He Heals a Paralytic and is Criticized for Forgiving Sins

["Click here for Matthew's account"]
["Click here for Mark's account"]
["Click here for Luke's account"]

After reading these 3 accounts we see 4 things for which Jesus is criticized.

  1. Forgiving sins.
  2. Associating with sinners.
  3. His attitude toward fasting.
  4. His desecrating the Sabbath.

Jesus had been preaching for some time in the area of Galilee and now He returns to His headquarters at Capernaum. He goes into someone's home, whether Peters or someone else's, we are not told. Notice several things that happened there.

  1. Even though He was in someone's home, people still flocked to Him.
  2. Notice they came for various reasons, some to be cured of illness and some just out of curiosity.

And He preached to them all. In doing this He broke two Jewish traditions.

  1. He preached in a house instead of a Synagogue.
  2. He preached on a weekday instead of the Sabbath.

Into this house was brought a man sick with the palsy, a paralytic, unable to walk. What an interesting side light to this story is told about the four men who brought him. Think about these men for a moment:

  1. They were united in their cause.
  2. United in spite of their physical differences .
  3. United in their love for their patient and in their faith in Jesus' ability to heal him.
  4. Undeterred because the place was full and they could not get in.
  5. Ingenious in their method to get their patient into the presence of the Master.

How did people respond to this act? Did the owner sue for damage to his roof? Did the insurance company call it an "act of God" and not pay? Was Jesus disturbed at their persistence? No to all of these, Jesus saw this as an act of THEIR faith and said to the sick man, "Son, your sins are forgiven", and he was healed. His friend's faith had accomplished two things, it brought physical healing and it brought spiritual healing.

Now why would anyone get angry about this? What disturbed the Scribes? Jesus was forgiving sins, none could forgive sins but God. Anyone claiming to do so was "blaspheming" God. Their doctrine was true but their application was false. Jesus knew what they were thinking, He could have simply said to the paralitic, "you are healed", but psysical healing was secondary to the job for which He came.

Notice that the man who was unable to walk before, now walks and carries his own bed. How great was the amazement of those who saw it, "We have never saw anything like it before", and anyone who has ever witnessed the change that Jesus can bring in a persons life will say, "we have never saw anything like it before".

But they criticized Him, forgiving sins, that's blaspheming God, the thing that will ultimately cause His crucifixion.


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