And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
At Capernaum four friends and relatives bore a local man utterly helpless with incurable palsy on his bed to Jesus as He taught in Peter's house before disciples, hostile scribes and a dense crowding multitude. They undertook it cheerfully at his own urgent pleading because they had heard His gracious teaching and seen that He turned none away, even cleansing lepers and freeing captives from Satan's power. His wasting, deathward affliction was the penalty of a life of dissipation in transgression of God's law, and the Pharisees and doctors had coldly pronounced him incurable and abandoned to God's wrath as evidence of divine displeasure. When hope revived at hearing of Jesus' miracles of mercy, he longed above physical restoration for relief from guilt and assurance of peace with Heaven, content to live or die if pardoned according to God's will. Christ first lifted the heavier burden of sin by forgiveness to give hope and joy to the mind, then quickened the body so the man rose in youthful vigor and carried home his couch, manifesting His power on earth to forgive sins and His pattern of ministering to diseased mind as well as body.
Carried to Jesus at Capernaum
The bringing of the paralytic took place at Capernaum when Jesus was a guest in Peter's house teaching, while men, women and children were flocking from every direction to hear Him and others were gathered about Him beside the lake. Inside the crowded house the disciples sat near Jesus to hear the truths they were to proclaim by word and pen over all lands and through all ages, while haughty Pharisees, doctors and scribes gathered near with wicked purpose to confuse Him and accuse Him as an impostor. Outside and about the house pressed a dense promiscuous multitude of all grades of society and many nationalities, drawn by desire to hear, by wonder, by curiosity and by love of excitement. With the lame, the blind and those dying of various maladies gathered about Him for healing, Jesus laid His hands upon the sick, so that the scene itself later strengthened a distant leper's faith that even one shut out as unclean could be healed.
The sufferer was a man of the vicinity reduced to utter helplessness by incurable palsy, unable to walk or to come to Jesus on his own. His arms were useless and lifeless, his flesh wasted and shrunken and leaden-hued, and in his dying state his body was beginning to decay toward death. He was borne slowly on his bed, couch or litter by four friends and relatives who carried him as one utterly dependent on others.
Those four began to hope he might be relieved if he could be brought under Jesus' notice because they had heard His gracious teaching, had witnessed His wonderful miracles, and had seen that He turned none away, with even loathsome lepers finding access to His presence and being cleansed and healed. They encouraged him by telling of His miraculous power to cure every malady and every disease, of His words of mercy to the despairing, and of His freeing of captives held by Satan's power by a word of sublime authority. They assured him that Jesus had healed others in every respect as sinful and helpless as himself.
Though racked with bodily pain the sick man kept full strength of intellect, and feeling there was no time to lose he himself in urgent crying proposed and besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus. His friends were anxious to help and cheerfully undertook his proposal after other plans to reach Jesus proved unworkable. They pressed with their burden toward the house until their passage was completely blocked by the dense crowd in and about it, and they had to stop before coming within hearing of His voice. Unwilling to endure the disappointment of help so near yet unreachable, they persisted and bore him to the rear of the house to break through the roof and let him down into His immediate presence, opening the roof and lowering him when the crowd blocked their way.
Sin, Rejection, and Revived Hope
His palsy had followed a life of sin, for dissipation and love of the pleasures of sin in transgression of God's law had been its main cause, and his bodily suffering was the penalty of his wrongdoing. Remorse embittered his suffering, and the burden of guilt left him fearing that Jesus, the pure Physician, would not tolerate him in His presence or receive him. He felt he had brought the disease upon himself, so that hope fell even as it rose, and he dreaded rejection by One so holy.
He had already sought the Pharisees and doctors for sympathy and relief of mind and body, but they had looked coldly upon him, pronounced him incurable, and abandoned him to the wrath of God. They added to his woe by telling him he suffered God's righteous retribution and was cast off for his sins, torturing him with the teaching that God had cast him off because of his sins. They held themselves aloof from the sick and needy and taught that sickness and distress are always evidence of divine displeasure and of God's anger toward the transgressor, though themselves often more corrupt in heart and life than the sufferers they condemned. In their arrogance they had given him over to death and the wrath of God.
He had sunk into despair with help from no quarter, with no prospect of aid and no hope of recovery. Then hope revived in him and in his friends when they heard of Jesus' miracles of mercy and wonderful works. He longed to see Jesus and place himself in His hands, desiring relief from the burden of sin and assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven more than physical restoration. If pardoned and given relief of mind, he would be content to live or die according to God's righteous will.
