Message of Grace

Luke 5:17-26:

“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. 18Some 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.
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
“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?”
“Jesus 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.
“Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

The man had come seeking relief from physical paralysis, but God often grants to man more than he asks. The declaration of Jesus implies divine understanding of the human heart and of the deepest needs and possibilities of man, even as it implies possession of the highest authority and power of heaven.
Jesus knew that such a declaration would bring upon Him the fierce denunciation of His enemies seated in the midst. Controversy was sure to result from such an assumption of divine prerogatives by Jesus.

“Which 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.”

Jesus demonstrates his mission and his character in these actions: Make whole those who are broken: Physically and Spiritually; liberate those captives, set them free. Darrel Bock rightly notes, “Today we tend to leave sin out of the health equation, seeing it primarly as a matter of chemicals and biology.” But Jesus treats the entire person. Perhaps we should be even more concerned to announce in our messages the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ Name before we are ready to announce all the physical, biological stuff. I think it is imperative in our announcments of God’s grace that we announce to people that Jesus will deal with the sin our lives first. Grace deals with the whole person, starting from the inside and working its way to the outside.