spiritual powers should be palsied still, while others, borne by the faith of four, had their sins forgiven, their maladies healed, and took up their bed, and departed to their house.
II. Without apologising for the length of the discussion just closed-because it seems necessary to meet the rationalist and utilitarian direction of this iron age-we turn with minds relieved and rejoicing to a few practical reflections immediately suggested by the text. It furnishes, first, an example of earnest industry on the part of the friends and attendants of the poor paralytic, such as we shall do well to imitate as well as admire. Brethren, beloved in the Lord, is your substantiation of things hoped for simple and uncompromising like this? Believing, as we trust you do, in the Lord Jesus Christ, do ye use contrivance as earnest, and labour as hard, in fulfilling that best office of friendship, which places the diseased in the presence of their Saviour? Do you send up their case to the house of God, that it may be borne, as it were, not of four, but of many, to the throne of heavenly grace? If there be in your families any paralyzed by sin and wickedness, men whose moral principles are deadened, and sensibilities benumbed, by the poison of licentiousness, or infidelity, or worldliness, do you try by importunate application, and kind but constant entreaty, to bring them to the living fountain, open for sin and uncleanness? Christ is in His Church; do you try and persuade them to join you in its holy services? Do you ply them with every kind and tender office, bearing them, as it were, in your arms, that your importunity may be successful? Do you take as much pains for their souls health, as they who carried the palsied cripple, and let him down through the roof of the house? And you cannot but remark the reward which our blessed Lord vouchsafes to their exertions. His omniscient eye followed them as they toiled up the staircase to the roof; He perceived their confidence. It is not, we trust, irreverent to suppose that His spirit rejoiced within Him, and felt serene satisfaction at the flow of faith in the hearts of these people. Mysteriously restrained or free, rapid or slow, plenteous, or frugal, in the disbursal of His miraculous blessings, according to the faith of those around Him, grieved as He often was at the hardness of mens hearts, doing hero and there not many mighty works, because of their unbelief; we may suppose the joyous contrast of emotion, as He perceived the paralytic let down in His presence. Similar, beloved brethren, shall be your reward; if you, with the same quiet constancy and steadfastness, seek to bring souls to Him, who is the good Physician. It may be, that your toil will long appear mere unprofitable waste. You will long wonder at the little result which ensues on your earnest effort. The deeper laws of Gods eternal kingdom, the manner in which He subdues minds to Himself, will be entirely hidden from your most searching investigation. Still, with faith, toil on; toil on. Carry your wicked and morally paralysed friends, on the arms of prayer, to Christ; persuade them, if possible, to seek the sacred scenes where the shadows of Christs mysterious presence fall; in due time ye shall reap, if ye faint not. (T. Jackson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. One sick of the palsy] A paralytic person.
See Clarke on Mt 9:2, &c.
Borne of four.] Four men, one at each corner of the sofa or couch on which he lay: this sick man appears to have been too feeble to come himself, and too weak to be carried in any other way.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
3. And they come unto himthatis, towards the house where He was.
bringing one sick of thepalsy“lying on a bed” (Mt9:2).
