Tag Archives: paraplegic

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – WHERE WAS THE SACRIFICE?

Bible Study, ,

WHERE WAS THE SACRIFICE?

“That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. ’Who does He think He is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.’ Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, ‘Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking?’ Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorised to do either, or both…’ He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: ‘Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it — got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way.

“The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous – and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like that!'” Luke 5:21-26.

Aha! Now it’s clear what the scribes and Pharisees were up to. They were not after Jesus because they loved His teaching or what He was doing. Far from it. They had a more sinister motive for following Him from one end to Israel to the other.

At this early stage in His ministry they had already recognised Him to be a threat to their cushy lives. Instead of applauding Him for rescuing a man from his miserable existence, they pounced on Him for “blasphemy”.

Well, from their point of view, it must have been exactly that. No man had the right to declare anyone else’s sin forgiven unless, of course, he was a priest and the offender had offered the appropriate sacrifice prescribed by the law. But Jesus was forgiving sin as though He were a priest – and where was the sacrifice? They were outraged at His audacity. Wouldn’t you be? But wait a minute. Jesus? Sacrifice? Makes you think!

Then He went and poured fuel on the fire by sending the man home, walking! That put the cherry on the top! He challenged them and they lost. He couldn’t do that unless He had the authority and power from God to heal a man. That meant that He also had the authority to forgive sins, and that pulled the rug from under them.

The people, on the other hand, loved what Jesus was doing. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain by listening, watching and believing in Him. He was so different from their religious leaders who nit-picked about everything and added more and more petty rules to burden their lives. They were excited about what God was doing. They were not interested in theological skirmishes when they were seeing God at work in front of their very eyes.

But what about the paraplegic? It took the determined faith of his four friends to get him in front of Jesus but after that they could do no more for him. It was over to him. What would he do? Hearing Jesus say, ‘I forgive your sins,’ was easy. He didn’t have to do a thing – or did he? Even that took faith and prepared the way for the next step – ‘Get up and walk.’

But what did his sins have to do with his paralysis? As a Jew he was obliged to offer sacrifice for the forgiveness of his sins, but as a paraplegic it was impossible for him to do that. After years of being stuck on a sleeping mat, what a mountain of sin he must have carried on his conscience! But now he was being told that his sin was forgiven – and what’s more he felt it!

With an inner peace he had never experienced in his life, he could activate his unresponsive body in an instant in response to Jesus’ instruction, and that happened too! It took his faith to step into forgiveness and healing.

The scribes and Pharisees were dumbstruck. They had nothing to say to counter His visible proof of His claim – “Son of Man” – and they knew what that meant! But instead of fuelling faith, it only fuelled angry hatred and made them even more determined to do him in, if they could only find a way.

What do Jesus’ words and actions say to you? Do you say that He is the Son of God? It’s a question you and I will have to answer – eventually.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – BOOMERANG BLESSING!

Bible Study, ,

BOOMERANG BLESSING!

“One day as He was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, He said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.'” Luke 5:17-20.

Talk about initiative! These men were certainly determined to get their friend to Jesus.

How big was the house? A normal family home could not have been big enough to host fifty or a hundred people even if they squashed into every room. And it was full of scribes and Pharisees. What an elite congregation Jesus had that day from all over Israel, so Luke tells us! This rabbi must have caused quite a stir in the land – without Twitter or Facebook!

The men with the sick friend weren’t concerned about who was in the congregation. They had a mission — to get their friend to Jesus. He needed a miracle and there was no one better than Jesus to do it. There was no way they could get him through the door and past all the people, but a flat-roofed house and the roof conveniently accessible by an outside staircase was all they needed to carry out their plan.

Imagine the surprise and consternation when pieces of the roof began falling on the crowd inside. Then some faces appeared and next a man suspended on a mat. The hole in the roof must have been quite big to allow them to manoeuvre a paralysed man on a sleeping mat through.

