The Power of God was Present to Heal Them

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. 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. 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. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 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. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day. Luke 5: 17-26

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Jesus was teaching, as was His practice, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. God knows the needs of each person and He knows how to get people to the person or place necessary for them to get to to get healed. While Jesus was in a home a number of men brought a man with palsy on a stretcher opened up the roof and lowered it down to where Jesus was preaching to the multitude. When Jesus saw the faith of the man on the stretcher, and the men carrying the stretcher, he told the sick man that His sins were forgiven him. The Pharisees began to think in their minds that Jesus must be a blasphemer for He was claiming the power to forgive sins. The Jewish leaders were thinking that only God could forgive sins and for Jesus, being a man, they decided that He could not be God. They did not accept the Bible’s testimony that Jesus was indeed fully God and fully man. To accept Jesus’ power to forgive would be to credit Him as being God and this they were not prepared to do. But Jesus asked them which was easier to tell the man he as forgiven or to heal the man? Jesus told the man to stand up and walk and he did. Jesus thus proving that He was God and was able to forgive and to heal. Everyone was amazed except Jesus.

Prayer for Today: God, help us to have the faith to come to You for help with our addictions and with our lives. We want to be healed and we want to be forgiven for all of the crazy things we have done. Help us to trust You like this palsied man did. Thank You for Your mercies to draw us to You as You did to this man. When we get there we want to be relieved of our burdens and fears and to be able to start a new life, free in You. Thank You for Your love toward us.