And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” | Mark 2:1–12
Jesus did many wonderful works. He made the stormy wind stop blowing he heled many sick. He even made some who had died to live again.
Then He did something else that was even more wonderful. Listen to this story.
One day Jesus was in the house of a friend. Many people came to see Him. They wanted to hear what He had to say. Even great doctors and lawyers came. The house was so full of people that there was not room left for even one more.
Everybody listened to Jesus. But what was that noise they heard? It came from up above their heads. They looked up to see what it was. And there they saw four men looking down through a hole in the ceiling. “Look out!” the men said.
They had a mat, with ropes tied to the corners. And they began to let the mat down right in front of Jesus. Down, down, down it came. The people squeezed out of the way. A man was lying on the mat!
“We could not get in through the door,” one of the four men said, “so we took a part of the ceiling away, to get this sick man to Jesus.” They thought Jesus would surely heal the sick man.
But Jesus looked at the sick man, and He saw something that nobody else could see. He saw that the man’s heart was sad because of sin. Then Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Oh, how surprised the people were! The doctors and the lawyers were the most surprised of all. They thought, “Jesus should not say that. Jesus is just a man. Only God can forgive sins.” They did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “I will show you that the Son of man can forgive sins.” Then He said to the sick man, “Arise, take up your bed, and go home.”
The sick man did just that. He got up. He did not feel one bit sick any more. He rolled up his little mattress bed, and he went home, singing. He was so happy because he was well, and especially because his sins were forgiven. And everybody praised God, because Jesus did such wonderful things.
Because Jesus is the Son of God, He can forgive our sins. If we tell Him we are sorry, and ask Him to forgive us, He will forgive all our sins. That will make us happy. We can be happy even if we are sick, if we know that our sins are forgiven. Because then we know God loves us.
Forgiving our sins is much more important than making us well. It is even more important than making somebody alive after he was dead.
Something to talk about:
- What did the four men expect Jesus to do?
- How did Jesus surprise them?
- How can we go to Jesus and ask Him to forgive our sins?
Memory verse:
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. | Psalm 32.1