Luke 5:17-26
17 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.”
Who is able to forgive sins? When Joseph’s brothers seek him out to forgive them, are they not
asking for forgiveness with respect to what they did to Joseph? Jesus shows us
that he is able to forgive sins. He is able to do something more than just
speak words. He is able to renew, or restore, creation. This is better than
forgiveness, it is Life.
It is on account of sin in the world that there are
paralyzed people. You want to cure cancer, remove sin from creation. (Pray come
Lord Jesus come quickly.) Jesus does the one thing everyone needs to hear, he
pronounces forgiveness. He tells us our sins are forgiven.
He also teaches us that because of his sacrifice for all
our sins, we can pronounce this to one another. Forgiveness is not something
that is hard to find or requires great sacrifice (well?). The sacrifice has
already been made. Forgiveness is a free gift God has given to you. Therefore,
let us pray come Lord Jesus come quickly so that all of creation will be cured
(not just one paralyzed man).
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