The Paralytic

Hey everyone.

Today, I contine looking at Jesus, the Savior, in Luke 5:17-26.  This is the story of Jesus healing the paralytic.  Jesus drew crowds, and people were coming from far away to hear his teaching and to see him perform miracles. Verse 17 says that they had come from all over Galilee, but also from Judea and Jerusalem for this.  People were crowded around just like they had been by the lake, when he called Peter and the others.  The men carrying the paralytic could not get to Jesus because of the crowd.  We also see that Jesus had come to the attention of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. They are present for this miracle. 

The four mat-carriers recognized that they needed to get their friend in front of Jesus. The word ἐνώπιον is used here.  It means, ‘in front of, before, in the sight of, in the presence of.”  They recognized that the best thing for their friend was to get him in the presence of Jesus. (A thought: What do we do for our friends who are in need? The best thing we can do is to get them in the presence of Jesus.  Like the song, "My Jesus, He will fix it.” Jesus can fix it. But, how do we do that? Jesus is no longer here as a physical presence.  Instead, he lives in us as the Holy Spirit.  The best thing that we can do for our friends is to reflect Jesus, and in this way, to bring them in His presence.)

The mat-carriers displayed remarkable faith.  Unable to get their friend in front of Jesus, they go up onto the roof, break through the roof and lower him down to Jesus.  Their faith leads them to considerable action.  Jesus recognizes the faith of the four friends. The faith is exhibited by the friends, but the recipient of the two-fold blessing that comes is the paralytic. Jesus gives him even more than he could have hoped for.  Not only does he heal him, but also forgives him of his sin. 

Jesus forgives the man of his sins as he lays paralyzed on the mat.  He has not performed the miracle yet.  I would assume that Jesus knew that the Pharisees would respond exactly the way that they did, and this sets Jesus up for the miracle. Of course, what the Pharisees say would be true, if they were talking to anyone else.  No one has the power to forgive sin, except God alone.  What they did not understand, (and ultimately refused to recognize,) was that they were dealing with God, here. 

Blasphemy is a charge that was taken very seriously, and it was indeed the charge against Jesus that led to his crucifixion. Darrell Bock defines blasphemy this way: “an overt defilement of the divine name, that is, abusive speech or action directed toward God.” (Bock, 483.) Someone claiming to be God or to have God’s power, would be blasphemy, unless that person actually is God. Blasphemy carried with it a death sentence. 

Jesus’ claim to have the authority to forgive sin is a bold one, but one that he backs up with a demonstration of his power.  He knows that the Pharisees and teachers of the law are questioning his claim to forgive the man’s sins, so he asks them what would be easier to say, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or ‘Get up and walk’? Only one of these things could be proven at that particular moment.  No one could actually witness the forgiveness taking place, but they would be able to witness a paralyzed man getting up and walking away. Jesus, to prove his authority, even to forgive sins, heals the man right in front of them.  

Jesus’ action will force his audience to decide about him one way or the other.  Either he is from God or he isn’t.  Either he is God or he isn’t.  Claiming to have the power to forgive sin, a claim that only God can make, then backing it up with an impossible healing, makes a pretty good case. 

Here we are talking about Jesus' authority again.  He has shown that he has the authority over demons and disease. Now, we see that he even carries an authority that belongs only to God, the authority to forgive sins.  

The man is healed.  What does the healing mean? The healing must be from God, and therefore Jesus must be from God. That is the logic that follows.  The fact that the paralyzed man immediately obeyed, got up, picked up his mat and went home, lends credence to the idea that this Jesus might actually be able to forgive sins, too. 

The crowd is amazed by what they have just seen. Luke says ἔκστασις ἔλαβεν(ekstasis elaben). In my own translation, I translated this as ‘they were utterly amazed.’  But, it could be translated as "ecstasy takes hold of them."  People were blown away by what they had just witnessed. And then they glorified God. In Luke 5, we see  Jesus’ perform incredible  miracles that lead to profound amazement in the people and to God’s glory.   

Tom