A Sick Man, Four Friends, and Jesus
“Jesus is here! He has come back to Capernaum!” The news of the coming of the Lord Jesus spread through the small town and into the country. Many people wanted to see Him. They had probably been waiting for Him to return. Some wanted to hear the wonderful things He had to say: things about God, things about men, things about the future. Others wanted to watch Him perform miracles. They wanted to see His mighty power.
The Scribes and Pharisees also wanted to see Jesus, but for a different reason. The Scribes were teachers of the Law and they were jealous of Jesus. The Pharisees pretended that they were good people and made a big show of their service for God. In their hearts, though, they were very proud. Both the Scribes and the Pharisees wanted to see Jesus, but not because they loved Him. They hated Him! They wanted to find some evil in what He said or did so they could lead the people away from the Son of God.
Men and women (and children, too, I suspect) crowded into the house in Capernaum—the house where Jesus was. Those who could not get inside, pushed close to the door and windows, hoping to be able to hear what Jesus said.
Illustration #5
As they listened, four men tried to squeeze through the crowd. They were carrying on a bed (probably a mat) a man who could not walk. He had a sickness called palsy. Because he never could have gotten there himself, his friends brought him to the Lord Jesus.
Not one person in all that crowd was willing to step aside, not even for a sick man. When the four tried to ease their way through to Jesus, the crowd closed in more tightly, shutting out the men and their sick friend. What could they do? They had to get their friend to the only One who could help him.
They could climb the outside steps to the flat roof. But what good would that do? Then they had an idea! The four men twisted and turned to carry their sick friend up the narrow steps to the top of the house.
Illustration #6
There they broke away some of the roof tiles. Looking down, they could see the Lord Jesus inside talking to the people
Illustration #7
Then, ever so carefully, the four men lowered their friend on his mat down through the hole in the roof. Down, down, down he went, right in front of Jesus! Everyone in the room must have been startled. But not one said, “You cannot come here. There is no room for you.” No. There was room, right next to the Son of God!
The sick man looked up at Jesus. Jesus looked down at the sick man. Because He is God the Son, He knew exactly what was wrong with the man.
Everyone was quiet. What would Jesus do? Would they see a miracle? How would He do it? What would He say? The people could hardly wait to see what would happen.
But the Lord Jesus saw more than the people saw. He saw that the sick man had faith in Him, the Son of God. He saw, too, the faith of the four men who had brought the sick man. Jesus saw how strongly they believed that He would help. What more did the Lord Jesus see? He saw the heart of the sick man. He, the One who knows all things, knew that the sin in the heart of the man was worse than the sickness of the man. Later He Himself said that from within the heart of a man comes all the wrong that a man does: evil thoughts, murders, thefts, pride, foolishness . . . and more.
It may have been the man’s sin that had caused his illness. Not all sickness is the result of sin. No, indeed! But there are many who are sick because of having lived sinful lives. It may be that this man was one whose illness was caused by sin. We do not know. But, like all people everywhere, the man had a sinful heart. And the Lord Jesus saw that.
Instead of healing the sick man, the Lord Jesus said: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
The Scribes and Pharisees, sitting nearby, became angry. They thought, “What wicked things this Jesus speaks! Who can forgive sins but God?”
Because the Son of God knows all things, He knew exactly what those men were thinking. So He answered the Scribes and Pharisees, saying, “Why must you argue like this in your minds? Why does this bother you? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?”
The Scribes and Pharisees did not answer. So Jesus continued, “To prove that I, the Son of Man have the right on earth to forgive sins, I say to you (the sick man): Stand up! Take your bed and go home!”
Illustration #8
The man leaped to his feet. Picking up his bed and pushing his way through the amazed crowd, the man went home, praising God.
The people could hardly believe the wonderful thing they had seen. Some, like the healed man, began to praise God. “We have never seen anything like this before,” they said.
They would not forget that day. They had seen the Lord Jesus do a miracle. More than that, they had heard the Lord Jesus forgive the man of his sins. If he had been healed and nothing more, he someday would have had to receive the wages of his sin: death. That means that after his life was over, he would have been forever separated from God and from all that is pure and good and holy.
To have any sickness is a bad thing. To be sick because of having sinned is sadder still. But far worse than any sickness is the sin that is in the heart of every man and woman, every boy, every girl. And the same Lord Jesus who forgave the sins of the sick man is waiting to do a miracle in your life: forgive you of your sin. When you believe that He is truly the Son of God (which He proved by the greatest of all miracles: rising from the dead), when you ask Him for forgiveness of sin, when you invite Him to live in your heart, He gives you His kind of life—eternal life. It is true that “the wages of sin is death.” But it is equally true that the “gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God wants to forgive your sin. He waits, this very moment, to give you eternal life. Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe He died for your sin? Will you ask Him to forgive your sin and invite Him to live in your heart and life? Will you do it right now?
Lessons copied or adapted from The Visualized Bible.
