2nd Week of Advent (M)
Does the paralyzed man want to be healed? We don't know. Does he believe that Jesus is the Messiah? We don't know that either. In most of the healing stories from the NT, the person healed wants to be healed, or believes in Jesus, or both. But the paralyzed man is silent. We do know that his friends want him to be healed and that they believe Jesus can heal him. But they too are silent. For Jesus, that's enough. Their determination, ingenuity, and hard work are enough. Before and during his healing, the paralyzed man remains silent. But he receives his healing as a gift, and that's enough. After his healing, the words flow. Luke tells us, “...[he] picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.” We are rational animals, body and soul. What hurts the body, hurts the soul and vice-versa. Jesus makes this clear when he says to the ever-vigilant Pharisees, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” IOW, to forgive sin is to heal the whole person, body and soul. And the healed man's response to his healing is gratitude, giving the glory to God so that others may come to know the power of God to forgive and heal. Jesus doesn't just return a man's physical mobility and spiritual purity, he creates an apostle, one sent out out to bear witness to God's power. Imagine: the soul you are is loaded down with failures, flaws, and sin, and the body you are is exhausted from carrying all that weight. You're tired, can't sleep, angry, depressed, anxious. You go to the Lord in confession for healing. You hand all that damaging weight to Christ through his priest, and the priest – acting in the person of Christ – says to you, “I absolve you...” You are healed. The burden is gone. You are no longer paralyzed. You can walk, run, dance, and you can give the glory to God. Here's the question: do you? Do you give God the glory? Do you tell others about your healing?In healing you, Christ makes an apostle, one sent out to proclaim the power of God so that others may come to know His mercy. You perfect your healing by bearing witness to the miracle of forgiveness. Are you astonished? Do your friends and family see you and say, “We have seen incredible things today.” No? Well, they can't see what you don't show them.
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