The Miracles of Jesus - Healing the Paralyzed Man

 

By: Rev. Dr. George Toma

 

I would like to talk today about a miracle from the book of (Mark 2: 1-12). This miracle happened to a paralyzed man in Capernaum. According to the traditional records the place, where the miracle took place, was the house of St Peter, the Chief of the Apostles.

 

If we take a look back at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, we will find out that He soon discovered that He was not accepted in His own city as it is written in (Luke 4:24) “ Then he said, Truly I say to you, No prophet is acceptable in his own city”. So, for this reason Jesus left Nazareth and went to Capernaum and probably dwelt in St Peter’s house. Read (Matthew 4: 12,13) “ Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered and imprisoned, he departed to Galilee. And he left Nazareth, and came and settled in Capernaum, by the seaside, within the borders of Zebulun and of Napthali,”

 

The miracle of today is written in (Mark 2: 1-12) And Jesus entered again into Capernaum for a few days; and when they heard that he was in a certain house, A great many gathered together so that it was impossible to hold them, not even in front of the entrance; so he spoke a few words to them. And they came to him, and brought a paralyzed man, carried by four men. But as they were unable to come near him because of the crowd, they went up to the roof and uncovered it over the place where Jesus was; and they lowered the quilt in which the paralyzed man lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, My son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes and Pharisees were sitting there, and they reasoned in their hearts, Why does this man speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins except God only? But Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were reasoning among themselves, and he said to them, Why do you reason these things in your heart? Which is the easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven; or to say, Rise, take up your quilt and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I tell you, Rise, take up your quilt, and go to your house. And immediately he rose, and took up his quilt and went out before the eyes of them all; and they were all amazed, and gave glory to God, saying, We have never seen anything like it.”

 

We get from the story that, the time a person decides to follow Jesus Christ, he/she will gain the blessings. However, these blessings will be followed by the sacrifice. For example, in our story of today Jesus did bring peace to the home, where he was, but at the same time many people broke in and came inside by force and without being wanted or asked. The crowds were making it difficult for any individual to come to Jesus. In other words, it was impossible to bring the paralyzed man to Jesus. That’s why the roof was opened, and the paralyzed individual’s soul was lowered from above to Jesus. Read (Mark 2: 4) “But as they were unable to come near him because of the crowd, they went up to the roof and uncovered it over the place where Jesus was; and they lowered the quilt in which the paralyzed man lay”.

 

We can consider the above event as a sacrifice of the home, where Jesus was staying. At the same time the house or home was turning into a meeting place for the public. Since the house lost its privacy, it will gain for sure the blessing for such sacrifice.

It is possible to ask ourselves the following questions:

• Why so many people gathered around Jesus and wanted to see Him?

• Who are these people?

We can find the answer for question # 1 by reading the book of (Mark 1:40-45) “ And there came to him a leper, who fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, If you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus had mercy on him, and stretched out his hand and touched him, and said, I am willing; be clean. And in that hour his leprosy disappeared from him, and he became clean. And Jesus rebuked him and put him out, And said to him, Look, why are you telling it to the people? But go away, show yourself to the priests and present an offering for the sake of your cleansing, according to that which Moses commanded, as their testimonial. But when he went out, he began to publish it still more, and to spread the word, so that Jesus was no longer able to enter the city openly, but he remained outside in a lonely place; and yet they came to him from everywhere.

 

The answer for question # 2 is written in the book of (Luke 5: 17) “ It came to pass on one of the days when Jesus was teaching that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were sitting, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of God was present to heal them.” We understood that different people came such as Pharisees, Scribes, teachers, needy people and friends. It is possible that also some people came just to find out by which power our Lord is healing and performing the miracles.

In the story it is mentioned that people from all over the area and with different backgrounds entered the house and came to see and touch Jesus the time they heard about His arrival. From His perspective it was a good opportunity for Him to see many people to proclaim the Words of His Father for everyone, including those who like Him and those who dislike Him. He did emphasize on unconditional love of His Father.
Let us consider this proposal: How would we like to open our own home for Jesus where different kinds of people would come?

 

We can picture in our mind the love and devotion for the paralyzed man from his friends. When they brought their sick friend to Jesus, they discovered a serious problem. The problem was how could they reach Jesus through the crowds? They knew also that without their help it would be impossible for their friend to seek help by himself. They were determined and they didn’t want to be defeated by the crowds. For this reason they put the extreme effort to reach Jesus, Who Only is able to cure their friend, as it is written in (Mark 2: 4) “But as they were unable to come near him because of the crowd, they went up to the roof and uncovered it over the place where Jesus was; and they lowered the quilt in which the paralyzed man lay.”

By reading, focusing and observing the story very well, we will find out that the persistence in love and concern of these men for their paralyzed friend was so intense, that they tried everything including the roof-top to reach Jesus. These men put even themselves in danger in order to see their paralyzed friend recovered and in good health. Let each one of us ask him/herself the following questions:

• What would I do if I encounter obstacles in Christian life?

• What would I do if I face difficult obstacles to overcome in my Christian life?

• How would I seek to find solution for my problem?