which was borne of fouragraphic particular of Mark only.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they came unto him,…. A considerable body of people, townsmen, friends, and relations of the person after mentioned:
bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four; carried by four men upon their shoulders, as if he was a dead carcass; so weak and enfeebled was he by his disease, that he could not walk, or be otherwise brought; or rather upon a bed, which four men, at the four comers of it, carried in their hands; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, “four men carried him on a bed”; and certain it is, by what follows, that he was brought upon a bed. This man’s case appears to be a very bad one, and what seems to be incurable by the art of medicine: it was not a slight touch of the palsy, but a general one, which had deprived him of motion and sensation. The palsy is a disease, whereby the body, or some of its parts, lose their motion, and sometimes their sensation or feeling: the causes of it are an impeded influx of the nervous spirits into the villi, or the muscles, or of the arterious blood into their vessels; which may happen from some fault either in the brain, the nerves, muscles, or their vessels. The palsy is said to be “perfect”, or complete, when there is a privation of motion and sensation at the same time; “imperfect”, when one of the two is destroyed, the other remaining. The palsy again is either “universal, lateral”, or “partial”. The “universal” palsy, called also “paraplegia”, or “paraplexia”, is a general immobility of all the muscles that receive nerves from the cerebrum, or cerebellum, except those of the head–its cause is usually supposed to reside in the ventricles of the brain, or in the root of the spinal marrow.–The “lateral” palsy, called also “hemiplegia”, is the same disease with the “paraplegia”, only that it affects but one side of the body. Its cause is the same, only restrained to one side of the brain, or spinal marrow. The “partial” palsy is where some particular part, or member, alone is affected; as, for instance, where the motion of the arm, or leg, is destroyed z. Now this man’s disease seems to be the perfect and general palsy, which affects the whole body, or the “paraplegia”, which reaches every part but the head; whereby all sense, as well as motion, are destroyed, and sometimes only one of them: but in this case it seems as if both of them were lost: that he was motionless, is clear from his being carried by four persons; and it looks as if he had lost his feeling, since he is not said to be grievously tormented, as the centurion’s servant is said to be, Mt 8:6, whose disease seems to have been of the partial or imperfect kind; or however, though it deprived him of motion, yet not of sensation; his might be a kind of scorbutic palsy. This man is an emblem of a sinner in a state of nature, who is insensible of his condition, of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, of his danger and misery to which he is exposed, of his lost and undone state, of the necessity of the new birth, and of the need of salvation by Jesus Christ; and who, as he is destitute of spiritual life, can have no spiritual motion to come to Christ for life and salvation, or any spiritual strength and activity to move in, or perform any thing that is spiritually good: and as the friends of this man took him, and brought him to Christ, and laid him down before him, hoping he might receive a cure from him, though from what appears, it was unasked by him, as he did; so it becomes the friends and relations of unregenerate persons, who have received the grace of God themselves, and are in a sound and safe estate, to be concerned for them; to bring them under the means of grace, where they may be brought to a sense of their sins, and to a comfortable view of the free and full forgiveness of them, as this man: and this should be done, even though there may be difficulties in the accomplishment of it, as there were in this case, as is manifest from what follows.
z Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, in the word “palsy”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they come ( ). Fine illustration of Mark’s vivid dramatic historical present preserved by Luke Lu 5:18, but not by Mt 9:2 (imperfect).
Borne by four ( ). Another picturesque Markan detail not in the others.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Born of four. A detail peculiar to Mark.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy,” (kai erchomtai pherontes pros auton paralutikon) “And they come to Him, of their own concern, gently carrying a paralytic,” a palsied man. This is translated as an historic present.
2) “Which was borne of four.” (airomenon hupo tessaron) “Who was carried by four men,” four men who were concerned about the palsied man, four men of compassion, four men of care, and four men of faith in the power of Jesus to heal him. These four men of faith brought the palsied to the right place and person for help. Isa 40:29; Mat 9:2-8; Luk 5:17-26.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(3) Borne of four.The number of the bearers is given by St. Mark only.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Borne of four Each holding him by a limb. Or more probably, each holding a corner of the litter.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they come, bringing to him a man sick of paralysis, carried by four men. And when they could not come near to him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was, and when they had broken it up they let down the mattress on which the paralysed man lay.’
When the four men saw that they could not approach Jesus they were not to be defeated, for they were confident that Jesus could and would help them. So when they saw that the great crowd prevented any approach to the house they went up the stone steps on the outside of the back wall of the house which would lead up to the roof, taking the man with them. (Further reminiscence of the eyewitness). It probably took some manoeuvring for they would not want to spill the man out of the mattress, but seemingly they achieved it successfully. Then they broke open the roof of the house and lowered the man down.
This would be a typical small town house. It would probably be a one storey house and would have stone steps round the back which gave access to the roof, which would be flat. This flat roof would have a balustrade round it as required by the Law (Deu 22:8). It was a place where those who lived in the house could go for comparative quiet and privacy. The roof would be made of beams and rafters set slightly apart, and covered with either mud or tiles. In the case of a mud roof it would be covered with matting, brushwood, branches and twigs, followed by a final covering of mud which would then be trodden hard. The result was a waterproof roof, but not one able to thwart the attempts of four determined men to break it open, and as long as the beams were not harmed it would be easy and cheap to repair again. On the other hand Luke mentions ‘tiles’ so that if this is taken literally this particular house would have a tiled roof, a type certainly known by New Testament times. In that case breaking through the roof would simply involve the removal of the tiles.
