Luke 5:15-26

     Although Jesus clearly tried at times to restrain people from sharing the news of the way he had healed them, the news spread anyway. Luke told how people came in great crowds to seek healing. In 5:16, Luke mentions, almost in passing, that he would go away to lonely places so that he could pray.
     This is not the only place where we know that Jesus sought solitude for prayer and rest. It is a powerful expression of his humanness. He needed time to himself for rest and renewal just as evhe was eryone does. Actually taking that time is an expression of his wisdom. It can also be called stewardship. To act selflessly does not require stupidity nor the inability to take time for rest and spiritual revitalization. Jesus made sure he sought the source of strength so that he could give fully to the people who needed him.
      After this, Luke’s telling of Jesus’ story shifts the scene from lonely places to a town, inside a home. His reputation has spread enough that teachers and Pharisees from many areas have come to talk with him. As he talked with them, a group of men came carrying a friend who was paralyzed. They couldn’t get into the house where Jesus was because the crowd was too much and, apparently, no one was making way for them and the need of their friend. Undaunted, the friends made their way up on the roof, lifted tiles out of the way, probably digging a hole in the roof. Then they left their friends down into the room in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw the faith of the friends, he said to the man that his sins were forgiven.
     This was a surprise to the people in the room, perhaps also to the man and his friends. After all, they’d come for their friend to be healed, not forgiven. Of course, some people believed that illness or other misfortune was due to sin. Even today, there are strands of thought that tend to interpret problems as the fault of the sufferer. This wasn’t the theology of Jesus, who once said that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
      The words of Jesus provoked a controversy and an important discussion with the teachers and Pharisees concerning the authority of Jesus. Yet, Jesus surely was not saying this to the man to begin a theological discussion. He cared too much about people to simply use them. He must have recognized a need in the paralyzed man for forgiveness. The fact that he was unfortunate enough to be paralyzed did not make him sinless. (Some theologians have interpreted statements such as “blessed are the poor” as though this means the poor or suffering is equitable with righteousness. What it does indicate is God’s concern for those who are powerless. Israelite society was always and consistently called to give aid to the same, summed up in the widow, the orphan and the sojourner in the land. )
     We don’t know what the sins were that the paralyzed man might have on his conscience. There is no particular suggestion here that his paralysis could be the result of it.  Nor is there a suggestion that could necessarily be intepreted that it was a psychosomatic condition.
      Any further healing of the man is delayed by the ire of many who were listening. Only God has the authority to forgive sins, they mutter to each other. Jesus was a master of human psychology and clearly understood the looks on their faces, their body language and the odd word he may have overheard. He posed a simple question. Was it easier to say ‘sins are forgiven’ or to heal of man of his paralysis? After all, words are easy. A charlatan could speak of forgiveness and who could prove him wrong?  But if a man who is paralyzed is told to get up and walk, then it demonstrates the Son of Man’s authority to forgive. Then Jesus told the man that he should rise, pick up his bed and walk.
      This was exactly what the man did, praising God for all he was worth. Everyone who saw it was equally impressed and praised God for what they had seen.
       In the excitement of the healing and the question of authority for forgiveness, the presence of the friends must not be forgotten. They came, carrying their friend, willing to go to any lengths in order to help him. While Jesus did not always require faith as a requirement to healing, in this case we’re told that the faith of the friends was important to Jesus.


In what way could you carry friends and family to Jesus?


Could your faith create movement for good in the world?


What kind of healing would true understanding of forgiveness make in your life?