Sometimes the greatest gift you can give a person is to lift them up and not just to solve their problems. Jesus was always in tune with both the body and the soul. As we come to Him we find full healing for all our needs.
Focus passage: Mark 2:1-12
The ministry of Jesus had grown as he traveled the countryside healing people of various diseases and casting out demons. As His popularity grew, people had begun to push and shove to see Him. The house was packed with people who wanted to see this miracle worker and hoped to see a marvelous healing firsthand. Yet, there was a greater need than just healing bodies wracked with pain. He had come to heal the soul with His message. When people opened up the roof and dropped a paralyzed man into the midst of the crowd, Jesus had a chance to do more than just heal the body.
Jesus looked up (v.4). Jesus’ teaching was interrupted as everyone watched the man being lowered into the room. The crowd saw an interruption. What Jesus saw was extraordinary faith from four friends who were certain that Jesus could heal their friend and who were letting nothing stop their friend from coming before Jesus.
Jesus looked down (v.5). The crowd saw a broken body. Jesus saw a broken spirit. Here was a man who needed the soul healed before the body would find the healing that it needed. Jesus began by forgiving the man’s sins. The man needed to be at peace with God before any physical healing could be lasting. Jesus began with the deeper need that only He could see.
Jesus looked around (v.8). As Jesus looked around, He saw only doubt. The crowd rejected His ability to forgive the man and heal the soul. As a demonstration of His almighty power, He addressed their doubt by healing the man before their eyes. They could not see the forgiveness, but they could see the miraculous healing. He wanted them all to know that He could heal the soul as well as the body.
The greatest miracle that day was not the healing of the body, but the healing of the soul. Any doctor can help the body, but only Jesus could save the soul with the forgiveness He would win from the cross. Sometimes the body is wracked with pain because the mind and soul are not healthy. As Christians, we should help others with their bodily needs like food or shelter, but the greatest gift we often can give is to share the Bible with them or pray with them so that they can have the healing power of Jesus for their soul. That is the greater gift and is the gift that only Christians can offer.