Paralyzed

Matthew 9:1-8

¹And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.

²And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

³And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

⁷And he rose and went home.

⁸When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

It is my goal in life to remain fairly unflustered. Perhaps those who know me would question the goal and declare that as an unachievable goal – but I try. With that said, there is one thing that can push all of my internal buttons – a crowd. Given the choice to be in a crowded place or to stay home, I’ll pick home every time. There is just nothing fun about being in a crowd for me – no matter the event. But I have to admit, I might have had to push my way through the crowd the day that Jesus healed the paralytic just to see what happened for this is another remarkable story.

Imagine a little house (and maybe it wasn’t even little!) that is completely packed with people. They are there to see Jesus who has proven His power over nature by calming a storm, over sickness for several people, and over the demonic. It is so crowded in the house there literally isn’t room for one more person. There were probably people standing outside just hoping to hear what Jesus had to say or get a glimpse of what He was doing. Along come four guys who are carrying a fifth guy on a mat or blanket. The fifth man is a paralytic and completely unable to help himself – especially in this crowded situation. So his buddies carry him up to the roof and create a hole in the roof so that they can deliver him to the feet of Jesus. Not every wasting an opportunity and seeing the faith of those who brought him, Jesus speaks not to the man’s physical disease but rather to his spiritual disease. He tells the man not to be afraid and then pronounces that his sins are forgiven. Jesus speaks in the present tense. The man’s sins aren’t going to be forgiven. They are forgiven. This causes quite a stir with the religious authorities who hear the exchange. Just as Jesus was able to recognize the motives of the four guys bringing their paralytic friend, so Jesus also recognizes the judgment and hatred coming from these “authorities”. They immediately claim blasphemy and the verbal battle is on!

Jesus uses this fantastic example to prove His authority on the highest level. He has the authority to forgive sins! This is a right that belongs only to God alone and the scribes (teachers of the law) make that connection right away. Jesus is claiming to be God with His pronouncement of forgiveness and they are furious. But of course, Jesus is God and moves forward with the healing of the paralytic just to put an exclamation point on the fact. What can the scribes say? They have been bested yet again. It is interesting to note that this entire event takes place in Jesus’ home town, where He was largely disregarded on many occasions.

Since Jesus has authority over sickness, the demonic, the created world, and over sin He certainly can handle whatever we have going on in our lives. There is nothing we can toss His way that is beyond His capacity to control and solve. The paralytic was possibly (probably) in that condition for a very long time. We tend to want our answers right now. But this guy had to wait until God’s timing was perfect. Jesus can and will take care of your issues. Do you trust His authority to do so and are you willing to wait for His timing. Now there are the tough questions!