After wandering around the Lake of Tiberias, the Lord entered Capernaum where he lived after leaving Nazareth. He was received in a house that might have been owned by one of the disciples. The number of visitors increased when they heard that “He was preaching the word to them” i.e. Moses and the prophets. Then, they brought a paralyzed man to him (according to our translation), i.e. a hemiplegic man. And when they couldn’t get near him because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof. Such roofs, made of wooden boards and some soil, are well known in Lebanese mountains.
Jesus immediately says to the paralyzed: “Son, your sins are forgiven”. In their custom, this is blasphemy, because none of the Jewish priests or prophets ever said such an expression. The teachers of the Law only knew Jesus as a man. This is why they disapproved the fact that he is capable of forgiving sins.
However, He proved the validity of His claim of being able to forgive by giving physical healing after forgiveness. He said to the ill person with authority: “Get up, take your mat and go home”. He confirmed to the Jews through forgiving and healing that He has authority over man’s body and soul.
Then, immediately after the paralyzed was healed by a word, “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all”. “This amazed everyone” and therefore they said “We have never seen anything like this”. Perhaps, among those people, there were some who handed Jesus over to death. It is obvious from this miracle that the first concern of the Lord is healing the soul from sin, while the second one is healing the body. Jesus has done this through making many miracles.
If someone got sick, the most important concern for him is to repent, because the disaster wouldn’t be to die but to die without repentance. It’s not a problem if the ill person asked for his healing from God; however he must not forget the healing of his soul. If a priest was called to pray for a sick person, his prayer and request to God shouldn’t be limited in healing. The important thing is our rise from sin, while our safety is handed to God’s care over us. Maybe sickness is sometimes a shock to remind is of the importance of going back to the Lord.
The Lord might allow a sickness or an accident, but this doesn’t mean that he is the reason behind it. God isn’t the reason of our pains. He lets us rise from them in order to get closer to him.
Who is aware that sin is the biggest disaster and that there is nothing worse than it? I wonder how we take care of our health so that it doesn’t drop, but we rarely take care of our souls in order not to fall into temptation. Does the irascible person ask himself for example: How can I train my soul to gain calmness? Also, who says to himself: I shouldn’t follow a certain group of people in order not to do the bad things they do? How can I try to embrace myself to Jesus in every social situation I fall into? And how can I strengthen my soul in faith, in the spirit of prayer and in continuous prayer so that I don’t fall? Putting it in one phrase: Am I a real lover for virtue, or is it just an illusion? Is my real concern to commit to Lord Jesus, in order for him to become my life?
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “شفاء المفلوج” –Raiati 11- 11.03.2012
