By Adam Winn, Ph. D.
Chair and Professor, Department of Biblical and Religious Studies at Samford University
THE GREATEST NEED
Luke 5:17–26
Jesus has the power to meet our physical needs. (17–19)
At this point in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has already performed a number of miracles, including a powerful exorcism, healing Simon’s mother-in-law, cleansing a man of leprosy and healing a large number who were brought to Him.
Many Pharisees and teachers of the law had come from all over the region to see Jesus, and many others were present who crowded the entrance to the building in which Jesus was located.
It is in this scene that men come carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. Because a large crowd blocks their entrance, they go up on the roof and begin to remove part of it so that they can lower the man down into the presence of Jesus.
Such actions express extreme faith on the part of these men and perhaps by the man they are carrying, though the latter is unclear. These actions would have been incredibly disruptive and would have made quite a mess!
Jesus takes care of our greatest need — the need for forgiveness. (20–21)
Verse 20 tells us that Jesus perceives the great faith of these men in their actions and as a result, He declares to the paralytic, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” This response is surprising for two reasons.
First, presumably the men were looking for the man’s healing rather than the forgiveness of his sins. The second reason is expressed in the response of the scribes and Pharisees, who ask, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Their response reflects the belief among Jews that the forgiveness of sins is the prerogative of Yahweh alone, and Jesus’ response appears to infringe upon that prerogative and thus is blasphemous.
Jesus’ authority to meet our greatest need verifies His divinity. (22–26)
Perceiving these questions, Jesus asks the scribes and Pharisees which is easier to say — “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up and walk.” Many assume that saying your sins are forgiven is easier since it doesn’t require the physical proof that healing does. Yet claiming to do what only God can do in a first-century Jewish context is far from an easy claim. Jesus then proves His ability to do both!
He tells the paralytic to stand up and go home so that he will know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins. At this command, the paralytic is healed. He obeys and glorifies God for his healing. The gathered crowd is left amazed.
While this story continues to establish Jesus as a powerful healer, Jesus’ initial response to the man also makes a powerful claim about Jesus’ identity. A healing alone did not demonstrate a divine identity in Israel. See the stories of Elijah and Elisha, for example. But Jesus’ claim to forgive sins changes the identity question significantly.
The response of the scribes and Pharisees that God alone can forgive sins is never challenged or corrected by Jesus or the Gospel author, and as such the reader is to assume they are correct in their statement.
Thus, Jesus’ claim to forgive sins is best understood as a claim to His divinity. If no one can forgive sins but God alone and Jesus demonstrates the ability to forgive sins, the reader is forced into one and only one conclusion: Jesus is the God who alone can forgive sins.
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