‘Mattress.’ The word used by Mark indicates a poor man’s bedding.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The palsied man:
v. 3. And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
v. 4. And when they could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was; and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
v. 5. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. While Jesus was in the house, and the conditions were such that hardly another person could be wedged in between the crowd, there came men that brought or carried a paralytic man. So severe was the sickness and so great the consequent weakness of the man that he could neither be led nor supported in an upright position. He was lying on a sofa or hammock-like couch, which was carried by four men. It was out of the question to approach Christ, to come anywhere near Him. The crowd effectually blocked the doorway. But these men were neither dismayed nor baffled. Taking their precious burden up the stairway, which, after the custom of the Jews, led from the ground on the side to the flat roof, they proceeded to uncover the roof above the spot where Jesus was standing, as nearly as they could estimate the location. Here they took off the tiles, making an opening large enough to permit the lowering of the bed with its occupant before the feet of Jesus. There must never be a lack of determination on the part of men that actually want to bring any matter to the attention of Jesus. Away can be found to make known your wants to Him, if there is the persistence of firm faith to show the way. Note: It was this that Jesus looked for as soon as the sick man was placed before Him, the faith of them all, the undoubting trust that He could and would help in this great trouble, since He was the Messiah, who had come to take away sin, with its guilt and with its curse. It should also be remembered: the intercessory groanings of the heart for the trouble of any friend or any person in the world have great power with Christ, when they flow from a heart full of faith in Him. So it proved in this case. For the first assurance of Jesus was that addressed to the sick man: Son, forgiven be thy sins. That was glorious, comforting news. For though the present sickness may not have been caused by any direct fault of the sufferer, yet it is true that sin has caused all the suffering in the world from the beginning. “For if we had remained without sin,” as our church-book has it, “death could not have prevailed over us, much less any other affliction. ” That assurance alone, therefore, benefited the sufferer greatly, since it transmitted to him the continual forgiveness of all his sins through the merits of the Savior.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mar 2:3. Which was borne of four. Who was carried by four.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
Ver. 3. Which was borne of four ] Apprehensis quatuor lecti extremitatibus, vivo cadaveri persimilis. Wicked men are living ghosts, walking sepulchres of themselves. Bring them to Christ that they may be cured.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3, 4. ] It would appear that Jesus was speaking to the crowd from the upper story of the house, they being assembled in the court, or perhaps (but less probably) in the street. Those who bore the paralytic ascended the stairs which led direct from the street to the flat roof of the house, and let him down through the tiles ( , Luke). See the extract from Dr. Robinson, describing the Jewish house, in note on Mat 26:69 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 2:3 . : historic present with lively effect. The arrival creates a stir. : this may mean more than the four who actually carried the sick man ( ), friends accompanying. The bearers might be servants (Schanz).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
unto. Greek. pros. App-104.
sick . . . palsy = a paralytic.
of = by. Greek. hupo. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3, 4.] It would appear that Jesus was speaking to the crowd from the upper story of the house, they being assembled in the court, or perhaps (but less probably) in the street. Those who bore the paralytic ascended the stairs which led direct from the street to the flat roof of the house, and let him down through the tiles ( , Luke). See the extract from Dr. Robinson, describing the Jewish house, in note on Mat 26:69.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 2:3. , by four) He was then fall grown, though not far advanced in years: comp. Mar 2:5, Son [implying he was not old].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
bringing: Mat 9:1, Mat 9:2-8, Luk 5:18-26
Reciprocal: Mat 8:6 – palsy Mat 8:16 – they brought Mar 8:22 – they bring Act 5:16 – bringing Act 8:7 – palsies Act 9:33 – and was
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
VICARIOUS FAITH
And they come unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
Mar 2:3
Just as every human disease was a symbol of the moral condition of the soul, so every miracle Jesus wrought on the body was a token of what He would do for the soul.
