Healing of the Paralytic

Biblical Text and Content

This event is recorded in Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:1-8, and Luke 5:17-26. According to Mark, while Jesus was preaching the word in a house in Capernaum, the crowd filled the house even to the door. Four men came carrying a paralyzed man, but when they could not get in, they tore open the roof, made an opening, and let down the bed on which the sick man lay. When Jesus saw "their faith," he said to the sick man, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee" (Mark 2:5).

The scribes who were present regarded this as blasphemy, reasoning that no one but God alone can forgive sins. Jesus said, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" (Mark 2:10), and then told the sick man to take up his bed and go to his house. The man immediately rose and walked out, and the people glorified God.

The three Gospels also differ in some respects. Matthew omits the roof scene and identifies the location only as "his own city." Luke records that Pharisees and doctors of the law were present and describes the man as being let down "through the tiling." The relationship among the three Gospels is discussed under the Synoptic Problem.

Background

The Greek word rendered "sick of the palsy" or "paralytic" refers to a person whose body is paralyzed. Unlike the modern Korean term jungpung, which denotes a stroke, it does not specify a cause, and the text does not identify the cause of the man's condition.

Houses in Palestine at the time are generally understood to have had flat roofs that could be reached by an outside staircase. If the roof was made of branches and earth laid over beams, it would have been possible to dig through it. Regarding Luke's reference to "tiling," some scholars suggest that Luke used an expression familiar to readers in the Greco-Roman world.

Significance within Scripture

The focus of this event lies less in the healing itself than in the authority to forgive sins. All three Gospels present the visible healing as evidence of the invisible forgiveness of sins. Because Jesus here calls himself the Son of Man and exercises an authority believed to belong to God alone, the passage is read as an important text for Christology. Matthew records that the multitudes "glorified God, which had given such power unto men" (Matthew 9:8). Acts 9 contains an account of Peter raising up Aeneas, who had been bedridden with palsy for eight years.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• The relationship between sin and illness: Because Jesus pronounced the forgiveness of sins before healing the man, some interpreters hold that his illness was connected to a particular sin. Others, appealing to John 9:1-3, argue that illness cannot be directly attributed to personal sin and read this passage as showing that the forgiveness of sins is what every person fundamentally needs.
• "Their faith": The text mentions the faith of those who brought the man but says nothing about the faith of the sick man himself. For this reason the passage is frequently cited as a basis for intercessory prayer and the faith of the community.
• Healing today: Pentecostal and charismatic churches tend to regard this miracle as a basis for divine healing that continues today. Cessationists emphasize that this miracle was a sign attesting to the divine authority of Jesus. For further details, see Cessationism and Continuationism.
• Distinguishing the text from later additions: Some interpreters identify the house as Peter's, but the text does not say so. Neither the sick man nor the four men are named. This event is distinct from the healing of the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5.

In the Korean Church

The actions of the four men, who carried the sick man and even tore open the roof, are frequently presented in Korean church preaching as a model of evangelism and intercessory prayer. The account is often cited to emphasize a faith that brings one's neighbors to Jesus and an active faith that overcomes obstacles.