Healing

At church, we've been going through the book of Mark.  Its the start of a new series, so I am not sure what direction it will go in exactly, but the past two weeks Chip (our pastor) has picked one word to focus on.  Last week it was gospel and this week it was healing.  This week has been particularly rough because I had to give up my clinical site because I will not be physically able to work at the setting I was assigned to. This is frustrating for a number of reasons, but there seems to be a constant reminder that I am not completely "healed".  At this point, it is safe to say it will take a year to eighteen months to be back to the life that seems so distant these days.  So, naturally when the word for this week was healing, I felt like God was speaking right to me.

The story for this week came from Mark, chapter 2.  The story of Jesus healing the paralytic.  Today, we may refer to this type of individual as a paraplegic or someone who has sustained a spinal cord injury leaving them paralyzed.  It is helpful to paint a picture of the story... so here goes.  At this time in Jesus' "career" he was attracting huge crowds.  So much so, that the friends of this individual whom was paralyzed had to carry him up to the roof, cut away a hole so that he could be lowered down to where Jesus was standing.  Chip phrased it as they had to "truck" him to Jesus.  This struck me because in all reality, we have daily, uninhibited access to Jesus and I can say I honestly do not take advantage of that access.  These men wanted their friend healed so badly that they carried him up several flights of stairs and lowered their friend down to Jesus.  The effort this must have taken is hard to fathom.

After the man was lowered to Jesus, he was told that his sins were forgiven.  As you can imagine, this was interesting news for the man.  In all reality, he went to Jesus to have his legs healed so he could walk again.  This was before the time of fancy wheelchairs, handicap parking and ramps, so this man was most likely completely depended on his friends and family for everything.  He was likely a beggar by day; lying on his mat doing the only "work" he was able to do. So, when Jesus told him his sins were forgiven, he was probably confused and slightly frustrated (I know I would be!).

In verse 5, it says "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven'."  The way Chip presented this passage spoke right to me.  He said, this man likely self-diagnosed what he needed from Jesus.  He believed he needed his legs to be healed (and rightly so, if you ask me).  But, Jesus saw a greater need.  Its almost as if you can hear Jesus saying, "Son, you need something much more than just your legs to be healed.  You need your soul healed".  Its as if God is saying, I am powerful enough to sustain you through this... just trust me.

You can read the rest of the story... and, you can make your own connections.  This passage has spoken deeply to me and for now, I need to keep processing that.  Check back for more thoughts on this beautiful story of Jesus providing us with exactly what we need, despite what we think we need.