Change Me O God!

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Capernaum)

A city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Gospel writers refer to it as Jesus’ “own city” (Matt 9:1) because after leaving Nazareth, where he was rejected by His own, He went to live in Capernaum, for at least a time (Matt 4:13).

Capernaum was a center of commerce. Fishing and trade were important, and the town was a Roman tax polling station.

The Gospels reference Capernaum 16 times, but it is not mentioned in the rest of the New Testament. The Gospels also speak of Jesus’ mother having been in Capernaum (John 2:12), and Matt 17:24–27 demonstrates that, as a good citizen of the town, Jesus paid the temple-tax there.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Introduction

The lake on which Capernaum was built has four different names in the Bible:

1. Sea of Chinnereth (Num 34:11; Josh 12:3; 13:27)

2. Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1; Josephus, Antiquities 13)

3. Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1; 21:1)

4. Sea of Galilee (Matt 4:18)

When Capernaum is mentioned in the New Testament, it is often in conjunction with the Sea of Galilee

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Jesus’ Ministry)

According to Matthew 4, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum after the initial threat on His life made by the people from his hometown of Nazareth (Matt 4:12–13; Luke 4:31). You see sometimes even your own will turn on you!!! In Capernaum, Jesus called five of his disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen, joined Jesus as his disciples; Matthew, who was a tax collector, also joined him.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Healings\Miracles

Jesus performed the following miracles in Capernaum:

• Healed Jairus’ Daughter (Matt 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:41–56)

• Fed 5,000 people (Likely closer to Bethsaida, John 6)

• Caught a miraculous amount of fish (John 21:4–14)

• Healed a demon possessed man (Mark 1:21–28)

• Healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt 8:14–15)

• Healed a paralytic (Matt 9:2–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–20)

• Healed the centurion’s servant (Matt 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10)

• Healed the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:21–43)

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Associate Villages)

Jesus would eventually curse Capernaum, along with neighboring towns Chorazin and Bethsaida, because even after He performed miracles there, the inhabitants of these towns did not believe His message (Matt 11:21; Luke 10:13)

Today we want to focus on the miracle of the paralytic as outlined in Mark 2: 1 - 12 and found also in Matthew (Matt 9:2–8) ; and Luke (Luke 5:17–20)

In our text we have been told that Jesus is preaching and teaching in a home and it was full of people.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Family Dwelling)

During my preparation time, i learned that Houses in ancient Israel often conformed to the pattern of what has come to be known as the “four-room pillared house.” These houses met the most basic needs for shelter and storage of necessary materials. The typical Israelite home was rectangular, with one or two stories and between two and four rooms. Israelites used indigenous materials such as stone, wood, reeds, and mudbrick to build their homes for simple functionality in an agrarian society. Regional variations in home design existed mainly because of variations in available materials. Stone pillars divided the lower level into parallel rooms. Some pillars were made of solid limestone, while others were made of stone and mud-brick, or a stone base with wood extending to the ceiling height

Roof. The roof was made by overlaying the beams with palm branches or boards, which were then coated with mud which was used like a plaster. A limestone cylinder could then be used to compact the plaster periodically to help maintain its structural integrity. In the same manner as the outer walls, the roof had to be resealed with plaster after the rainy season each year. During the hot summer months, the roof was used as a sleeping area. The roof also could be used for storage or domestic labor, as in the story of Rahab, who hides the Israelite spies under stalks of flax (Josh 2:6). Ancients also used the roof as a sleeping area during the warmer months (1 Sam 9:25–26). Other activities taking place in this living space include bathing (2 Sam 11:2) and worship (Jer 19:13). Deuteronomy required that a parapet be built around the roof’s edge to prevent falls (Deut 22:8).

As Jesus proceeds with preaching and teaching, a paralytic and his friends arrive, but there was no way for them to get into the house and into the very presence of Jesus. There were people everywhere and standing room only. When they could not get in, they decided that had to be creative if their friend was to be healed.

We do not know the circumstances surrounding the case of this man’s paralysis. Perhaps he had a stroke or maybe and accident that left him paralyzed. But the one thing we do know is that this man and his friends had faith enough to know that if they could just get to Jesus, their friend would be healed.

What paralysis are you facing in your life? Usually, we think of paralysis in its most common sense which means complete or partial loss of function especially when involving the motion or sensation in a part of the body or loss of the ability to move. But there is a third meaning for paralysis wherein it is is defined as a state of powerlessness or incapacity to act? So again, I ask what is your paralysis.

