I Thought We Brought Him To Be Healed?

In Mark 2 we read of a man with palsy.

Allow me to set the stage.

Jesus Christ is teaching a multitude of people inside a home.

As verse two says, “And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them...”

The doors were open and people were gathered outside, trying to catch a parable, a glimmer of hope as they crowded around. 

Note, Mark doesn’t tell us what Christ spoke or taught the multitude, but rather, he chooses to focus our attention on five individuals who exercised great faith.

“And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four (Mark 2:3).”

“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 (Mark 2:4).”

Imagine for a moment, how this may have occurred.

Perhaps Christ was in mid-sentence or thought when all of the sudden, the roof begins to shake and a flood of light appears.

Dust kicks up and everyone’s attention is centered on the roof.

Once there is an opening, the four individuals lower down a bed, carrying a man with the palsy.

At this point, Christ is marveling and applauding their faith. They went to great lengths and perhaps endured through public comments and attention as they disrupted the Savior’s teaching. 

However, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee (Mark 2:5).”

“Wait a second. Did I just hear that right?” says one of the individuals who lowered down their friend.

I thought we brought him to be healed?

Undoubtedly, their must have been some confusion. Perhaps the Savior misspoke. Maybe they heard Him wrong.

“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 (Mark 2:8)?”

“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 (Mark 2:9)?”

Someone - maybe more than the friends of the palsy - were wondering the same thing... “Didn’t they bring him to be healed?”

Christ did heal him.

He lightened his load and blessed him with the gift of forgiveness. He made it possible for this man to sleep at night, and to rest from what troubled him. 

“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,) (Mark 2:10).”

“I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house (Mark 2:11).”

Jesus not only healed the palsy but He also healed his broken heart. 

The lessons we can draw from this experience are many, but first and foremost, Christ teaches us that He can heal us, both spiritually and physically.

What matters more to the Prince of Peace - in this case - is that the man with palsy felt peace, rather than anxiety that may have troubled him earlier in the day.

Physical healing came second.

With His words we can be healed, but with His mercy, we can be cleansed, and broken hearts can be mended. 

We may not always receive the healing that we wanted, but Christ will heal us just as He did with this man.

You, at one point, may come unto Him to be healed, but rather than being free from your infirmities, you may receive the gift of mercy and forgiveness.

That experience, whichever it may be, will forever change your life.

Peace is the greater gift however difficult that may be to understand.

Christ asks, which is easier to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to take up thy bed and walk?

His response?

To take up thy bed and walk.

Christ’s power to forgive sin and bestow peace is the greater gift, even the greatest gift all of us need, and can receive in every season of our lives.