A Word for Today | Luke 5:17-26
We have been seeing the miracles of Jesus as portraits of sin and redemption, as man’s fallen condition afflicts his life and Jesus appears with compassion and power to heal. Luke 5:18 introduces a man who was paralyzed and was brought to Jesus by four friends carrying him on a mat. Jesus was teaching in a house, with unbelieving religious leaders present to assess Him. So great was the crowd that the four friends could not get the paralyzed man inside, so they went up onto the roof, pulled away the tiles and lowered him at Jesus’ feet. These four men set an enduring example of evangelism, working together and overcoming obstacles to bring a sinner into Jesus’ presence!
The paralyzed man offers a picture of man’s deformity and inability in sin. The Bible says that apart from Christ’s salvation, sinners are corrupted in nature (Rom. 3:9-12) and unable to hear and believe in Jesus (1 Cor. 2:14). And nothing has changed since the Bible was written. For all our scientific and cultural advances, mankind is no more able to solve the problem of sin, with its guilt and corruption, than it was two thousand years ago. Today’s headlines are yesterday’s issues dressed up in new clothes. As far as solving the problems of sin and man’s alienation from God, we have made no more progress than a paralytic lying on a mat.
When the man was lowered before Jesus, we can imagine the scene. As Jesus is speaking, the sounds of men on the roof are heard and then an opening is made and the paralytic is lowered down at His feet. What will Jesus do? Will He heal him? Will He rebuke them? Clearly, Jesus was delighted, because “He saw their faith” (Lk. 5:20). How can you see faith? This is a good question to ask ourselves: how do people see my faith? But Jesus, being God’s Son, can read the hearts of men and He saw their faith itself, not just the evidence. So, breaking the silence, He looked on the man and said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you” (Lk. 5:20). Your sins are forgiven! Jesus saw the man’s true need – greater even than the healing of his body – was to be forgiven before God. Hearing this, the Pharisees objected: “When Jesus said this, the scribes and Pharisees complained: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Lk. 5:21). Who indeed! Jesus answered, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’” (Lk. 5:23). To do either, one must have the power of God! Jesus then healed the man and, because he believed, he went away forgiven. Our lives are to give the same testimony as we rejoice in our forgiveness and walk in the new life that Jesus gives. So when people “see our faith,” we can tell them that Jesus not only heals but also has authority to forgive us all our sins.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Phillips