Insight for Living

Bill Maier: Think for a moment. What's the greatest need in your life right now? Well, most of us would point to something physical, a diagnosis, a pain, a body that won't cooperate. But what if the thing you long to fix most isn't your deepest need at all? Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll presents a truth that reorders everything. Our deepest needs are not physical, they're spiritual and often invisible. It's about trusting a sovereign God even when healing doesn't come the way we hoped. Chuck is teaching from Mark chapter 2.

Chuck Swindoll: The healings that Jesus performed, and they were many, were designed to corroborate his authenticity. They validated his authority as having come from God, as as being in fact God. At the end of verse 2, he was speaking the word to them. In the midst of his teaching, there's a very unusual interruption. We read of it in verses 3, 4 and 5. Simply these words, they came. We don't know who the four are, bringing to him a paraplegic or a paralytic, verse 4. Being unable to get to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him.

Then they poked this guy through and they let him down on this soft pallet and they let him down into the room. Look at verse 5. Jesus, seeing their faith Only Christ can see faith. And so Jesus, seeing him, says to him, son, your sins are forgiven you. He saw the faith of all of them, but he sees the one who is on the pallet and addresses him, singular, son, your sins are forgiven. Oh, what a great moment. Suddenly there is a man who was born into the family of God. Son is a family name.

You're one of us. You're in the family. You're a part of the life. He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have the life. How wonderful is this, unless of course you're a skeptic. And you'll read of them immediately in verse 6. That mess up a rock fight. These scribes, and Luke tells us there were also Pharisees. Scribes were sitting there, wouldn't you know it. The skeptics are always sitting there. They're not involved. They're not about to be involved. They have the gift of criticism.

And they're here for the purpose, in this home for example, to sit and see what they don't like. And they find something. Sitting there, not helping them get the man down from the roof, not assisting in any way, not showing any sense of compassion, not rejoicing over the man's stated salvation, these scribes and Pharisees were sitting there and they were reasoning in their hearts. Now, there isn't a preacher worth his salt that's going to go past that verse. I got to super irrigate this for a few moments, okay? Bear with me. There are skeptics scattered across the landscape.

They are in every Christian gathering. They are in every church in the world. They are in every missionary organization. Wherever there is a large enough gathering of Christians, there are some scribes and Pharisees. Invariably there are skeptics. And they are there to determine what they don't like. In this case, they don't like what Jesus said. But notice how they voiced what they didn't like. They voiced it in the form of a question, which is so like the cynic. Why does this man speak that way? The question why addresses motive. And in this case, it cast aspersion on Jesus' motive.

Who does he think he is? Why would he do that? By the way, they love questions that cause other people to question. Look across the page in verse 16. We'll get to this next time. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners? I mean, just a question. Look at verse 24, you'll see another one. The Pharisees were saying to him, look, why are they doing what they're what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

Just just just wanting to know. No, it isn't that innocent. Turn the page. Look at verse 2 of chapter 3. Verse 2. They were watching him to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so they might accuse him. Now, we're getting to the heart of the problem. Look a little further down, verse 6. Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against him as to how they might destroy him. It all starts with a question. It's just a question. Actually, it's just a reasoning. I mean, can I think for myself? Absolutely.

My question is, can't you keep your thoughts to yourself? Uh, usually skeptics can't. It comes out first in an attitude. Then the attitude sours others. And before long, there's a pocket that run with each other, skeptics, cynics, the negative types, because they can't thrive among the positive people. And in this case, they couldn't go very long before being exposed. And I love this. I love it that Jesus can read minds. Look look closely at verse 8. Immediately Jesus, aware in his spirit they were reasoning that way within themselves, hot dog, this is getting so good.

You guys are sitting there and you hate the thought that you're going to be exposed, but I'm putting it on the screen right now for everybody to see. Let me tell everybody what's going on in your reasoning. Go on and read verse 8. Aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves said to them, why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Can you imagine how they felt? Oh. I mean, they started getting red here and it worked its way all the way up. Suddenly he's exposing them. Cynics don't like to be exposed, because they're always in the minority.

