Full of Grace and Truth: Healing Paralysis

Have you ever noticed how some people become known by certain characteristics or traits they have? For example, Abraham Lincoln was known for his honesty. Albert Einstein was known for his genius. Michael Jordan became known for his ability to seemingly glide through the air.  And Mother Teresa became known for her compassion.

There are many examples like these throughout history and Jesus is no exception. There are probably many characteristics that he was known for, but I think John summed it up best. In the opening of his gospel, John said, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).”

There’s no doubt that John was not alone in thinking of Jesus in terms of grace and truth. It would be difficult to imagine the other apostles not thinking that way too, particularly Peter and Paul. But of all the words that could have been used, why did John choose grace and truth? What was it about Jesus that made John pick those two particular characteristics to highlight?

Over the next several articles, we will examine different ways that Jesus demonstrated grace and truth. As a result, we will also learn more about our Father and how He feels about us.

The first example of the grace of Jesus comes from a familiar story. Early in his ministry, Jesus had been gaining notoriety by driving out evil spirits and healing a number of people of sicknesses. A few days after healing a man with leprosy, Jesus returned home to Capernaum. The people came to see and hear him in such large numbers that there was no room in the house where he was preaching and teaching, not even outside the door. “Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:1-5).’”

Talk about grace in action. Why had the men brought the paralyzed man to Jesus? For one reason. They wanted him to be physically healed. But is that what Jesus did? No, at least not yet. Instead, Jesus did something far more important and something very unexpected. He forgave the man’s sins!

Why would Jesus do that? I think there are several reasons. First, Jesus understood the man’s needs. Yes, he needed to be physically restored, but even more critical was the man’s spiritual needs.

The Jewish people of those times believed that a person with a disease or infirmity had it because God was punishing them for their sins or the sins of their ancestors. (See John 9:1-5 for an example.) Though we are not told this directly in the story, it’s very possible that this man may have been burdened with the thought that he was under the curse of God. That’s simply no way to live. Imagine how heavy a person’s heart would be living with the thought that God caused some type of illness in their lives because of their sins. Imagine how that might lead a person to believe that God hated them. Living in this fallen world is tough enough without having to live with debilitating thoughts like those.

If thoughts such as these were afflicting the man, it makes perfect sense that Jesus would address this first. Not only would the man have been suffering from a physical paralysis but he would have been suffering from a spiritual paralysis as well.  This condition just could not be allowed to persist if the man were to truly live. Jesus would have seen that this man needed to know that God was not counting his sins against him; that that was not the reason for his suffering. He needed to know that God cared about him and loved him deeply. He further needed to know that God desired to restore what was broken in him, not just physically, but in every way.

Second, I think Jesus had the same goal in mind with everyone else in the crowd. Not only did the paralyzed man need to know these truths about God, but probably everyone there needed to know it. It’s very possible that many of those there to hear Jesus that day may have also thought that the paralyzed man was under the curse of God. If so, Jesus certainly would have wanted to correct their thinking too.

There was a third thing going on here and it has to do with a truth about himself that was about to be revealed. By saying that the man’s sins were forgiven, Jesus provoked the ire of the religious elite. “Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone (Mark 2:6-7)?’”

The teachers of the law were correct. It would have been blasphemy for Jesus to say that the man’s sins were forgiven – if he were not God! Jesus’ response to the religious leaders was both full of grace and truth. “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:8-10).”

By responding in this fashion, Jesus was about to show everyone a truth about his own identity – that he is the Son of God! And in doing so, he was also reemphasizing the truth about the love of his Father and how it is His desire to restore people and make them whole.

“So he said to the man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this (Mark 2:10-12)!’”

By now healing the man physically, Jesus had indeed made him whole. He had shown him, and the crowd at large, that God truly loved him and that his sins had not caused him to be cursed by God. He also revealed to everyone there his true identity. Now they would know that God was really among them, which once again showed how much He cared for them. This was all so truly amazing that it elicited a response of praise from the crowd that could only come from experiencing the truth of God’s grace and love.

This story unmistakably shows us how essential God’s grace is. If it weren’t for Jesus’ act of grace, the truth of God’s love would not have been made known to them, at least not in the incredible way that it was. Jesus, full of grace and truth, created an environment in which everyone in the crowd could be healed from a potential spiritual paralysis.

Are you suffering from something in your life right now? Have you become convinced that God is punishing you because of sins in your life? Has it prevented your relationship with God from growing and flourishing? If so, then you too are suffering from spiritual paralysis. Let the truth that Jesus revealed start to bring about a change in your perceptions too. God is not angry with you. He loves you and He wants to restore you, just as Jesus did the paralyzed man. Allow his grace to bring healing in your life and live in his grace and truth.