Christian Art | Jesus Heals The Paralytic Man
Mark 2: 1-12 (cf. Luke 5: 18-26 & Matthew 9: 2-8) 7th Sunday Year B and Week 1 Ordinary Time, Friday (Audio Bible KJV, Spoken Word)
1 AND again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
The words of Jesus to the paralytic man on his bed might have seemed strange and even, at first, insensitive: the paralytic has been brought to Jesus seeking to be healed, and Jesus says to him: ‘Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.’ This could hardly be what the paralysed man might have been expecting.
Jesus at this point takes a little bit more control over the message he wishes the people, his creation, to receive and to take on board and to understand about him.
The fame of Jesus has spread through the land. He has returned to Capernaum and as soon as he does so the news spreads, the gossip and rumour mill churns, and people once again clamour for his attention. We might even think in this respect of modern day celebrity, in the sense that: the star is in town.
Jesus uses this moment not initially to heal but to preach. It is a beautiful thought that it may be that this is what the people were thronging to hear. Perhaps they did not even know why they were there to see and to hear our Lord. But they longed to be near him. The people of Biblical times, while in a sense lost and confused, nevertheless retained in their souls, in their heart of hearts, the ardent desire to be close to the true God.
Throughout the Bible, we hear of the longing of the people of God for the Messiah. Now here he is: present, visible, and moreover as a human, as one of us. Now we understand these people’s hunger to be near and to be with Christ. They’re just like us. Their hunger is our own. We are as they are.
Faith and healing remain combined, indeed inextricably linked, as is in accord with the Jewish teaching of Biblical times. Jesus teaches the word and Jesus heals: these two core activities of the ministry of our Lord are essentially one. The healing and the preaching of the Word of God are as one.
We witness in this Gospel reading both the resolute determination of those carrying the paralytic man to reach unto the presence of Jesus and the infinite compassion and love of our Lord to admit the sick and the needy into his presence. The paralytic man cannot reach Jesus all by himself, by his own efforts. He can’t get there alone. He needs help. And so it is, as St Jerome describes, that there is a kind of spiritual paralysis into which a person may have sunk that it profits that person to draw on the assistance of our brother man to bring that person as it were to life again, our life in Christ. And here in the Gospel he is: Christ is patiently waiting.
Christ not only sees the sickness of the paralysed man; he sees the faith of those who have brought him. We are thusly instructed of the great value of our fellowship in Christ, of our communion and our seeing God and the image of Christ in our fellow man. We are called to be a community, the lay as the religious. We are called to see God in and through each other.
The response of the scribes is typical of a mode of thought and religious belief which Christ came down to us to overturn. They see blasphemy. We might flinch from imagining that: the thought of Christ blaspheming! ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ they say. Well here he is. We know this, but those scribes could not let themselves do so.
Jesus knows what the scribes are thinking, perhaps mumbling among themselves, and he does something clever. Rather than confront the scribes outright on their own and now obsolete terms, he presents them with a question: what is better, to say our sins are forgiven or to heal? Now the physical healing of the sick and the spiritual healing and redemption of Christ are held together in one breath and as a sign.
Jesus explicitly tells those assembled that this is a sign. In other words, Jesus is telling us that his primary purpose on Earth, his mission as he was sent by the Father, is not to be a medical doctor to the physically sick; it is to heal our souls. The healing of the sick, though miraculous and through the word alone of Christ, is nevertheless only a sign, signifying that which is so very much greater.
The people are all amazed. We are now amazed at this account of Christ’s mercy and love and his sheer ability to help the people of his time toward faith. They proclaim: ‘We never saw it on this fashion.’ We never saw anything like this.
Seeing is believing. Christ gave these miracles to us for all time such that through seeing we too may believe.
