Jesus was preaching the word. We need to realize that hearing God’s word is important in order for healing to take place. Christ must be preached. We must be willing to spend the time to understand scripture so that our faith can grow.

We sometimes get focused on the emotional excitement of God’s blessing, but we also need the necessary study of scripture which will give us spiritual understanding. Notice the pattern Jesus established with the Capernaums. First they experienced God’s presence in their lives, next they had to spend a few days of reflection and meditation, and then they were ready to receive instruction from scripture. All these areas of our spiritual development are important, but our faith must be established on God’s word.

McGee comments, "The ministry of our Lord was to preach the Word of God, and that is the emphasis that we feel should be made today. It is the emphasis upon the Word of God, upon the integrity and inerrancy of the Word of God. My prayer for myself in this connection is, ‘Oh, God, give me more confidence in the Word of God.’ I see what it is doing today in hearts and lives, and I know what it has done for me."

This is a wonderful story of the faith of these four friends. These four men brought their friend to receive healing. Perhaps a few days ago they were only interested in experiencing Christ’s blessings for themselves. But now after a time of personal reflection, they began to think of others in need. Notice, their thoughts are not centered on how they can hear Christ’s words so they can be blessed. Rather, they are determined that their paralytic friend will be blessed. They were so committed to this that they went to extreme lengths to make it happen.

If God has been a blessing to you, it is time you start looking how you can be a blessing to others. There are those in need that you meet every day. Are you willing to overcome any obstacles to help them meet Christ? We will be having these healing services every month. Maybe God has someone for you to bring for healing.

McGee remarks, "What we need in the church today is stretcher-bearers - men and women with that kind of faith to go out and bring in the unsaved so they can hear the gospel. There are many people today who are paralyzed with a palsy of sin, a palsy of indifference, or a palsy of prejudice. A great many people are not going to come into church where the gospel is preached unless you take a corner of the stretcher and bring them in."

Before this man could be physically healed, there was some important spiritual healing that had to take place. This was a dramatic moment. The man was lowered into the middle of the crowd on a mat right in front of Jesus. All eyes had to be on this spectacle. I am sure everyone in the crowd expected that Jesus would heal the man. So what did Jesus do? He told the man that his sins were forgiven.

He was trying to teach the people what is really important spiritually. The most important thing we receive from God is the healing of our soul. If we are never healed in our body, we should rejoice for the spiritual healing that we have received. But there are Christians today who’s spirit is crippled with despair and confusion. There are those who have carried emotional burdens for too long. There are those who are assaulted each day by mental anguish, feelings of darkness and hopelessness.

Jesus came for spiritual healing, for mental healing, for emotional healing. He is here to heal you. Whether you are suffering physically or mentally or spiritually, God’s healing power is here to set you free. This man was paralyzed in his body. But Jesus knew that the most important healing was over the paralysis in his soul.

God loves you just as much as he loved this man. He is here to heal you, to deliver you, to give you peace.

There were some who doubted. There may be some of you who have your doubts. But notice what Jesus said to them in verse 8, "Why are you thinking these things?" Christ is asking all of us that may be entertaining any doubts, "Why are you thinking these things?" We need to understand that Jesus came to heal - both spiritually and physically.

The crowd was not that concerned with theology, but the teachers of the law knew what the Bible taught. And they were correct. Only God could forgive sins. So Jesus is trying to reveal his deity to them in a way they could understand. Perhaps many of them were convinced that Jesus was a good man who was being used of God. But now they were forced to face Jesus claims’ of being the son of God. They were like a lot of people today. They say that Jesus was an important historical figure. They consider him a prophet and a good man. But they don’t want to make Christ the lord of their life, and they don’t want to worship him. But the prophet is also the son and the good man is also God. This is the point of Christ’s ministry, and the teachers of the law saw the implications of what he was doing.

Now Jesus heals the man of his physical problems. Christ is here to heal you also. Perhaps the doubters could not understand how God can heal the spirit, but they could see how God can heal the body. We need to realize that the most important healing this man could experience was the first one. He had sin in his life and was carrying the burden of that sin - guilt, despair, feelings of worthlessness.

Perhaps you are the same. You may be carrying guilt or despair or worry. You may feel emotionally crippled or spiritually confused. Jesus came to heal you spiritually as well as physically.

Jesus asked this question to get the teachers to realize who he is. In a sense he is asking them, "If you think I am sent from God because I do these healings, why can’t you also believe that I am the son of God?" Now in today’s culture we would probably think that it would be easier to be forgiven than to be healed. But no doubt the scribes understood that being forgiven by God is not an easy thing just as being healed is not an easy thing. So Christ is trying to help them face his deity. He would heal the man to show that he had authority to forgive sins. Perhaps many of these teachers later became Christians because of the lesson they learned here.

Swift wrote, "He provided a test. The claim to forgive sins could not be substantiated by any result; but the power to heal could be demonstrated at once. If therefore He can cause the man to walk, let them ‘know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins’."

Jesus healed this man. His paralysis was removed and the man stood up and walked. Perhaps some of you are wondering if miracles like that could happen today? Why not? Has God changed? Does he love us any less? Let us come for healing - whether it’s emotional or physical. Let us place ourselves in the hands of the living Creator. Allow God to perform a miracle in your life.

The people understood that this healing was from God. They may not have understood the deity of Christ, but their focus was on God. If we see healings or deliverance in people’s lives, let us be careful not to give the praise to the minister, the church, or those who prayed for us. The praise belongs to God. The minister, the church, and the prayer warriors are merely servants of God. It is God who does the work and performs the miracles. Let us never be guilty of being attracted to a charismatic leader instead of to God.

I would like to conclude this study with Mark 9:23, "Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes’." Let us have faith. God wants you to be set free. God wants to deliver you from mental anguish, from emotional turmoil, from spiritual confusion, and from physical pain. Reach out to Jesus now.

This study on Mark 2:1-12 © 1999 by David Humpal, all rights reserved.
All scriptures unless otherwise noted are from the New International Version © 1971, Zondervan Bible Publishers

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, vol. 4, pg. 167 © 1983, Thomas Nelson Publishers

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, vol. 4, pg. 168 © 1983, Thomas Nelson Publishers

Swift: The New Bible Commentary pg. 811, 1954 edition, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company