Today’s Gospel story is about the Healing of the Paralytic by our Lord Jesus Christ, which you’ll find in your Bibles in Mark 2: 1-12.
“When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they have broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’ 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth.”
11 He said to the paralytic, “ I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
This is truly a fascinating story and if you closed your eyes and pretended that you were inside the house with the huge crowd, you will certainly find this a very intriguing story. When the four men carrying the paralytic found their way but blocked by the crowd, they still persisted to bring the paralytic to Jesus, hence they cleverly found that the only way in was to climb up the roof and remove the stone or ceramic tiles piece by piece. I’m sure that the crowd below must have heard the noise from above that the men were making as they painstakingly removed the tiled roof.
Then in a most dramatic fashion, the men lowered the paralytic on his mat down into the midst of the crowd right in front of Jesus, virtually interrupting his preaching. As expected, Jesus used this occasion to teach the crowd, when he told the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” This was very surprising because the paralytic wasn’t even asking the Lord to be healed. However in ancient times, people often attribute a grave illness as a form of sin against God. So what the Lord told the paralytic was merely in conformity with what the people believed in those days: If his sins would already be forgiven, then he would be healed.
There were Jews or spies of the Sanhedrin among the crowd whose mission was to find any fault that this Jesus of Nazareth might just commit. So when they heard Jesus telling the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, one of them immediately responded “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” But our Lord Jesus Christ was ready to show to the Jews when he told everyone, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘You sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth.”
Of course anyone can easily say the words, “Your sins are forgiven you!” But what Jesus does next was something no one can do because he then orders the paralytic to rise, pick up his mat and go home and the paralytic does exactly what the Lord commanded him to do right before the eyes of the crowd who were amazed at what they were seeing. Most of those who witnessed this event glorified God in their amazement. But the spies sent by the Jews now had “evidence” that this Jesus of Nazareth has blasphemed God.
What ever happened to the paralytic? I’m sure that the five of them went back to where they lived singing praise songs to God for the wonderful healing that had taken place in Capernaum. It was the strong faith of these men that touched the heart of Jesus, who once said in Matt.7:7-9 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.”
If you looked back at the beginning of this story, the men bringing the paralytic sought Jesus in Capernaum and found him inside the house. But their way to Jesus was blocked by the huge crowd that surrounded him. So they did more than just knocked the door, they literally knocked open the roof tiles. What about you? Have you sought the Lord lately? If you are seeking for him, all you need to do is get to the nearest church that has an exposed Blessed Sacrament and there you will meet Jesus face to face so you too can nourish your restless soul.