Two-fold Healing

 Mark 2: 1-12

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic

2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 [a]Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has [b]power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

We've heard this story so often that we might be dull to its double cure.  First and foremost,  Jesus addresses first the forgiving of the man's sins and THEN the healing of his paralysis. Evidently Jesus saw the inner paralysis as first and most important; once that was cleared, he could proceed with the "outer healing" which also gave credibility to the inner, This powerful story happened early in the ministry of Jesus and underscores the purpose of his presence among us:  the forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with the Father for the First, or Original Sin.  As we age, we become more aware of our inner paralysis and learn that its healing is more important than relief from the aches and pains of our crumbling joints. May we be inspired to allow Jesus to heal us where we need it the most.

Bro. Rene