Are you sick and feeling that you can’t get well and just want to give up.

Are you grieving over the loss of a loved one that you prayed would survive?

Are you depressed or anxious due to the endless darkness and evil of this world?

Have you been rejected by someone you loved, but they didn’t love you. . .so you feel you can never love again?

Are you stuck in a sea of unforgiveness for something some family member or so called friend did or said 5, 10, 15 years ago?

Have you allowed COVID, monkeypox, polio to cripple you from coming to church, but you can go everywhere else?

My brothers and sisters its time to let go of your paralysis and recognize that the same Jesus who healed this paralytic, as we will see, can do the same for you and change your situation.

For Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and He remains all powerful, mighty and in control. It’s time to recognize that we must trust God and be faithful only unto Him to rid the paralyses that hinder our relationship with Him. Faith in Christ demands a radical change in your lifestyle, in the way you once behaved. It can mean walking away from people or situations that ultimately don’t glorify God, and this can be challenging.

But know that there is nothing that can separate us from His love (Romans 8: 38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Fix your eyes on Jesus, just like this paralytic did and have faith in him, valuing his sacrifice and doing what he did: love, forgive, preach, support. 

We don’t have to carry our Bible wherever we go, we shouldn’t pretend that life isn’t difficult when it really is. But we must show that we follow the example of Christ. When people see us they have to see Jesus in us, that is the true proof that he is in our hearts.

John 16:33 ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.””

Psalm 56:4 “In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Back to the paralytic and his friends. . .when they could not get through the crowd, they decided they had to think outside the box!! There was the roof of the house!!! During my preparation time, I learned that Houses in ancient Israel often conformed to the pattern of what has come to be known as the “four-room pillared house.” These houses met the most basic needs for shelter and storage of necessary materials. The typical Israelite home was rectangular, with one or two stories and between two and four rooms with no fancy furniture and just a mat to sleep on in a designated area. I shutter to think how many of us could have survived in such small houses as we now often have way more than enough space and too many rooms to keep clean, if the truth be told. Israelites used indigenous materials such as stone, wood, reeds, and mudbrick to build their homes. Regional variations in home design existed mainly because of variations in available materials. The roof was a vital part of the house since it was flat. An outside staircase made for ease of access to the roof and a low wall around the roof protected family members from falling. The roof may have been used for drying fruit and grains, washing clothes or even to enjoy the cool evening breeze on hot nights. Sometimes an extra room was added on the roof to serve as a spare bedroom or as a storage area.

Perhaps the paralytic and his friends had been by the house previously, maybe they knew the builder of the house or just noticed the stairwell of the house when they could not enter. Regardless they knew the roof had been made by layering logs or beams across the top of the walls and then palm branches and straw were layered over the beams. The palm branches an straw were then covered by a layer of clay. The keep it waterproof, the clay was renewed by a special treatment from time to time.

The man and his friends went to the roof and dug there way into the room. Now, can you imagine such? We are not told that they had any tools for digging, all we know is that they dug their way right through that clay roof. Can you imagine such? They persisted and persevered until the roof was changed and now there was a hole large enough to get the paralytic through on his mat. What wonderful friends these were, for they had heard about Jesus and believed that if they could just get their friend in the presence of Jesus, he would be healed. My, my, my what wonderful friends!!

Do you have friends who will lift you up when you have fallen?

Do you have friends who know Jesus and can speak a word to you on a day when it seeks all hope is lost?

Do you have friends who will help you dig you way out of some mess you got yourself into?

We all need friends like these brothers. They were:

Concerned about the well -being of their friend

Determined to help him get what he needed

Bold and did what had to be done despite the difficulty

Loyal and committed to see their friend through until the end.

If you do have these types of friends, how blessed you are. If not, it’s time to ask the Lord to send you some true friends and rid you of those who claim to be your friends but are only wolves in sheep clothing. Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Romans 12:12 -13 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Romans 5:3 -5 “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

As the paralytic was lowered into the room, Jesus saw their faith and He said to the paralytic, “Son your sins are forgiven.” Jesus could see their faith through their bold and determined action to bring their friend to him. We can only imagine the friends shouting, no he’s paralyzed. We want him to walk, not to be forgiven.

