On this second weekend of the Great Fast, the Gospel reading appointed is that of the cure of the paralytic at Capernaum. In this miracle story, Jesus approaches the healing in a different manner. The story states that When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven”. One can only imagine that when the friends of the paralyzed man heard these words, especially after all the efforts they made to bring the man into the presence of Jesus, they were probably stunned. In their efforts to help their friend find a cure for his paralysis, they had truly expended a great deal of effort.

While this story may refer to a single incident in Jesus’ ministry, it may have been conflated from a miracle story and a pronouncement story in order to teach something, namely that when we judge others, as some of the witnessing scribes did Jesus, the act of judgment paralyzes the human spirit, not allowing it to witness to the love of God. The story seems to vividly contrast the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man with the judgmental attitude of the scribes. The very words of Jesus saying your sins are forgiven are meant to highlight what the act of judging others does to us. When we voluntarily engage in judgment of others, we actually paralyze our spirits and lessen us as children of God. This act of judging others truly diminishes us as children of God. Why? Because one of the hallmarks of a person who is striving to be a real child of God, is his/her willingness to allow any and all judgments about others to God. He alone can judge us.

We hear these words from Jesus:

If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment.
Your verdict on others will be the verdict passed on you.
The measure with which you measure will be used to measure you.
Why look at the speck in your brother’s eye when you miss the plank in your own.

The context in which this miracle story is presented, I think, gives us some idea of what Mark was attempting to teach by recalling this story in the manner in which he did. If we remember that when the Gospels were written the followers of Jesus had not come to the conclusion that He was God incarnate, these miracle stories were used for two, basic reasons: (1) to highlight the exceptional power that Jesus had, thus highlighting the truthfulness of His message, and (2) to teach others about the attitudes and behaviors they must have in order to be followers of Jesus and children of God.

Judge not if you don’t want to be judged.