A Paralytic Parable

We've been going through the book of Matthew for our family devotion time. After supper Tony was reading from chapter 9 to the kids. It was about Jesus healing the paralytic. Here's the story....

Matthew 9

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

So we were asking the kids questions to make sure they understood what was being read.

Tony: First of all, what is a paralytic?

Addie: rhymes with licorice (yeah, she's random that way)

Evan: A sinner!

Tony: Well, he was a sinner, but that's not what a paralytic is.

Heidi: What did we learn about him from the story? He was laying on a mat...people had to carry him....Jesus told him to get up and walk...

Evan: a LAZY sinner!

They did eventually get it. But aren't you glad Jesus has authority to heal paralytics and forgive sinners, even lazy sinners ;)