I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house

 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

- Mark 2:1-12

Yesterday we read that as soon as Jesus and the others had come out of the synagogue at Capernaum, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.  So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.  And she served them.  At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.  Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.  And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.  When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."  But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."  And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.  Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.  And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"  So far in Mark's Gospel, throughout chapter 1, we have observed Jesus as Liberator, the One who lifts the oppression both of demons and human suffering.  Here, that effect of liberation takes on another of its spiritual aspects.  My study bible comments that one purpose of Christ's coming into the world is to forgive sins.  This is a freeing of humanity from another sort of bondage.  To forgive sins, it notes, is an even greater power than physical healing.  As the scribes note correctly, God alone can forgive sins.  Therefore, the easier task is to grant physical healing.  Moreover, even though Christ is fully God, and He holds the authority to forgive, here He condescends to those gathered and heals this man in order to draw people to God, whom they glorified.

In the tradition of the Church, paralysis has been viewed as a symbolic representation of sin.  When we sin, it is as if we are stuck in a particular place of repetition and lack of growth.   Sin is habitual; there is something that might be a particular weakness, or a place of ignorance in which we function in ways that are limited and damaging -- harmful to ourselves or to others.  In this case, the healing of the paralytic illustrates that no such healing takes place without the presence of faith.  But faith isn't limited to our own efforts alone.  The prayers of others can help to bring healing, illumination, and divine energy in the form of grace to a problem in which we are "stuck."  When we're too paralyzed to help ourselves, the prayers of others may avail to bring to us the energies we need, help for healing whatever it is that has us frozen in our behavior or habit, unable to overcome what it is that binds us in a  particular place.  One bad habit may be anger that overboils too easily, a habit of seeking to find blame elsewhere when we really need to take a look at our own behaviors that are faulty or ill-advised.  The blindness that has us stuck in habitual behavior that causes us problems can be a sort of paralysis, an inability to see further down the line of our own possible changes, an incapacity to grasp just how things might go better if we did our own work of growth.  Faith works not only to connect us with something bigger and greater than ourselves, to take us beyond our own "stuck" places, but also to draw on strengths and wisdom and the grace to overcome habitual behaviors.  It makes us capable of using spiritual "muscles" and "strength" we did otherwise do not know we have.  In today's reading, the friends who help the paralytic not only conceive of bringing him on his bed to Christ, but faith makes such an effort with them and among them to facilitate his healing that they collectively come up with the idea to lower him through the roof -- something so unusual it is reported to us until today in the Gospels.  Faith makes this persistence and creativity, this capacity for thinking outside of our own boxes possible.  Faith connects us to wisdom and intelligence through grace, to energies that supply us with what is necessary when we don't have these resources of ourselves alone.  In this sense, today's reading is a brilliant illustration of the power of faith -- and that collective prayer can do things for us when we can do nothing of ourselves, even when we may find ourselves unable to pray for ourselves.  In turn, it teaches us what our prayers may do for others that they haven't found a way to do for themselves as well.  Faith connects us to the Source of our liberation, our freedom from bondage and slavery to that which keeps us stuck, pinned down, chained to something we'd like to break free of but can't quite do it of ourselves.  We should not underestimate the strength found in prayer, as we come to learn reliance on God and God's grace for what we need.  Even through others, faith connects us to that which is meant for our good, and can lift us up from the beds we've made for ourselves.  This is part of the journey of faith.  Christ offers His command for us to arise; but this is only possible through that which opens us up to those potentials beyond the "stuck" place we remain without Him.