1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
The world of infirmities was given access to mankind with the fall – when Satan welcomed Adam and Eve into his sinful domain. Satan - being the culprit - taking captive the one made in God’s own image. Death entered as did every sickness, every dysfunction, every distorted perspective, every broken relationship, and every physically and emotionally crippled. All became a sure reality for mankind when sin was given entrance to the scene. From our original parents on, every human has been born captive - held bound by the sinful nature. Praise Jesus, Who came to set the captive free. Our Lord disarmed the powers and authorities of this dark world. He made a public spectacle of them - triumphing over them by the cross - proclaiming freedom for the captive and the year of the Lord’s favor. When the Son sets you free you are free indeed – believers do not have to give Satan an inch. He may destroy the body but he can never destroy the soul – you can take that to the bank. We are to bring Jesus our hurts and our sorrows and watch for the sunrise of the resurrection. Paul tells us in Galatians:
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 (NIV)
“I was the enemy of God. I was stamping through God’s universe, shaking my fist in His face. And in the very moment when I was shaking my fist in God’s face and tramping through the Creator’s universe, muddying all His streams, that’s when Jesus died for me. And if this is when Jesus died for me, what hope it gives me now! Now, even when I fall, the blood of Jesus is enough. He didn’t save me because I was strong; He saved me when I was weak. He didn’t save me when I was a pretty thing; He saved me when I was a mess. On the basis of this reality, I can have comfort.” Francis Schaeffer, The Finished Work of Christ.
In our verses for today the crowds had gathered – so much so the door was blocked by bodies. I find it extremely interesting that Mark states Jesus did not begin by healing rather by preaching the Word. Surely there were other infirmed present – those seeking the comfort of His healing touch but He first begins by bringing them the Word. Earlier in Mark the Master stated He came to preach – ever teaching the Truth to those who had ears to hear:
38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." Mark 1:38 (NIV)
Prior to the Sermon on the Mount – surrounded by every kind of human ailment and need and wailing flesh – our Lord chooses to do the same thing on the advent of the disciples into His ministry. We must sit at Jesus’ feet - soaking in the Word - before we are worthy to do the work. Jesus constantly spoke the Truth in love without compromise. He still continues to speak to us through His Word. What eternal and profitable thing are we possible equipped to give forth if we are not at first filled by and with the Master. Matthew tells us:
24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. 1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. Matt 4:24-5:2 (NIV)
“The end of learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love Him and imitate Him.” John Milton
In the midst of His teaching – right above His head – a mat of suffering slowly begins to descend through the roof. A paralyzed man was carefully lowered by his four compassionate friends of faith for Jesus to look upon and heal. They knew He was mighty to save – mighty to save from sin, mighty to save from despair, mighty to save from sorrow, mighty to save from disappointment, mighty to save from regret, mighty to save from ourselves, mighty to save from self-castigation and mighty to save from the hot blinding tears against our fateful circumstances. Indeed, Jesus is mighty to save. He alone is able to give us the peace that flows like a river, the righteousness like the waves of the sea no matter what our circumstances.
Jesus bypasses the band-aid on the gaping wound of this paralyzed man’s heart and goes right to the core of the matter by first healing the condition of his soul. Surely the man was wondering why Jesus missed his immediate problem – it was quite obvious he lacked the ability to walk. Yet Jesus proceeds by going to the root and not the fruit of his condition. More than likely unbeknownst even to the paralytic, his need for soul cleansing was greater than his need for legs leaping. He calls him son and forgives his sins.