Yesterday at church Dr. Tour shared about Jesus healing the paralytic man. Luke 5:17-26.
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
v17 says that the Pharisees and teachers of the law had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. Before this story, it is told that Jesus had just healed a Jewish leper, and so news had spread about him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were coming from all over to see if this man, Jesus, was truly the Messiah they had been waiting for.
Picture this: Jesus in a house with all these Pharisees and teachers of the law surrounding him. A house full of dignitaries, like those VIP people from Washington D.C.
And then the roof starts crumbling, and a man is lowered in the midst of all these important people.
Jesus, instead of pointing out how ridiculously rude this was, says “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
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I love how Jesus looked past the rudeness of the action and saw their hearts.
Think about the kid who took rolls of toilet paper and unrolled them to make what he claimed to be a flower arrangement for his mother.
He made a mess alright, but he did it out of good intentions. Wouldn’t you forgive that child?
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I realize how critical I am sometimes of how people choose to run things in church etc, when their intentions are nothing more than to serve the Lord.
Forgive me Father. Help me see what You see. Make me more like You.
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