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The healing of the leper (vv.12-16) came in response to the leper’s faith, and the healing of the paralyzed man (vv.17-26) acknowledged the faith of those who helped him. The story of the leper is reminiscent of that of Elisha and Naaman (2Ki 5:1-14) and shows Jesus' willingness to touch a man who was contaminated. The story of the paralyzed man shows how Jesus linked physical healing with the forgiveness of sins. It also shows how Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins, a claim the scribes and Pharisees condemned as blasphemous.
Jesus described himself as the Son of Man. Those words affirmed not only that he was a human being but that he was a person specially chosen by God. It was the form of address God used for Ezekiel (2:1), and in Daniel’s vision “one like a son of man” is given dominion by God (7:13-14; cf. v.27).