In Mark chapter 2, there’s a story of how Jesus went back to his home town of Capernaum and started to teach to a group of people inside someone’s home. Apparently, the news spread quickly because not soon after Jesus arrived, the place was beyond packed. Hearing that Jesus had returned, a group of four men carried a paralyzed man to the house, hoping to see Jesus. However, there was absolutely no room for them. So instead, they made their way to the roof of the home, dug a hole, and lowered their friend to where Jesus was teaching. So impressed by their faith, Jesus looked at the paralytic and told him that his sins were forgiven. However, as soon as he uttered those words, the scribes in the room began to think that Jesus was blaspheming. And just as quickly as they thought those words, Jesus responded by first asking a question, then assured them that He was indeed the Son of God, and then proved it by miraculously healing the paralyzed man. The once crippled man then picked up his mat and walked out the door. And everyone left amazed.
I really like this story for a couple of reasons. And I don't think any of them will be too surprising. The first one is because I admire the faith of the five men. While we have zero context of who these men were, we do know that they believed that it was imperative for the paralyzed man to meet Jesus, one way or another. They don’t let the giant crowd of people or a roof get in their way.
The second reason is because I like that Jesus read the scribes’ thoughts. It’s pretty clear that the scribes never claimed that Jesus was blaspheming- all they did was think it. We love talking about how Jesus hears us when we silently pray to him. But this story takes that to a whole new level. Because in this story, Jesus is silently being gossiped about. And Jesus calls them out- in front of everybody.
And last, I like that Jesus performs a miracle. He simply tells a man who has had no function in his legs for who knows how long to pick up his mat and walk. And he does. Just like that.
I like this story for a lot of reasons but part of me feels like I’ve somehow missed the main point of it for a lot of years now. I’ve always thought that this story is an example of how Jesus rewards a man for his and his friends’ great faith. But after reading and rereading this story, I’ve come to understand that this story isn’t about that at all. In fact, that doesn’t even really happen.
It’s important to open this up with a little bit of context. First, the book of Mark, where this story is found, begins with John the Baptist preparing the way of Jesus. Jesus then goes on to perform miracle after miracle- healing the sick, people possessed with evil spirits, lepers, and a whole host of others. Now apparently Jesus wanted to keep His miracles quiet and even tells the leper he healed not to say a word to anybody. But instead, that man went out and told everyone and soon, the word that Jesus was doing things that no one had ever seen spread all over (leprosy joke). This explains why so many people wanted to see Jesus in Capernaum that day. It also should be said that during those days, it was believed that your misfortune (i.e. sickness, leprosy, paralysis) was due to your sin. If you had something wrong, you were the one that caused it. And most importantly, it was believed that only God could forgive you of your sins/misfortunes. Last, just for posterity’s sake, the scribes that thought Jesus was a blasphemer were protectors, teachers, and scholars of the Law. I don’t know why, but every time I hear the word scribe, I think of scrawny, borderline malnourished little guys that could never play football. But these scribes were well respected men who knew exactly what the Law of Moses said, inside and out.
Okay, enough context. Back to the story.
In verse 5 of Mark chapter 2, after the men lowered their friend through the roof, it reads, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Sons, your sins are forgiven.’” Notice that at this point in the story, there is no hint or inclination that Jesus was about to heal the man from his paralysis. Soon after Jesus forgives the man, he’s called (well, thought) a blasphemer by the scribes. Knowing what’s going on, Jesus turns to the scribes and asks, “Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’ but I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” In other words, Jesus is asking “What do I need to do to prove to you that I have the authority to forgive this man’s sins? Is simply saying it not enough? Or do I have to rid him of his actual paralysis?” So then He does exactly that. And just like last time, everyone left amazed.
It seems to me that there are two way larger points to this story other than how the faithfulness of five men led to a miraculous healing. The first is that Jesus is a bit disappointed that He had to use miracles to prove that He was indeed the son of God. In fact, if it wasn’t for the scribes’ disbelief, I think there’s a strong potential that Jesus would have never healed the man at all. It seems like the biggest reason Jesus healed the man was to prove a point. Healing the man was an afterthought. It was an exclamation point. It was the only way to communicate what needed to be said- that Jesus had the ability to rid people of their sins. Or rather, it was the only way to show people that He truly was the Son of God.
Immediately I’m taken aback by this. Not because I’ve somehow overlooked that part for so long, but because I know that I still sometimes need, or at least badly want a miracle in order for me to believe that Jesus really is in control- that He is who He says He is. And the miracles I need aren’t even healing from something like paralysis. Instead, they’re miracles to help me handle the stress in my life, or find some time in my jam packed schedule, or fight off the depression I feel, or to help me not focus on the past or worry about the future. I sometimes just need Jesus to perform a miracle in my life so I can simply rest in the fact that everything is going to be okay. But Jesus asks us to just trust Him. Even when the miracle never comes.
Now, I think whenever somebody talks about “just trusting Jesus in tough situations,” it’s imperative to recognize not only how difficult that is, but that it’s also healthy and right to sometimes just sit and mourn in those moments of despair. I don’t think we should rush through our emotional process to get to a point of inauthentic assurance.
However, the second point to this story is even greater than the first. What struck me was Jesus’ first reaction to the paralytic man and his faith. He simply forgave him. He didn’t heal him from his paralysis. He just forgave him of his sins. Apparently, the greatest reward that Jesus could have offered the man was not the ability to walk, it was forgiveness. It was eternal life. And that went over everybody’s head, including my own. Because people believed that misfortune was caused by sin, it’s fair to say that they also believed that forgiveness meant the absence of misfortune. But to Jesus, forgiveness meant something way more than that. Forgiveness meant a future. It meant an assurance that regardless of your circumstances now, everything would eventually be okay.
I think what makes this so hard to grasp is the fact that we have no idea what complete forgiveness or what eternal life looks like. We can grasp the fact that the healing of a once paralyzed man is amazing and for that reason, we are much quicker to follow Jesus when He chooses to do that. But Jesus never said, “Follow me and I will perform miracles for you.” He said, “Follow me and you will be saved.” In Mark chapter 2, Jesus accomplished what He came to do one third of the way through the story.
So as I sit here and I face myself, I have to ask myself a couple questions. What would it look like to live in such a way that I actually rested in the fact that Jesus has already saved me? What would it look like to not stress out about my busy schedule or get frustrated over difficult relationships or stew over disappointments? What would it look like to not need miracles to solve my broken heart or anxious spirit or wandering mind? What would it look like to just rest in the fact that everything I go through has been taken care of before it even began?
I think that Jesus would want to remind me that no matter what I go through, He’s already saved me from it.
At the end of the story, in Mark 2, verse 12, it reads, “And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’” I would have loved to witness that miracle so I too could have been part of that celebration. But I’m already good at celebrating the miracles in my life. I need to learn how stand amazed and full of praise regardless of a miracle happening. And I think that’s what God wants for us too.
