Jesus raised him up, and right away he picked up his mat and walked out in front of everybody. They were all amazed and praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!” Mark 2:12 CEB
I remember in my chaplaincy training at FL Hospital in Orlando, it was ingrained in us that you never referred to a person as to their ailment. She is not the woman with pneumonia in room 305. Call her by their name. She is a person - Mrs. Watson, for example.
Reading through the Gospel of Mark, it is surprising how many of the people that Jesus helped and healed are not named. The paralyzed man, the man with leprosy, demon-possessed man, the Syrophoenician woman, the woman with great faith, the blind man.
Even though the Bible does not name them, Jesus knew them as a person. Knew their name and cared for them as a child of God. The people who he encountered in his journeys were not defined by their ailment. In fact, Jesus freed them from this identity, and restored them. He saw them as living, breathing human beings with needs and fears. He was more concerned about these needs and fears, because of his care and compassion for all.
This passage in Mark chapter 2 is the end of the story of the paralyzed man who was lowered by four friends through the roof of a house where Jesus was teaching. Those in the house probably saw a man who was an interruption and causing a disturbance. He and his friends were “off-base” by intruding. Yet, Jesus saw one of God’s children who needed help. A person with needs that Jesus could remedy. There is no one whose needs are too trivial, too great, or too bothersome for Jesus. Even us.
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