Forgiveness, Healing, and Ministry Pattern
The carrying of the palsied man on his bed into Christ's presence belongs to a work that meets both physical and spiritual need in those who seek His help. Christ saw and perfectly understood his condition, knowing he had a sickness of the soul far more aggravating than bodily suffering and that the greatest burden borne for months was on account of sins. His deepest distress was therefore the burden of guilt, and his greatest desire was relief from sin with assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, even more than physical restoration. Forgiveness came first to lift the burden of sin and give hope, peace and joy to the mind, and then His power reached and quickened the suffering body to life and health so the man could rise, walk and glorify God.
The healing was complete, and he rose with the strength and energy of youth. Arms that had been lifeless and useless now quickly obeyed his will, flesh that had been wasted, shrunken and leaden-hued became fresh and ruddy, and he stood in the full vigor of manhood with firm, free step, with hope, purity and peace replacing the marks of sin and suffering. He received the words of Jesus with simple faith as new life in silent joy, then passed through the crowd blessing God and returned home carrying with ease as if light the same couch that had carried him.
His return brought tears of joy and glad thanksgiving to his family, and left him and his household with undoubting faith and loyalty, ready to lay down their lives for Jesus. God was glorified through His Son as the restorer of hope to the hopeless and strength to the stricken. The people fell back, gazed with awe-struck faces and whispered of strange things, as if Heaven had opened before them. From afar a leper caught a few words from Christ's lips and saw the paralytic restored to health praising God for deliverance, and the sight strengthened faith in his heart that Jesus could and would heal even one shut out as unclean. The scribes and Pharisees who had given the sufferer over to death were dumb with amazement and overwhelmed with defeat, yet hardened in hatred and unbelief against clear and convincing evidence.
The miracle was performed to manifest Christ's power on earth to forgive sins, and to show His love and power to heal the guilty and afflicted, pointing to His message of salvation. The account therefore binds together preaching the truth and healing the sick, for his first need was peace of mind through forgiveness which filled his heart with peace and joy, followed by bodily healing. It stands for instruction that physicians and workers for souls must minister to the diseased mind as well as the body, joining faith in God's healing power with the use of outdoor life, exercise, good food and the best treatments in health work.
At Capernaum four friends and relatives bore a local man utterly helpless with incurable palsy on his bed to Jesus as He taught in Peter's house before disciples, hostile scribes and a dense crowding multitude. They undertook it cheerfully at his own urgent pleading because they had heard His gracious teaching and seen that He turned none away, even cleansing lepers and freeing captives from Satan's power. His wasting, deathward affliction was the penalty of a life of dissipation in transgression of God's law, and the Pharisees and doctors had coldly pronounced him incurable and abandoned to God's wrath as evidence of divine displeasure. When hope revived at hearing of Jesus' miracles of mercy, he longed above physical restoration for relief from guilt and assurance of peace with Heaven, content to live or die if pardoned according to God's will. Christ first lifted the heavier burden of sin by forgiveness to give hope and joy to the mind, then quickened the body so the man rose in youthful vigor and carried home his couch, manifesting His power on earth to forgive sins and His pattern of ministering to diseased mind as well as body.
Carried to Jesus at Capernaum
The bringing of the paralytic took place at Capernaum when Jesus was a guest in Peter's house teaching, while men, women and children were flocking from every direction to hear Him and others were gathered about Him beside the lake. Inside the crowded house the disciples sat near Jesus to hear the truths they were to proclaim by word and pen over all lands and through all ages, while haughty Pharisees, doctors and scribes gathered near with wicked purpose to confuse Him and accuse Him as an impostor. Outside and about the house pressed a dense promiscuous multitude of all grades of society and many nationalities, drawn by desire to hear, by wonder, by curiosity and by love of excitement. With the lame, the blind and those dying of various maladies gathered about Him for healing, Jesus laid His hands upon the sick, so that the scene itself later strengthened a distant leper's faith that even one shut out as unclean could be healed.
The sufferer was a man of the vicinity reduced to utter helplessness by incurable palsy, unable to walk or to come to Jesus on his own. His arms were useless and lifeless, his flesh wasted and shrunken and leaden-hued, and in his dying state his body was beginning to decay toward death. He was borne slowly on his bed, couch or litter by four friends and relatives who carried him as one utterly dependent on others.
