Matthew 9:1 ¶ And he
entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick
of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick
of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said
within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said,
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to
say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may
know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to
the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it,
they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
He has come back to Capernaum where he was staying and was before
He went to the Gergesenes. The faith of these friends of this palsied man is
remarkable and Christ forgives him of his sins and heals him. Notice the
similarity in Luke’s and Mark’s account with this scene. See Luke 5:17-26 and
Mark 2:1-12.
Luke 5:17 ¶ And it came to
pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and
doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee,
and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a
man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to
lay him before him. 19 And when they
could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude,
they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch
into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when
he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to
reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins,
but God alone? 22 But when Jesus
perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your
hearts? 23 Whether is easier, to say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath
power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say
unto
thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
25 And immediately he rose up before
them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house,
glorifying God. 26 And they were all
amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen
strange things to day.
Mark 2:1 ¶ And again he
entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the
house. 2 And straightway many were
gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so
much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of
the palsy, which was borne of four. 4
And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered
the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed
wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy
sins be forgiven thee. 6 But
there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in
their hearts, 7 Why doth this man thus
speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his
spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason
ye these things in your hearts? 9
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be
forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath
power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed,
and go thy way into thine house. 12 And
immediately
he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all;
insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it
on this fashion.
If you want to try to imagine this in your setting I think of
those who love you praying and praying for you, speaking to God directly on
your behalf. I had a mother-in-law who prayed diligently for me and for my
family and I believe part of what changed my heart was God’s response to those
prayers. Mrs. Mock lowered me through the roof tiles, in a manner of speaking.
Notice the people in glorifying God still were not expressing an
understanding of who Jesus was, God in the flesh, walking among them.
No comments:
Post a Comment