Mark 2: 1-12, NIV
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
Jesus is doing a lot more here than just healing a paralyzed man, he is making a statement about himself and his true nature. That's why he begins with the forgiveness of the mans sins, and thus claiming divine authority. It is after this that he then offers physical proof of that divinity, Both by answering what they were thinking, and by the miraculous healing. I also love it when Jesus refers to himself as "The Son of Man". in Hebrew culture, the phrase normally meant and ordinary person, and Jesus uses it with an ironic twist when referring to himself .
Mark 2:16-17
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Once again you see Jesus showing his love for people by breaking social taboos. Jesus cares about people, not social status. I think there is some intentional irony in Jesus response in verse 17 as well.
Mark 2: 23-28
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" 25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Jesus has an extreme distaste for the self righteous keeping of custom and ritual. The pharisees had taken the injunction not to work on the Sabbath to the extreme, even detailing how far one could walk and how much physical activity one could do. Verse 27 is another ironic use of "son of man" in another claim to deity.
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