Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 2:10

"But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy)," — Mark 2:10 (ASV)

Jesus’ statement in the first half of v.10 was addressed to the scribes. The words “he said to the paralytic” constitute a parenthesis to explain that the following words are addressed not to the teachers of the law but to the paralytic. Another possibility is to take the entire verse, with its early public use of the title “Son of Man,” as addressed to Mark’s readers .

The subsequent healing verified the claim to grant forgiveness. As surely as actual healing followed Jesus’ statement “Get up” (v.11), so actual forgiveness resulted from his “your sins are forgiven.”