Jesus Christ looking at a man lying on the ground before Him. The man is wrapped in a blanket and is suffering from palsy. The sick man was lowered by friends through a hole in the roof in hopes of being healed. Christ is portrayed extended His hands toward the man. Several other apostles or disciples are with Christ.
Jesus demonstrated His ability to heal people physically and spiritually by healing a man with palsy (paralysis) and forgiving his sins. This lesson can help increase your understanding that the Savior can heal all kinds of infirmities.
What would you be willing to do?
Imagine that someone you love is suffering from a life-threatening illness that requires specialized treatment and that there is only one doctor that can save her. What would you be willing to do to get help? What would you do if the doctor’s schedule was full or if the doctor lived in a different country?
People may be willing to go to great lengths to obtain healing for themselves or their loved ones. While physical sicknesses can often be treated by skilled professionals, there are spiritual infirmities that can only be fully healed by Jesus Christ. List in your study journal what you believe some of these are.
As you study this lesson, ponder what you can do to help loved ones and yourself come unto Christ to receive help that only He can give.
“One sick of the palsy”
A skill that can help you learn more as you study scripture accounts is to read from the perspective of different characters in the story. As you do, pause frequently to try to imagine what that person may have been feeling or thinking at different points in the story.
To practice this study skill, choose one of the following people to focus on as you study this account of Jesus teaching in Capernaum:
A paralyzed man (“sick of the palsy” as used in this account means he was paralyzed)
One of the four people who carried the paralyzed man
One of the people in the house listening to Jesus
Read Mark 2:1–3, imagining that you are the person you chose to focus on.
What challenges, if any, do you think this person might have faced?
What do you imagine this person was seeing, hearing, thinking, and feeling?
What might this person have hoped to receive from their time with Jesus Christ?
Read Mark 2:4, looking for what those who carried the man did to get him near Jesus Christ. You may also want to watch the video “Jesus Forgives Sins and Heals a Man Stricken with Palsy,” available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 0:00 to 1:07.
What do you imagine the person you chose was thinking and feeling at this moment in the story? Why?
What do you think they were expecting Jesus to do or say?
Read Mark 2:5 to find out what Jesus said to the man.
Why might the Savior’s words in verse 5 be surprising to the person you focused on?
Some of the people present at this event questioned the Savior’s authority to forgive sins. Read Mark 2:6–12, looking for what the Savior did to demonstrate His authority to forgive. The phrase “Son of man” in verse 10 refers to Jesus Christ being the Son of “Man of Holiness,” who is God the Father (see Moses 6:57). You may also want to continue watching the video “Jesus Forgives Sins and Heals a Man Stricken with Palsy” from time code 1:07 to 2:57.
Think of the person you focused on in the account. How do you picture this person reacting to what the Savior said and did?
What did you learn about the Savior as you focused on someone specific in the story?
Jesus Christ’s power to heal
One truth you may have identified as you studied this account is that Jesus Christ has power to heal us physically and spiritually.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, testified of the Savior’s power to heal spiritual illness.
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Official portrait of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 2006. Called as Second Counselor in the First Presidency, 3 February 2008. Made official portrait in 2008 replacing portrait taken in 2004.
Sometimes spiritual illness comes as a result of sin or emotional wounds. …
Even the deepest spiritual wounds—yes, even those that may appear to be incurable—can be healed.
My dear friends, the healing power of Jesus Christ is not absent in our day.
The Savior’s healing touch can transform lives in our day just as it did in His. If we will but have faith, He can take our hands, fill our souls with heavenly light and healing, and speak to us the blessed words, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk” [John 5:8].
What are examples of spiritual wounds the Savior can heal?
How does it bless your life to know that He can heal spiritual wounds?
Ponder the following questions related to this truth. Consider recording your thoughts in your study journal.
Are there any spiritual wounds in your life that need to be healed?
How can you seek the healing power of Jesus Christ?
Do you know someone else who needs the healing power of Jesus Christ? What could you do to help them access it?
Share what you learned
As you study other accounts in the scriptures this year, consider using the skill of focusing on specific characters. It may be helpful to read a passage multiple times, pondering each time what different people in the story may have learned.
1. Complete the following activity in your study journal using at least five sentences:
Imagine that the person you focused on as you studied this account wanted to describe to a friend what they witnessed and felt that day. Take some time to write in your study journal how you picture them describing the experience in detail. Include what you think they learned and felt about Jesus Christ.
Optional: Want to Learn More?
Can my faith influence my loved ones?
Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong of the Seventy taught:
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Official Portrait of Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong. Photographed in March 2017.
May I share with you one more hidden treasure found in this scripture account. It is in verse 5: “When Jesus saw their faith” (emphasis added). I had not noticed this in the past—their faith. Our combined faith will also affect the well-being of others.
Who were those people that Jesus mentioned? They could well include the four who carried the man with palsy, the man himself, the people who had prayed for him, and all those who were there listening to the preaching of Jesus and cheering quietly in their hearts for the soon-to-come miracle. They could also include a spouse, a parent, a son or a daughter, a missionary, a quorum president, a Relief Society president, a bishop, and a faraway friend. We can all help one another. We should always be anxiously engaged in seeking to rescue those in need.
(Chi Hong [Sam] Wong, “Rescue in Unity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 16)
What did Jesus prove to the scribes by physically healing the man?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
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Head and shoulders portrait of Elder Bruce R. McConkie.
Both Jesus and the “doctors of the law” who were then present knew that none but God can forgive sins. Accordingly, as a pointed and dramatic witness that the power of God was resident in him, … Jesus did what no imposter could have done—he proved his divine power by healing the forgiven man. To his query, “Does it require more power to forgive sins than to make the sick rise up and walk?” there could be only one answer! They are as one; he that can do the one, can do the other.
(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary [1973], 1:177–78)