Getting the Man off the Mat and God out of the Box

Luke 5:20-26

I wonder if Jesus ever did anything in his ministry that was not deliberate. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? He comes across so very focused and purposeful. Here is a crowded house, full of religious leaders from all over the country. Some guys have just broken up the roof above their heads and let down by ropes and mat this paralyzed man.

The man’s need is obvious. He needs a physical miracle. Instead Jesus declares his sins to be forgiven. Everyone is surprised, shocked even. The guys on the roof, never mind the poor man on the mat, are thinking, “Just heal the guy, Jesus!” But Jesus has a different agenda, both for that man who can’t walk and for those who’ve come to dialog with Jesus.

The message is that Jesus has authority to forgive sins – he is no ordinary traveling rabbi who heals the sick. He can take it a step farther, he can heal the man’s spirit and soul.

The visiting Pharisees and teachers of the law are disturbed by this action on the part of Jesus. They don’t say anything out loud, acting perhaps in deference to the host. They just think to themselves, “This is blasphemy, an absolute no-no. Only God can forgive sins.”

Jesus understands what is going on in their minds (it doesn’t take a rocket scientist), so he challenges them: “Which is easier, to forgive sins or to heal this guy?” I imagine the guy lying on the mat is thinking something more along the lines of “I’m still lying here. You can forgive me all day long, but you still don’t get rid of me until you do something more.”

There were times where Jesus simply healed people when the religious leaders thought that the sick person’s illness was spiritually related. In this case, the opposite seems to be true – Jesus deals with the spiritual when all that is expected is a physical healing. Jesus doesn’t elaborate on the man’s condition. Perhaps the man came to understand later as he had time to reflect that there was some connection between his physical problem and his spiritual one.

In any case, Jesus tells the man to get up, take his mat and get out of there. OK, Jesus says it more politely. But Jesus also says he is going to heal the man so that they all will know he actually has the authority to forgive sins. The line of reasoning is that if the man walks, then what Jesus has just said is true.

The formerly paralyzed man goes home praising God. He is a new man both physically and spiritually. As for everyone else, they are all amazed. What’s so amazing? Jesus had already healed all kinds of sicknesses. Well, for one, the story has had a bit of drama that sticks with people. Even nowadays, this story is one of the best remembered from childhood Bible classes.

For another, Jesus has confronted the stereotypes and presuppositions in people’s minds and blasted their theories to smithereens. Jesus came to heal the sick and to move heaven and earth, and sometimes earth is more difficult. Just like today, people had put God in a box. This could happen, that could not. They had it all figured out. Instead, Jesus was about getting people to think outside of the box, where God, far too big for any manmade container, actually lives.