“But nobody cares about me. My own family doesn’t know if I am dead or alive. I am too sick to be healed, let alone healed by your God.”

As a trauma specialist, I often hear clients share their deepest hurts and most traumatic experiences. They come to me mentally sick, seeking help with the hopes that I have the answers to their healing. While I have education and experience, I don’t have the remedy. However, I have the authority to tap into the source with the answers and healing power – Jesus!

“Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus,” Luke 5: 18

During this time, Jesus had just called his first set of disciples. In this account, he told the fishermen to throw their nets over to the other side. They followed him and threw their nets to the other side. Further, they were amazed by all the fish they caught because they had a hard time catching fish. Jesus used this opportunity to recruit them to follow him by becoming fishers of men instead. When they dropped their nets, they followed Jesus as he performed miracles as they traveled through different towns.

As a result, of Jesus performing miracles, some people showed up because they were curious about who this man named Jesus was. However, some people questioned the word not believing in miracles. Large crowds were gathering to hear and witness Jesus. The encounter with the paralytic man happened while visiting Capernaum. When exploring this encounter through the lens of the gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke you will find the description of the location is different. According to Matthew, Jesus stepped in a boat, crossed over, and came to his town. (9:1-8, NIV, 2011) According to Mark, when Jesus entered Capernaum, the people heard He was coming to town (2:1, NIV, 2011) According to Luke, one day, Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there (5:17, NIV, 2011) Notice, Luke never mentions Jesus’ entering a time. The setting was as if the group was in a familiar place. When he arrived in Capernaum, he began teaching.

The story continues with how the paralytic man got to Jesus. Four friends were going through town because they knew Jesus was there, however when they arrived at the house they were blocked by the crowd of people and couldn’t get in the door because Jesus was there teaching, so men decided that they weren’t going to turn around and leave because they needed to get their friend to the feet of Jesus. According to Matthew, Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat (9:2; NIV, 2011) According to Mark, Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them (2:3; NIV, 2011) According to Luke 5: 18, Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus (NIV, 2011)

Finally, they went up on the roof and when they went up on the roof they began to tear away at the roof. They further lowered their friend to Jesus. It was the faith that the four friends when the man’s sins were forgiven took up his mat and walked. According to Matthew, when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart son; your sins are forgiven”. According to Mark, when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “son, your sins are forgiven”, and according to Luke, when Jesus saw their faith he said, “friend your sins are forgiven”.

Thoughts for Application:

During this particular conversation, I was reminded of the authority and responsibility I had as a believer. This week, let this be a reminder to us that we get to play a significant role in our residents’ healing process. Showing up to Selah daily provides us the opportunity to lower our friends (residents) to the feet of Jesus. While these ladies are broken and need healing, it is through our FAITH that we can activate the healing for every woman who walks through Selah’s doors.

References: New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist