Which is easier to say... what is Jesus point here- In that situation I could say neither- at least I couldn't forgive the man his sins and I couldn't heal him of his paralysis- Jesus could do both. He could say both, but in terms of 'doing' the first was far harder.
The inference seems to be that it is easier to say your sins are forgiven to the man- but to show you (the crowd or more particularly the scribes) that it is legitimate for me to say this I will say something that seems harder- stand up, take your mat and walk
The crowd's reaction are that they are amazed (literally to stand outside oneself existasthai- I wonder if thats where existential comes from- be amazed, astonished, Zerwick) and they glorified God- there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of results from this glorifying- but Jesus continues to do such things- is that a reflection of how far he will go for those that will listen and follow- or along with that, God's perogative to invite all in...
Interesting thinking about success and the signs of it- Jesus had huge crowds come to see him, he miraculously healed 100's? 1000's? He brought people back from the dead- but at the end of the three years, how many people were there that had really changed their hearts and their minds (or had them changed)?
Jesus would not submit himself to the crowds- he knew they were fickle, he delighted to do his Father's will-... even in Jesus case- perhaps more slow and steady (and strong and deep) than spectacular and really 'successful'.
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