“One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” – Luke 5:17-21
This is such a rich story from Luke’s gospel. It’s no big secret of the four gospels in the Bible’s New Testament… Luke’s version is my favorite and of all the stories included this one is one of my favorites. It’s worth reading over and over again… the gospel of Luke AND this story of the paralyzed man as each time we do… something new to consider comes along.
Think of it this way. Jesus is teaching. No surprise there. The Pharisees… that ‘better-than-me-and-you’ group of Jewish leaders was present, too. Again… no surprise. Jesus was speaking to a literally ‘full house’ as people had come from near and far to be in Jesus’ presence when Luke pointed out Jesus was full of a healing power no one else seemed to have. Good for him. Good for God. Good for us! It is a story full of detail… as we discover… not only was Jesus teaching… the crowd was so large… flowing out of the house that when four friends tried to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed, they could not get within earshot of him yet didn’t give up!
So… when reading this story… you can see how easy it is to find yourself outside the drama altogether or perhaps to feel like you are just a person in the crowd trying to see and understand all that is going on… or maybe you’d like to be the owner of the house and wonder who is going to clean up after all these people leave… and to top that off you notice how the there is now some clambering above and then the door to the rooftop (with no AC in 1st century Israel people often slept on the roof and had a door leading to it!) gets opened and the next thing you see is those four friends lowering the man on the pallet down from above placing him right in front of where Jesus is teaching. Now there’s something you can tell your grandchildren… “There was a day when…”
For many years of my life I always thought of myself as one of the four friends… you know… strong, bold, caring and creative… wanting the best for a friend and doing whatever is necessary at the time. Then life goes on and eventually I saw myself as the man on the pallet. Helpless. In need. On my back, Dependent. Unable to move. Everything our culture says we shouldn’t be. But… here’s how Jesus responded when quizzed by the Pharisees about forgiving sins… “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” (vv.22-25)
Jesus’ point? Sin paralyzes. Brokenness knocks us on our back. Life comes to a screeching halt. Forgiveness frees us. It sets us loose. God’s grace lifts the burdens which hold us down. The man accepted Jesus’s words. He got up and moved on as Luke reported… ”26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” (v. 26)
Jesus still does this. Forgives sin. So… Get up. Move on. Others will notice, too! Faith matters.
