Mark 2:7 records the reaction of some scribes who heard Jesus speak to a paralyzed man and say his sins were forgiven. They silently concluded that he was speaking blasphemy, because in their view only God has the authority to forgive sins. The verse captures their question, not Jesus’s answer, and that question sets up one of the Gospel’s central revelations about who Jesus is.
“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Mark 2:7 (WEB)
What Mark 2:7 Means
The scribes ask “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that?” The word “blasphemies” means words that dishonor God, and they judge Jesus’s statement to be exactly that. Their charge rests on the fact that Jesus is a man, and in their reasoning a man has no standing to pardon wrongs committed against God. From their standpoint, Jesus is claiming something only God can claim.
The second question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”, states the principle they are relying on. They are right that forgiveness of sin ultimately belongs to God, since sin is first of all an offense against him. Where they go wrong is in refusing to consider that God might be present and acting in the person standing before them. The verse does not promise anything to the reader directly. It shows a set of assumptions that Jesus is about to challenge.
The Context of Mark 2:7
Mark’s Gospel was likely written for a Gentile and Roman audience, probably in the late 60s or early 70s AD, and is traditionally attributed to John Mark, a companion of Peter. Mark moves quickly from scene to scene, and this episode appears early in the book, when Jesus’s authority is first being tested by religious leaders. The setting is a crowded house in Capernaum, where a man’s friends dig through the roof to lower him before Jesus.
Read in context, the scribes’ objection is the first of several confrontations in chapters 2 and 3 over Jesus’s actions and claims. Jesus answers their unspoken reasoning in verses 8 through 10, asking which is easier to say, and then healing the man as proof that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth. The verse therefore reads as the setup for a demonstration, not as a conclusion about Jesus.
Key Phrases in Mark 2:7
Psalm 130:4
But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.
(WEB)
This psalm affirms that forgiveness rests with God, which is the same principle the scribes cite. It also presents forgiveness as something that inspires reverence and trust, not fear of being caught out, which helps explain why the scribes’ reaction is so closed off.
Luke 5:24
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he said to the paralyzed man), “I tell you, arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house.”
(WEB)
Luke records the same healing and the same claim, adding that Jesus performed the miracle so that people would know the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth. Reading it alongside Mark 2:7 shows how the question of authority is answered by action.
A Short Prayer From Mark 2:7
Lord, you alone have the authority to forgive my sins, and I thank you that you have not kept that authority at a distance. I bring you the failures I would rather hide, and I ask you to speak your pardon over me. Help me to stop reasoning in my heart about whether I deserve it, and to receive it as the gift it is. Teach me to extend that same forgiveness to others, as I have been forgiven. Amen.