They they don't like for the majority to know the truth. To go further, in most cases the evil that's there. Am I saying every criticism is evil? Of course not. That's a stupid statement. Some criticisms are necessary. We grow through helpful and objective criticism, but cynics and skeptics are neither objective nor helpful. Their desire is to put down, not to build up. It's to point out, not to come to terms with truth. As in case in point, why are you reasoning this way in your hearts? And then he asked them the unanswerable, which is easier?

Which is easier to say to the paraplegic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say get up and take up your pallet and walk? Obviously the answer would be it's easier to say that. And that's probably what you're thinking. Anybody can say that. He's trying to promote himself as God. He is this illegitimate son of Mary that came from Nazareth. That's who we're looking at. Who does he think he is? He wasn't even trained in one of our schools. He's not one of us. This itinerant evangelist taking over the country of Galilee that we've been in charge of all these years.

He thinks he's God. As a matter of fact, he is. And as a matter of fact, since it is easier to say this than to do it, skeptics, just watch. I love it. He says to the paralytic, verse 11, get up, pick up your pallet, go home. No big time announcement, no no sideshow, no get in line. Anyone else? None of that. Stand up, pick up your pallet, walk home. You know what happens? Look at the word immediately. It's a mark of a genuine miracle. He got up and immediately folded up his pallet, went out the side of everyone.

Isn't it great? I would love it if Mark had added what the skeptics thought right about now. I mean, their chin is just banging on their chest. This is a remarkable event. They've hung themselves with their own accusation. You think he's God? Only God can can forgive sins. And by the way, the forgiving of the sin has nothing to do with the paralysis. If it did, he would say so. Sometime sin is does result in physical illness. This is not one of those cases. This is a case where they're to be seen separately. He deals with a man's salvation and then he deals with a man's healing.

I read that they were all amazed. They were glorifying God saying we have never seen anything like this. Isn't it wonderful that it all transpires in such a matter of fact way? There's no waiting period, there's no lingering doubt, there's no question regarding who is the the the authoritative one. And there's no calling attention to himself. He simply says get up, fold up your pallet and and and go home. And and the man rolls his pallet up and and works his way out of the house. They're all amazed. This is how God does his best work.

And I might add when he does do the the healing of a life, it is it is rarely done publicly. Unless you think I'm I'm such a skeptic on this and you put me in that category, I need to tell you that I I have in my almost 50 years in ministry known of a few healings where only God could be attributed the the praise for it. Very rare, never public. I have a good friend who has now died for another reason, lived many years after this event, but while Cynthia and I were in New England ministering at at a an evangelical free church in Waltham, Massachusetts, our our phone rang.

On the end of the line was a good friend of mine. I've known him for years and loved him and he spoke with a weak voice and I caught that and I asked if everything was okay. He said actually it isn't. Said I have cancer of the tongue. And he said I I've I've gotten the diagnosis from the physician here. He happened to live in Dallas and he said I I I've seen the the x-ray and he's shown me and he said it's it's it's obvious. And he said while I don't know anything about medicine, I I I'm going to do what I would normally never do.

And he's not the type to ever ask for help from anybody. He's just not that type. He's a fellow Marine and comes from a background of independence and and strength of character. And he he said I I just I just want you to know that I am calling a very few in the circle of friends and asking you to do one thing. I am asking you to pray. Okay, we can do that. I am asking you to ask God for his will to be revealed and if it is his will that I would be healed.

I said okay, I will I'll do that. Cynthia and I together will agree to that. Um, he said I'm going to go to Mayo's. I'm going to get another opinion. I'm going to take the x-rays with me. And when I'm there, I'm going to be admitted and I'm going to go through the process of re-diagnosis and I'm going to get this verified and probably have the work done there if I need to. Okay, good good decision. Well, he called me from Rochester, Minnesota before he got on the plane to come back home. And he said I just want to thank you for praying.

