Miracles of Jesus - Part 8

Healing a Paralytic
Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26

Jesus, having been for some time preaching about in the country, returns to Capernaum His head-quarters, and makes His appearance there, in hopes that by this time the talk and crowd would be somewhat abated. However, when it was made known Jesus had returned to Capernaum the people flocked to the house where Jesus was staying. Many of them perhaps came only for cures, and many perhaps only for curiosity, to get a sight of Him; but when he had them together He spoke the word to them.

Four men brought a paralytic to where Jesus was preaching. There are five important points in this carrying of the paralytic to the place where Jesus was preaching, first, it speaks of the distressing state of human life and our inability to deliver ourselves from such a state. Second, it speaks of the compassion that should be in our heart toward our fellow man. Third, it speaks of faith. Fourth, it speaks of overcoming obstacles. These four men believed if they took this man to Jesus, he would be healed. The men who brought this man to Jesus would not let any obstacle hinder them. There are times when we need to remove obstacles in our path to Jesus. Fifth, these men did not consider the cost in carrying out their mission; someone would have to pay to have the roof repaired.

Notice, when Jesus saw the faith of these four men He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” In curing the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10), Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion that did not bring his servant to Jesus. In this incident, Jesus recognizes the faith of the four men that brought the paralytic to Jesus.

What does this tell us about faith? True faith and strong faith can conquer the objections of reason. Truth faith and strong faith shall be accepted and approved by Jesus Christ.

Why did Jesus tell the man his sins were forgiven?

When Jesus said, “your sins are forgiven” He simply made a statement; Note, the response to the statement by the scribes (Mark 2:6-7).

You could commit by, denying one of the attributes of God, adding attributes God does not possess, and making yourself on par with God; this is what Jesus is claiming.

Jesus knew what they were thinking. Who knows the heart? God knows the heart. Forget the miracle for a minute; He knows what I am thinking. He knows what you are thinking. Even while the miracle is taking place there are other things happening that give proof that Jesus is God.

Jesus’ question, “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk?’” (Mark 2:9). What do you say is easier to say?

To say, “your sins are forgiven” is easier because no one can tell if it happened or not. You cannot validate it. This could be applied to all the false religions that claim that their way is the right way to God. They claim that their system will get you to heaven, and their followers will not know until it is too late their way was not the right way.

Jesus validates His claim to be able to forgive sins when He tells the man, “get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”

What did the man do? He got up immediately, picked up his pallet, and walked. What do we see in this man’s response; faith.

Therefore, he then heals the man, which is the visible task, to prove that he can forgive sins too.

Jesus calls Himself the “Son of Man” which is His favorite name for Himself, perhaps because it stresses His humanity. Perhaps it is because the term is vague enough that it forces people to make up their minds about Him. Is he “a man” or “the Man?” Jesus does not want to claim too clearly that He is the Messiah, because He was not the political Messiah that they were looking for. If you were looking for a spiritual Messiah, then you would recognize that He was that. Here he is saying I am a human who has the divine authority to forgive sins. Later He will claim to be the Son of Man who is Lord of the Sabbath. This title becomes a title of the Messianic combination of God in the flesh.

The healing is visible to all and they were amazed. Again, I must point out that amazement does not equal belief.

This is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Up to this point, the healings were merely physical. Now we see that the physical healings really point to a deeper spiritual reality which is the ultimate healing, the forgiveness of sins. The last miracle, the cleansing of the leper, pointed to this because leprosy was the model disease for the problem of sin. However, here we have the forgiveness idea directly stated.

There is an emphasis in the miracle on the fact that Jesus is both God and man. The phrase “Son of Man” and the mention of Jesus being filled with the Spirit emphasize His humanity. The fact that He forgives the man’s sins emphasizes His deity.

This miracle teaches us of the privilege of intercession. The friends interceded on the man’s behalf. They were instruments of healing. We also see the importance of unity and teamwork. One or two friends could not have accomplished this. It is costly, however, to have Christian unity. In order for the four men in to get together to bring this paralytic to Jesus, they had to consent to go in the same direction. Otherwise, they would not have succeeded. Then they had to consent to go at the same speed, and to the same place. Unity is costly for it means submitting to each other. Perhaps that is the significance of the statement “When Jesus saw their faith” In this miracle we see creativity in serving others and in bringing others to Christ.
In the last miracle we saw that the leper recognized that it is not always God’s will that we be healed. Here we see that spiritual healing is separate from physical healing.

Just to see a miracle does not mean you believe in the one who can do miracles. Verse 12 says they were all amazed, but they did not believe.

Sometimes God acts in a person’s life because of another’s faith. It might be the faith of a grandmother or a neighbor who prays that causes God to work in a person to bring them to Christ.