Deep Healing

One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic 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 that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed 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]

I was thinking a lot about this Bible verse this past week. It's a verse that makes quite a few important points about faith, healing, and forgiveness. Upon hearing it this time, though, I was focused on the healing aspect.

Here's a man who was essentially paralyzed, at least from the waist down. How long had he been that way? We don't know. It could have been weeks, months, or his entire life. But Jesus merely uttered the words, and the man could walk.

Those of us who can walk do it without any thought. But you have to realize that we all have to learn to walk. Even if we've temporarily lost the ability to walk - because of accident or illness - we have to undergo weeks or months of physical therapy to learn how to walk all over again.

Now look closely at the story again - Jesus said the word, and the man got up and walked. He not only had the physical ability to walk; he knew how to walk. He didn't have any physical therapy, but he obviously had all his faculties together; just coping with his sense of balance alone was quite an accomplishment (and remember, he bent down to pick up his mat!)

Now that's healing - deep healing. Amen.