Jesus
Heals the Paralytic – Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26
These three Bible stories were selected because of their
“rope connection” to ropes course activities planned for 8-14 year olds at a
weekend retreat. These lessons can also be adapted to suit younger classes. Please
note the craft and activities ideas located at the end of the third lesson.
Jesus was very popular among the common people, not
only because they were interested in what He had to say, but also because He
had gained a reputation for healing people. His compassion for the “lost sheep
of Israel” compelled Him to heal the sick, raise the dead, and feed the hungry.
On this particular occasion, Jesus was in a house in Capernaum, preaching to
the people who had come from all over to hear him. The house was so crowded,
there was no more room for another person to sit or stand, not even outside the
door!
Meanwhile, four men who had heard that Jesus was in
their town decided this was the chance they had been hoping for: to help their
paralyzed friend (or relative) get healed! Picking him up by the four corners
of his mat, they hurried to the house where Jesus was preaching.
When the men arrived with their friend, they were
disappointed to discover there was no way they were going to get their friend
into the house to see Jesus. Even the doorway was blocked! But the men were not
discouraged. Talking it over, they came up with a clever plan. Why not lower
their friend through the roof! Hurrying up the outside stairs to the flat roof,
they laid their paralyzed friend down and began to tear up the clay tiles that
made up the roof. They worked hard in the hot sun, digging up enough dried mud
and tiles to fit a man lying on a mat through the hole. Imagine the commotion
below as pieces of mud and dust fell on the crowd and a hole in the ceiling above
them began to grow larger. Perhaps Jesus became silent as the noise above them
distracted everyone.
A strange sight appeared as the bottom of a mat filled
the space in the broken roof. Slowly, slowly, the mat, most likely secured by a
rope on each corner, was lowered down into the crowd – directly in front of
Jesus! On the mat lay a man, unable to move. Perhaps there was silence for a
moment as the stunned audience stared at the man.
Then Jesus spoke. Noting the faith of those who had
brought the paralyzed man, He simply said to the man, “Son, your sins are
forgiven.” What an odd thing to say! You might think the first thing He would
tell the man would be “Get up! You are healed!” But He didn’t – for a reason
we’ll find out in a minute.
The Pharisees and lawyers who were there didn’t
understand this either. Their first
reaction to this statement was one of surprise and anger. “How dare he say such
a thing! Does he think he is God who can forgive sins?!?” But they didn’t say
their thoughts out loud, possibly because they didn’t want the crowd to get
upset with them. But Jesus didn’t need for them to verbalize their thoughts. He
knew what they were thinking! This might
be a good time to remind the students that God knows what all of
us are thinking. We can’t hide our thoughts from Him! Remind them, too, that
God can and will forgive us of all our sins if we come to Him in repentance,
both for salvation initially, and whenever we confess them to Him.
Now Jesus explains why He said what He did. He first
asks the Pharisees and lawyers why they were thinking such wrong thoughts. Then
He asks them which is easier: telling the paralyzed man his sins were forgiven,
or telling him to get up and walk. Let
the kids discuss this. Then He
answers His own question. He explains that He forgave the paralyzed man his
sins first so that the crowd would realize He must have authority to forgive
sins (which is a miracle that only God can do) when He does a second miracle.
Now He turns to the paralyzed man and tells him to get up, take his mat, and go
home! The man does exactly that. He gets up, picks up his mat, and walks out
the door praising God! The second miracle! I imagine his friends hurried down
from the roof and were there to meet him, praising God too.
Of course, everyone was amazed. They began praising
God and saying things like “We have seen amazing things today!”and “We’ve never
seen anything like this before!”