On Line Bible Study - for the Week April 5-11, 2010

Lesson 434

Luke 5: ¹⁷One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹When 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.

²⁰When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

²¹The 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?"

²²Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ²⁴But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ²⁵Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

This is the first time Luke mentions "pharisees" in the Gospel. As noted in Luke 5:15, the word about Jesus was spreading. The religious leaders were beginning to take notice. And notice the phrase at the end of verse 17 - the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. This story of healing will move from gifted teacher to power to heal to authority to forgive sins. Darrell Bock points out that something is happening in the gospel that deserves particular attention: Jesus is being presented in a way that requires a decision on our part - is he "ultimately a teacher, a prophet, a Messiah, or someone much greater?"

The scene is one that is presented by Matthew and Mark as well. Houses in Palestine often had two stories, with the roof serving as the second story, not unlike a roof-top patio. An external set of stairs led to this portion of the house. With the crowds watching, we might wonder why they did not simply part to let the crippled man in. The point of this part of the story is to indicate the extremes to which the paralyzed man's friends were willing to go to bring him to Jesus.

I'm tempted to digress for a moment and consider the stories we hear, one most recently in Queens, NY, where crowds watch or pass by as a person in distress languishes or bleeds to death in front of them. The point in this gospel story is not the apathy of the crowd, but the determination of the man's friends. Still, the "crowd" tends to concern itself with its own issues, often becoming blind to the needs of our neighbors.

The story does intensify the question: What did the friends - and the paralyzed man - expect Jesus to do? Jesus was teaching. Their presence was an intrusion in several ways - not just in terms of the effort they made to come through the roof, but also in terms of their expectations of Jesus - from "teacher" to "healer".

Jesus notes their faith (another "first time" in this gospel - the first time faith is mentioned). And now the story takes the twist - from healing, to forgiveness. Forgiveness? But only God can forgive sins!

We pay heed to great teachers. We are grateful for those among us who can heal us. But what do we do with one who pronounces absolution over us? How do we characterize one who tells us they have the authority to forgive sins? The final line in this section is a mouthful; remarkable things indeed ... and they don't yet know the half of it.