The Paralytic’s Healing: Faith, Forgiveness, and the Power of Christ
- jennytheissignutri
- 26. Sept.
- 9 Min. Lesezeit
The story of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2:1–12 is one most of us know well. We’ve heard it in Sunday school, often focusing on the moment when Jesus tells the man to “get up and go home.” Stories of miracles and healings are sometimes treated like fun bedtime stories—or even like a VeggieTales episode (and I love VeggieTales, so no criticism!). But today, I want to look deeper into this passage. Yes, there is healing, but there is also forgiveness, joy, and an incredible act of faith. This moment is when Jesus boldly declares His authority on earth, and it is also when the Pharisees begin to turn against Him.
The men were desperate to get to Jesus
Have you ever been desperate to get into an event? Maybe a concert, a midnight movie screening, or even the launch of the latest iPhone? You show up early, prepared for a long wait. Hours pass, and when the doors finally open, everyone pushes and shoves, desperate to reach their goal.
This was the kind of scene that the men saw when they arrived at Peter's house in Caperneum.
This young teacher, Jesus, was teaching in His hometown, Capernaum, a prosperous village on the sea of Galilee. Rumours had been going around the area of his controversial teachers and people were even saying that he was healing the sick and casting out demons. A paralytic and his friends heard that this Jesus was in town at Peter's house. The man longed to be healed; he was tired of just lying around on his bed and relying on his friends and to take care of him. He wanted to be healed. He wanted to be able to walk to the temple, to hang out with his friends in the market and not rely on them for money and every basic need. In short, he wanted a normal life. But what he was about to recieve was far from normal.
When the men arrived at the house they saw it was so crowded that it was overflowing and was impossible to get to Jesus. The men must have felt the temptation to give up and go home. This man had been living his life in this state for many years, maybe even since birth, but the men were determined to get their friend to Jesus. They were willing to do whatever it took to get to the feet of Jesus.
Human beings are creatures of comfort. We don't enjoy doing hard things. When we are faced with resistance, we are often tempted to give up, it's not worth it. But these men were conviced that getting to the feet of Jesus was absolutely worth it! They were willing to do whatever it took to get healing for their friend; their faith was that big.
Their faith drove them to action
Back in my pre-saved days, I used to go to the local club with my friends on friday nights. Friday nights were the busiest of the week and the club was always very crowded. I come from a small town and there was only one club that anyone went to so it was always full. Trying to move around in there was almost impossible and the later it got, the harder moving around became.
I imagine that is how Peter's house was when Jesus was teaching there. It likely started as a spontaneous teaching between Jesus and a few disciples, then some of the neighbours dropped by and got hooked into the teaching. Then the post man, the amazon delivery man and the pizza delivery guy showed up. Soon the word got around and the whole house was so crowded that people were overflowing the house, desperate to get close enough to hear Jesus.
This is the scene that the man and his friends show up to. this group of four men see the crowd and see their impossible situation. There is no way they could get five able-bodied men into this house to see Jesus, let alone carrying a man on a stretcher. It would have been so easy to just give up and go home. The man would be no worse off than he was right now.
Instead of being defeated by the overwhelming crowd, the men come up with another plan; if they cant go through the door, they will go through the roof! The men carry their friend up to the roof, trying to manage the bed carefully so that he does not fall and become severly injured (this must have been terrifying for the man) and then begin to dig a hole through the packed earth (or tile, according to Luke) to get to the feet of Jesus. Down below Jesus was teaching, and debris began to fall from the roof. This would have caught the attention of some of the people in the house (and possibly even Jesus). Maybe somebody tried to get the men to stop, maybe even Peter got angry at them for digging a hole in his roof! I'm sure I wouldnt be impressed if strangers started tearing apart my roof! But the men kept going. They were determined to get their friend to Jesus. They were so certain that Jesus would heal would heal their friend that they were going to do whatever it takes.
Faith is never passive. Real faith moves us to act.
When we are certain that we will receive healing, we will do whatever it takes to get into the presence of God. What are you doing to get into the presence of God? Are you allowing a crowded schedule or doom scrolling to cause you to give up on spending time with the Lord? Do you allow other things to take priority over Jesus in your life? It's so tempting to say when this season is over or when this changes then I will spend more time with Jesus. Unfortuntely this isnt reality. Our lives are always busy and there will never be an easier time to spend time with God? We seem to move from one busy season to another but when we are covinced that God is the one thing we need, we will do what it takes to spend time with him. This might mean getting up early in the morning or staying up a little longer, it might mean sacrificing some time on youtube or netflix. It might mean rescheduling some appointments but if we truly believe that Jesus is our Lord and healer, we need to show that by doing what it takes to get into his presence each and every day. It isnt about the number of minutes or chapters of the bible or even the words you fit into your prayer. Its about your heart. Jesus wants you to come to him and spend time with him. This may only be a few minutes but come to him consistantly and with a heart longing for him just as these men longed to be in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus saw beyond the physical need to the spiritual need
The men brought their friend to Jesus for physical healing, but Jesus went deeper—He healed the man’s heart first.
