First, He Forgives

Luke 5:17–26

¹⁷On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. ¹⁸And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²²When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. ²⁶And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

This is a great story. There’s such a cool twist to this event that it is really fun to teach, especially to children. A bunch of guys care so much about their friend that they tear a hole in a roof to get him in front of Jesus. And there’s the punch for us today as well; their goal was to get him in front of Jesus! That needs to be our goal every single day – get the people in front of Jesus.

Jesus response is wonderful – of course. He doesn’t deal with the man’s immediate need but instead his more important need – the forgiveness of his sins. Jesus’ authority off course covers this need and He gives what it needed first. Then, because the nay-sayers speak up, He also heals the guy to prove His authority. There are so many different things to focus on here, but for today, I want to press into the actions of the man’s friends. They went through the roof to bring the one in need to Jesus. Are we willing to go to those kinds of lengths to bring someone to Jesus?

This passage fits into the larger reading of Luke 5. Just prior to this story, Jesus calls Peter into ministry with Him, then heals the leper, followed by this heals of the paralytic. These stories serve to bring a bigger message when tied all together.

Following Jesus’ call of Peter to be a disciple and an apostle, Luke reports two miracles of absolution. Jesus’ miracles demonstrate how the release of creation from its physical and spiritual bondage flows from him. The healing of the leper pointed back to Leviticus and the bloody sacrifices that cleansed from sin, and sin—original or actual—is the cause of sickness. The healing also pointed forward to the bloody sacrifice of Jesus, who would fulfill the OT sacrifices in his atonement at the crucifixion. Now in the healing of the paralytic, based on this sacrificial shedding of blood, Jesus shows that physical healings are signs and consequences of the spiritual healing that comes in the forgiveness of sins. For the Jewish hearer, the healing of the paralytic and his forgiveness would not make any theological sense apart from an objective foundation for that forgiveness in the sin offering of a bloody sacrifice—as Jesus would provide.

Just, A. A., Jr. (1996). Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 226). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House.

I always like to share those “larger picture” thoughts but for today, I pray you will focus in on your own world and how you can bring people before Jesus. That’s all you have to do. He will take care of them for He alone knows their deepest need. Just talk about Jesus and He will do the rest.