1After a few days, Jesus went back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. 3 Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. 4 They couldn’t carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”
6 Some legal experts were sitting there, muttering among themselves, 7 “Why does he speak this way? He’s insulting God. Only the one God can forgive sins.”
8 Jesus immediately recognized what they were discussing, and he said to them, “Why do you fill your minds with these questions? 9 Which is easier—to say to a paralyzed person, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk’? 10 But so you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed, 11 “Get up, take your mat, and go home.”
12 Jesus raised him up, and right away he picked up his mat and walked out in front of everybody. They were all amazed and praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”
Reflection
What immediately strikes me about today’s passage is the faith and determination this paralyzed man and his friends had in bringing him to Jesus to find healing. They knew Jesus could heal him, if only they could get to him. So, when they heard Jesus was in his home at Capernaum they carried the man to Jesus. We are not told what type of distance they traveled, but it took four of them to get him there, so I don’t imagine that it was easy. When they arrived at Jesus’ home and saw the crowd, they realized that the only way they could get their friend in front of Jesus was by making a hole in the roof and lowering him down. So, they somehow had to get this paralyzed man up on the roof, make a hole in the roof, and then safely lower him down. Throughout this process they demonstrated great faith and determination and Jesus rewarded them for this by healing this man and giving him the gift of being able to walk again.
When I read this story and think about the faith and determination this man and his friends showed, I think about my father’s journey in getting a double lung transplant and the great faith and determination he, my mother, and many other people showed during this process. My Dad was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which is a progressive disease that hardens the lung tissue making it increasingly difficult for a person to breathe. The only cure is a lung transplant.
The process my Dad had to go through to get on the transplant list was long and hard. Once he was on the list, he had to be ready to go to the hospital at any time. Then after a grueling and miraculous surgery, he was in the hospital for a month until he was able to return home. After returning home, he had to go to intensive physical therapy, have many follow up doctor visits, and take a regimen of medicine, which he still does to this day, almost 10 years later, and will have to for the rest of his life. My Dad showed great faith and determination throughout this difficult and scary process in seeking the miraculous healing God can offer through modern medicine.
My mother also showed great faith and determination in being by my father’s side every step of his journey. Spending a career in nursing herself, my mother’s medical knowledge was extremely important in helping my Dad navigate all the different specialists he had to see and tests he had to take, and advocating for him to get the care that he needed. She was also there to nurse him back to health during his recovery and continues to be there to make sure he behaves now.
Similarly, all the great doctors and nurses who cared for my Dad throughout this process showed great faith and determination by studying medicine and making it their life’s work to care for others. I also have to say that the young woman, whom we will never know, but who decided to be an organ donor and in doing so gave my Dad and probably several other people the gift of life, demonstrated great faith in being willing to let parts of her earthly body live on in other people when her soul was called home to be with God.
My Dad and several other people showed great faith and determination throughout his journey to find healing and because of this God has blessed my Dad and our family with some additional time to be together here in this world.
by Manny Estevez
For Pondering and Prayer
Where in your life do you need healing? When your faith and determination are running low are you leaning on friends and family members to support you on your journey? We are not meant to journey alone.
Prayer: Healing God, may your love and grace and the support we have from loved ones, sustain us in our individual journeys to find healing. May we seek your will and follow the path you clear for us so that ultimately, no matter what happens to our earthly bodies, we may find the healing and peace you grant us in your loving embrace. Amen.
