Jesus Heals a Paralytic

The gospel of Luke records in chapter 5 the man brought to Jesus in a bed. The Lord Jesus Christ in His ministry here on earth performed many miracles, signs and works before the children of Israel. He, of course, was faced with the opposition from the Pharisees and many other religious leaders of Jerusalem. Today we are going to look at one of those miracles the Lord did in their sight.

Luke 5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Here the scene is set, the Lord Jesus is teaching and the “Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by” these men from the surrounding towns of Galilee, Judaea and Jerusalem and were well familiar with the Law of Moses. They’re concerned was not with the Lord’s teaching but with trying to figure out ways to trap Him. But concerning the people that were there fortunately for them “the power of the Lord was present to heal them”.

Luke 5:18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

The men spoken of here had great faith that the Lord would be able to heal this man bedridden with the palsy. They sought to lay him down before Christ and it’s at this point that their faith was put to the test.

Luke 5:19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

Faith in action, how these men didn’t allow any obstacle to come in their way; just as we shouldn’t allow anything to come between us and the Lord. The house would have been so packed with people, one can only imagine the enormous crowd blocking the way to the Lord. But these men didn’t allow that to stop them they literary climb up on the roof and let the man down by an opening. Nothing was going to stop these men from standing before the Lord.

Luke 5:20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Christ Jesus affirms their faith, and here’s where we need to pay attention the most, the Lord Jesus says “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee”. A tremendous statement! A mere man cannot say this neither can an angel make such a statement. The Pharisees and doctors are among the people and hear this and the question was put forth.

Luke 5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

“Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” indeed who can forgive sins but God and that’s the takeaway. The Lord Jesus is God because He did forgive sins, no other person can forgive only the Creator Himself can do such a miracle. Every one of us who have had our sins forgiven has heard these words (not audibly), but all believers were told those wonderful words which continues to ring in our ears and souls “thy sins are forgiven thee“. God’s word cannot be more clear that Jesus Christ is God just as the scriptures teach. We have a Creator who loves His creation so much that He wants a personal relationship with them.

And while that relationship was ruined because of the stain of sin, the Lord of Glory knew the only way to repair that broken fellowship was to bring us back to Himself by dying on the cross for wretched sinners. That fellowship is only made possible by the precious blood that was shed on Calvary for those who would receive the free gift of salvation. Indeed who can forgive sins but God alone?! Praise God that He did!!

You can also read the gospel of Mark 2:17 for the same account concerning the man sick of the palsy.