Lying helpless for years, this man likely wrestled with shame, guilt, and the belief that his condition was a punishment from God. But Jesus looked past his outward need and said the unexpected words:
“Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)
We dont know much about this man. He may have been paralysed from birth or maybe illness or injury had caused his paralysis later in life. Life for a paralysed man in ancient Israel was not easy. the man almost certainly could not work or earn a living so likely resorted to begging for survival. On top of this struggle to get his basic needs met, disabilities were often stigmatised, seen as punishment from God for the sins of their fathers or the individual himself. Because of their difficult situation, disabled people in acient Israel often depended heavily on their family and close friends to care for and provide for them. The friends could have continued to care for the man and be satisfied with this but they stepped out in faith, bringing the man to Jesus for healing.
Whenever we are bond up in bed, unable to move, we spend a lot of time reflectiong on our choices. This man was likely laying on this mat for years, thinking over all the things he had said, done and even thought and feeling ashamed of his ungodliness. Maybe his friends knew of some of these things but in this whole scene, there is no mention of his state of heart. This man is now laying befor Jesus, broken in both body and soul, waiting for Jesus to heal his body. But instead of doing this, Jesus says "son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5). The man is now confused, why is he forgiving my sins? The crowd gasps and the pharisees are angered. Blasphemy! only God can forgive sins. Jesus knows what they are thinking and confronts them with this. He asks them a strange question "which is easier to say; your sins are forgiven? or take up your mat and go?" On the surface this seems like an easy question. Forgiving sins is a spiritual, unseen act. If Jesus forgives our sins, there is no physical evidence of this (though I pray there is a physical outworking of this in our lives) but if he says "get up, take your mat and go home", it's going to be pretty obvious if this happens or not. But on a deeper level, the opposite may be more the case. If Jesus tells the man to walk and he doesnt, he looks like a fool and shows that he does not have the healing power that he claimed but if he says that forgiveness is the easier one, he will be accused of blasphamy and has doomed himself. But Jesus chose the high stakes answer and for a good purpose; to show his authority as the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14).
Jesus turns our mourning into dancing
The man comes to Jesus not only physically but also spiritually paralised. This man, like all of us, has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. His brokenness penetrates beyond the surface deep into his heart. Jesus sees this brokenness and forgives him of his sins, setting him free of the spiritual death sentence he has been convicted to through his sin.
Forgiveness was a hot topic of the day and Jesus saying "son, your sins are forgiven" was a bit of a hang mans noose for him. Up until this point, forgiveness came from God through the priest but this forgiveness was only temporary and needed to be repeated regularly to purify the man. In Mark 2:5 we see a huge change in this covenant. The original greek word used here is aphiēmi and is a passive word, conveying finality. Every sin this man had ever commited had already been forgiven and did not require any action on this man's part. In this moment, Jesus declares himself the Son of Man (Mark 2:10) prophised in Daniel 7:13-14. The authority that Jesus displayed here was given by God. Declaring this was dangerous as this made him, to the pharisees, a blasphemer and the penilty for blasphemy was death. We see this play out in Jesus death on the cross (another story for another day). This man has now been healed in the place it matters the most; his heart. This statement set one man free yet it put Jesus in danger of death.
Jesus was well aware of the thoughts of the pharisees and the consiquences of those words but He knew that this man needed to hear these words. In the next moment Jesus tells the man "get up, take your bed and go home" and the man immediately rose up. This man did not hesitate, showing his absolute confidence is Jesus' words. He did not hesistate, wondering if he really could get up; his faith caused him to act. He got up, took his mat and went home. The whole crowd is amazed (I would have been too!) and praises God for what they have seen that day. They have seen two miracles; the healing of a man's heart and body! This is certainly something to turn our mourning into dancing!
Does Christs death on the cross and the forgiveness of your sins cause you to want to dance? Does it turn your weeping into praise? It should! We are all broken, sinful and rebellious people; this is the very nature of mankind. But God in his great love sent his son to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. He did not wait for us to repent but he saw our brokenness before we even saw it and he acted on it. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that you and I can be saved and all we have to do is accept this precious gift. Receiving this gift is one of the most joyful moments in a christian's life. Have you accepted Christ and allowed him to turn your mourning into dancing?
Physical paralysis and spiritual paralysis leave us feeling hopeless, powerless to change our situation, stuck into our situation to the end. This was the situation that the man found himself in. But then Jesus entered his life and changed everything. He saw beyond what his friend's saw to the depth of his brokenness. He healed the man both body and spirit and the man and all those who saw began praising God for what Jesus had done.
Though this story is a story of healing, it also shows an example of faith in action and shows Jesus authority as the Son of Man and his power to forgive sins. Jesus met the man's needs even though it meant putting himself in danger with the Pharisees. Jesus heart for this man, and for each and every one of us, was so big that he was willing to become obedient to death. Even death on a cross (Philippians 5:8). Are you ready to accept the healing that Jesus is offering?
References
Blue Letter Bible Interlinear bible, Mark 2:5
R.C. Sproul
Healing the paralytic
Christs Authority to Forgive
Alexander MacLaren
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