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| St. Francis statue in Capernaum. Like Jesus known for compassion, holiness and peace. |
Jesus
climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people
brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the
paralyzed man, "Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven." Matthew 9:1-2
When
Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he
was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors
that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching
God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They
couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through
the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in
front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My
child, your sins are forgiven." But some of the teachers of religious law
who were sitting there thought to themselves, "What is he saying? This is
blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!" Jesus knew immediately what they
were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you question this in your hearts?
Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man 'Your sins are forgiven,' or 'Stand
up, pick up your mat, and walk'? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has
the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the
paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"
And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned
onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, "We've never
seen anything like this before!" Mark 2:1-12
Meditate.
Consider what you expected Jesus to do or say.
Jesus
knew what the Pharisees were thinking. Can you imagine how Jesus was
hearing, and still is hearing, everyone’s thoughts at once? Was it noisy?
Amazing how He can filter all of it out and focus on just the ones on which He
comments. He knew that they thought He was blaspheming God. They weren’t
caring about the miraculous healing of the paralytic. They just wanted to trip
up Jesus and discredit or accuse Him of a sin. Jesus was sinless.
What
wonderful friends this young man had! They knew Jesus could heal him, so they
carried him from his home to Peter’s house where Jesus was staying. It was so
crowded that they couldn’t get in. Up on the roof they went. There were likely
steps up on the outside of the house, since that was a common architecture
feature at that time. Ingeniously, they removed a section of the roof and
lowered their friend right down to Jesus! What a friend! Jesus healed the young
man, but a big part of this story is the reaction of the Pharisees. What would
have been your reaction to this situation? Would you have been praising the
Lord, along with the former paralytic and his friends? Or would you have been criticizing
Jesus for forgiving sins? Jesus was who He was. He was the great I Am. He could
and did forgive sins. Did the Pharisees think they were sinless, or that they
needed to be forgiven of their sins, too?
Not
only the Pharisees, but probably everyone present, were amazed and thought or
said, “We've never seen anything like this before!” What would you have said?
What
do we learn about Jesus from this passage? Once again, compassion with His
healing words. Encouraging. Forgiving. Honest. Integrity – doesn’t back down
under Pharisees’ accusations.
Prayer
– Lord Jesus, Thank You. You are obedient, compassionate, forgiving, honest,
and loving. You are generous with Your healing. Please continue to touch our
friends and family who have health issues and need Your merciful healing and
encouragement.
Verse
of Salvation ~ Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your
name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name. Psalm 79:9
© 2026 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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