Jesus heals a paralysed man Luke 5:17-26
Imaginative Contemplation
Among the crowd where Jesus was teaching, there were some Pharisees and scribes from all the neighbouring districts. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. Some men arrived at the house, carrying a paralysed man on a mat. They could not get into the house because of the crowd, so they went up onto the roof, took off some of the tiles and let the man down through the hole until he landed on the floor right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, ‘Your sins are forgiven you, my friend.’ The teachers of the law muttered among themselves ‘Who is this man who speaks against God in this way? No man can forgive sins. God alone can!’
Jesus knew what they were saying, and so he said to them, ‘Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say “Get up and walk?” I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, pick up your mat and go home.’ At once the man got up, picked up his mat and went home, praising God. They were all completely amazed. Full of fear, they praised God, saying, ‘What marvellous things we have seen today!’
Enter into the scene
We had heard that Jesus was in our town, and like many others, we decided to take our crippled friend to see if he could be healed. I had already heard this amazing man speak. He was so concerned for the ordinary people, giving us hope that God really is our Father and loves us. And he is a brave man! The powers that be would like to silence him, even kill him to get rid of him. Jesus certainly is not bound by rigid rules, but puts the love of God and the love of ordinary people before all else. That doesn’t suit our leaders! Jesus certainly is a brave man!
I came away from the meeting with him feeling so different! I felt valued. I did not have to be afraid of God. And as long as I try to help other people, I know that I am doing what he wants me to do.
When my friends and I heard that Jesus was coming our way, we were excited and were anxious to be in the crowd. Joel then suggested that we four friends would take Thomas with us. Now, Thomas is an old friend. Some years ago, he had a bad accident and the injury to his back meant that he became a quadriplegic. That accident changed his life. From being full of fun and a devout Jew, he became bitter, turning away from any form of devotion to a god whom he blamed for his condition. We were saddened by his disability, but even more saddened by his attitude. We tried to lift his spirits, but we would come away drained and disheartened.
Joel said he felt that God was calling him to help Thomas in a special way. We would take Thomas to Jesus, carrying him into the house where Jesus was teaching. We prayed fervently that Thomas would accept our offer. To our delight and surprise, he did! ‘I’ve got nothing to lose,’ he said, and then became silent. We prayed that he would not change his mind.
My wife Rachel went ahead to see how we could best enter the house where Jesus was already beginning to heal the crowd of people that had travelled so far to have Jesus place his healing hands on them. She came back to tell us that there was no way we could break through the crowd. We were so disappointed! We had come so far, carrying our overweight patient for ages!
Joel, always the optimist, said, ‘Well, there is a way we can get in there. Let’s take Thomas onto the roof. Thank goodness these houses are built with flat roofs so that people can come up onto the roof of the building to enjoy the cool of the evening. We can remove some of the large tiles and let Thomas down through the roof. We’ll try not to drop you, Thomas! Are you willing to try?’ And to our delight and surprise, Thomas agreed.
Getting up the outside stairs was not easy. Nor was it that simple to loosen the tiles. But we managed! Slowly we began to lower the mat by the ropes on the four corners of the mat. We noticed that where there had been loud noise before, suddenly the crowd became silent, some scrambling to the door for fear of what was to come. We could hear the people moving aside until there was a space big enough for the mat to land safely on the floor. And there was Jesus, calmly standing there waiting for the dust to settle. Jesus squatted down beside Thomas, took his hand and said firmly yet gently, ‘Your sins are forgiven you, my friend!’ We were still up on the roof, but the words lifted our spirits in a way it is impossible to describe. And we sensed that all Thomas’s anguish, and despair had melted away.
Down in the room, there was a growing grumble from some of the crowd. One of my friends said, ‘That rumbling is coming from our Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is threatening their authority. He’d better watch out!’
The leaders came towards Jesus. ‘This is blasphemous! What right have you to forgive sin? Who do you think you are?’
Jesus stood up and calmly faced his adversaries. ‘Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that God is at work here, I will cure this man in your presence.’ Jesus turned around, bent down to take Thomas’s hand and said, ‘I tell you, get up, pick up your mat and go home!’
There was a hush in the room. Then we heard Thomas get up, roll up his mat and heave it onto his shoulders and leave the room, the crowd parting to let him go.
We hurried down from the roof and ran to the front of the house where we met Thomas, hugging him and each other in excitement and joy.
For further reflection
Discuss with Jesus the following points:
· How do I react when my plans don’t work out as I had hoped?
· Am I prepared to help people in need?
· When things seem impossible, am I ready to listen to people’s suggestions for a resolution to the problem?
· Can I make room for people in need?
· Am I quick to judge others?
Prayer
Jesus came to show us what God is like. Lord, teach me to be slow to anger, quick to forgive. Amen.