But the God we serve, knew what the paralytic’s real and greatest need was. What good would it be for the paralytic to have two whole legs and walk right into hell with them? Whenever there is a problem, almost always, sin is the real problem. Jesus got right to the problem. In a sin-cursed world, suffering is part of living (Rom. 8:18-23), and all physical problems are the result of the fall when sin entered the world through Adam (Rom. 5:12). In that sense, sin does cause suffering and death. Also, sometimes sinful behavior directly brings about unwanted consequences and suffering.

Healing is the restoration of body, mind, or spirit to a state of wholeness and well-being. This restoration may be physical, as in the recovery from an illness or injury, or spiritual, as in the forgiveness of sins and justification before God. Ultimately, healing is embodied by Jesus, as he healed the sicknesses of many in his earthly ministry and secured ultimate healing for all in his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection.

the presence or proximity of someone understood in terms of the face; with the implication of being before or in front of them.Christ, the healer of bodies and souls. One of the most remarkable features of Jesus’ ministry about which all Jesus scholars agree—liberal to conservative—is that Jesus was considered to be a healer of sickness. Matthew reports that early on, Jesus was “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people” (Mt 4:23). Half of the first five chapters of Mark deal with healings of sicknesses and demonic possession. This activity was foundational to his ministry on earth. Beyond showing us a concern for our health and his ability to cure such ills, why was this activity such a prominent feature of his earthly ministry?

The Gospel authors interpret Christ’s physical healings as metaphors of spiritual healing (see Jn 9; Mk 2:1–12). Christ was a physician for broken sinners (Lk 5:31; 8:43). Consider the story of the healing of the paralytic, who was lowered into a home in Capernaum where Jesus stayed for a few days (Mk 2:1–12). Readers will recall that before healing him, Jesus told him his sins were forgiven (a fascinating response to the assertive faith of his four friends, Mk 2:5). Some of those present were appalled at Christ’s absolution, so he asked them which was easier to do: forgive sins or heal the man’s paralysis? Then Jesus said, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” and turning to the paralytic he said, “Get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And the man became also physically healed.

In John 9 we read of Jesus healing a man of blindness on the sabbath. However, John crafts the story to show that more importantly Jesus heals those who are spiritually blind. Hearing of the miracle and objecting to such “work” being performed on the sabbath, the Pharisees interviewed the man newly healed, and he confounded and irritated them with his ironic response. Jesus later found the man and said to him, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind” (Jn 9:39).

These miracle accounts show the close connection in Jesus’ (and the Gospel authors’) mind between physical and spiritual healing. His physical healings were a sign (Jn 4:54) that he could restore wounded and broken sinners to wholeness and holiness. By taking away objective shame and guilt, Christ made possible the most thorough removal of their subjective shame and guilt. This link between Jesus’ physical and spiritual healing has been the focus of untold therapeutic sermons over the centuries and serves as the ground of Christian psychotherapy and counseling. And as the poor in spirit come to the true physician of souls and believe on him and abide in him more and more, they too will hear Jesus say, “your faith has made you well” (Mt 9:22, 29; 15:28; Lk 7:50; 17:19).

God & Soul Care: The Therapeutic Resources of the Christian Faith God Desires Our Well-Being

The willingness of God to so identify himself and enter into solidarity with our fallen humanity through Christ’s incarnation is an encouragement to all humans regarding God’s sincere and wholehearted commitment to foster their ultimate well-being in Christ (Jn 3:16). Whatever one’s story, personality, disability, or sin, Christ the great Physician came to draw all people to himself (Jn 12:32) in order to heal them and enable them to find the fulfillment for which they were created. We might say that the overture of grace manifested in the incarnation was God’s clearest goodwill gesture, intended to communicate to broken sinners his good intentions toward them in Christ and to give them the hope that, no matter the evidence of their past or of their opposition to him, he genuinely desires that they truly flourish.

Christ, My Representative and Life

The imitation of Christ has often been considered to be the primary focus of the Christian life. However, this orientation by itself can easily become moralistic or depressing, depending on the evidence of one’s psychospiritual maturity. Underlying the believer’s imitation of the life of Christ in the Christian scheme of salvation is the believer’s union with the life of Christ by the bond of the Spirit (Horton, 2007, p. 183; Heb 2:14–18; 4:14–5:10). Christ’s life of faith is to be understood, first and foremost, as the basis and substance of the believer’s life of faith, rather than as an exalted model that we are to emulate by our own power.

