Amy C Walters

Jesus Heals a Paralytic – Luke 5:17-26

Every story has a peak, a point at which the tension builds to and is resolved. But at the peak of this story, where we expect Jesus to heal a man, he instead first forgives him. Then he heals him. Through this, Jesus demonstrates that he has the authority to forgive.

Every good story has a peak, a climax, a point that the tension builds toward until you reach some kind of resolution. In this story, we have a house packed with people who are listening to Jesus teach, and we have these friends who are desperate to get their friend who is paralyzed to Jesus. They’re looking for a way into the house and they can’t find a way in because there’s too many people inside. So, they go up onto the roof. They dig a hole in the roof through the tiles and they lower their friend down.

And they wait. What are they waiting for? What are they expecting and hoping that Jesus would do? They want him to heal their friend. That’s what we expect at the peak of the story that Jesus is going to say, “You are healed, get up and go.” 

But first, Jesus does something else. Jesus “sees their faith and says, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’” 

Wait, what?! That’s not what I’m looking for at this point of the story. I am looking for healing. As I picture this scene, I hear crickets as the people stare blankly at Jesus. 

Even the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, it says that they “began thinking to themselves, who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” They think this in their minds but they don’t say it out loud. So it’s almost silent at this point.

I think that this reveals something about my heart, that in this moment, it’s almost a bit of a letdown that Jesus forgives the man’s sins. I see the paralysis and I think, “Oh man, that’s his main problem that needs to be fixed.” But Jesus is demonstrating that no, the man’s sin problem is primary. What this man really needs most of all is forgiveness.

This reveals to me that I don’t have the right view of sin. In fact, I think we all tend to downplay the severity of our own sin. We tend to think it’s no big deal. But Jesus is showing us that it is a big deal, that sin is our primary problem. 

So Jesus deals with that problem first, forgiving the man. And this leads his audience to think, “This man is speaking blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

That second question is totally appropriate: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The answer is no one, because ultimately our sins are an offense against God. Yes, we do need to forgive one another when we sin against each other. But if I steal something from you, your neighbor can’t come and forgive me, because your neighbor wasn’t the one offended. The one who’s been offended is the one who can offer forgiveness. 

Ultimately our sins are an offense against God because they break his holy law. So only God can truly forgive sins.

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, says, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk?” 

What’s the answer to this question that Jesus poses? Which is easier? Anyone can say your sins are forgiven because there’s no visible evidence that has to go with it. There’s no way to prove whether that has really happened or not.

But if you tell someone who’s paralyzed to get up and walk, there’s going to be evidence of whether or not you have the authority to do that.

So Jesus says to the crowd, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he says to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” 

And what happens? The man does exactly that. “He gets up in front of them all, picks up what he had been lying on, and goes home praising God.” 

This is proof that Jesus can heal physically and that he has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus did things in this order on purpose, to prove his authority to forgive. 

The author Luke has been working to show us Jesus’ authority in different areas. Several stories ago, we saw how Jesus’ teaching had authority. Then we saw how Jesus, just with his words, drove a demon from a man. With his words, he healed people. So Jesus has authority over this spiritual and the physical world. Jesus has authority over nature, as he calls the disciples to them, and he fills their nets with fish. And now we see Jesus has authority to forgive.

These are things that God alone can do. And these things tell us that Jesus is God.

Our key truth for today is straight from our story: Jesus has the authority to forgive.

And this is so important to remember, because we tend to downplay our sin and forget the severity of it. We need to be reminded that our sin really is an offense toward God and separates us from him.

But Jesus has the authority to forgive. We can go to him in faith asking for that forgiveness and receive it. We can get what we truly need, that forgiveness.

And we can know that Jesus is God, because he has that power to forgive.