A man who could not walk

Everyone wanted to hear this amazing,  young man. Well, there was a man who was totally paralysed. He could not walk. It seems he had been like this for a long time. But he had four friends – good friends – and they were determined to get him to meet Jesus, the teacher-healer.

Difficult to get near

But it was impossible to get anywhere near. Then one of them had a clever idea. ‘Let’s use the outside stairs of the house and carry him to the roof.’

They did just that. Ordinary houses often had a roof of branches and dried mud, so it wasn’t too difficult to make a big hole. Just imagine what the crowd in the house were thinking as bits of dried mud crashed down on them!

The friends got it just right. There was Jesus below them, and they let their friend down – on a sort of bed they’d made – right in front of him. What would he do? As so often before, Jesus amazed them. It was perfectly obvious what the man’s need was: healing for his legs. But Jesus did not deal immediately with that. He knew about something from the man’s past that nobody else could know. And he said, ‘Son, you are free from your sin.’

Special Saviour

The religious leaders there were furious. ‘Blasphemy!’ they cried, ‘Who can forgive guilt except God alone?’ Exactly. And Jesus wanted them to understand the real meaning of what they had said. He was God’s special Saviour who had come to announce God’s forgiveness. So he asked them: ‘Which is easier – to say “You are free from your sins.” or to say to this helpless, paralysed man, “Stand up. Take up your mat and walk.”?’

Jesus healed the man then and there. The man picked up his mat. And all the people who had been too crowded together to let him in, now separated easily enough to let him out!

We have never seen anything like this

People were absolutely amazed. ‘We have never seen anything like this,’ they said. So now we have had two examples that show Jesus is God’s special representative. He knows where all the fish are. And he not only forgives a man’s hidden guilt but also puts him on his feet again. What do you think about that? Who do you think Jesus is?