Of course the people made way for him then. They didn’t want him coming down on their heads! Talk about determination! If the crowd would not make space for him from below, they certainly would from above. Nothing was too big an obstacle for them even to ripping up the roof. That could always be repaired but Jesus might move on and their opportunity might have been lost.

What went through Jesus’ mind as the man was slowly lowered to the ground in front of Him? Was He amused? He certainly was impressed, according to Luke. Jesus, impressed? God, impressed? Is there anything that humans can do to impress God? It seems that the answer is ‘Yes”.

There was one thing that impressed Jesus, many times over – faith. He even categorised faith; no faith; little faith; great faith and such great faith. Why was faith such a big deal to Him? What else is there that links people to an unseen God and gets such a lavish response from Him?

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).

It’s quite understandable really. If you don’t trust me, why should I do anything for you?

But what is more surprising is that Jesus responded to the faith of the friends. Can one person believe for another? Of course! Don’t we do that all the time when we pray for others; otherwise what’s the point?

There’s something beautiful about believing for others. It’s part of the way God works. Every time we reach out to someone else, be it through prayer or helping in some way, we create a current that comes back to us. It’s one of those laws that God has built into the very fabric of human life.

Jesus put it like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It’s what I call “boomerang blessing.”

Where Was The Sacrifice?

Bible Study, , , ,

WHERE WAS THE SACRIFICE?

“That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. ’Who does He think He is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.’ Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, ‘Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking?’ Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorised to do either, or both…’ He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: ‘Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it — got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way.

“The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous — and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like that!'” Luke 5:21-26 (The Message).

Aha! Now it’s clear what the scribes and Pharisees were up to. They were not after Jesus because they loved His teaching or what He was doing. Far from it. They had a more sinister motive for following Him from one end to Israel to the other.

At this early stage in His ministry they had already recognised Him to be a threat to their cushy lives. Instead of applauding Him for rescuing a man from his miserable existence, they pounced on Him for “blasphemy”.

Well, from their point of view, it must have been exactly that. No man had the right to declare anyone else’s sin forgiven unless, of course, he was a priest and the offender had offered the appropriate sacrifice prescribed by the law. But Jesus was forgiving sin as though He were a priest — and where was the sacrifice? They were outraged at His audacity. Wouldn’t you be? But wait a minute. Jesus? Sacrifice? Makes you think!

Then He went and poured fuel on the fire by sending the man home, walking! That put the cherry on the top! He challenged them and they lost. He couldn’t do that unless He had the authority and power from God to heal a man. That meant that He also had the authority to forgive sins, and that pulled the rug from under them.

The people, on the other hand, loved what Jesus was doing. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain by listening, watching and believing in Him. He was so different from their religious leaders who nit-picked about everything and added more and more petty rules to burden their lives. They were excited about what God was doing. They were not interested in theological skirmishes when they were seeing God at work in front of their very eyes.

But what about the paraplegic? It took the determined faith of his four friends to get him in front of Jesus but after that they could do no more for him. It was over to him. What would he do? Hearing Jesus say, ‘I forgive your sins,’ was easy. He didn’t have to do a thing — or did he? Even that took faith and prepared the way for the next step — ‘Get up and walk.’

But what did his sins have to do with his paralysis? As a Jew he was obliged to offer sacrifice for the forgiveness of his sins, but as a paraplegic it was impossible for him to do that. After years of being stuck on a sleeping mat, what a mountain of sin he must have carried on his conscience! But now he was being told that his sin was forgiven — and what’s more he felt it!

With an inner peace he had never experienced in his life, he could activate his unresponsive body in an instant in response to Jesus’ instruction, and that happened too! It took his faith to step into forgiveness and healing.

The scribes and Pharisees were dumbstruck. They had nothing to say to counter His visible proof of His claim — “Son of Man” — and they knew what that meant! But instead of fuelling faith, it only fuelled angry hatred and made them even more determined to do him in, if they could only find a way.

What do Jesus’ words and actions say to you? Do you say that He is the Son of God? It’s a question you and I will have to answer — eventually.