Traditions: Mark; Luke Motif: Friends carry a man to Jesus Connection verdict: Closely related Gospel scene with different narration Article status: Expanded Date: 2026-10-30
Summary
Both accounts have companions bring a paralyzed man through a roof and end with healing after a dispute over forgiveness.
Read the two scenes
Both accounts have companions bring a paralyzed man through a roof and end with healing after a dispute over forgiveness. Mark names Capernaum and describes digging through a roof; Luke pictures opening the tiles and introduces teachers from multiple regions. The healing is not only a physical display. In each version the claim to forgive sins provokes opposition before the man walks, so the order of speech matters.
What connects—and what does not
Mark names Capernaum and describes digging through a roof; Luke pictures opening the tiles and introduces teachers from multiple regions.
The healing is not only a physical display. In each version the claim to forgive sins provokes opposition before the man walks, so the order of speech matters.
Why read them side by side?
A shared event can make forgiveness the contested center while the physical route into the room varies.
Sources and reading notes
- Mark 2:1-12 — Read the named verses in their literary context and compare translation choices.
- Luke 5:17-26 — Read the named verses in their literary context and compare translation choices.
Research limit
A named parallel can establish literary reuse or related tradition; a general resemblance alone cannot prove borrowing. Linked editions and translations vary. Where a source is identified as secondary orientation, the comparison does not claim direct close reading of that tradition’s primary text.