Luke 5:17-26 (New International Version)
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19When 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.
20When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21The 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?”
22Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
25Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Tom Schroeder shared this Scripture at our prayer meeting yesterday and my heart was stirred, so I thought I would post it for our weekly word. What an amazing account! Jesus, with the scrutiny of the religious leaders is teaching AND the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick! I want to share a few observations and a few questions (without answers) for you to consider.
First, the questions that I’m asking God: What does it mean that the power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick? Was this power not ALWAYS with Him? And, how would one know if the power of the Lord was present in a particular way to heal or not? What would bring the power of the Lord in such a way?
Those questions alone would be a great menu for prayer . . .
But, I want to look at the faith of these individuals who became recipients of this power.
Surely there were many people in this meeting, and probably many who needed healing, and perhaps many more that got healed than just this man who is highlighted in the story. Luke, the author, surely highlights this part of the story because it wasn’t normal (then again, what WAS normal when Jesus was around??). It seems that these guys acted in particular way that made it inevitable that Jesus would answer them and give them what they wanted. They presumed upon His goodness and power.
It’s as if they said to themselves, “If we can just get right in front of Him. He WILL heal you!”
Here’s what I see as their mindset, and what we could apply to ourselves.
1. Do whatever it takes… to
2. Get as close to Jesus as possible
3. Believing that He WANTED to give them the answer
4. With no regard to what it would “cost” in terms of energy, reputation, etc.
5. Not worried about offending others (what did the owner of the house think as they were tearing off the roof?!!)
6. Any doubts about, “What if it doesn’t work”, didn’t keep them from trying.
I don’t know about you, but, I’ve been praying and seeking God to be present in such a way among us. I think these guys set forth a great template for us to follow as we seek to be people who believe AND see in faith. We must see the LIVING God at work among us. Let us seek to get as close to Jesus as possible so that His power will be present to heal . . and to save.. and deliver…. and do whatever Jesus does when He is around. 🙂
-Jessie
Jessie Still 
I also was stirred by this passage and had my own questions…it always seems like we focus on the obvious…personally I have been recently stirred to press in and ask these “other ” questions… I appreciate your comments as I was wondering those same things, also why did Jesus say to the man…”Son, your sins are forgiven” ? Is it possible that the man did not feel worthy to be healed because of all the wrong he saw in his life. He may have thought that because of all the wrong in his life he needed to DO something to “get right with God” when really he needed to JUST BELIEVE God is a good and will heal him for His glory alone. It would seem like that kind of encounter would alone push him towards “getting right with God” Love does cover a multitude of sins. Just some thoughts…