Godly Play Script: Jesus Cures the Paralysed Man

Once there was man who was paralysed. Being paralysed means that he
couldn't walk and probably couldn't use his legs. He would've had to sit or lie
down all the time.

A few days earlier, Jesus had touched a man who had leprosy and made
him better. Jesus was going from town to town performing miracles and
everyone wanted to see Him. In the town there were Pharisees and teachers
of the Law who had come from every village in Galilee, from Judaea and
from Jerusalem.

People were excited whenever they heard that Jesus was near because they
either wanted to see a miracle or be the one who was healed.

So, as Jesus entered one of the homes in Capernaum, people quickly

gathered around Him. So many people came that there was no room left,
not even outside the door.

People were pushing each other a little bit to squeeze everyone in; plus,
there were people gathered outside to see or hear Jesus when He came
out.

There were four men who heard that Jesus was in town who decided to carry
their paralysed friend on a mat to Him, to see if their friend could be
healed. As soon as they got to the house where Jesus was, they realized that
they wouldn't be able to get through to see Him.

The man they were carrying was getting pretty heavy and was desperate to
see Jesus. They didn't know how long Jesus would be in town so they had to
see Him today!

Someone decided to take him to the roof of the building that Jesus was at.

With a flat roof, people could use this area as an extra living space. It might
have been like having a deck on the roof of your house.

The roof had tiles that could be lifted or broken through easily to make a
hole.

The men started to dig through the roof, then men the mat that the
paralysed man was lying on down to where Jesus was.
People were listening carefully to Jesus when all of a sudden they heard
something coming from above them. The ceiling crumbled and everyone
stopped and looked up to see what was going on.

These men were so sure that Jesus would be able to heal the paralysed man;
otherwise they might not have gone to so much trouble.

Seeing their faith He said, "Mt friend, your sins are forgiven."

Jesus knew what this man needed most because he knew what was in his
heart. Jesus knew that being paralysed would be difficult but it was even
worse not to be forgiven.

Some of the Scribes and Pharisee’s heard Jesus forgive the man and they
began thinking, "Who is this man talking this Blasphemy? Who but God alone
can forgive sins?".

Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, "What are these
thoughts you have in your heart? Which of these is easier to say? 'Your sins
are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?”

“But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins’
he said to the paralysed man, ‘I order you to get up, pick up your stretcher
and go home."

Immediately, before their very eyes, he picked up what he had been lying on
and went home praising God.

Everyone was astounded and praised God and were filled with awe saying
“We have seen strange things today!’
 Wondering questions
1. I wonder where you can see yourself in the story?
2. I wonder what part of the story you liked best?
3. I wonder what part you could take out of the story and not changing
the meaning?
4. I wonder what was the most important part?
5. I wonder how we could use Jesus as an example of how we live our
live?