It's gone. And I said what's gone? Old me of great faith. I've been praying that cancer would be gone. What's gone? The cancer. Really? Yeah. Gosh, that's magnificent. He said let me tell you, I brought my x-ray and I checked in and they gave me the one of the top doctors, oncologist, who looked at the x-ray said okay, we're going to do this again. They took the x-ray again. No tumor. Okay, now the doc says you brought the wrong x-ray. Like good doctors would probably think. Made a made made a mistake. He said whose name is at the bottom I love it when he said it.

Whose name is at the bottom of that x-ray? Doctor said well, it's it's your name. He said I I don't know how to change x-rays. It's the same folder they gave me when I left the Parkland. And doctor looked at this and put them to side by side. Said well, I don't know what to say, but it's not there. And the man said I know what to say. So he said it. Just another subject. And he thanked me for praying. I said you know what, Billy? Others prayed. I get no credit. Others don't get the credit.

All the credit goes to God. And that tongue cancer never returned. That's a miracle. That's an immediate somewhere on that flight or when he landed or looked at how much it would cost. Somewhere it's gone. And you know what? I've shared that story for years. Lest anyone think I don't believe that God can do miraculous things. He does. All of this brings me to three insights we learn from what we have just read. And I want you to take note of them. One of them we learned from the paraplegic. Another we learned from the skeptics.

The third we learned from Jesus himself. First From the paraplegic I learned this. The deepest needs of our lives are not physical. They are spiritual and invisible. The deepest needs of our lives are not physical. They are spiritual and invisible. You may think the pain you're living with right now is the greatest need of your life. It is not. It's the condition of your heart, which explains why Jesus would give priority to the man's heart and address that before he addresses even the sake of his the condition of his body. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ that let's take first things first.

That's the most essential thing you can deal with. And that's your heart before God makes certain that you have placed your faith and trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. The second insight we learned from the scribes. We gained this. The earliest signs of a critical spirit are not visible. The earliest signs of a critical spirit are not visible. They are hidden and unspoken. They are in fact a matter of the heart, which brings me to the great proverb. Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. It's a marvelous statement written in the Hebrew language that's full of color.

The heart is like a fountain of life. The heart is not the what pumps blood in this case. It's the inner person. Guard your inner person. Guard your attitude, guard your mindset, guard your spirit, guard your thoughts. For out of these invisible, unseen, unspoken, hidden areas are the things that characterize life. When I meet up with a person who has become bitter over whatever it may be, I know I'm meeting a person who has a long history. He didn't become bitter yesterday morning. The bitterness started long time past. It festers, it sours, it grows. And I've said for years in every church that I've ever served that we have to guard the tongue because usually that sour spirit pours forth from the tongue.

When it does become known, stated. When you are around it, call it what it is. When you sense it growing in your own spirit, take care of them. I've never known a a skeptic to grow spiritually. We grow when we are deep within saying yes to God. And when we have relationships that are kept in good repair with other people. Earliest signs of a critical spirit are not visible. The third insight we gained from Jesus himself. The greatest proofs of real miracles are not verbal. The greatest proofs of real miracles are not verbal. They are actual and they are immediate.

No person's promise guarantees a miracle. No person's statement, you have been healed, guarantees a healing. The greatest proofs of real miracles are not verbal. They are actual and immediate. Now back to my story. The woman clung to my arm and stared at me as we talked about what they were facing. What I feared is what I deal with somewhat regularly. And that's the disillusionment of people who had lived in the hope of a healing, only to have it fall flat and fail. That disillusionment can hardly be put into words. Talk about brokenness. And I feared that for her and I told her, you need to realize that there is no hope in any man, any woman, any person, any so-called prophet, any alleged miracle worker.

