That ye may know

(ινα ειδητε). The scribes could have said either of the alternatives in verse Mark 2:9 with equal futility. Jesus could say either with equal effectiveness. In fact Jesus chose the harder first, the forgiveness which they could not see. So he now performs the miracle of healing which all could see, that all could know that (the Son of Man, Christ's favourite designation of himself, a claim to be the Messiah in terms that could not be easily attacked) he really had the authority and power (εξουσιαν) to forgive sins. He has the right and power here on earth to forgive sins, here and now without waiting for the day of judgment.He saith to the sick of the palsy

(λεγε). This remarkable parenthesis in the middle of the sentence occurs also in Matthew 9:6 and Luke 5:24, proof that both Matthew and Luke followed Mark's narrative. It is inconceivable that all three writers should independently have injected the same parenthesis at the same place.

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Old Testament