Louise Gevers

"Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, pick up your bed and go home!’" Luke 5:22-24

Luke says that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were “from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem”, and “The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:17) These elements set the tension for the drama that was to develop throughout Jesus’ ministry: the unbelief and opposition of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law to Jesus’ powerful healing of body, mind and spirit in the people He encountered, and to the authority of His teaching.

As a child I felt such wonder when I first heard the account of this miracle and visualised the men lowering their paralysed friend down through the roof to receive healing from Jesus. My first delight was in imagining how exciting it would be to be lowered into Jesus’ presence when it had seemed to be impossible to get to Him, and my second was of the ecstatic man walking away carrying his bed, miraculously healed and able to walk.

This simple, childlike understanding didn’t see the underlying issues playing out there that day - only the amazing miracle. That the Pharisees could only see that Jesus had blasphemed for telling the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, and not see that the mercy He had shown him in giving him the power to walk again because He was from God and had His Spirit, were hidden from me.

The fact that the Pharisees didn’t have the expectant faith of the others present that day is evident in how they responded to Jesus telling the man that his sins were forgiven, otherwise they would’ve rejoiced at the outcome; but clearly God’s power was present and news of Jesus’ teaching and healing would be carried back by the Pharisees and teachers of the Law when they returned. Jesus knew their harsh thoughts accusing Him of blasphemy: confirming ironically that He was God and that they were paralysed by sin.

Sin and illness are connected: when Jesus forgave the paralytic man his sin, his paralysis left him too and he was free. The faithful friends who stopped at nothing to get the paralysed man into Jesus’ presence were rewarded when Jesus, pleased to see their faith and released their friend from his paralysis. “When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, ‘Your sins are forgiven my friend.’” (Luke 5:26) The man went home praising God, as did the crowd.

Let us, too, come in faith to Jesus and He will set us free.

Prayer: Gracious Lord Jesus, please forgive my sin and take away my paralysis of heart, mind and spirit that I may glorify Your Name. Amen.