Luke 5:17-26
From the
beginning, those who came into contact with Jesus came away with different
responses. It is certainly true in this
story so popular with Sunday school children.
It is a story within the story. Forgive me but we’re familiar with the one
story of how a paralytic man went through the roof to be helped by Jesus, but
don’t forget the story of how some religious people also “went through the roof”
that day. Jesus’ clash with the teachers
of the law is a further step in Luke’s disclosure of Jesus’ identity.
Some of the most
appealing characters in the Bible have remained anonymous. Most people who read this story are touched
by the efforts of the friends to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus. Luke reveals something of himself in the term
used for the man’s condition. Mark used
the general term “paralytic” while Luke used a more technical term that
literally means “palsied.” It is another
hint that Luke is a physician as many in the early church believed.
With our
imagination we can see the four friends carry their friend through the city
streets to the place where Jesus was teaching and healing. It was probably Peter’s house and it became a
center of activity and a venue for God’s power to be demonstrated. That power (dunamis) was great; in
fact, we get the word dynamite from it.
The term dunamis even becomes a synonym for “miracle.” So, Luke sees the miracles of Jesus as
explosive expressions of God’s power.
This power was so remarkably present in Jesus that the hope of
experiencing a miracle or witnessing one brought great crowds to
Capernaum. The excitement was
understandable; for the sick it was the hope of getting better, for the
onlookers, it was the hope of seeing something they would talk about for years
to come.
But those very
crowds threatened to undo the very plans the four friends had made. We can sense their dismay when they found
there was no way to get there friend though the crowd. Now, imagine them huddling as they
brainstormed over the problem. Maybe one
of them said, “You know, I just remembered something. My brother has a table in his house that is
too big to go through the door. Do you
know how we got it in?” In any case, we
find ourselves inwardly cheering as they carefully climbed the outside stairs
walked out on the roof and began breaking through. That done, they slowly lowered their friend
down to Jesus. (No, I don’t know where
they got the ropes but, if this was Peter’s house, the fisherman may have had
rope readily available.)
It’s likely the
people in the room below were aware of something going on above them for
several minutes. When the friends
finally lowered the stretcher into the room and it became obvious they wanted
Jesus to heal the palsied man. Luke
tells us something important. He says, “Jesus
saw their faith.” That faith had
prompted them to seek out the famous teacher and see what he could do. They all had faith. The helpful friends had the kind to faith
that caused them to expend the effort to bring their friend; the paralyzed man
had the faith that made him willing to appear completely helpless before crowds
that regularly gathered around Jesus.
Having said that,
I do want to focus on the man’s friends because they exhibit some
characteristics we would do well to copy.
They possessed qualities we need in our churches.
They had a spirit
of compassion.
Whatever had
caused their friend’s paralysis, whether it was a lifelong condition that had
grown progressively worse so he could now no longer move or whether it had come
on him suddenly, they cared about him.
They never said, “You must have done something to deserve this.” No, they didn’t blame, they rolled up their
sleeves (or girded their loins) and got busy helping.
We’re not told
this but we can imagine that before Jesus came on the scene they did what they
could for their friend. Perhaps they
made sure there was food and water available to him. If he had no immediate family, they may have
helped with other needs. We don’t know
but the evidence is they cared. They saw
his helplessness and they cared.
As Jesus’ fame
spread, no doubt the friends heard of him.
Perhaps they discussed it and thought Jesus might be able to help. Now, remember, a blind man could grope his
way to Christ. A deaf person could use
his good eyes to get to Jesus. A leper
could stand at a distance and shout at Jesus as he passed by. But his man simply could not move. Unless someone showed him pity, he would
never reach Jesus.
All around us
there are people who need to get to Jesus but they can’t. They are paralyzed by fear because when they
approached the church before they were greeted with judgment not
compassion. They are paralyzed by doubt
because they have been infused with the skepticism of a secular age. They are paralyzed by shame because they are
convinced they are too far gone for even Jesus.
These folks need
to meet Christians with a spirit of compassion, Christians who will invest
themselves in those who seem to be such unlikely candidates for the church.
They had a spirit
of cooperation.
Can you imagine
the sideshow it would have been if these friends had not cooperated? The paralytic man was on a stretcher. One person might have been able to pull it
like a travois but it would have been a bumpy ride. Two might have been able to carry him but
perhaps his weight made that difficult.
Besides with four carriers each would have had one hand free to deal
with the crowds and other obstacles.
But what if those four didn’t cooperate?
Suppose three had gone one way and the fourth had gone another. Surely the paralytic man would have been
unceremoniously dumped on the ground.
Without cooperation they would have never been able to bring the poor
man to Jesus.
It is equally
impossible for the church to do its task without a spirit of cooperation. Several years ago, Pat and I were driving
through northern Arkansas when we came to the tiny community of Opposition. There was a sign as we entered the town that
pointed to the Opposition Church of Christ.
