Mark 2:1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Thr same incident is narrated by Matthew. Caphrnaum is referred to as His owncity.
Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
In both passages, Jesus interrupted His teaching to give all His attention to the paralysed man. In both accounts His attention was drawn by faith. Mark 2:5; Matthew 9:2. In both accounts Jesus healed the paralytic to the consternation of His scribal critics. In both cases, He forgave the man’s sins first. We could guess that the man may have been paralsed by fear of the judgment of God, because of some sin he had committed, probably a sin punishable by death. So before healing him of the paralysis, Jesus dealt with the spiritual root of the illness. In Matthew 9:2, even before forgiving the man’s sin or sins, Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer.” Jesus knew about the sin and the real gulit, but He was so compassionate, He calmed the man’s emotional state, with what mus have been a very cheering voice, “Son, cheer up! I forgive you that sin you’re so frighened you’ll be judged for.”
Only then did He heal the man’s physical condiiton.
Sometimes, guilt needs to be dealt wih before healing is given. We know can receive forgiveness if we jrepent and confess our sins. We can almost hear His cheerful love, and we sense He is more than willing to heal the physical illness. Our faith has a firm anchor. Our anchor holds for it grips the solid rock, and, we receive and declare our healing by faih, and like he paralysed man, we act on that faith, and do what we couln’t do before, because now we are healed.
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