Ten they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you’ » (Mark 2:3-5).
WHAT A CRAZY IDEA those four men had! According to Mark, Jesus was in Capernaum, preaching, when «immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door» (Mark 2:2). When they arrived at the house where the people had gathered, the paralytics friends could not get through the crowd. Then they decided to go up on the roof, open a hole, and then lower the sick man down to Jesus.
The most amazing thing about the story is not what they did, but what Jesus did. Instead of rebuking them for interrupting His preaching, He said to the paralytic, «Son, your sins are forgiven you» (v. 5).
These men had brought their friend to Jesus to be healed, not to be forgiven. What they did not know was that the disease of the paralyzed man «was the result of a life of sin,» and that «it was not physical restoration he desired so much as relief from the burden of sin.»—The Desire of Ages, ch. 27, p. 267.
We do not know the details of his sin. What we do know is that in the Palestine of Jesus’s time, sickness was believed to be the direct result of sin. It was mistakenly believed that God afflicted the sinner, either directly, or through His angels, and that the cause of illness could take place because of the sin of the individual suffering or even because of the sin of an ancestor!
No wonder the paralytic longed for forgiveness! Not only did the remorse of his past torture his conscience, but also the belief that he was excluded from God’s favor. All of which explains why the Lord, before healing him, first forgave him. Is there not a valuable lesson for us here? God longs to heal our diseases, but first He wants to remove from our hearts the burden of sin.
There is still a second lesson. Because he had sinned, the paralytic thought God was angry with him. He did not know that Jesus had come, not to call the righteous, «but sinners to repentance. »
Praise God! Our heavenly Father longs to forgive your sins today. However, He also wants you to know that regardless of the bad things you have done, He is not angry with you. How could the One who gave His Son to save you be angry?
Thank You, dear God, for being my heavenly Father.
Thank You because nothing in this world can separate me from Your love.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate
