Last week we began to explore the topic of healing through the lens of Jesus Christ, and by looking at some truths about God as the healer.

Now today, with the basic foundational truths of healing in place, we will look at one of the accounts of Jesus healing the paralyzed man in Luke chapter five.

I’m going to highlight some details in the account that I believe God has shown me, and I hope that it will strengthen you to receive the healing that Jesus paid for you to have.

The Paralyzed Man

When it comes to healing, we often have a disconnect between what we know, what we feel, and what is true. Because what we know conflicts with what we feel and neither of those things are probably true based on what the scripture says in the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s read the account in Luke 5:17-25:

“ ¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And, 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.

¹⁹And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went on the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the middle before Jesus.

²⁰And when he saw their faith, he said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven you.

²¹And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

²²But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said to them, What reason you in your hearts?

²³Whether is easier, to say, Your sins be forgiven you; or to say, Rise up and walk?

²⁴But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick of the palsy,) I say to you, Arise, and take up your couch, and go into your house.

²⁵And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that where on he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.”

Now this is a fascinating story on several levels. It’s certainly the most unusual account of healing due to the the circumstances surrounding the whole thing.  We can learn a lot about healing from the details in this account, so let’s take a closer look.

The first thing we can see in verse 17 is that a particular day Jesus was teaching, there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting there.

The Pharisees were the religious leaders— the teachers of the law of Moses, and they were quite self righteous, and opposed to Jesus’ ministry. Yet, even so, look at the next part: the power of the Lord was present to heal them. That’s the mercy of God, let that sink in.

Then in verse 18, we see the beginning of the particular circumstance of this account.  A man being carried on a bed by others. The scripture doesn’t say they laid the paralyzed man in the backseat of their car, or even laid him on a horse or camel, but they carried him on a bed. These people knew something about Jesus, and had enough hope (enough of a confident expectation) to make the journey.

In verse 19, we see that they could not find a way in to the house where Jesus was, because of the crowd. Then, desperate, they climb to the roof of the house, break through the roof, and lower the paralyzed man in front of Jesus to be healed.

And the paralyzed man received healing.

So that’s the basics of the story on the surface— now let’s look beneath the surface.

 

Exploring the Deeper Meaning

What I’m going to do now is highlight some connections between this story, and other portions in scripture, and I’m going to separate this from my opinions, so that my self doesn’t get in the way, and let the Holy Spirit of God, speak directly to you regarding healing, so that you can receive.

So, beginning with our points, we know that Jesus was teaching in a house and the Holy Spirit (the power of the Lord) was present. Now, spiritually-speaking, where is the house of God today? Many people would say “obviously, heaven!” But look at what Jesus says in John 14:23:

“Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.”

According to Jesus, if you love Him, you will keep (guard) His words, and He will come along with the Father and make their home with you! Today, you are the house of God!

Next, we see that the paralyzed man and his friends could not reach Jesus because of the multitude… John 6:63 says that the spirit gives life, while the flesh profits nothing, and here we see that flesh, was quite literally blocking the paralyzed man from seeing Jesus.

application: humanity was in the way… human flesh was a barrier.

Then, we see that they had to break through the roof to reach Jesus, and this is where things get super fascinating! Since we know that we are the house of God today, your head is obviously the roof. Our mind is often one of the biggest hinderances to receiving from Jesus, due to errant thoughts and feelings. Romans 8:6 says that the spirit gives life, but the flesh profits nothing.

The word translated as “roof tiles” in verse 19 is κέραμος (keramos) which is a mixture of clay and water. Clay represents our flesh (2^nd Corinthians 2:7), and water represents the Holy Spirit (John 7:27-29). Many Christians today try to mix their flesh with the Spirit, and try to add their own works to the works of God. But Jesus said that mixture leads to death (Matthew 9:17)

So we see here that the men needed to break through the roof of mixture to reach Jesus. Do you see? They needed to break through and go passed the ceiling the barrier of mixture-based thinking— thoughts that try to mingle works with God’s spirit. And after they did that, look at  the end of verse 19… the paralyzed man was suddenly in the midst of Jesus!

 

Forgiveness and Healing

Can you picture what it was like for that paralyzed man? Here he is, having made the long journey being carried by others to see Jesus, being hauled to the roof of a house, and lowered down through the broken roof, and now you are staring into the face of Jesus.

But Jesus doesn’t say “be healed” like He has for others. This time, He has something unexpected— your sins are forgiven.

Did Jesus just rob the man of his one chance for healing? Did Jesus deny this man’s desire in favor of some greater plan? Not at all! In fact, Jesus taught us something about healing that is incredibly profound. Forgiveness and healing are linked.  Jesus confirms this fact in verse 24, when He demonstrates the man’s healing as proof of Jesus’ ability to forgive sins.

As we saw last week, the first two benefits of the LORD mentioned by David in Psalms 103:2 are that the LORD forgives all your iniquities, and heals all of your diseases; and those two things are connected.

I truly believe that once we begin to recognize how righteous we are in Christ, we will start to see how protected we are in Him as well, and Psalm 91 will begin to carry a lot more meaning for us.

Closing Encouragement

At the end of this account, we see that Jesus tells the paralyzed man to rise and walk. Now let me ask you a final question for consideration: who are you in this story?

Romans 8:9 says that you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you.

If you actually take that statement to heart, then it should change your perception of your identity. If you truly internalize and own this account of Jesus healing the paralyzed man, then you will recognize something that very few have… today you are not in the flesh trying to rise and walk, but you are in the spirit with the spirit of Christ living inside of you.

Be blessed.