• Am I going to be persistent in my Christian life, as the men did in the story, or I would simply give up?

From studying the sequence of this story we are learning about the benefits of teamwork:

1. Four men planed to work together in harmony and peace.

2. They were determined to complete their goal, which is to carry their friend to Jesus

3. They were thinking together to find a way to reach Jesus because of the crowds.

4. The only way, that was available for them, was the roof-top, and they decided to try it.

5. All four made a whole in the roof-top,

6. In love, slowly and with caution they carried, and lowered their friend to Presence of our Lord Jesus, in Whom they had confidence.

7. All four accepted the risk

8. Finally they reached their ultimate goal happily, because they saw with their naked eye the cure of their friend at the hand of Jesus Christ.

We learn from the men, who worked as a team, to sacrifice ourselves to bring our physically, mentally and psychologically sick friend to Jesus, Who has the cure for any kind of sickness.

Our Lord had called us to be fisher of men as it is written in the book of (Matthew 4:18,19) “ And while he was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter and his brother Andrew, who were casting nets into the sea, for they were fisherman. And Jesus said to them, Follow after me and I will make you become fishers of men.” It means through our team efforts we win souls to our Lord Jesus and after that the Holy Spirit will take over and be responsible to work in lives of people, who submit their lives to Jesus. Read (1 Corinthians 3:6) “I have planted, Apollos watered; and God gave the increase.”

 

By reading (Mark 2:5) “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, My son, your sins are forgiven” ,we can ask ourselves, who can see the faith of people? Only God. He is able to read the hearts and minds of human beings. God sees the faith, while human can only see the final result of that faith. In other words we cannot hide anything from Our Lord because He is able to see what is in our hearts and minds.

 

Again, and back to the same phrase in (Mark 2:5) it is obvious that Jesus is talking with the authority as Son of God, that’s why He said
“..., My son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knew that the sin was at the root of this man’s sickness. It means Jesus realized that the depths of the disease was rooted in sin, that’s why Jesus healed the paralyzed man first spiritually by saying that his sin had been forgiven, and then He healed him physically by telling him according to the book of (Mark 2:11) “ I tell you, Rise, take up your quilt, and go to your house.”

 

If we compare the condition of this man before and after he met Jesus, we come to this conclusion:

• He came as a paralyzed man to Jesus, and he left as a healed man.
• He depended on others to take him where Jesus was, and he left on his own.
• He was carried and let down on his bed, and then he left carrying his bed.

This applies for us also. No one comes to Jesus and leaves the same. Jesus has power to heal us physically and spiritually.

 

Talking about Scribes and Pharisees in the story we read that they were silently reasoning Jesus within their hearts and blaming and accusing Him with disrespect and irreverence to God, because He talked about forgiveness of sin. As they knew God is the only One, Who can forgive sin. So in their thinking they said, why did this Man speak blasphemies? About this we can read in (Mark 2: 6,7) Now some of the scribes and Pharisees were sitting there, and they reasoned in their hearts, Why does this man speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins except God only?”

 

Scribes and Pharisees looked and saw only the man Jesus; however, Jesus surprised them by being able to read their minds as God, when He told them that somebody’s sins are easier to be forgiven than to order that person to rise and take his/her bed. Even though they saw that Jesus read their minds, but they didn’t recognize the truth in Jesus Christ. Read (Philippians 2:6) “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God;”

 

In addition that the Scribes and Pharisees didn’t believe in Jesus, they wanted to judge Him severely by putting Him unto death by stoning according to the law of Moses, as it is written in (Leviticus 24: 15,16) “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curses his God shall suffer for his sin. And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall surely stone him; the proselyte as well as the Israelite, when he blasphemes my name, shall be put to death.”

 

We, as believers, should proclaim that Jesus is Perfect Man and Perfect God, because He proved that through the power of His miracles, and we see His hands at work as it is written in (Matthew 5:16) “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”, and as it is written in (Luke 5: 26) “And every man was seized with amazement, and they praised God and were filled with fear, saying, Today we have seen wonders.”

Let us take the paralyzed man as a good example for our lives. As he transformed from hopeless man before knowing Christ to hopeful man after he met the Christ, we can also be productive and having hopes if we put Jesus in the center of our lives, as it is written in (Ephesians 2:12) “At that time you were without Christ, being aliens to the customs of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

We should always have privilege to bring to the Lord Jesus our friends either by physically taking them to the church or keeping them in our prayers. Through the power of prayers we will be able to bring our friend to Jesus. They will hear the Word of God, they will accept Him and begin to encounter the changed life, which is in Jesus Christ as it is written in (James 5: 14-16) “And if any be sick, let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of our Lord; And the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and our Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you many be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful.”

 

Finally, our duty is to be a witness to our faith in Jesus Christ, and to make an effort to bring people to the House of Our Lord and Savior, because there we all will enjoy the full benefits of the blessings from Our Lord, Who has much to give whomever puts his trust and confidence in Him.

 

Summer Theology Course
At Mar Gewargis Church
July 19, 2006
Summary of the lecture prepared by Jenny Soro