Grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ who heals both our souls and our bodies. Amen.

Mark 2:1-12 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." ⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" ⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Merciful Father, your Son healed many during His earthly ministry. With him there is forgiveness. There is healing. We ask that you heal those who are sick in both soul and body. Heal the sick that in every circumstance they may depend on you. Through your means of grace nourish them and us all with complete confidence in you. Amen.

A Sunday School teacher had just finished her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She asked, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can receive forgiveness of sin?" There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up and said, "Sin."

We have no problem sinning. Our souls are sick with sin and our bodies are wracked by the effects of sin. Don’t miss the point of what Jesus did for the paralyzed man. The miraculous healing was in the forgiveness of sin. The healing of the man’s legs did not come until later and even then it came only in response to the criticism of the Pharisees. Physical healing may not always come to us, but the greater miracle, the healing of forgiveness, is with us always, whether in sickness or in health. We see this morning that we, like this paralyzed man, can come to Jesus because he is the Great Physician. He brings healing first for the soul. Then he brings healing for the body.

After Jesus had completed his first preaching tour in Galilee, he returned to Capernaum to rest for a few days. The news spread quickly that he had come home, however, and soon there were so many people at the house that the door was jammed full and people were even overflowing into the streets.

Four men came to the house carrying their paralyzed friend on a stretcher. The house was so packed that they couldn’t walk up and speak to Jesus. Instead, they were forced to get to him through an alternate route. Palestinian houses were built with flat roofs and outside stairs up to the roof. The roofs were constructed of tiles and covered with sod. They carried their friend onto the roof and began to make an opening in the roof. As Jesus taught he may have felt particles of dirt falling on his head. He and the crowd could have looked up to see daylight streaming through a growing hole in the roof.

When the tiles were removed, they lowered the man on his stretcher in front of Jesus. These men were not only ingenious, they were also persistent. Why? Because they believed Jesus could and would heal their friend. They had a genuine faith in the Lord. Mark records that Jesus "saw their faith." This means that Jesus recognized their actions for what they truly were – acts of faith in him as the Great Physician of body and soul.

Jesus’ response to these actions amazes us no matter how often we read this familiar story. He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Jesus is the Great Physician who brings healing first for the soul. He took care of the greater problem first, forgiving the man’s sins. Jesus, as the Son of God, could read the man’s heart and knew that something infinitely worse than paralysis was troubling him – his sins.

Jesus is the Great Physician. He brought healing first for this man’s soul. Jesus also brings this much-needed healing to all of us whose souls are sick with sin. And our souls are truly sick with the disease of sin and in need of the healing of Christ’s forgiveness. We are born with original sin, the sin we inherited from our mothers and fathers. We commit actual sins every day when we do anything in thought, word, or action that conflicts with God’s holy will. We commit sins of commission which are wrongs that we do when God in his law has forbid us to do those things. For example, when God tells us not to steal and we steal, or he tells us not to curse and we curse. We commit sins of omission which are wrongs that are charged against us when we fail to do what God has commanded. For example, when God tells us to take care of others and we don’t share our wealth or food with those in need, or when God tells us to be evangelists and we remain silent. We commit voluntary sins when we deliberately and willfully sin against God’s Word. We also commit involuntary sins when we are ignorant about what God considers a sin. Did you realize that there were so many different ways to sin? We truly are sick with sin. It permeates our souls and our entire lives. We truly need to hear Jesus’ gracious words of healing, "My Son, my Daughter, your sins are forgiven."

Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day! Our world needs forgiveness! Look to Jesus for the healing for your soul. Like the tearful child who brings the broken bike to his father and lays it before him for fixing, so bring your broken soul to Jesus so that he might fix it. Like the fearful mother who brings her feverish infant to the doctor and lays it before him for healing, so lay your sin-sick soul before Jesus so he may bring you healing.

Go to Capernaum. Go to the home of Jesus and find a way to meet Jesus, even if this means tearing a hole in the roof. Find Jesus and lay yourself before him. Make your confession of your sins, your need of healing for your sin-sick soul. You will find forgiveness. The Great Physician will bring healing for your soul.

