Stand up, take your bed and go to your home

And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town.

And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ And he stood up and went to his home. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

- Matthew 9:1-8

Jesus' "own town" is Capernaum. This is his ministerial headquarters. Throughout the gospels we are reminded of Jesus' constant travels, especially "across the water." He goes into all the neighboring country, among both Gentiles and Jews as he preaches and heals and performs his ministry.

Back in Capernaum he sees a man paralyzed on a bed, being carried by the man's friends. Obviously, these friends have agreed to help and to bring the man to Jesus. This story is quite similar to the one found in the gospel of Mark, in which the paralytic is lowered down through the roof in order to be healed by Jesus. In Matthew's version, we again have the understanding that this man has relied on his friends for help - and that their efforts in faith are recognized by Jesus. It's an important understanding of the power of community. The paralytic's sins are forgiven immediately by Jesus: not only has he done what he could to find Jesus, but also his friends - his community, if you will - have collaborated to bring him to Christ. To me, this suggests the tremendous power of prayer. Nothing is hopeless: when we find a situation we feel we can do nothing about, over which we are powerless, we can pray. We can pray for others to find healing and help for whatever problem is ailing them. We can always find and render assistance in this way to others. It's a very important lesson about our inter-relatedness on spiritual levels, especially within the Body of Christ. We are mystically connected to one another in this sense and through spiritual reality.

One sign of Jesus' power in this reading is his understanding of what was in the hearts of the scribes who hear Jesus proclaim that the paralytic's sins are forgiven. We must note that at this point in the story, the healing is the forgiveness of sins via faith. There is a request made through faith, the initial stage of healing is in this removal of guilt. Again, the notion of connectedness: through faith, relationship is established with Jesus. We simply come to him with faith and the connection, the relationship is made. This is spiritual reality again, interconnectedness in spiritual terms. The scribes doubt: surely, they think, Jesus is blaspheming. But the connection is at work in Christ to the scribes as well. He knows what they are thinking. And he responds to them, too.

'Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.' Jesus challenges what is in their hearts: he responds with an even deeper challenge and display of power. He not only declares forgiveness of sins - which is something that only God can do according to the law - but he also declares the paralytic to "realize" his own strength, to take up his bed and walk home. When this indeed does happen, the crowds are awed and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

In the healing of the paralytic, one gets the impression of a healing of a spiritual paralysis happening at the same time: a tremendous liberation is happening on several levels here. Not only is this man healed: first his sins are forgiven, and then his ability to walk and even carry his own bed home is restored to him physically - but there is a tremendous spiritual liberation happening here. The people are awed by the authority given to human beings. Through prayer, through faith - through relatedness - sins are forgiven, paralysis eliminated, strength restored. This is an element of freedom not comprehended before. We have the freedom to come before God, who, through our relatedness, establishes his power in us and freedom in us. So, as happens so often in the gospels, we have a beautiful poetic doubling and multiplying of metaphor here: the man's spiritual standing and physical strength is renewed, through the faith of his friends and their prayer in coming to Christ. And at the same time, we are given a central figure: Son of Man, or God and man, fully God and fully human. Through all of it, a great circuit is run through relationships: power from the Father, through the Son, via Spirit that works for us and in us. This is the awesome reality revealed here, "God who has given such authority to human beings." It is this circuit of relatedness that in fact breaks the bonds of paralysis on so many levels, and confers to us a freedom that did not exist before, a liberation from bonds.

When we pray, we pray for ourselves and for others, for healing on so many levels, and we must remember that we pray for the realization of this tremendous liberation. "Life in abundance" is also a promise of liberation from bondage on many levels, be that mental, physical or spiritual. Christ comes into the world, defying all expectations and understanding. His very presence continues to stretch our imaginations beyond their bounds, to demand of us to think outside of our boxes, even so many centuries later. We call on his presence for a liberation from whatever binds and holds us, or whatever form of paralysis we experience. And the great gift is through relationship: we can come to him at any time, and we can also pray for others who haven't the capacity or the ability to do this for themselves. There is always a hope of liberation, of freedom from spiritual bondage. There is always a chance for a chink in the armor of limitation, just a little hope, a ray of light - a breath of air - for Spirit to go through. But it begins with relationship. Its Source is Love.