Friday, 1/14/17
This is a favorite story with all of us, and we might as
well build up our mental picture of what happened.
Stories of Jesus curing illnesses had come to Capernaum, so
when the friends of a paralyzed man heard he was coming to their synagogue, they
laid the man out on a large burlap bag, tying ropes to its corners so that the
four of them cold carry him.
As they drew near to the synagogue they saw it was besieged
by hundreds of people gathered outside to hear and see what they could, Being ingenious
fellows, they hoisted their sick friend up on the flat roof of the synagogue.
(People in crowded villages, lacking gardens, made their flat roofs into places
where they could relax.)
The friends carried the paralytic across the roof to where they had arrived at right in front of where Jesus would be
teaching, Then they lifted the roofing tiles, making an opening big enough to
let their sling through.
With the straw and dirt showering down, the people ( with men
on the left side and women on the right) were more than fascinated by the interruption;
but Jesus was never surprised at
anythjing. With the man dangling in front of him Jesus said, “Child, your sins
are forgiven.”
There were here different reactions to his words. First, the
friends who brought the paralyzed man were disappointed. They didn’t care about
sins. They just wanted a cure.
Next, the scribes who had come to make a religious charge
against Jesus were happy, because they could say Jesus was blaspheming by
assuming God’s righto forgive sons.
Thirdly, the paralyzed man knowing that it was his sinful excesses
that had brought on the paralysis, felt
at peace within his soul.
The last part of the story is just fun. To prove he had the Godly
power to forgive sins, Jesus spoke again, “Pick up your mat, and go home.”
It’s great mentally seeing how the man hopped down, gathered
up his matt with its ropes; then pushed his way out of the synagogue,
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