As broken sinners such as Bonhoeffer (1966) have recognized, “Jesus’ work leads to despair in myself, because I cannot imitate his pattern” (p. 39). This insight was one of the most important outcomes of Martin Luther’s earnest dedication as a monk to be like Christ, which led eventually to the Reformation. He came to realize that “the main point and the foundation of the gospel is that you first encounter and recognize Christ as a gift and present, which is given you by God and is now your own possession, long before you can think of him as an example” (quoted by Bayer, 2008, p. 64); so that “mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, his suffering and dying, mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, suffered, and died as he did” (Luther, 2005, p. 135). Rather than being primarily our goal, Christ’s life is to be viewed and appropriated vicariously as our own. Christ is “the LORD our righteousness” (Jer 23:6; 33:16). The healing Word spoken by God that now describes those who are in Christ Jesus is our “wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30).

Christ on earth was the perfect image, son, human, and servant/king. By faith, his ethicospiritual perfection and beauty are received by his siblings. “Now believers are so closely united to Christ that they are the same in the Father’s account; and therefore what Christ has done in obedience is the believer’s, because he is the same. So that the believer is made happy, because it was so well and worthily done by his Head and Husband. This is a great doctrine of Christianity” (Edwards, 1994, p. 174). And it is also a great doctrine of Christian soul care, since it means all true guilt and shame, and therefore the grounds of much of our anxiety and sadness, have been taken away and replaced with Christ’s perfect love and obedience. As a result, we need no longer hide from God, ourselves, or others.

The Gospels, therefore, give Christians a portrait of the perfection that God has already given to them (declaratively) in Christ, received in toto prior to any activity of their own. The believer now on earth is considered by God to be already as good as Christ was on earth. Consequently, one way to read the Gospels is to interpret each of Christ’s deeds as if it were one’s own, on account of their having been transferred to one’s own “account.” The psychological benefit for this divine gift is enormous, as it gives all believers the right to release to God their psychological shame and guilt, and to undermine their false self, since their ontological basis has been wholly subverted by Christ already—though this takes time to realize experientially

seven deadly sins. A list of sins, compiled at various times in the Christian tradition, that are singled out for special note in that they are believed to be the gateway to other sins. These sins are generally enumerated as pride, envy, anger, *sloth, *greed, *gluttony and *lust. See also vice.

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Sloth

A vice characterized by a disinclination to exertion, by laziness or by the lack of zeal. Sloth is viewed as a vice in both ancient Greek and Christian ethics. In the Christian tradition, sloth has been numbered as one of the seven deadly sins, and it often assumes spiritual overtones, such as in Thomas Aquinas’s description of sloth as spiritual apathy.

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Greed

A synonym for avarice, the excessive and all-consuming desire for material wealth. According to the Bible, greed is associated with idolatry, insofar as it leads a person to view the accumulation of material possessions, rather than right relationship to God, as the highest good (the good life) and it leads a person to trust in personal ability or accumulated treasure rather than in God for one’s well-being and security. When it becomes one’s central desire, the accumulation of wealth comes to shape both the inner and the social life of the person held captive by greed. For this reason, Jesus taught that a person must eventually choose between serving God and being a slave to the pursuit of wealth (Mt 6:24).

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Gluttony

gluttony. The excessive or inordinate desire for food and drink, together with the pleasure that they bring to a person. This type of excessive desire is condemned in the Bible and has been numbered among the seven deadly sins in Christian tradition.

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Lust

lust. An intense or even excessive desire or craving. Although the pursuit of sexual pleasure is often equated with lust, the meaning of the term is not limited to this dimension. In Christian ethics, lust is numbered among the seven deadly sins.

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Vice

vice. As an ethical term, an inner disposition to perform morally wrong acts of a certain kind; a tendency to sin habitually in a particular manner; a character trait that is deemed blameworthy. Like virtues, vices are associated primarily with the inner disposition to act in a certain manner and not with the acts themselves, although this distinction is not always evident in popular ethical discourse. The “cardinal” vices are sometimes listed together as the seven deadly sins. See also character.

Pr 18:24 “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Pr 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the release, on the part of the creditor or offended party, of any expectation that a debt will be repaid or that an offender will receive punishment for an offense. When describing the removal of an inappropriate offense in this way, the removal does not condone the behavior or suggest approval for the offense.

2 Chronicles 7:17

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Ps 103:1–12 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,…

Mk 2:5–7 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Col 2:13–15 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And…

Col 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

1 Jn 1:8–10 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in…