Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-october-10-2023
Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
1Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . .” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
This is a pretty well-known story from the life and ministry of Jesus, but there are a few details about the story that are easy to miss. And those seem pretty important if we’re going to get the full impact of the story.
This story also appears in the Gospel of Mark. And as you might remember, Mark is thought by New Testament scholars to be the first of the gospels, one that’s based on Simon Peter’s remembrances of what Jesus said and did during his earthly ministry. So Mark is understood to be an eyewitness account. And since we understand that Matthew’s gospel was based on Mark’s, it seems reasonable to point out the similarities and differences of the two accounts.
Both Matthew and Mark say this story takes place in Capernaum, which the scholars say is where Jesus lived as an adult. And it seems, at least, that the events took place at Jesus’ own house. Mark reports the memorable detail that Matthew omits: that the paralyzed man’s friends took him up on the roof and tore a hole in it so they could lower him down in front of Jesus. So it seems that people perceived Jesus as a person who wouldn’t object to someone tearing open his roof on a mission of mercy. Or it could be that the friends were so desperate they were willing to risk it.
It also strikes me as interesting that it was when Jesus saw the faith of the paralyzed man’s friends, and not the faith of the man himself, that he was led to intervene in the man’s life. There are quite a few healing stories in the gospels where Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.” But we’re told in this story that it isn’t the paralyzed man’s faith that matters – it’s the faith of his friends.
That raises an interesting point. Our Reformed theology tells us that even though our relationship Jesus is meant to be personal, it’s not meant to be private. Following Jesus is a group activity. We’re meant to support and encourage each other – and sometimes even to challenge each other. I suspect that’s why the Holy Spirit has caused this detail to be written into the story: to make the point that our own shared faith can sometimes lead our friends to encounters with Jesus. Our faith might even provide opportunities for him to bring healing that’s desperately needed in their lives.
The other aspect of this story that’s always interested me is that when Jesus looked at this man, it wasn’t his obvious medical condition – his paralysis – that drew the master’s attention. It was the man’s sins that Jesus thought most urgently needed action. Presumably, it was the physical disability that led the man’s friends to carry him to Jesus in the first place. But apparently Jesus placed a higher priority on the man’s spiritual disability – the burden of his sins.
But when we think of human sinfulness, don’t we tend to think first about sins that a paralyzed person would find difficult or impossible to commit? Apparently the first sins that come to lots of people’s minds are sexual in nature, and sins like stealing and violence and other physical sins are close behind. So what kinds of sins had taken over this paralyzed man’s life in a way that caught Jesus’ attention? Bitterness? Anger? Envy over his paralysis? Lack of faith?
We tend to focus on externals like physical appearance and health. But to Jesus, what was going on in the man’s heart and mind mattered more. That’s something those of us who follow him should try to keep in mind. I suspect that most of us, if Jesus offered to ‘heal’ one thing about us, would opt for something physical, or to become thinner or taller or more athletic or better looking. But this story suggests that a really wise person presented with that offer would ask for forgiveness of sins.
That’s kind of ironic. Most of us are unlikely to be that much thinner or better looking or more athletic, no matter how much we pray about it. But the offer of forgiveness – the blessing Jesus obviously thought was more important – that blessing is available to each and every one of us just for the asking. And once we’ve received that forgiveness, we’re ready to get up and walk into the world and bear witness to God’s willingness to extend that forgiveness to everyone who will accept it.
Let’s pray. Lord, help us to have the same commitment these men had to helping you act in the lives of our friends who need your healing. Move us to overcome all obstacles to bring others into your presence, as they did. And make us ever mindful that it’s our spiritual disabilities, and not our physical ones, that are of greatest concern to you. Heal those disabilities, we pray. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 31 and 32; II Kings 22:1-13; and I Corinthians 11:2-22. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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