Healing a Paralytic

Bible Passage:  Matt 9:1-1-8; Mark 2:2-12; Luke 5:17-26

Although we have heard about them so many times, I never get tired talking about them:

The four men who carried the paralytic to Jesus.

The Bible doesn’t mention who they were or why they wanted the paralyzed man to be healed. But obviously they really wanted to help, and they had faith in Jesus and His power. They were convinced that Jesus could heal the paralytic as long as they managed to bring him to the Lord.

But what does it mean to bring someone to Jesus? In the paralytic’s case the four men brought him to Jesus, so that he could be healed. Although they didn’t ask the Lord to heal him, their action itself was a request for help.

Today, we often make intercession for others, asking the Lord to help them. This is a way of bringing them to Jesus.

However, quite often, we may just be “doing our homework”, reciting their names, asking God to heal them; maybe we will also ask God to grant them a peaceful heart. Sometimes we may be praying for a relative or friend who has yet to believe in Jesus or some brother/sister who is weak in faith.

But do we really pray with the faith that God can and will help them in His own way and time? Or do we tend to think rationally, somehow doubting the possibility of the impossible, just as the Pharisees doubted Jesus’ authority and power?

Quite often we are unaware of such a lack of faith until we ourselves fall ill, face difficulties or meet with hurdles in our faith journey. That’s when we pray for a miracle or a change, but find ourselves lacking a firm conviction and total trust in the almighty God, i.e., a true and simple faith.

Yet this is the faith that we need to cultivate, not only for ourselves, but also for all the people whom we pray for everyday.

“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

(Jas 5:15-16)

Apart from these four men’s faith, I really admire their love for the paralytic. Their love,  coupled with their faith, even motivated them to go the extra mile and to uncover the roof to bring the paralytic to Jesus, when they could not pass through the crowd.

Today, it doesn’t take much to simply kneel down to pray for someone. But it takes much time and effort to really extend a helping hand to those in need, whether it’s the sick, the straying or those who do not know Jesus yet.

We often think that we are unable to help in a practical way, especially if we are not very close to the person in need. But today’s miracle teaches us that all things are possible with God—if only we have faith.

“… for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt 17:20)