Performance In Christianity series
Man With Palsy- Performance of Jesus
Palsy describes a person affected with paralysis, loss of feeling, and involuntary tremors or shaking. Today, this illness would be likened to someone stricken with a stroke or a paraplegic. This fellow was sick or stricken, as is the manner of this illness which could be caught if it was caused by a virus, touching the bumps of the infection. However, Jesus healed them with compassion.
Mark 2:3-12, Mark and Luke record this narrative with almost identical accounting, and both point out that the remarkable faith of the men who brought this gentleman to Jesus. The work of Jesus as a healer caused many to seek Him. Jesus didn't just see the man's condition, but He saw the dedication of the men that believed that he would be healed. They carried him from a distance, made a big hole in the roof, and found Jesus in a packed hall. This was not a small house as many a preacher and Sunday School teacher has expounded, but this house was large because where ever Jesus went, many people followed because they loved the results of His ministry. The poor (and sick) we will have with us always (Matthew 26:11).
Luke 5:18-26, the people of the nation of Israel as rebellious as they were, again are gathered around Jesus, the Healer because He did work; He did Kingdom work. When Jesus saw this poor sick man He looked beyond the apparent condition of his health and addressed what no one else but He could see, He forgave the man's sins (self-inflicted nonsense). We don't know what sins he was forgiven, but Christ forgave him, and he was made whole. As in every situation when Jesus acts, the recovery is instantaneous. There is no recovery period or waiting for the body to gets it's strength back; the person is perfect without further consideration. The preachers and bishops of the times looked on Jesus to scorn Him because they didn't know Him, they only knew of His works but not His authority or the Work of His Faith (James 2:22).
Matthew 9:2-7
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This [man] blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, [Thy] sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose and departed to his house.
The LORD my Deliverer, Jehovah Mephalti (Psalm 18:2), we thank You for You know our thoughts even before we think them. We praise You because You heal us, and we recover with consciences that Glorify You. We decree and declare blessings upon those who walk in the compassion of Your salvation so that; by the Work of Your Faith, we carry the sick and they recover. Now, for the Kingdom and the Glory of God, we petition, with anointing in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, Amen.