マルコによる福音書2:1-12 Mark 2:1-12

It was when Jesus was doing his works as Saviour in the region of Galilee. At that time, Jesus was performing miracles to heal the sick and to cast out demons from people who were possessed by them.

In the town of Capernaum on the banks of the Lake of Galilee, there was a man who was paralysed by a disease called paralysis. Paralysis is a disease in which a blood vessel in the brain breaks or clogs, paralysing the body. The man with the paralysis wanted to meet Jesus and ask him to save him. However, because of his physical disability, he could not walk to Jesus by himself. So he asked his friends, “I want to meet Jesus and ask him to save me. What should I do?” Then four kind friends got together and decided to take this man to the house where Jesus was preaching the word.

These four friends brought the man to the house where Jesus was preaching, leaving him lying on his bed. It must have been a simple bed that they could take. However, when they arrived at the house, many people had gathered to hear Jesus speak, so they could not enter the house. These four friends, who wanted to somehow bring the man to Jesus, carried the bed and climbed onto the roof of the house. The roof was flat, and there must have been stairs to the roof on the outside of the house. They removed the roof, made an opening in it, and hung the man from the opening with his bed. That was a very bold thing to do! The people who heard Jesus’ preaching must have been very surprised.

What did Jesus say when he saw the man lying on the suspended bed? Would he have scolded him? “Why are you destroying other person’s house?” No. Jesus recognised that the man and his four friends had a fervent faith in Jesus. Jesus then said to the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” This paralysed man might have wanted to be healed of his disease first. But Jesus knew that the greatest need of all human beings is forgiveness of sins from God. Therefore, he first proclaimed the forgiveness of sins.

However, among those who heard this were the scribes, who studied God’s law. In their hearts, the scribes thought: “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The scribes did not believe that Jesus was God’s only Son and had the same authority as God. Jesus saw that the scribes did not believe in him. Then, to show that he had the same authority as God, Jesus commanded the paralysed man, “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” Then, to their surprise, the man did get up, pick up his bed and go home. In this way, Jesus showed that he had the authority to heal the sick and also the authority to forgive sins.

Some of you may think, “I have done nothing wrong, so I have no sin. So there is no need for forgiveness of sins.” However, we human beings have many sins of which we are unaware. We do many things against God’s teachings without realising. When we believe in Jesus, we become aware of our sins day by day. And day by day we can receive forgiveness of our sins.