Healing the paralytic at Capernaum is one of the

miracles of Jesus The miracles of Jesus are the many miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian texts, with the majority of these miracles being faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to ...

in the

synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

( Matthew 9:1– 8,

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

2:1–12, and Luke 5:17–26). Jesus was living in

Capernaum Capernaum ( ; ; ) was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a population of about 1,500 in the 1st century AD. Archaeological excavations have revealed tw ...

and teaching the people there, and on one occasion the people gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left inside the house where he was teaching, not even outside the door. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man but could not get inside, so they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and then lowered the man down. When Jesus saw how faithful they had been, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Some of the teachers of the law interpreted this as blasphemy, since God alone can forgive sins. Mark states that "Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts." () Jesus said to 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'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ..." He says to the man "...get up, take your mat and go home."
8–11
.

Mark's Gospel The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the burial of his body, and the discovery of his empt ...

states that this event took place in Capernaum. In

Matthew's Gospel The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah ( Christ), Jesus, his resurrection, and his mission to the ...

, it took place in "his own town" which he had reached by crossing the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

, while

Luke's Gospel The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

does not specify where the miracle occurred. In all three it is followed by the

calling of Matthew The Calling of Matthew, also known as the Calling of Levi, is an episode in the life of Jesus which appears in all three synoptic gospels, , and , and relates the initial encounter between Jesus and Matthew, the tax collector who became a disc ...

Narrative

The passage from scripture is as follows:

Interpretation

In his ''

Against Heresies ''Against Heresies'' (Koine Greek: Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ''Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs'', "Refutation and Overthrowal of Knowledge falsely so-called"), som ...

'', Church Father

Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...

interprets the miracle as a demonstration of Jesus's divinity: For

Adam Clarke Adam Clarke (176226 August 1832) was an Irish writer and biblical scholar. As a writer and biblical scholar, he published an influential Bible commentary among other works. Additionally, he was a Methodist theologian who served three times as ...

, there are three miracles of Jesus in this passage: the forgiveness of sins, the discernment of the private thoughts of the scribes, and the cure of the paralytic. According to John Gill, the fact that Jesus knew people's thoughts was sufficient demonstration of his Messiahship, according to the teaching of the Jews. This distinguished him from false Messiahs like

Simon bar Kokhba Simon bar Kokhba ( ) or Simon bar Koseba ( ), commonly referred to simply as Bar Kokhba, was a Jewish military leader in Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Though they were u ...

, who was unmasked and executed for not having this power.

Cornelius a Lapide Cornelius Cornelii a Lapide (''né'' Cornelis Cornelissen van den Steen; 28 December 1567 – 12 March 1637) was a Flemish Catholic priest. He was a Jesuit and exegete of Sacred Scripture. Life Lapide was born in Bocholt, Belgium. He studied hu ...

comments on the verse "And, behold, they brought to him ...", writing, "the paralytic man was carried by four bearers. Learn from this to care not only for thine own salvation, but for that of thy neighbours, and that earnestly, as well because charity demands it, as because God often chastises the good as well as the bad, because the good neglect to chastise and amend the faults of the bad."

Justus Knecht Friedrich Justus Heinrich Knecht (7 October 1839 – 31 January 1921) was a Catholic Church in Germany, German Catholic theologian and writer who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freiburg, Auxiliary Bishop of Freiburg from 1894 until his ...

comments on ''the dignity of the soul,'' writing, "Jesus first healed the palsied man's soul, and then his body. He desired to teach us by this that He came to cure and save souls, that the soul is worth more than the body, and that the health of the body can only avail those whose soul is healthy. Our love of ourselves ought therefore to be bestowed first of all on our souls."

References

{{Authority control Miracles of Jesus Capernaum Supernatural healing Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Gospel of Luke

Narrative

Interpretation

See also

Further reading

References