I thought that was amusing until I realized there was probably a First
Baptist Church of Opposition. I wonder
how many churches are imbued with the spirit of opposition.
If we would reach
our world with the gospel we will need to cooperate. But I worry if we’re going to ever be able to
cooperate like those four friends of the paralytic man. When I talk with fellow pastors I still hear
the reluctance to celebrate the success of non-Baptists who are reaching those
we seem unable to reach.
We need to
develop a spirit of cooperation. God
help us if we don’t.
They had a spirit
of commitment.
We don’t know how
far this paralyzed man lived from Capernaum.
It may have been his hometown; he may have lived miles away. In any case, his four friends were committed
to bring him to Jesus. So, no matter how
hot the sun or long the road, they stayed on task—bringing their friend to
Jesus.
When they saw the
crowd and realized they couldn’t get through, did they quit? No, they overcame the obstacles.
We need that kind
of commitment. Yet, I fear we are
tempted to quit when we face obstacles.
We want to stop when we face ridicule, criticism, and scorn. Let’s stay committed.
They had a spirit
of creativity.
When plan-A
failed, it didn’t take them too long to get to plan-B. If they couldn’t go through the door, they
would go through the roof. Sure, it
would be dusty work. They would have to
repair the roof, whether their friend was helped or not. But they would get their friend to Jesus.
If we are going
to reach our culture we will need imagination and inventiveness. What worked fifty years ago may not work
now. Some of us have a hard time
accepting that. The funny thing is what
worked fifty years ago was probably new and there were people complaining, “We
never did it that way.”
Some Christian
leaders are blessed with imagination that sees new ways to do things. Often, they have to move ahead amid in the
face of opposition. Paul Rader, in the
1920s, saw the potential of radio for carrying the gospel so he began preaching
from a station that belonged to Moody Bible Institute. Eventually, he became the nation’s first
nationally known radio evangelist.
Just before her death in 1944 Aimee Semple
McPherson was granted a license for a television station, the first woman to
receive one. She had already been the
first woman to own her own radio station.
Her goal was to reach more people.
In the mid-1940s,
a young pastor in Illinois realized the name of his church was probably keeping
some people from attending. It had the
word “Baptist” in the name. So, he
persuaded the board to change the name of the church so something more inviting
and inclusive the Village Church. The
church began to attract more people.
That was a new idea back then, but it’s done all the time now. By the way, the young pastor’s name was
William Franklin Graham. Most people
called him Billy.
Graham would go
on to make feature length films to tell the story of the gospel’s impact on the
lives of real people. It hadn’t been
done before.
The church needs
to become more creative in telling the old, old story… of Jesus and his love.” But we won’t if those of us with salt and
pepper hair (or cinnamon and sugar hair) won’t let our young people have a
voice in our churches.
We can learn a
lot from those four friends. I’d like to stop here but these four friends weren’t
the only ones there that day. Nor were
they the only ones who “went through the roof.”
Luke invites us
to compare these two groups. The
paralytic and his friends came filed with faith; the other group came filled
with skepticism. The paralytic and his
friends had heard good things about Jesus and rejoiced; the other group had
heard good things about Jesus and scoffed.
The paralytic and his friends saw Jesus as a reason for hope; the other
group saw Jesus as competition.
Luke tells us
that this other group consisted of “Pharisees and teachers of the law…from
every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.” These were the religious elite. What they didn’t know about Jewish faith wasn’t
worth knowing. Besides anything you
claimed to know about the Jewish faith that they didn’t know was probably some
new heresy anyway. This group was there
to evaluate Jesus.
The Pharisees and
the teachers were very influential in Jewish life. Their estimate of Jesus would be very
persuasive for some people, at least for those who had never actually heard
Jesus.
The Pharisees
(some of whom were also teachers of the law) had earned their influence by
strict living and careful study of the law.
This, was true even though some were hypocrites; some, but not all. Still, the group had some problems.
The Pharisees had
emerged a few centuries before as a group dedicated to purifying Judaism which
had become corrupt through its association with outside culture. But, as often happens with such puritan
groups, its members began to think they were a cut above the ordinary
Jews. It led to a spirit of arrogance
and disdain.
When they joined
cause with the teachers of the law (the scribes) other p attitudes
emerged. These attitudes are those
common to all fundamentalist groups, whether they are made up of those on the
right or on the left.
Their problem was
not that they believed they were right, but that they believed they couldn’t be
wrong. Because they were so committed to
the Scripture, they were right about many things. Indeed, God alone can forgive sin. The fact they were right about some things
led to the conviction they were right about everything.
Let’s get back to
the group of Pharisees and teachers of the law that was at Capernaum that
day. Luke carefully points out that they
came from all over Galilee and Judea. He
specially mentions that some were from Jerusalem. It was as if the locals couldn’t handle the situation
so they called in the FBI or Scotland Yard.
