Luke 5:17–26
In this story from Luke 5, Jesus heals a 'paralyzed man'. So Jesus was teaching in a crowded house in Capernaum. The Pharisees
and teachers of the law were there from all around Galilee, Judea and
Jerusalem. This is Luke’s first
reference to Pharisees. Later, Luke presents them as questioning Jesus for
eating with tax-collectors (Luke 5:27-32). Then after that we find them in the
synagogue on a Sabbath trying find a reason to accuse Jesus (Luke 6:1-11). We’re told that these ‘religious leaders’
were there, but we are also told that the power of God was there for Jesus to
heal (5:17). Something significant is going to happened, something ‘unexpected’;
‘something remarkable’. Jesus had been
teaching with authority, healing many from evil spirits and from various
diseases and the crowds were growing (4:40-41). News about Jesus is spreading and
a crowd is there gathered. So the crowd and the Pharisees and the teachings of
the law are there and the house was packed.
Four men (Mark 2:3) arrive carrying a paralyzed friend on a
mat, but they can’t get to Jesus because of the crowd. But, they’re determined to
do whatever it takes to get their friend before Jesus. Ironically, the ‘religious
leaders’ were actually blocking this paralyzed man from getting close to Jesus.
Yet, the four so loved their paralyzed friend that they went up on the roof. They
removed some of the roof tiles and they lowered the paralyzed man down on his
mat through the roof before Jesus. The sceptical group of Pharisees and
teachers of the law see this man being lowered through the roof and they’re
likely thinking this is ridiculous! This is chaos! Jesus looks up at the falling debris and
dust and he sees the paralyzed man being lowered down, but Jesus also sees by their actions that they
have faith (5:20).
So Jesus addresses the man as his friend, and says, “Your
sins are forgiven”. Surely this wasn’t
exactly what they were expecting. Surely, this man and his faithful friends were
hoping that they would be able to walk home together. But now the paralyzed man
is being told that his sins have been forgiven. Now, at that time, if you
wanted your sins forgiven then you went to the temple. In those days, they had
the Mosaic sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, the festivals and the
‘Day of Atonement’ for that. It was the priests and especially the high priest,
who had been given authority by God to affirm that one’s sins were forgiven.
The Pharisees were an influential Jewish sect, a kind of
pressure group or a holiness movement. They had their own set ideas about what
was needed to restore God’s reign over Israel. They heard about Jesus and they
were there to make sure Jesus’ message didn’t contradict their understanding of
the Law (Torah) and their ‘oral tradition’. Consequently, when they heard Jesus telling this man his sins were
forgiven they would have been outraged. This was worse than they had expected;
Jesus was speaking blasphemy. Who did Jesus think he was? The authority to
forgive sins was the prerogative of God alone. This was dangerous and blasphemous!
Whenever I used to lament to a friend of mine over the little
progress I had made in the Christian life, my friend used to say something to
me. He’d say, “Cheer up… you’re worse than you think!” WHAT? It was a bit of a joke,
but what he was actually saying was that I had underestimated the depth of my
problem. Yet, I should ‘cheer up’ because Jesus had already met my ‘greatest
need’. In other words, our biggest need is the need for the forgiveness of our
sins and that Jesus has already dealt with by his ‘cross and resurrection’. The
greatest need is acceptance with God and our biggest problem is the problem of our sin and our need for forgiveness. We need our sins to be forgiven so that we can have acceptance
with God. Moreover, Jesus, the ‘son of man’ has authority on earth to forgive
ours sins and he has accomplished our forgiveness through his perfect life, his
sin atoning death and his victorious resurrection from the dead! Jesus has met our greatest need and dealt with our biggest problem!
Now Jesus knew their thoughts and he asks, “Why are you
thinking these things in your hearts? Jesus responds to their questioning of
him with a question of his own. Jesus asks what is easier to say, ‘Your sins
are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’. Anyone can say either one of these
statements, however, if someone says take up your mat and walk, then he will need to physically verify that authority by doing the thing (5:23-24). So that his
hearers would know that Jesus, the ‘Son of Man’, had authority on earth to forgive
sins Jesus told the paralyzed man to get up, take his mat and go home. The man
got up and everyone who saw this was amazed. The man went home praising God and
the crowd was filled with awe, and they praised God saying, “We have seen
remarkable things.” The healing confirmed his claim to have authority to forgive sins.
It is truly ‘remarkable’ that whatever we perceive that we need most, Jesus has met our greatest need which is the need for acceptance with God
and he has made this possible by dealing with our biggest problem which is our sins. May the ‘good news’ of 'total acceptance with God' and the
forgiveness of our sins' through faith in the life, death, burial,
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ be our greatest joy! May Jesus take his rightful place as our greatest hope in these trying times! AMEN?
2
Corinthians 5:21 21 God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
Hebrews
9:22 22 In fact, the
law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
Romans
10:9–10 9 That if you
confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you confess and are saved.
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