THE HEALING OF A PARALYTIC

Mark 2:1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Reflection:

This passage shows us that when we approach Jesus with our needs, how and when He chooses to address our needs are beautifully wise and all-knowing. The paralytic needed healing, and in our human one-dimensional thought process we may believe the problem is physical. However, Jesus sees all facets of the problem and knows that the spiritual healing must come first. At the end of the day, Jesus gives the paralytic more than he asked for – both spiritual and physical healing. When we approach Jesus with our needs, He is generous and desires to go beyond what we asked for. He wants to give us more than we could possibly fathom. Let us pray for patience and trust in His approach to our needs.

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