The Paralytic (Luke 5:17-26)

On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, some proud religious law-keepers and teachers of the Law were sitting by Him. They had come from every town in the countries of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there to heal them.  Some men took a man who was not able to move his body to Jesus. He was carried on a bed. They looked for a way to take the man into the house where Jesus was.  But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood. Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 5:17-20 

A hole began to form overhead, in the roof.  We heard footsteps scampering overhead.  The Teacher paused, no longer speaking as pieces of the ceiling fell to the floor at our feet.  Even the keepers of the law, who had no sincere interest in the Master's words, were distracted by the activity overhead.

Slowly a makeshift hammock was lowered through the hole.  Someone complained about the destruction of their home.  I turned to look behind me.  The house, belonging to one of the fishermen, was crowded to a point where no one else could have entered.  Breaking through the roof had been the only option.

I looked up at the opening and saw four familiar faces.  The man being lowered to the floor was well known in our small community.  He had always been paralyzed, as far as I knew.  When I was a child I would see him in the street.  I stayed away, lest the transgressions of his parents affect me.  But my heart was bathed with sin every time I shunned the paralytic.

Jesus knelt beside the man, as his bed now lay on the dusty floor.  He saw faith, not only in the man on the hammock, but also in the hearts of his friends on the roof.

"Your sins are forgiven."

Jesus' words slowly sunk into the crowd of listeners.  A scribe to my left, with a thick black beard and darting eyes, whispered blasphemer.  Others began to question if anyone could forgive sins besides God.

"What is easier,
forgiving sins,
or healing the lame?"

The teachers of the law took to silence when the man, once paralyzed, picked up his mat and walked.  Some doubted as soon as the miracle occurred, those who cling to the world more than God.  Others offered praise to our creator for the miracle they had just witnessed.

I felt a tear run down my cheek.  At that moment I realized my sins, as many as they were, could be wiped clean.




copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr