Print

By Tyson Thorne

August 4, 2016
 
 

The Galilean Ministry at Various Cities (4.14-9.50), 5.17-39

Luke takes us to another nameless town that was small in every way but one: the size of the audience Jesus drew. Jesus’ reputation had grown significantly and word about of his ministry had spread throughout Israel. Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sent to look into the new rabbi. They had seen many so-called messiah’s come and go, and a few even made trouble for Israel with Rome. So they came, some even from the temple in Jerusalem, to investigate and report back to their superiors, who were less interested in silencing another false prophet than in keeping their political power.

On this occasion Jesus was teaching inside, where is not specified. It may be a home, or a synagogue but either way the facility lacked even standing room as people were standing near windows and doorways trying to hear. A group of men brought their paralyzed friend to see Jesus and, seeing no way through the multitudes, they decided on an inventive plan. How they got the paralyzed man – stretcher and all – onto the roof is not described but that they did. From archaeological digs we now know how this was accomplished. Homes of the period had flat roofs that could be easily accessed by stairs or a ladder on the exterior of the home. The rooftop could be used like a porch (see the depiction on the cover art for this article). Mystery solved. Once on the roof they loosened a few tiles and lowered the paralytic into the room right in front of Jesus.

The answer may be obvious but the question must be asked, why did these men go to such great lengths to get their friend to Jesus? The answer is right there in the passage: “When Jesus saw their faith…”. They believed Jesus could heal their friend. This is part of Jesus’ mission. No, not to heal or take away pain but to inspire faith in God. Seeing their faith Jesus speaks to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.” This seems like a strange response. Why not say, “You are healed” instead? It may be that the man was under judgment for a sin that caused the paralysis. Or it could be that all our pain, suffering, disease and even death are a result of our sinfulness, and the complete forgiveness of sins removes these problems. Either way, Jesus shows his authority over all things and forgives the man’s sins because of his faith. Or it may be that Jesus wanted to provoke a reaction from the religious leaders, which it did.

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law (rightly) proclaimed that only God could forgive sins. They understood Jesus’ words to mean that he was proclaiming to be God, which is blasphemy and punishable by death for everyone who isn’t God. If the reader had any doubts about Jesus, they should be resolved by the fact that he knew what the religious leaders were thinking and their violent intentions. He answers their internally held objections and tells the paralytic man to stand up and walk, but only after referring to himself as the Son of Man. This tile goes back to the book of Daniel (7.13) and is another admission as to his divinity. To the amazement of everyone present, the once paralyzed man does as instructed, picks up his stretcher and takes it home. Lesson time is now over.

The crowd disperses and Jesus leaves the dwelling to walk around a bit. He comes across a man named Levi, a tax collector whom we know more generally as Matthew. Jesus invites him to be a disciple, and he does so, leaving everything behind (including, presumably, all the taxes he has collected). In fact, he goes further than simply following, he holds a banquet to tell all his friends and family about his new relationship with Jesus. The religious leaders are still around, observing Jesus to see what else he might do or say. They are confused by his behavior. Instead of giving his attention to them, the authority of all things related to God and His Word, Jesus chooses to spend his time with “sinners”. Their confusion prompts them to ask one of the disciples, which one is uncertain but it likely wasn’t Matthew since he was only just called to the ministry. Jesus answers the question in a way that not only explains his actions but that implies the Pharisees should be doing the same. This response is often passed over by modern religious authorities, but it is a point worth considering. Whom do we spend most of our time with? Fellow “saints” or people who need to see Jesus working in our own life?

All of this drama is leading up to a major point in the gospel of Luke. Over the next seven verses Jesus proclaims himself the Messiah and the ushering in of a new template for worship and daily devotion. No longer will the priests and their sacrifices be responsible for the cleansing of sin. Very soon a new covenant will be made with man and the new is far superior to the old. Soon the Messiah will become the sacrifice to end all sacrifices and the temple itself, the grand structure that was the heart of religious life for every follower of God would be displaced. Every man would be able to be forgiven his sins through faith alone in Jesus alone. This is the reason Jesus didn’t first go to the religious leaders. They were the old guard and wouldn’t understand this new covenant. God had chosen to pour the new wine (the new covenant) into new wine skins (the disciples) because he knew that the old wine skins (the Pharisees and teachers of the Law) wouldn’t be able to accept it. This truth will be demonstrated throughout the next 19 chapters.