Good morning. In the 2nd chapter of Mark’s gospel, we read of the paralytic who was carried to Jesus by his friends. Jesus had been creating quite a stir in the region north of the Sea of Galilee. So much so that the people were crowding Him so much that He couldn’t even enjoy a meal. In the midst of that throng of people crowding Him, the paralyzed man was lowered through the roof down to Jesus. This is what we read: Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
What I thought we might consider this morning is that while everyone in the area was probably familiar with the plight of the paralyzed man, having seen him being carried around by his friends because he couldn’t walk, that crippled body was all they saw in him. They may have tsk-tsked a bit, muttering about how unfortunate it would be to have such a handicap. Compare that to what Jesus saw. Jesus saw people of faith. The man on the mat must have believed that Jesus could help him, and his friends certainly had enough faith to go to extreme measures to give it a try.
But notice what Jesus saw that others could not: His response to the man being lowered down to Him was “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus looked past the physical problem and saw the spiritual need. The legalists were offended, wondering aloud why Jesus should be allowed to pronounce forgiveness of sin. Jesus responds to them by explaining that He, the Son of Man, was capable not only of healing the physical need but of caring for the greater spiritual need as well.
What do people see when the look at us? Do they see the physical form, our size-shape-color-etc.? What if they could look at us and with a glance know the truth of our spiritual reality?
People looked at the paralytic and saw a physical cripple. Jesus looked at him and saw a spiritual need. How well do people have to know us before they become aware of our spiritual reality. Things like the genuine quality of our faith, our love, our servant-spirit?
We pray to our Lord regularly for physical health and healing. Do we pray just as regularly for spiritual health and healing? Jesus sees the truth, and Jesus wants to heal. Let’s give Him the chance to do so!
Vern