What Jesus did #15: he heals on the inside as well as the outside
Some people believe that ‘bringing people to Jesus’ is all about the spiritual. The soul is the only part of a person worth caring about because that is the only part of us that continues on into eternity when we die. And so the physical needs of an individual are ignored and neglected and all the emphasis is on spiritual health. Then there are those who concentrate so much on the physical that they lose sight of the spiritual. In this story from Jesus’ time here on earth, we find that it’s all about the whole person.
Reading this story reminds me of my daughter, whose middle name on her Princes Trust Course became ‘find a way’, because whatever the task, she would always find a way. She’d do this whole ‘make a hole in the roof’ thing if she had someone who needed a face to face encounter with Jesus, that’s for sure.
One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” Luke 5:17-26 (also found in Matthew 9 and Mark 2)
The scene starts every calm and contained. There’s a lesson going on here and Jesus cannot be disturbed. Until he is. When Jesus is around, nothing is ever calm and contained. He invites anyone and everyone to come to him. That’s bound to be complicated and messy as it is. Unpredictable, spontaneous – you never know what to expect. Suddenly there’s rubble all around and you can see the sky through a hole in the roof and there’s a paralysed man being lowered down…
And then Jesus’ response is totally unexpected too. They all expect him to heal the man. That’s what he does. That’s why they brought him here. And yet he forgives the sins of the man before him.
He’s come with a spiritual mission to give everyone a glimpse of the kingdom of God too, let’s never forget that. He can heal and will heal physical illnesses, but spiritual health is just as important. Jesus heals on the inside as well as the outside.
Who does Jesus think he is? How can he forgive sins? – only God can do that! Jesus proves here that he has the power to make this man walk again and the power to heal what is going on on the inside. He can heal what is seen and what is unseen.
We have seen remarkable things today.
We should be able to say this every single day.
We have seen remarkable things today.
God is at work transforming lives on the inside and the outside all around us all of the time.
We have seen remarkable things today.
God is at work in our own lives, leading us into wholeness and health in every aspect of life.
We have seen remarkable things today.
I want to be able to go to bed every single night able to say this, smiling in gratitude for the little miracles and glimpses of glory that I’ve noticed that day.
