Day 13 of 49
Jesus Forgives Sin
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,
19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.
20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
Lk 5:17–26.
A favorite Sunday school story, five friends, four take it upon themselves to aid their paralyzed friend reach Jesus. They overcame all obstacles, and finally thinking outside the box, they removed tiles from the roof and placed their friend right in front of Jesus.
Crowds followed Jesus wherever he went. When he went home, the crowds didn’t stop…they filled whatever house he visited to overflowing. In this narrative, Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every village in Galilee and Judea as well as from Jerusalem.
Jesus gained a lot of attention from his healings, which gave credence to his teaching. The leaders listened to him to see if he taught error. They knew he had not gone through the proper training to become a teacher, and I can see where they wanted to make sure he was scripturally sound.
In the first century, the teachers and leaders sat. Chosen disciples may sit at the feet of their master to learn, but most who listened stood to be taught, whereas today the teacher stands and the students sit.
This adds a new twist to the visit of Jesus to the temple: “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Lk 2:46).
Up to this point, Jesus’ contention with the Pharisees dealt with keeping the Sabbath. Jesus healed, the Pharisees considered healing to be work and therefore, forbidden on the Sabbath. Now, Jesus would add a new point of contention, his deity.
In that day, paralysis, blindness, deafness, barrenness…all were believed to be consequences of sin, either the parents or the afflicted. A righteous person received blessing from God, not affliction. This is sometimes a hard concept for us even today.
So Jesus told the young man that his sins were forgiven. Because his sins were forgiven, he would be able to walk.
All the leaders took offense at his statement, “Only God can forgive sins.” This is still early in Jesus’ ministry. Red flags went off in their minds, had Jesus crossed the line? We know that Jesus is the Son of God, they were still learning.
Jesus brought up a good point. They had witnessed and heard about multiple healings by Jesus, many fulfilling the prophesies from Isaiah. As teachers of the Law, they should have recognized him by his signs.
They believed the illnesses were caused by sin, therefore, if Jesus healed the afflictions, logically it follows that the healed people had been forgiven.
By connecting the healing to the forgiveness, Jesus let the people know his identity, the One who was to come. And he could not only heal, he had authority from God to forgive sins on earth. The people glorified God for working in their midst.
Some of the leaders also believed, but some…they didn’t want to lose what they had and so denied what Jesus claimed.
Lord, thank you for the forgiveness you give us through your mercy. Thank you for paying the penalty for every last one of our sins with your blood on the cross. Help us to continue to turn away from sin and to walk in your way.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Ps 32:1–5.
TRICIA LATHROP 