Luke 5:17-26
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When 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.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The 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?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Early in his ministry, Jesus astounded the Pharisees and teachers of the law by physically healing the paralytic and forgiving his sins. This is why he became man, to save us from our sins and rectify or relationship with the Father which had been broken by the sin of Adam and Eve.Serious and fundamental business! As we prepare for the birth of Jesus during Advent, we are urged to go to confession and have our sins forgiven. The Evil One will cunningly try to sidetrack us from this, but this account reminds us that one of the primary purposes of the coming of Jesus was the forgiveness of our sins. Let's take advantage of his power and desire to forgive us.
Dear Jesus, you came to forgive our sins. Help me to seek and ask your pardon. Amen.
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