Maybe there were representatives from Nazareth in the group and they had
told the embarrassing story of how Jesus had eluded them when they had tried to
be rid of him.
In any case, they
were there as Jesus taught in that house. They were listening to every word,
not for the improvement of their souls, but so they could pounce on him the
moment he said something out of line.
That occasion
came when a paralyzed man came down through a hole torn in the roof by his
enthusiastic friends.
As the paralyzed man lay on his stretcher,
hoping that Jesus would heal him, he may have tried to imagine what Jesus would
say. He probably expected something
like, “Get up right now, be healed.”
But that wasn’t what he heard.
No, Jesus said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”
Just why did
Jesus say that? Was the man’s condition
related to some sin? As a Jew, the
paralytic would have known he was a sinner.
Perhaps he never made it to the temple to make sacrifices but we can
hope someone went on his behalf. Still,
I don’t think sin caused his condition.
Actually, I think
Jesus was provoking his critics. He knew
his words would stir them up and he would have an opportunity to make a further
disclosure about himself. Sure enough
behind the shocked expressions on their faces, Jesus perceived what they were
thinking. They thought he was being
blasphemous, even though what he said did not technically fit the definition of
blasphemy; they were incensed that he was taking on a right that was God’s
alone. A prophet or priest might say, “Because
you have sacrificed or because you have repented, God has forgiven you.” But, in their eyes at least, Jesus was no
prophet or priest. Besides that isn’t
what he said. He spoke as if he were
actually doing the forgiving.
F. F. Bruce says,
It was the note of authority in Jesus’ voice as he
pronounced forgiveness that gave chief offense to them: he imposed no
conditions, called for no amendment of life, but spoke as though his bare word
ensured the divine pardon. He was really arrogating to himself the prerogative
of God, they thought.[1]
What Jesus says
next has always intrigued me. Luke puts
it this way, “When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why
are you raising objections within yourselves?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up
and walk’?” (Luke 5:23-24)
Let’s be
honest. It’s easier to say, “Your sins
are forgiven.” You don’t have to show
any tangible proof of that. If someone
objects you can point out that forgiveness occurs in the spiritual realm; it’s
real but it’s not something you can actually see. Of course, any charlatan can say, “Your sins
are forgiven.” And that charlatan can
say you are unspiritual if you ask for proof.
But, saying
something like, “Stand up and walk,” to a paralyzed man is a different
matter. That’s a test. If the man gets up, you’ve got the crowd’s
attention. If he stays on that
stretcher, you’re proven to be a fraud and you’d better be ready with the
ecclesiastical two-step if you’re going to avoid the tar and feathers.
Now, remember
something, when Jesus asked that crucial question, the poor paralytic was still
lying there. But not for much
longer. In fact, it may have been for
only what a scriptwriter might call a dramatic pause. Again Jesus speaks: “But now you will see that the Son of Man has
the right to forgive sins here on earth.”
Then speaking to the paralyzed man, he said, “Get up! Pick up your mat
and walk home.”
Things start happening
pretty quickly at this point, so the crowd might have missed the significance
of what Jesus said. You can be sure the
Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t.
Jesus had referred to himself as “the Son of Man.” Sometimes that term was used in the Old
Testament to refer to one who was a representative of humanity. But Jesus’ critics knew it was used other
ways. They knew that term, used in
Daniel and by later Jewish writers, referred to a figure with divine
authority. In fact, some believe “the
Son of Man” had an unprecedented relationship with God and may have been
divine. Some believed “Son of Man” was a
synonym for the Messiah. However they
defined the term, Jesus’ critics would have heard him claiming to be in the
vanguard of the Messianic age. Though
the Son of Man was often thought to be the agent of God’s judgment in the
Messianic age, Jesus made it clear that he also had come to forgive.
Jesus told the
man to pick up his mat and walk, and the man did just that. That miracle may not have proven Jesus was
the Messiah, but it let his critics know they couldn’t explain him away as just
a very clever peasant.
And, as the
former paralytic walked away, he gave praise to God. At the same time, the crowd went wild. Luke says, “Then astonishment seized them
all, and they glorified God. They were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen
incredible things today.’” Robertson
says the language suggests they were almost beside themselves.
Notice
something. Jesus’ critics thought he had
dishonored God. In fact, he inspired the
great crowd to give glory to God. Their
stubborn disbelief dishonored God.
Conclusion: Let me end with two very obvious points. They are both in this story.
First, Jesus
forgives sin.
Second, we do
those crippled by sin a great favor when we bring them to Jesus.
[1] Kaiser, W. C., Jr., Davids, P. H., Bruce, F.
F., & Brauch, M. T. (1996). Hard sayings of the Bible (409). Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity.
