Jesus. He loves you. He loves you and cares about your pain; He wants to be your Savior.

Yesterday, I shared my story of God’s faithfulness in an amazing way in my life. Today, I want to look at the story that has meant so much more to me over the years.

Luke 5:17-26

^“17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

¹⁸ And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

¹⁹ And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

²² But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

²³ Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

²⁴ But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.”

Oh, there is so much to unpack here. We are just going to scratch the surface!

Jesus loved that man. He recognized the faith of the friends. He was most concerned about the man’s spiritual condition. He forgave the man’s sins although it upset the Pharisees and showed His power. He then completely healed the man. Jesus loved Him.

• Do you see the four characters in the story who played a huge but oft forgotten part? What kind of faith did they have? What were they willing to do to help the paralytic?
• Why do you think Jesus forgave the man’s sins first and then healed him?
• Can you imagine what that man felt like? Can you imagine how his friends and family felt when he returned home?
• What was the result of this man’s healing?

Isn’t this an amazing account of how Jesus loves us fully and of how we can bring others to Jesus! Oh, how Jesus loves us! Oh, how Jesus loves you!