Mark 2, 1-12

Mark Chapter 2

1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ²So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, ¹¹"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Generally when I think of this story, I think of the four men and the paralytic seeking to get near to Jesus so that the paralytic might be healed of his paralysis. But upon reviewing this today, I noticed that initially, Jesus did not heal the man of his physical infirmity. He forgave the man's sins. It wasn't until after the teachers of the law began questioning him that he added physical healing. I began to think about what the men and the paralytic were seeking as they dug a hole in the roof of this house. Being that Jesus could sense the intent and motives of those around him, he must have been aware of what the paralytic was seeking from him. The paralytic came to Jesus for forgiveness, not mobility. His faith was that Jesus could heal his soul and he was willing to be dropped into a hole in the roof for that! I find this profoundly important. He and his companions sought after spiritual healing only, not seeking for anything more. However, Jesus used that man to demonstrate his power and gave him more than he sought. This passage drives home the point to me that our physical and earthly needs and wants are not what's important. Our spiritual well being is what we need to concern ourselves with primarily. If we take care of this, our earthly, physical needs will be met as well.