Take a few minutes to catch up and pray that God would bless you through the reading of His word.

Read Luke 5:17-26

[5:17] On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Observation

• Who was sitting there, listening to Jesus teach (v. 17)? Where did they come from?
• From where did Jesus get the power to heal (v. 17)?
• Who brought the man to Jesus (v. 18-19)?
  • What was wrong with him?
  • What did they want?
  • What was preventing them from getting what they wanted?
  • How did they get to Jesus? 
• What did Jesus say to the man (v. 20-26)? What was he responding to (v. 20)?
  • How did the Pharisees respond?
  • How did Jesus know what they were saying?
  • What did Jesus say to them?
  • What did he say to the paralyzed man? Why did he say it?
  • What happened?
  • How did the crowd respond?

Interpretation

• What does it mean that “the power of the Lord was with him to heal” (v. 17)?
• Why do the Pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy? What did they understand about what Jesus was saying and claiming about himself?
• How did the men show that they had faith in Jesus (v. 19-20)? Is there a lesson there for us about the nature of faith?
• Unpack Jesus’ words in v. 23.
  • Imagine that you are a fraud and a charlatan. 
    • If a paralyzed person came to you, would you rather claim to forgive their sins or heal their paralysis? 
    • Which is externally verifiable?
    • How does that help you understand what Jesus says in v. 23?
  • In light of that, how does Jesus’ ability to heal this man’s physical ailment verify his claim to have the authority to forgive sins (v. 24)? 
• What does this passage teach us about the divinity of Jesus?

Application

• What obstacles in your life might be keeping you from “getting to Jesus” for the healing that you need? How can you fight through those things?
• The paralyzed man wanted healing, but Jesus first forgave his sins. Is there something you want from God more than forgiveness? Could you be content if you had a restored relationship with God but not some of the other things that you want?

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