In the Bible, a miracle is an event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency. Miracles are often seen as a sign of the intervention of God in the affairs of human beings. In the Old Testament, the most famous miracles are the Ten Plagues of Egypt, in which God punished the Pharaoh for refusing to release the Israelites from slavery, and the parting of the Red Sea, in which God allowed the Israelites to escape from the pursuing Egyptians by opening a path through the sea. In the New Testament, the miracles of Jesus are a central part of his ministry and are seen as evidence of his divinity. These include healings, such as the restoration of sight to the blind and the raising of the dead, and acts of nature, such as turning water into wine and walking on water. Is There A Theological Significance To Jesus’ Miracles? In the Christian tradition, the miracles performed by Jesus are seen as a manifestation of his divinity and as proof of his authority to teach and heal. Many of these miracles are described in the Gospels of the New Testament, which are the primary source of information about the life and teachings of Jesus. The purpose of the miracles, according to the Gospels, was to demonstrate Jesus’ power over natural forces and to show that he had the authority to forgive sins and offer salvation to those who believed in him. Why Did Jesus Ask To Keep His Miracles Secret? ‘Tell No One Of This.’ In the Gospels, there are a few instances where Jesus tells people not to tell others about what he has done for them. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew, after Jesus healed a man who was possessed by demons, he told the man, ‘See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a proof to them’ (Matthew 8:4). In this case, it seems that Jesus was concerned that the man’s testimony might not be believed or might be misunderstood, and so he asked him to keep the experience to himself for the time being. It is difficult to say for sure why Jesus might have asked someone to keep quiet about a miracle without knowing the specific context in which the request was made. However, some possible reasons that come to mind include: To avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself. In the Gospels, Jesus often tries to avoid drawing too much attention to himself, especially from the authorities who are hostile to him. Asking someone to keep quiet about a miracle might be one way of avoiding unwanted attention and allowing Jesus to continue his ministry without interference. To allow the person who was healed to experience the transformation for themselves. In some cases, the person who was healed might have been skeptical or unsure of what had happened to them. Asking them to keep quiet about the miracle might have given them time to reflect on the experience and come to their own understanding of it without being influenced by others. To test the person’s faith. In some cases, Jesus might have asked someone to keep quiet about a miracle as a test of their faith. If they were truly grateful for what Jesus had done for them, they would be willing to follow his instructions and trust that he had a good reason for asking them to keep quiet. These are just a few possible reasons why Jesus might have asked someone to keep quiet about a miracle. It is important to remember that the Gospels are ancient texts and that we must be careful not to impose our own interpretations on them without considering the historical and cultural context in which they were written. To avoid creating conflict or division. In the Gospels, Jesus often encounters people who are skeptical or hostile to his teachings, and he sometimes tries to avoid confrontations with them. Asking someone to keep quiet about a miracle might be one way of avoiding a confrontation or a heated debate that could disrupt his ministry. To avoid being misunderstood or misrepresented. In some cases, the person who was healed might not have understood the full significance of what Jesus had done for them, and they might have tried to explain it in a way that distorted or misrepresented the truth. Asking them to keep quiet might have given Jesus time to explain things to them more fully and help them to understand the true meaning of the miracle. To avoid becoming a spectacle. In the Gospels, there are many instances where people are amazed by the miracles that Jesus performs, and they often try to make him into a kind of celebrity or showman. Asking someone to keep quiet about a miracle might have been one way of avoiding this kind of attention and keeping the focus on the message that Jesus was trying to convey. What Is The Significance Of Miracle Of The Wedding At Cana? In the Christian tradition, the wedding at Cana is significant because it is the first of the miracles performed by Jesus that is recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament. This event is described in the Gospel of John, where it is said that Jesus, along with his mother Mary and his disciples, attended a wedding in the town of Cana. At the wedding, the host ran out of wine, and Mary asked Jesus to help. In response, Jesus turned water into wine, which is seen as a miraculous act that demonstrated his power and authority. In the Gospel of John, after Mary asks Jesus to help with the wine at the wedding in Cana, he replies, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). 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