Friday, March 2, 2007

Luke 5:17-26 (The Message)
17One day as he [Jesus] was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him.
18-20Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn't find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, "Friend, I forgive your sins."
21That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. "Who does he think he is? That's blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins."
22-26Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, "Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say 'I forgive your sins,' or to say 'Get up and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . ." He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: "Get up. Take your bedroll and go home." Without a moment's hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, "We've never seen anything like that!"


Why did Jesus forgive the sins of the paralyzed man? In this passage we read that Jesus was “impressed” by the “bold belief” of the man’s friends. These friends must have believed Jesus could heal their friend if they could just get him to Jesus. So they went to the trouble of carrying him on a stretcher to the house where Jesus was, carrying the man on the stretcher to the roof, tearing away part of the roof, and then lowering the man on the stretcher to the floor in front of Jesus. That was a lot of work! It was “bold belief”!

There is another word for “bold belief”. It’s faith. The friends had faith in Jesus, that’s why they were so determined to bring the paralyzed man to him. They knew Jesus could heal him. What they probably did not expect though was what Jesus did first. Jesus said to the man “Friend, I forgive your sins.”

This forgiving of sins created a stir. The religious experts who were present got upset. They knew that no one could forgive sins but God alone. It must not have occurred to them that Jesus could be God.

Jesus called them out on it. He then healed the paralyzed man. He told him to get up and walk and the man did. By this act, Jesus demonstrated his power to heal. By showing that he had this kind of healing power Jesus was also showing that he had the power to forgive sins.
The people must have been amazed. And whether or not they realized it, they were standing in God’s presence. The man Jesus healed and the people who watched it happen gave glory to God.

What would you do if you were standing in God’s presence? Would you question his identity? Or would you give him glory?