Oh, the gospel of Luke is so rich. Walking through Jesus’ time on earth is amazing.

Today’s passage has special personal meaning for me and will be a little longer than normal. (This is actually an adaptation of a paper I wrote for a course to assist those who are suffering.)

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.”

This account of Jesus’ healing the man with a palsy after his four friends brought him to Jesus has been especially personal and poignant to me for the past thirty years. It was thirty years ago that my parents traveled from our home in Michigan to my college in Florida to take me to a specialist in Texas. No one had hope that I would return alive as I had lost the ability to control my movements. My parents had a permit to return to Michigan with my body. One week later we returned to the college infirmary where I walked unaided to the door and rang the doorbell, surprising the worker who answered the bell. While I had a long road to recovery, God had healed me. This experience made me wonder what the man in this passage’s family thought when he returned walking and whole after meeting Jesus.

Luke summarizes in this passage the love and power of Jesus as well as the love and faith of the man’s friends. There is so much packed into these few verses that give us a clear view of a proper perspective of suffering and Jesus’ view of suffering.

The stage is set as very important men were gathered together from all different parts of Judea, Jerusalem and Galilee listening to Jesus speak. There were both Pharisees and teachers of the law. These men would have known the Scriptures well. They should have known the power of God, but the narrative shows that they did not, or did not believe in Jesus. Verse 17 goes on to say that Jesus had the power to heal on Him.

The teaching was about to be interrupted. In Mark’s account of this story in Mark 2:1-12, Mark indicates that there were four friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus. There were so many people gathered around that they could not get to Jesus. However, this did not stop the friends. 

In Spurgeon’s commentary of this passage, he shows how some people must be brought to Christ by a group effort, not by just one person or a sermon. It takes working together and praying for the person. He goes on to say that we have responsibility for those around us and must give all together to bring them to Christ. You see this passion in these friends as they went to the roof, made a hole, and lowered the man down to see Jesus. These friends knew of Jesus’ power and had faith that He could heal their friend. They were passionate about having Him be healed and did not let roadblocks stop them. This is a lesson for us today. We, the church, need to be reaching out to the suffering and working together to bring them to Jesus, to help them grow in Him and then serve with them.

Jesus saw their faith and immediately told the man that his sins were forgiven. This statement upset the Pharisees as they saw His statement as blasphemy, making Himself as God for only God can forgive sins. Jesus knows their thoughts and asks why they are questioning. (Remember, these were supposedly men of God.) He goes on to ask them which is easier, forgiving sins or healing someone. 

To show them that He has power on earth to forgive sins, He heals the man telling him to rise, pick up his bed, and return home. We also need to realize God’s power over both sin and healing people. He is all-powerful and is the same God today.

The man rises, picks up his bed, and leaves glorifying God. He was healed! His healing brought glory to God. Luke says that all the people there that day were amazed, glorified God, and said that they had seen extraordinary things that day. 

In contemplating this passage, we see several areas that relate to the suffering, the care for the suffering, and God’s view of suffering. 

1. The person who was suffering could do nothing for himself. He likely was discouraged and maybe questioned why he had to suffer this way. He had to rely on others to take him to Jesus. Given his palsy, he would have been home-bound and likely would not even have known about Jesus without his friends telling him about Jesus. He was taken to Jesus and all the suffering was used ultimately to bring glory to God.
2. These friends saw him as a person who needed Jesus. It reminds us that the disabled have purpose, God-given purpose. They are loved by God. They need us to come to them to bring them to Jesus through our care for them. Yes, it will take effort to reach these suffering ones and bring them to Jesus. The care-givers did not stop when the crowd of people, even very religious people, were in their way. They did what was necessary to bring the person to Jesus. In Spurgeon’s commentary, he notes that it took thought to overcome obstacles to bring the man to Jesus. We must also prayerfully and thoughtfully develop disability ministry in church to bring the suffering ones to Jesus. Working together, we will be able to help these suffering ones grow in their faith and then serve with us. 
3. Jesus’ love for this man shows His power and His perspective on suffering. He cares not only for the physical suffering, but also for the spiritual suffering. This portion of the passage reminds me of the proper view of healing. There are two types of healing: spiritual and physical. So often we focus only on physical healing. Yet, Jesus gave His life to bring us forgiveness of sin and a relationship with God. We see that Jesus first forgives the man’s sins bringing spiritual healing. Our physical healing may not come in this life as this man’s healing did, but it will come one day for those who choose to accept His gift of salvation. As Jesus forgives this man’s sin and then heals Him, He is showing His power. He is showing His love for this man and for the ones that were in the audience that day. He showed that He is indeed God causing the people to glorify God.

This passage challenges my heart in my own life. I am challenged to see that Jesus cares even when I am suffering, that He cares and in His time will show His power in my life. Jesus can use suffering to bring glory to God. I am also challenged to be that friend who comes alongside the one who is hurting even when the path is long, even when the path is hard and road-blocks come, and even when others may not see the importance or need. 

To expound on the need to passionately and faithfully bring the suffering to Jesus, those four friends used what they had to bring people to Jesus. My resources may be small, but they are resources that I can use to draw others to Him. They also faithfully brought the man to Jesus when the man was too weak to do anything Himself. Often those who are hurting may be having a crisis of faith. They need encouragement and someone to share their faith with them as these four friends did. 

So many aspects of disability are addressed in these verses. We see the sufferer being brought to Jesus by faithful friends. We see Jesus answering the religious leaders and showing them He is God when He both forgives sins and heals the man. Finally, we see how God can use the suffering to ultimately bring glory to God. 

When I returned from Texas walking so long ago, God was glorified. The “miracle” quickly spread throughout the campus. I could do nothing to accomplish the healing. It was all about God’s power when I was powerless. He used that suffering to draw many to Him or closer to Him as they saw His power, including me.