A man healed of leprosy?!
A Jewish teacher healed him,
The man Jesus of Nazareth,
We hear he is in Capernaum.

What wonder, a leper healed,
Immediately we think of
Our friend who’s paralyzed,
Could he heal the friend we love?

We drop what we’ve been doing,
And rushed to the residence,
His mother tends him all alone,
This man in utter dependence.

We excitedly tell the news
Of Him who heals the sick,
We try to convince the mother
As she feeds the fire with sticks.

Unconvinced but moved by our love,
She allows us to take her son,
We grab the corners of his bed
And thus we then begin to run.

His mother wants to come along,
But we must travel far away,
Our friend is light and we are fit,
But miles still eat up the day.

We arrive at Capernaum,
And have no trouble finding the house,
It is surrounded by a crowd,
Packed too tight to let pass a mouse.

We brought our friend a long way,
We can see his hopeful eyes,
Undaunted by complication,
A plan we then devise.

We climb up on a house,
Aways up the crowd-packed street,
Bearing our friend, we climb along,
From roof to roof in sweaty heat.

We make it to the right building
And dig through the clay and tiles,
soon we view the room below,
We share looks with nervous smiles.

Our friend settles down on the floor,
As we look down through gaping hole,
The man who teaches turns and looks,
First down, then up at loving fools.

By our friend he kneels down,
“Son, your sins are now forgiven.”
That’s sounds fine, but it’s not why we came,
Can’t he heal our friend’s condition?

But wait, what did he say,
Only God can forgive our sins,
Who does this man think that he is,
He turns and looks out from within.

“What is easier to tell a man,
Your sins are forgiven or say,
‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?
Now see authority displayed.

He turns back to our dear friend,
“Get up, son! And pick up your bed!
Walk with your friends back to your house.”
The street is silent as the dead.

For a second our friend lays still,
And then he moves his foot and hand,
Captive sits up on prison bed,
Our breath is held as up he stands.

This man, he can forgive our sins,
Even on behalf of our friends,
At that moment, the street erupts,
Seeing the man who can contend.