The ministry of Jesus attracted not only the sick, the demon possessed, but also the Pharisees and the teachers of the Jewish law who came from near and far to check out and scrutinize this teacher, preacher, and healer named Jesus. This story shows one type of disagreement concerning the forgiveness of sins. Up to this point in his gospel, Luke relates some of the activities of Jesus that generate great popularity however, as Jesus’ ministry grew in popularity, inevitably there were controversies with some of the religious people at the time. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” (TNIV) Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up & walk’? 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.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 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?” When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 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. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:30 - 22.4MB) Luke 5:17-26, Saved By The Faith of a Friend Today friends still play an indispensable role in bringing hurting and broken people to Jesus. We can be glad that Jesus is still putting lives back together through his ability to forgive our sins & heal us. It’s also about the faith of friends who help bring a buddy from the captivity of sin to the freedom of forgiveness. The Gospel passage for this morning is about how Jesus puts a man’s life back together. One of the reasons why Luke’s Gospel is so appealing is that we see Jesus repeatedly forgiving hurting, guilt-ridden people healing broken people and confronting all people with the demands of living in and proclaiming God’s kingdom. People who have been physically sick, mentally impaired, socially branded, enslaved by sin – all have their lives put together and made whole by Jesus. One of the truths we see over and over again in the Gospel of Luke is that Jesus can put people’s lives back together.
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