Through the Roof, Part 4 - Jesus Knows What We Need

Mark 2v1-12

22^nd March 2024

This is our fourth and final study of:

Mark 2v1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed 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 paralysed man, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
Now some Scribes 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 paralysed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But so that you may 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!"

I'd like to look more deeply at the question I asked last week: Why did Jesus say to this man, "Child, your sins are forgiven"? I suggested last time that the reason might be that the spiritual healing the man received – the forgiveness of sins – was the key to his physical healing. I also took some time last week to acknowledge that, while this is probably true in this man's case, there are many other situations where it's not true, and a need for forgiveness is not always the key to physical healing.

Jesus called the paralysed man "child", showing him affectionate love. Perhaps he needed to hear that. Perhaps his own parents didn't love him. Perhaps that's why he needed his friends to bring Him to Jesus. There are many people inside the church as well as outside, who never really knew their father's love, or their mother's love. Many people would be deeply touched if they could hear the voice of God calling them "my child". Perhaps, even as you read this, you can sense that God truly is your Father, your perfect Father who loves you, and cares for you, and celebrates you, and wants you to feel His loving embrace. That is healing indeed, isn't it?

And Jesus proclaimed that the man's sins were forgiven. Perhaps he suffered with guilt. Perhaps he'd done some terrible things. Perhaps he was no worse than you or me, but had a particularly sensitive conscience. Some people do. Perhaps somebody had told him, over and over again, that he was a terrible person. Perhaps it was his father saying those things. I don't know. But perhaps.

I do know that feeling unloved by one or both parents, or rejected by society, or friendless, or feeling guilty, dirty, nasty or selfish, whether or not those feelings are grounded in any kind of reality, can make us physically or mentally ill. Increasingly, the medical profession is coming to understand that mind and body affect each other. Any experience of trauma is likely to result in physical problems sooner or later.

Jesus called him "child". Jesus accepted him. Jesus forgave him, whatever he'd done. Jesus accepted him just as he was, and He accepts you just as you are. Perhaps that acceptance enabled the man to receive the physical healing Jesus intended to give him.

If anyone will come to Jesus, accept His atoning sacrifice on the cross, and turn to Him in repentance and faith, Jesus will accept that person. No matter what problems he has. No matter what He's done. And God will begin the process of healing him.

We are body, soul and spirit. We are emotions, memories, fears, hurts and desires as well as flesh. All these things are interconnected. Sometimes, God wants to heal one part of us before he heals another part. Sometimes, perhaps, that's the only way we can receive the healing we need. God is the perfect surgeon. He knows how to fix us. He knows the best treatment plan, the best order in which to fix us. Just as a good doctor will heal one ailment before moving on to heal another, so God heals one aspect of our being before healing the next. Here's one example.

For some years, I had an illness known as Reynaud's Syndrome. It caused my fingers to feel extremely cold, even on warm days. One day, I was preparing to preach the following Sunday on justification by faith from Romans Chapter 3. As I prepared the talk, I came to understand justification by faith better than I ever had before. I'd been saved forty years or so. I'd never really understood justification by faith. I knew that it meant that my sins are forgiven and I can stand before God without fear. All evangelicals know it means that, I hope. But for the first time, I understood that justification by faith means that God says I'm OK. God accepts me as I am. God treats me as if I was without sin. God calls me His friend. For the first time, I understood that if anybody else wants to criticise me, they're disagreeing with God, because God doesn't want to criticise me.

I hadn't truly understood these things until then. At that moment, I saw them so clearly, and I preached about them that Sunday morning. Understanding that God says I'm fine, that I don't need to justify myself to anybody ever, because I'm justified by faith, was an immense emotional and spiritual healing for me. It changed who I am, how I feel about me, how I feel about others, how I feel about God, how I feel about my life, and how I feel about friendship. I have God's approval. If I don't have some other person's approval, he's got a problem with God. I haven't.

Six days after I preached that sermon, I prayed once more for God to heal my Reynaud's Syndrome, and it completely disappeared. That was many years ago and I've never had it since.

You can call that a coincidence if you like, but I'm convinced in my own mind that once I truly understood that God accepts me, and loves me, and proclaims to the universe that I'm OK, I was in a sufficient spiritual and emotional state to receive the physical healing that I needed.

That's just one story, and everybody's healing stories are different, but I know God heals. I know God knows what He's doing. I know He has a perfect treatment plan for every one of His children, because He is perfect. I know that complete healing will take longer than the rest of my life. If God fixed me too fast He'd break me. He has to go gently and carefully with me, and with you. It'll take a long time, but He's on the case. He's healing you and me.

The paralysed man asked Jesus for physical healing but Jesus first gave him the forgiveness of sins. God does first what He knows is best, not what we think is best. I believe that if we'll get closer to Jesus, and listen for His voice, and open our minds to the possibility that He wants to do something in us that is different from what we're asking for then, progressively, we can be healed – every one of us – body, soul and spirit. But more often, spirt, soul and then body.

Will you come in faith to the feet Jesus? Will you listen for His voice? Will you let Him do whatever He wants to do in you? Will you let Him take from you whatever in your life is unhelpful, and give you whatever would be helpful? He will heal you. Maybe not in the way you expect, maybe not in the order you expect. Maybe not even in the way you want. But He knows best. If you come to Him, He will do something good in the healing process for you.