Luke 5:17-26 (NIV)

 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When 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? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately 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.”

Now this is a story.

The Bible isn’t an encyclopedia or a novel or a science book, or even a history book. The Bible is a storybook that not only tells us about Jesus but also about all the people and times of the earth. The times before Jesus and the times after Jesus. And, yes, what happens in the end. Through Bible study you learn how to put the storybook together.

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Let’s get into the story at hand in Luke 5:17–26:

Recap: Jesus is teaching – People from all around come to see him – The Pharisees and the teachers of law are sitting there also – Jesus begins to heal the sick – A group of men are carrying their paralyzed friend on a mat and try to get in but the crowd is too thick – They are determined to get their friend in front of Jesus and cut a hole in the roof to lower him down in front of Jesus – Jesus is impressed with their faith and simply says, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” – The Pharisees and the teachers of law begin to question Jesus and accuse him of blasphemy – Jesus questions them back asking “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” – Jesus then turns to the paralyzed man and says “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” – The man immediately gets up, takes his mat, and goes off praising God – The crowd is amazed and filled with awe and say “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Now let’s take this story apart, but let’s do it from different points of view. You see, points of view are important to a story. In writing, there are three different points of view: first-person, second-person, and third-person. Who is telling the story? What’s the point of view? The POV?

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Let’s begin:

1. Pick a character
   
2. Pharisee? Part of the Crowd? Paralyzed man? Friend of the paralyzed man?
   
3. Look at it from different points of view. It puts you in the story.
   
4. Who did you pick? How did you relate to the story based on the character you chose?
   
5. If you chose the Pharisee, how did you see the story? The Pharisees felt there was a law, and you must follow it. But they were so in love with the law that they lost touch with the people. They couldn’t see Jesus for the law. So they only saw what they perceived as blasphemy. They figured the paralyzed man did something to deserve his affliction. They thought Jesus wasn’t in a position to forgive sin. Only God could, and how could Jesus care? (see vs 22-24)
   

So if you’re a Pharisee and saw this and heard this when you went home, how do you digest it?

1. If you chose the Crowd: You can stay or you can leave. On July 14^th, 1968, Hank Aaron hit his 500^th career home run. It happened while he was playing for the Atlanta Barves, and they were playing against the San Francisco Giants. It was a three-run blast in the third inning off Giants pitcher Mike McCormick. The Braves won in a 4-2 victory at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Aaron became only the eighth player in Major League Baseball history to reach 500 home runs. What would you have felt had you been in the crowd when Aaron hit that 500^th home run? Now, can you imagine being in the crowd when Jesus healed the man? You might wonder how Jesus could care for a man like that. How would you process it when you got home? When seeing this, would it make you want to take a step closer? Maybe be a follower?
   
2. If you chose the Paralyzed man: Are you wondering how your friends could care enough about you to help in such a powerful way? Maybe you’ve given up at this point. But you have these friends who love you enough to climb up on the roof, tear a hole in it, and lower you down. Suddenly, you’re in front of Jesus. The Pharisees are standing there, arms folded, looking at you in disgust. The crowd is wondering what’s going on and asking themselves how in the world you suddenly appeared in front of Jesus. Kinda getting a bit miffed that you must have cut in line. Then Jesus tells you to rise and that your sins are forgiven. What’s going through your mind?
   
3. If you chose one of the Friends: Are you the type of friend who would carry a friend several miles and then lift him upon a roof, tear a hole in it, and lift him down? Are you that kind of friend? Does the fact that you could get in trouble for doing this cross your mind? Do you wonder if Jesus might turn you away? Jesus saw in the paralyzed man’s friends a faith—their faith that told Him how much they loved their friend. That made all the difference in the world.
   

Have you ever been paralyzed? What were your thoughts? Did you feel helpless? Did you want to give up? Have you known someone who was paralyzed? Did you ever just want to help them? Make it so they weren’t paralyzed any longer?

Maybe it’s not the same type of story where the focus is on a paralyzed man. There were others in the crowd with different types of illnesses. Different types of woes. They all wanted Jesus to heal them. In 1968, Aretha Franklin recorded a song entitled (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. The first part of that song goes like this: Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel so uninspired, And when I knew I had to face another day, Lord, it made me feel so tired.

I’m sure there were others in the crowd who felt as the paralyzed man felt. Tired, uninspired, not wanting to face another day. The image of this story helps us to understand how to help. How to see God’s power. How to bring someone to Christ. The image of Jesus gives us hope, gives us strength, and gives us forgiveness. Just like the people that day said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

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You’ll always see remarkable things when you start hanging around with Jesus.

And that’s what I learned in Church……see ya next time!