I. The faith of the bearers.It was impossible for the four men who bore the paralytic to come nigh to Jesus, Who was standing in the inner court of the house, which was covered with an awning, or else under the interior gallery surrounding this court, the roof of which was a thin tiling. No matter which; the bearers were resolved that their stricken friend should, somehow or other, face Jesus; so, having ascended the staircase or ladder outside, they uncovered the roof, whether awning or tiling, and let down the little couch whereon the sick man lay. Jesus was struck with their practical sympathy; for had they not brought him he had been a paralytic to the day of his death; but it was their faith in the Lords power and willingness to restore the sick man to health and strength that most impressed Him; nay, it was this which secured all they desired.
II. The condition of the man.That he had palsy of an extreme kind is evident from the fact of his lying on a bed and being borne by others. It was a case of complete paralysis of motion. Throughout the whole narrative our Lord connects sin with suffering. If sin were destroyed the professions of surgery and medicine would be unnecessary; the body would, as Bishop Wordsworth observes, enjoy angelic health and beauty. Christ, by His omniscience, saw the agony of the mans soul as certainly as He saw the faith of the men who brought him for healing. He saw, too, how he was hoping and clinging to Him.
III. The mercy of the Saviour.He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Certain bystanders said within themselves, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? They knew that God only could forgive sins; but they did not know that this man was very God. He saw their accusation, and said to them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He saith to the sick of the palsy I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. The man, who before could not use hand or foot, aroseimplying partial use of the lower muscles of the body; then he took up his bed, whatever it was, pallet or blanketimplying the vigorous use of the higher muscles; and, lastly, he departed to his houseimplying the continuous use of all his muscular powers. His recovery of soul and body was complete. What a contrast is he now to what he was before! Well in body; happy in soul. Oh, the blessedness of such a salvation!these are known only by the forgiven (Psa 32:1; Psa 103:1-5).
Illustration
The sick man was borne of four, and could not have reached Jesus without this help. Palsy is not so painful as cancer, nor so loathsome as leprosy, nor so fatal as cholera; but it is a disease which renders the patient eminently helpless. There are persons affected with spiritual palsy who never fall into glaring sins, and yet remain inert and without the power of religious decision. It is vain to expect such people to turn to Christ. It is the mission of the Church to bring to Christ those who are too helpless in spiritual indifference to seek Him of their own accord.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
The palsied man was brought to the place, which shows he was helpless and had nothing to do with the affair as far as the text states.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 2:3. Borne of four. In a bed Mar 2:4 (and Luke). Mark alone mentions the number of men.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here we have the relation of our Saviour’s miraculous healing of one sick of the palsy at Capernaum.
Where observe, 1. The diseased and distressed person; one sick of the palsy, which disease being a resolution and weakness of the nerves, enfeebles the joints, and confines the person to his bed or couch. As a demonstration of Christ’s divine power, he was pleased to single out the palsy and leprosy, incurable diseases, to work a cure upon such as were afflicted with them.
Now this person was so great a cripple by reason of the palsy, that he was borne of four. He could not go, nor was capable of being led, but was carried by four in his bed or couch.
Observe, 2. As the grievousness of the disease, so the greatness of their faith. The man and his friends had a firm persuasion that Christ was clothed with a divine power, and able to help him, and they hoped in his goodness that he was also willing to help him. Accordingly, the roof of the Jewish houses being flat, they uncovered some part of it, and let the bed down with the sick man in it into the room where Christ was.
Observe, 3. No sooner did they exercise their faith in believing, but Christ exerts his divine power in healing. And see the marvellous efficacy of faith; it obtained not only what was desired, but more than was expected. They desired only the healing of the body, but Christ heals body and soul too. Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee.
Thereby our Saviour shows them, that sin is the original cause of all bodily diseases; and consequently, that in sickness, the best way to find ease and deliverance from pain, is first to seek for pardon. The sense of pardon in some degree will take away the sense of pain.
Observe, 4. The exception which the scribes took against our Saviour for pronouncing that this man’s sins were forgiven him. They accuse him of the sin of blasphemy: urging, that it is God’s peculiar prerogative to pardon sin. Their doctrine was true, but their application false. Nothing more true, than that it is the greatest degree of blasphemy for any mere man to arrogate to himself the incommunicable prerogative of God, which consists, in an absolute and authoritative power to forgive sin. But then their denying this power to Christ of forgiving sin, which he had as God from all eternity, and as Mediator, God and man in one person, when here upon earth; this was blasphemy in them; the challenging of it, none in him.