Those four began to hope he might be relieved if he could be brought under Jesus' notice because they had heard His gracious teaching, had witnessed His wonderful miracles, and had seen that He turned none away, with even loathsome lepers finding access to His presence and being cleansed and healed. They encouraged him by telling of His miraculous power to cure every malady and every disease, of His words of mercy to the despairing, and of His freeing of captives held by Satan's power by a word of sublime authority. They assured him that Jesus had healed others in every respect as sinful and helpless as himself.
Though racked with bodily pain the sick man kept full strength of intellect, and feeling there was no time to lose he himself in urgent crying proposed and besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus. His friends were anxious to help and cheerfully undertook his proposal after other plans to reach Jesus proved unworkable. They pressed with their burden toward the house until their passage was completely blocked by the dense crowd in and about it, and they had to stop before coming within hearing of His voice. Unwilling to endure the disappointment of help so near yet unreachable, they persisted and bore him to the rear of the house to break through the roof and let him down into His immediate presence, opening the roof and lowering him when the crowd blocked their way.
Sin, Rejection, and Revived Hope
His palsy had followed a life of sin, for dissipation and love of the pleasures of sin in transgression of God's law had been its main cause, and his bodily suffering was the penalty of his wrongdoing. Remorse embittered his suffering, and the burden of guilt left him fearing that Jesus, the pure Physician, would not tolerate him in His presence or receive him. He felt he had brought the disease upon himself, so that hope fell even as it rose, and he dreaded rejection by One so holy.
He had already sought the Pharisees and doctors for sympathy and relief of mind and body, but they had looked coldly upon him, pronounced him incurable, and abandoned him to the wrath of God. They added to his woe by telling him he suffered God's righteous retribution and was cast off for his sins, torturing him with the teaching that God had cast him off because of his sins. They held themselves aloof from the sick and needy and taught that sickness and distress are always evidence of divine displeasure and of God's anger toward the transgressor, though themselves often more corrupt in heart and life than the sufferers they condemned. In their arrogance they had given him over to death and the wrath of God.
He had sunk into despair with help from no quarter, with no prospect of aid and no hope of recovery. Then hope revived in him and in his friends when they heard of Jesus' miracles of mercy and wonderful works. He longed to see Jesus and place himself in His hands, desiring relief from the burden of sin and assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven more than physical restoration. If pardoned and given relief of mind, he would be content to live or die according to God's righteous will.
Forgiveness, Healing, and Ministry Pattern
The carrying of the palsied man on his bed into Christ's presence belongs to a work that meets both physical and spiritual need in those who seek His help. Christ saw and perfectly understood his condition, knowing he had a sickness of the soul far more aggravating than bodily suffering and that the greatest burden borne for months was on account of sins. His deepest distress was therefore the burden of guilt, and his greatest desire was relief from sin with assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, even more than physical restoration. Forgiveness came first to lift the burden of sin and give hope, peace and joy to the mind, and then His power reached and quickened the suffering body to life and health so the man could rise, walk and glorify God.
The healing was complete, and he rose with the strength and energy of youth. Arms that had been lifeless and useless now quickly obeyed his will, flesh that had been wasted, shrunken and leaden-hued became fresh and ruddy, and he stood in the full vigor of manhood with firm, free step, with hope, purity and peace replacing the marks of sin and suffering. He received the words of Jesus with simple faith as new life in silent joy, then passed through the crowd blessing God and returned home carrying with ease as if light the same couch that had carried him.
His return brought tears of joy and glad thanksgiving to his family, and left him and his household with undoubting faith and loyalty, ready to lay down their lives for Jesus. God was glorified through His Son as the restorer of hope to the hopeless and strength to the stricken. The people fell back, gazed with awe-struck faces and whispered of strange things, as if Heaven had opened before them. From afar a leper caught a few words from Christ's lips and saw the paralytic restored to health praising God for deliverance, and the sight strengthened faith in his heart that Jesus could and would heal even one shut out as unclean. The scribes and Pharisees who had given the sufferer over to death were dumb with amazement and overwhelmed with defeat, yet hardened in hatred and unbelief against clear and convincing evidence.
The miracle was performed to manifest Christ's power on earth to forgive sins, and to show His love and power to heal the guilty and afflicted, pointing to His message of salvation. The account therefore binds together preaching the truth and healing the sick, for his first need was peace of mind through forgiveness which filled his heart with peace and joy, followed by bodily healing. It stands for instruction that physicians and workers for souls must minister to the diseased mind as well as the body, joining faith in God's healing power with the use of outdoor life, exercise, good food and the best treatments in health work.