Luke 5:17-26 records Jesus healing that paralyzed guy who was let down through the roof into the middle of a roomful of people. It is such a familiar story that we often breeze by it because we know how it turns out. However, as you stop and think about it for a moment it becomes intriguing in several ways.
After living in Brazil for twenty four years I am amazed about how this event even happened without the evangelist mentioning the mess involved in tearing a hole in the roof. You can't imagine that filth until you have done some roofing in said structures. It's horrific.
The second aspect that always calls my attention is the faith of the four. These unnamed guys deserve a medal. They put their credibility on the line with their actions. They demonstrate their true friendship to their socially discarded friend while showing that they believed that Jesus could do the impossible. Jesus even commended their faith.
The part of the story is that hard to imagine happens just after the miraculous cure. The guy jumps off his makeshift gurney and screaming hallelujah runs through the crowd a cured soul. The whole gathering saw what happened and I am positive that they were all standing or sitting with their mouths as wide open as their eyes were. WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED??
YET the amazing thing to me is the reaction of the religious leaders.
We have kind of gotten used to their reactions because we have read the story time and time again. We know that they are going to be mad and expect their evil words. But, just pretend that you are reading this account for the first time. These guys' thoughts were satanic.
They had just witnessed an unimaginable thing. Roof removal, cot let down among the crowd, incredibly paralised man jumping from said cot, and they didn't believe. How on earth?
Well let me tell you how. It's happening today right in front of you, all over the place. We are seeing things these days that just a few years ago we'd never have believed could happen. We are doing things that we'd have thought impossible or stupid just months earlier. We're saying things that we'd never have said and going to lengths that would have seemed so absurd. I mean really. Weird stuff, that you have come to believe as gospel. When in reality it's all a lie. It's the devil's lie. Yet you see it as truth. We have let our guard down. We have been blinded. Manipulated. And if you don't believe me just bring up the subject in a group of friends or family. There will be immediate division. I guarantee it.
What does this have to do with Jesus cures the dangling cot guy? Everything. Like those Pharisees, many have lost sight of who is really in charge. They have discarded the master because things just don't seem to be going like expected. I know that we are in a real fight with a real disease. However, it is a disease like we've always had. It may have some different properties and it may be stronger than past episodes. But it's not going to kill any more than the normal number. Count on it. Jesus has not lost control. You can count on that too. Trust him and not your own thinking.
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