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21 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Mark 2:1
Christ returns to Capernaum “after many days.” He had previously left for neighboring villages after his fame had spread (1:38), and upon his return, we see that his fame remains, having in no way diminished. The point is evident in the fact that his return spreads so quickly that the hearing of it is passive — “it was heard” (ἠκούσθη). And the hearing immediately draws back those who hear, so much so that the paralytic could not reach Christ except by extraordinary means — since many gathered “so as no longer to have room at the door” (2:2).
Mark 2:2
Christ preaches the word to them: The Logos speaking the logos — the Word speaking the word. I believe it’s Origen in his commentary on John who describes the scattering of seed — and the subsequent harvest among men — as the scattering of the logoi (words). The imagery plays on the Stoic (and then NeoPlatonic) tradition that the “seeds of the Logos” (λόγος σπερματικός) are those rational principles that are implanted by providence in the world, giving rise to the order of nature. Yet, within the Gospels, we see something new; we see that the Logos is not an impersonal orderer of nature but deeply personal, one who takes on flesh and dwells amongst his creatures as one of them. As seen in Mark 1:17, he hears the pleas of his creatures and sees their plight, impelled to liberate, restore, and heal them by a well-spring of divine love and compassion. As seen in Mark 1:40, his designs for them are not generic designs for a cosmic whole of which the individual is a vanishingly small part. Rather, his designs are deeply personal, having fashioned each individual creature, he has also fashioned for each one a purpose. And his providential care is not aloof, leaving the creature to grope blindly to find his way. To the contrary, this Logos comes to his creature, becoming one of them, speaking to each one the logos of their restoration and healing.
Mark 2:3
Why specify four men? The number is too early to be a reference to the four gospels. More likely, the imagery is meant to indicate a totality, such as the four corners of the world or, in this case, the four corners of the sickbed, indicating the totality of his infirmity.
Here, the image harkens to mankind: The whole of man is bound by sickness, incapable of raising himself up. And to our broken species Christ grants forgiveness of sins and raises us up, making us whole once again.
Mark 2:4-5
Unable to get to Christ through the crowd, the four men took great effort on behalf of their friend in order to bring the paralytic to Christ. Notice that is on account of their faith — not the faith of the paralytic — that Christ forgives the man’s sins. We see in this two things:
The first is that faith is active. Christ saw their faith in their extraordinary efforts to reach him. We see in this that faith is something more than mental ascent or belief. As St. James points out, the demons believe and tremble. Faith, by contrast, is belief that translates into action. In the case of these men, this faith meant extreme measures to reach Christ, trusting he can heal their friend. In the life of the believer, it means repentance that enters into the sacramental life of the Church in hope of healing and ultimately attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
The second thing we see is that salvation is not wholly dependent upon the individual. Many of us are accustomed to thinking as if the whole of our salvation is a solo affair. But Ambrose observes in this story the fact that the paralytic man is wholly incapable of offering any demonstration of faith. Forgiveness and healing comes to him entirely on account of the faith of others. Hence, Ambrose bids those of us who have crippled ourselves with many sins to seek the prayers of others who are spiritually well, that Christ might show mercy on account of their faith (De Poenitentia, PL 16:1638).
No doubt, we can see in this second point the rationale for the prayers of the Saints. Christ works salvation for man through not only the individual’s faith but through the faith of others on his behalf, even when he has no power to raise himself up or demonstrate faith of his own.1
Here, I also think of prayers for the dead. The question of whether post-mortem repentance is possible is a controversial one. The tension, of course, is that there are a host of traditions within the Eastern Church fathers that speak about the loosing of souls from the bonds of death. The Eastern Church has always honored Holy Saturday in accord with the tradition that Christ, upon his deahth, entered Hades (the realm of the dead) in order to liberate humanity, binding the strong man (the Devil) and ransacking his house (Hades), liberating the souls of men whom he held captive by death. And within the Eastern fathers, this ransacking of Hades was not limited to the righteous. In addition, we find amongst the Eastern fathers traditions about others preaching to the dead before Christ’s coming — John the Baptist — and after his Ascent — the Apostles who were sent not only to the four corners of the earth but also to those under the earth.2 Yet, we also find within a number of Eastern fathers the statement that the dead cannot repent. How, then, are we to understand this tension?
One possible resolution (though it is not the sole possibility) is that the inability of the dead to repent is a statement about the very nature of repentance. Repentance is more than regret. Much in the same way that faith is active, so is repentance — turning away from a former way of life in exchange for the life of faith. The dead, no longer having a body, have no means by which to repent. Hence, they are dependent upon others for aid, being very much like the paralytic who has no capacity to raise himself up or demonstrate his faith; he depends entirely upon his friends. So in the same way, the dead having no means of repentance depend upon the prayers and faith of others, who might serve as instruments of their redemption.
The solution not only mirrors the paralytic but the various stories of post-mortem redemption within the Eastern Church, which always involves Saints who intercede on behalf of the dead. The dead are first liberated, of course, by Christ himself. Beyond this, already noted is the post-mortem mission of the disciples to those who remained in Hades — this being an early tradition relayed by Clement of Alexandria. We might also recount the story of Empress Theodora, who called for the entire Church to fast and pray on behalf of the iconoclasts who had died in their sins, her husband being one of them. If memory serves, they wrote the names of the reposed upon a parchment and placed it under the altar before devoting themselves to prayer for these souls all through Lent. Upon removing the parchment on Pascha (Easter), they saw that the names were all gone, indicating that God heard their prayers and forgave the deceased heretics. And the Old Testament analogue, of course, is that of Judas Maccabeus who offered atonement for his fallen men who had engaged in idolatry by wearing amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia (2 Macc 12:38-45).
Such stories are numerous, and prayer for the dead has been a consistent practice within the Eastern Church. Hence, more likely than not the claim that the dead cannot repent is not a declaration to abandon hope on their behalf. — Several Eastern fathers harbor hope that God will succeed in saving all before the Final Judgment.3 — Rather, the inability of the dead to perform deeds of repentance should bid the faithful to pray on their behalf, knowing that Christ honors faith on behalf of another, even when the other is unable to display any faith of his own.
We see also in Christ’s words to the paralytic two things. The first is the familial nature of those who have undergone spiritual renewal through Jesus. We are not only brothers and sisters in Christ, but we also have spiritual fathers who begat us — as Paul speaks of often (e.g., 1 Cor 4:15; 1 Thess 2:11-12; Gal 4:19; Phil 10; 1 Tim 1:2; Titus 1:4). And here, Christ refers to the paralytic as “son” when forgiving his sins.
Second, we see in these words the completeness of the act of forgiveness: Your sins are forgiven (ἀφίενταί). The verb is in the aorist or perfect tense, indicating a completed or perfect action. And, of course, this complete act in the cleansing of his soul will soon follow by making his body whole and complete as well.
On the question of whether the Saints pray and whether we should seek those prayers, see my letter, “On Prayer to Saints.”
On Christ’s descent into Hades and its significance within the Eastern Church fathers, see my letter, “Hell, Hades, and Christ’s Descent (1 of 2).” For a treatment of the contrary developments within the Latin West, see my letter, “Hell, Hades, and Christ’s Descent (2 of 2).”
On the question of universal salvation within the Eastern Church fathers and whether or not the doctrine is heretical, see my letter, “On Apokatastasis and Universal Salvation.”
Dr Jacobs…great commentary. What do you think is the reasoning behind Marks constant use of the term “immediately”? Is he taking us somewhere with this usage or some other reason?