Florida Bible Institute
Level Three
Lesson Seven
Page 1 of 5 Pages


                                              Jesus and His Ministry - The Healing of the Paralytic

Scripture Reading: Mark 2:1 - 12

Memory Verse: Jeremiah 33:3

Introduction: In the Jewish mind, sickness and sin were directly connected. To the Jewish way of thinking, if you were diseased, then you must have committed a specific sin for which you were being punished, or else, there was ongoing sin in the life for which you were being punished.

The Jewish mind set also recognized that only God could forgive sin. Therefore, it followed logically, that only God could heal. If forgiveness had been received, then healing could follow.

In this episode from the life and ministry of Jesus, we see how Jesus, (according to the Jews own doctrine and understanding) revealed that He was God in the flesh, for He revealed that He had the power to heal sickness and disease.

By their own doctrine, they held that healing would not occur unless forgiveness had occurred. Therefore, if healing follows forgiveness, and healing occurs, then it also follows that He who had the power to heal also had the authority to forgive sin!

It has always been true with man, that once his deception is revealed to him, he will either:

    (1) Acknowledge his deception and seek truth, or;

    (2) He will refuse the truth, and thereby deepen his deception.

Ask the Holy Spirit to anoint you to learn all that you can from this episode in the life and ministry of Jesus!

1. What does Mark 2:1 - 2 teach us about Jesus?

2. Would you be willing for word to get around your neighborhood that Jesus was ministering in your home?

3. From what source did Jesus get His sermon material?

    (1) In light of your answer to 3 above, in your own words explain your understanding of John 1:1.

4. What does Mark 2:3 - 4 tell you about the friends of the one who had the palsy?

    (1) What do the actions of the friends in Mark 2:4 tell you about them?

    (2) What does Mark 2:4 tell you about the one who had the palsy?

    (3) How was the one with the palsy able to assist his friends in their efforts to get him to Jesus?

5. In what way can you compare the physical condition of the one with the palsy to the spiritual condition of one who is unsaved?

    (1) How does the one described spiritually in I Corinthians 2:14 relate to the one with the palsy in this episode?

6. In your opinion, does those as described in I Corinthians 2:14, need friends such as the man with the palsy had in this account from the life of
    Jesus?

    (1) Would you be willing to help a helpless person get to Jesus?

    (2) Would you go to the same trouble and effort as these friends of the palsied man did to get him to Jesus?

    (3) If you had the opportunity, time and resources to do so, would you give a blind person assistance in leading them somewhere?

    (4) In your opinion, how does II Corinthians 4:3 - 4 relate to your answer in 6 (3) above?

7. Who is being referred to when the scripture states that ...Jesus saw their faith”?

    (1) How does that speak to you personally?

    (2) How does that encourage you personally?

8. Given the information provided in the introduction to this study, why do you think Christ Jesus spoke to the palsied mans spiritual condition
    before He spoke to the palsied mans physical condition?

9. In your opinion, in what way were the Scribes setting themselves up by their reasoning as revealed in mark 2:6 - 7?

10. What does Mark 2:8 tell you about Jesus?

      (1) How does the truth revealed in Mark 2:8 concerning Jesus relate to I Corinthians 12:1 - 11?

11. How would you answer the question of Jesus in Mark 2:9?

12. In view of the information given in the introduction to this study, what do you think the words of Christ Jesus in Mark 2:9 - 10 ministered to the
      hearts of the Scribes then present?

13. In your opinion, what effect should the results as described in Mark 2:12 have had on the hearts and minds of the Scribes then present?

14. What were the results of this miracle on the minds of the crowd present that day?

Conclusion: Perhaps by now you realize that there are those around you who are just as helpless spiritually as the one with the palsy was physically. There are those around you who are also suffering physical distress, who need a touch from Jesus.

Someone has to get involved, even when it means much personal trouble, work and discomfort, in bringing them to a place where they can be touched by Christ Jesus, whether spiritually or physically!!

Are you willing to be used by the Lord Jesus Christ to bring them to Himself? It’s up to each of us as Believer Priests.

Amen!!