Text: Mark 2:1-12
Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He performed various miracles to demonstrate His divine power. The miracle we are discussing here was Jesus healing a paralytic brought to Him through a roof. As we study this miracle, as with every Bible passage, it is important to understand the context. This miracle teaches us certain things about Jesus and provides an important lesson for us.
The Context
- The gospel of Mark is a very fast-paced account – the word “immediately” is used ten times in the first chapter (NASB); of the four gospels, most scholars believe Mark was written first; it is sort of the introductory gospel in that it is shortest and briefly covers highlights from Jesus’ ministry
- Leading up to this, Mark recorded Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:9-11), preaching (Mark 1:14-18), and healing (Mark 1:23-45); this resulted in the large crowd gathering to Him at Capernaum (Mark 2:1-2)
- The man who would be healed was a paralytic (palsy, KJV) – term referred to someone who was paralyzed and, therefore, helpless; this man would have been unable to get to Jesus here, yet he had four friends to bring him
- This took place while Jesus was “at home” in Capernaum (Mark 2:1) – possibly the home of Peter (cf. Matthew 8:5, 14; Mark 1:29)
The Miracle
- The four men carrying the paralytic could not get into the house because of the crowd (Mark 2:3-4) – so they took him up to the roof, removed part of it, and lowered him down to Jesus; homes here would have had flat roofs, stairs leading up to the roof, and openings in the ceiling covered by an awning (Barnes’ comments on Matthew 9:2); so when they “removed the roof,” they rolled back the awning
- Jesus saw their faith (Mark 2:5) – that of the man AND his friends; they obviously believed Jesus would be able to heal him; they would have heard of other such miracles; yet Jesus did not immediately heal the physical ailment; instead, He healed him spiritually
- The scribes immediately questioned this (Mark 2:6-7) – partially right in that no one has the power to forgive sins but God (cf. Isaiah 43:25); wrong about blasphemy; Jesus made Himself equal with God (cf. John 5:18), but it was only blasphemy if untrue; Jesus would prove His deity, in part, by answering their thoughts (Mark 2:8)
- Jesus asked, “Which is easier to say…” (Mark 2:9) – not about the difficulty of articulating/pronouncing the words; He was talking about the power/authority to make the statement and perform it; only God can forgive sins AND only God can immediately/miraculously heal someone; if Jesus could do one, He could do the other; it had already been shown that Jesus could heal; this proved that He could also forgive sins (as God)
The Lesson
- This miracle was performed to prove that Jesus “has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10) – if He can say the word and immediately cure someone’s physical ailment, He can do the same with our spiritual sickness; our sins can be forgiven
- To receive the forgiveness He offers, we need to come to Him no matter what it takes – we need to hear of Jesus through the gospel (Romans 1:16; 10:17); we need to believe that only He can save us (Romans 5:1; Acts 4:12); we need to do what He says (Romans 1:17, 5; 6:17, 3-4)
Conclusion
- Jesus healed the paralytic after a demonstration of faith – healed him both physically and spiritually; in doing this, Jesus proved that He has the power/authority to forgive sins; even our sins
- We can be forgiven if we will come to Him in faith and follow what His word teaches