Observe, 5. Our Saviour gives these scribes a twofold demonstration of his Godhead,
(1.) By letting them understand that he knew their thoughts: Jesus perceiving in his spirit that they reasoned within themselves. To search the hearts, and to know the thoughts and reasonings of men, but the prerogative of God only.
(2.) By assuming to himself a power to forgive sin; for our Saviour here, by assuming to himself a power to forgive sins in his own name, and by his own authority, doth give the world an undeniable proof and convincing evidence of his Godhead. For who can forgive sins but God only?
Observe, 6. The effect of this miracle upon the minds of the people; they marvelled and were amazed, but did not believe. They admire our Saviour for an extraordinary man, but did not believe him to be God.
Learn thence, That the sight of Christ’s miracles is not sufficient to work faith in the soul, without the concurring operation of the Holy Spirit. The one may make us marvel, the other must make us believe.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mar 2:3-4. And they come, bringing one sick of the palsy See on Mat 9:2, &c. Which was borne of four One at each corner of the sofa or couch. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press The great crowd of people collected together, and feared a delay might lose so precious an opportunity, they uncovered the roof Of the apartment where he was Which was a room that had no chamber over it, the houses in the East being low, having generally a ground floor only, or one upper story. This house also, like other houses in that country, had doubtless a flat roof with a battlement round it, (Deu 22:8,) and a kind of trap-door, by which persons within could come out upon it to walk and take the air, or perform their devotions. (See 2Ki 23:12; Act 10:9.) This door, when shut, lying even with the roof, made a part of it, and was probably well fastened to secure the house against thieves. The bearers therefore of the paralytic, prevented from bringing him in at the door by the crowd, bear him up by some other stair to the roof of this room, and finding this trap-door fastened below, were obliged to break it open before they could get entrance; and probably also, in order to let down the sick man and his couch, to make the opening wider, which they might do, either by removing the frame of the trap-door, or some of the tiles adjoining to it, with the laths supporting them; all which Mark fitly expresses by the words: , , , they took up the covering, and having broken, or pulled up, namely, as much of the frame or adjoining tiles as was necessary, they let down the couch, which they held by the corners, or by ropes fastened to the corners of it, and so placed him before Jesus while he was preaching to the people who were within, and to as many of those who stood without in the court as could hear.
Some think a more satisfactory interpretation of this passage may be given by referring to Dr. Shaws account of the houses in the East. They are built, he says, round a paved court, into which the entrance from the street is through a gateway, or passage-room, furnished with benches, and sufficiently large to be used in receiving visits, or transacting business. The stairs, which lead to the roof, are never placed on the outside of the house in the street, but usually in the gateway or passage-room to the court, and sometimes at the entrance within the court. This court is called in Arabic, the middle of the house, and answers to the midst, in Luke. It is customary to fix cords from the parapet-walls (Deu 22:8) of the flat roofs across this court, and upon them to expand a veil or covering, as a shelter from the heat. In this area, probably, our Saviour taught. The paralytic was brought upon the roof by making a way through the crowd to the stairs in the gateway, or by the terraces of the adjoining houses. They rolled back the veil, and let the sick man down over the parapet-wall of the roof into the area or court of the house before Jesus. This interpretation, however, seems hardly consistent with the original expressions used by Mark and Luke: particularly the latter, who says, Luk 5:19, , They let him down through the tiling with his couch.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 3
Borne of four. Palsy is a disease which renders the patient peculiarly helpless. A considerable portion of the body is deprived, in a great measure, of the power of sense and motion.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
"In order to understand the action these verses describe, it is necessary to visualize the layout of a typical Palestinian peasant’s house. It was usually a small, one-room structure with a flat roof. Access to the roof was by means of an outside stairway. The roof itself was usually made of wooden beams with thatch and compacted earth in order to shed the rain. Sometimes tiles were laid between the beams and the thatch and earth placed over them." [Note: Wessel, p. 632.]
Another possibility is that this was the roof of a porch that was attached to the house. [Note: Edersheim, 1:504.] Mark’s unusually detailed account pictures four men almost frantic to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus so Jesus would heal him. They must have been unconcerned about the damage they were doing to the house and the shower of dirt they sent raining down on everyone below.