God is the one healer. He heals. And I pled with her to think about that. She could hardly listen to me having burnt the bridges, having determined this is the direction, this is her only hope. I said okay, I'll tell you what. This is my name. This is my phone number for my home. This is my phone number for my study at the church. Call either number anytime, day or night, when he's healed. Will you do that? Yes, I will. I will. And I'm pleased to meet you, she said. And I will. And keep praying.

I said I will. 35 years since that time, I'm still waiting for the phone call. And I've often wondered where the woman is now. She would have called me. Tragically, she hoped for a miraculous healing and that, as I said when I began, that's one thing. But being instantly and miraculously healed, that's something altogether different. As hard as it is for you to hear this, it is not always God's will that we be healed. If it were, he would do it every time. If it were true, Paul would have never prayed for that thorn in the flesh to leave him, only to hear no no no.

And finally learned to live with the thorn and from it learned that God's grace is sufficient. And also to learn that when he is weak, God is strongest. Deaths are reminders that God is still sovereign, as untimely as they seem to us. Even death is in his hands. You say well, that that's quite a statement. I I I only have the word of God to go on. And I I realize Isaiah wrote by his stripes we are healed. Look at the context. It's a spiritual healing. It's the healing of salvation. The inner soul is healed.

Be careful about half verses taken out of context. That's enough. Let's bow together. I don't know where you are in the midst of all of this and quite likely you find yourself struggling with some of these things. That's understandable. All I ask you to be is is extremely biblical in your theology. Be sure you can back from scripture, not experience or somebody's words, from scripture. Your position on this subject. Be careful about promising anyone else a healing. You're not Jesus. You don't know the will of Jesus, nor do I. Commit yourself to his will just as he did, Father.

Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless. Not my will, but yours be done. That's the prayer. You pray that prayer and I can tell you whatever may happen as a result, you will never be disillusioned. Thank you, Father, for the worship of this day. Thank you for the instruction of your word. Thank you for preserving this story from which we can learn. Thank you for helping us think through what we believe and why we believe it. Now I pray for strong, disciplined discernment. Lest we become gullible and caught in the backwash of some so-called ministry that promises what cannot be performed.

Guide us into truth, our Father, I pray. And bring us all before the Savior at the foot of the cross. For it is in his matchless name we pray these things. Everyone said amen.

Bill Maier: Chuck Swindoll reminded us today that miracles are real but rare and that healing is always God's sovereign choice, never something we can purchase or demand. The safest place to stand is on scripture, praying as Jesus did, not my will but yours be done. You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck titled today's message The Day a Paraplegic Walked Home. We're just getting started in a comprehensive verse by verse study through the gospel according to Mark. It's an unfolding story that defines the person and work of Jesus Christ. For anyone who wonders who is this man, demons obey him, storms bow to him and lepers walk away clean.

Well, through this study in Mark, you'll see for yourself this servant king is unlike anyone you've ever met. One encounter with Jesus changes everything. You're invited to see for yourself by searching the scriptures with Chuck Swindoll in a three volume set of Bible study workbooks. To purchase these spiral bound Bible studies, either for personal or group study, call us at 800 772 8888 or go to insight.org/offer. We also invite you to purchase a copy of Chuck Swindoll's brand new memoir. It's called Awakened by Grace. Brought up in a small town, this young, insecure boy was convinced he had little to offer.

Yet in Awakened by Grace, Chuck traces the astonishing path that God laid before him, one unlikely turn at a time. He'll be the first to tell you none of it was his doing. God chooses whom he uses and he delights in accomplishing his purposes through the most improbable people. As you read Chuck's story, you'll start to wonder what God might be orchestrating in your own life through the very things you thought disqualified you. Discover how God turns weakness into witness when you read Awakened by Grace. Purchase a copy today by going to insight.org/memoir or call 800 772 8888.

I'm Bill Maier. Join us when Chuck Swindoll describes a scene in Mark chapter 2 that scandalized the religious crowd tomorrow on Insight for Living. The preceding message The Day a Paraplegic Walked Home was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.