What does Mark 2:7 mean?

Jesus has just declared that a paralyzed man's sins are forgiven. The wording Jesus uses in Mark 2:5, "your sins are forgiven," has a particular passive tense that is common to prophets who speak for God in a way that doesn't use His name for fear of blasphemy. We would say, "God forgives you."

Scribes, Pharisees who are experts in the Mosaic Law, are present. Their job is to teach the Scriptures and identify false teachers. They know that only God can forgive sins but they don't accept Jesus as a prophet. Instead of taking the evidence of Jesus' miracles and teaching and determining that He is at least God's messenger, they decide He must be a blasphemer.

The Greek root word from which "blaspheme" is taken is the familiar-looking blasphemeo. It means "to speak in a way that expresses disapproval, to disrespect, to revile." The scribes consider the evidence and determine that Jesus reviles God. Traditionally, it means that someone disrespects God's "name," which could mean His actual name or His character. When Jesus declares what only God could declare, the scribes possibly see that Jesus is insinuating that He is God, which blasphemes God's character because He is one (Deuteronomy 6:4).

The scribes' questions are valid, but their conclusion isn't. Their job is to know the Old Testament and, therefore, the characteristics of the Messiah. But although the Babylonian captivity has reoriented the Jews into following God and acknowledging their need for the Messiah, it also confuses them as to what the Messiah will do. Jesus reveals His identity and purpose gradually, so the scribes shouldn't necessarily recognize Him right away. But they should take more than a moment to "question in their hearts" (Mark 2:6) before making a judgment call. The real problem, as explained in Matthew 9:4, is that their thoughts in this instance are not sincere, they are "evil."