Jesus is the Great Physician who first brought healing for the paralyzed man’s soul by forgiving his sins. Then he brought healing for this man’s body. There were some in the audience that day, though, who did not appreciate Jesus’ loving, forgiving words. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not have the courage to speak up against Jesus, but Jesus could read their hearts and minds and was aware of their evil thoughts. The Holy Spirit has Mark record for us that the teachers of the law were thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

In a contemptuous way they think of Jesus as "this fellow." They accused him of blasphemy – of claiming he was God. Blasphemy was a very serious charge punishable by death according to Old Testament law.

Jesus proved that he wasn’t guilty of blasphemy by proving that he was indeed God by first of all doing something only God can do – he read their hearts. Even though they hadn’t said a single word, Jesus asks them, ""Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?" The Pharisees would have answered, "It’s easier for you to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ because after all we can’t verify it." So Jesus proved that he could heal the soul by next healing the body. He continued, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."

As amazed as the crowd must have been by the sight of a man being lowered through a roof, they were more amazed when they saw him walk out of the house with his mat under his arm. They said, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Jesus proves that he is the Great Physician by healing the body. These Pharisees were apparently willing to concede that Jesus could perform miracles of healing. The evidence of that was all over Galilee. But they didn’t believe that Jesus was God and could forgive sins. Sometimes we reverse their doubts. We are willing to concede that Jesus is God and forgives our sins, but then we begin to doubt that Jesus cares about us enough, or has the ability, to heal our bodies.

We doubt God’s love for us as we cry out, "How could you allow me to suffer like this?" We think that our prayers go unanswered, "Why aren’t you listening to me, God?" We often feel that God forgets about us in our troubles, the times when we need him the most, "Hey, God, quit ignoring me." We argue and complain to God about the way he is treating us. We mourn our pitiful life. We can’t stand being confined to a hospital bed or wracked with pain or on constant medication. But friends, we cannot turn away from God when we need his help for our physical needs. Instead, we must come to him, just as this paralyzed man did and seek his healing hand.

We come to the Great Physician for healing of the body. You and I know that as human creatures we really don’t like pain very much. A while ago I had a cavity that had to be filled. After looking at it the dentist said something that made my skin crawl: "This is no big deal. Let’s just go at it without Novocain." I replied quickly, "Lets just not." Well, God offers us something better than Novocain for our pain. He offers us his miraculous healing.

Some of you suffer from the flu, chronic back pain, heart ailments, diabetes, you have trouble walking, and so on. Have faith in Jesus, the Great Physician that he will bring healing for your body. This paralyzed man had his faith rewarded. His desire for bodily health was granted when Jesus told him to get up. And he did. No assistance was needed to steady him. No weak muscles needed to be strengthened. There was no lengthy period of rehabilitation. "Immediately" he stood up and was able to carry home the stretcher that had carried him there. The Great Physician will not disappoint our faith in him either. Go to Jesus and lay your needs before him. Yes, you may have to go to that cardiologist. Yes, you may have to make an appointment to see your doctor. Yes, you may have to take your daily dose of pills. Doctors and hospitals are among the natural means that Jesus uses to help provide for our bodies.

But Jesus may also give us miraculous healing. He may give us an immediate recovery from illness or accident. Most of the time, though, the healing he gives us involves things like walkers and I-Vs. Understand and believe that the Great Physician of body and soul cares for our bodies. We continue to pray that he will hold his healing hand over all of us who suffer the ravages of disease and the infirmities of advancing years. Also understand and know that God has not promised that he will always heal our bodies the way we desire. Faith in the Great Physician means that whether we are visibly healed or not, we still stick to our faith that God loves us. Our Great Physician has promised to care for our earthly lives as a loving Caregiver and he will give us what is best for our faith – without exception. Whether we suffer pain or we are completely healed, have faith that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him." Our faith and hope in the Great Physician of body and soul will not be disappointed.

Even if this man had not been physically cured, he would have been prepared to embark upon a new journey with God, even if he had to do it on his hands and knees. We give thanks to God for healing when it does come, but let us never forget the more amazing of miracles: that is, that God loved us while we were yet sinners. That is the good news of this amazing story. Jesus is definitely the Great Physician who may heal the body, but he first brings the healing we so desperately need for the soul. Amen.