Jehovah Rapha: The God Who Heals Part III

My, Devotion to Him #10

VERSE PASSAGE: Mark 2:3-12 “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.” 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?” 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.” 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!” – NIV

So, Jesus was healing at someone’s house. A crowd had formed around the house, a big group. Some men hearing that Jesus was there brought Him a paralyzed man. When they arrived, there was no way they could get him in because of the size of the crowd. Now picture a large group in which there is no possible way to get a paralyzed man through them to see Jesus. However, they were persistent in bringing this man to Jesus. They obviously have heard about Jesus. Because they decided to go on the roof and make a hole big enough to lower the paralyzed man through the top down to Jesus.

Jesus’ first action was to forgive the paralyzed man of his sin. The men of the law disapproved. Jesus asked, “What is easier to forgive a man of his sin or have him walk?” Because people tend to look with their earthly eyes. So, it would be easier to forgive someone of sins than to have him walk. I mean, this man was paralyzed! Though Jesus told them, “I want you to know the son of man has the authority to forgive sins.” The men of the law still did not comprehend that Jesus was the Messiah, which is what He was trying to reveal to them, but they could not see past what Jesus had done. So he turns around after forgiving the sins. He tells the man to get up and go home. Now, this man instantly got up and went home. He did not say to Jesus, “I can’t. I’m paralyzed.” No! Instead, he listened to Christ. Jesus said get up, and the man did. Because of his act of obedience, he was healed. 

My father was on a mission trip. There was a little boy who could not hear. He was not born deaf, though something had happened, and he became deaf. My father laid his hands on this little boy and prayed. Afterward, he bent down and whispered in his ear. He had the little boy repeat it, which the boy did. He could hear again. Now, this little boy knew he could not hear, though when asked to repeat a word/phrase, he did so after he had been prayed for. It is so amazing the power of the action of obedience. When you know the problem, you’ve lived with some type of disability, and someone tells you to do something that goes entirely against your disability. It is incredible how healing takes place at the moment of obedience. There have been many different ways of healing. Jesus did not use the same way to heal everyone. So we have to remember to not get hung up on tradition. Because Jesus did not do the same thing the same way. Sometimes we have hindered the Lord from working in our life because we expect Him to perform a certain way and refuse anything other than that one specific way.

I’m delighted to read these healing stories, and hearing second-hand accounts of healing are excellent. I’m amazed every day at how Jesus heals people. From a simple headache to a paralyzed man. All issues prove to be meaningful to Christ. Be blessed and know that Jesus is the same healer yesterday as He is today and will be tomorrow.

God bless!

Copyright © 2017 by Jacob Olinger

Check out our podcast at the bottom of the page or simply click the link – Anchor: Jehovah Rapha The God Who Heals Part 3

The God Who Heals Series:

• The God Who Heals Part 1
• The God Who Heals Part 2
• The God Who Heals Part 3 (current page)
• The God Who Heals Part 4
• The God Who Heals Part 5
• The God Who Heals Part 6
• The God Who Heals Part 7
• The God Who Heals Part 8