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Luke 5:17-26
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17One day Jesus was teaching,
and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from
every
18Some men came carrying a
paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before
Jesus.
19When they could not find a
way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him
on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of
Jesus.
20When Jesus saw their faith,
he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21The Pharisees and the
teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who
speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22Jesus knew what they were
thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
23Which is easier: to say,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
24But I want you to know that
the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the
paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
25Immediately he stood up in
front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
26Everyone was amazed and
gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen
remarkable things today.”
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1)
According to
verse 17 what was with Jesus for him to
heal the sick as he was teaching, and
Pharisees and teachers of the law were
sitting there?
o
The power of the
Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.
2)
According to
verse 18 whom did some men try to take into the house to lay before Jesus?
o
They tried to
take a paralyzed man on a mat into the house to lay him before Jesus.
3)
According to
verse 19 what did the men do when they
could not find a way to get to Jesus because of the crowd?
o
They
§
Went up on the
roof.
§
And lowered the paralyzed
man on his mat through the tiles
Ø
Into the middle
of the crowd.
Ø
Right in front of
Jesus.
4)
According to
verse 19 what price in financial terms were the men willing to pay in order to
get the paralyzed man to Jesus for healing as soon as possible?
o
They were willing
to pay for the repair of the roof.
5)
Did Jesus welcome
the interruption to his teaching and why?
o
Yes, because
Jesus
§
Completely
stopped the original train of thought in his teaching.
§
And started using
healing the paralyzed man as live demonstration.
6)
In accordance
with verses 19 and 20 how did Jesus see their faith?
o
Their faith was
made manifest in the action.
o
That
o
They had taken.
7)
In accordance
with verse 20 whose sins did Jesus forgive?
o
Jesus forgave the
sins of the paralyzed man.
8)
According to verse
20 what does it take for sins to be forgiven?
o
It takes faith in
Jesus for sins to be forgiven.
9)
Did the men who brought
the paralyzed man to Jesus have their sins forgiven too and why?
o
Yes, because they
had faith in Jesus too.
10)
What was the
endpoint of the responsibility of the men in helping secure the forgiveness of
the paralyzed man, given that his sins would not have been forgiven if he did not get to Jesus?
o
The endpoint of
their responsibility was getting him to right in front of Jesus.
11)
Did people expect
it when Jesus said to the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven and why?
o
No, because
§
The paralyzed man
and the men were expecting
Ø
Physical healing.
Ø
Not forgiveness
of sins.
§
The teachers of
the law considered Jesus to be blaspheming.
§
And the owner of
the house thought that his roof had been ruined for nothing.
12)
Of all the
incidents of healings by Jesus in the bible, it was always those who approached
Jesus for healing that initiated the conversation but for this incident, why?
o
Jesus initiated
the conversation with the paralyzed man in order to set the theme of the
conversation.
o
That
o
He had authority
on earth to forgive sins.
o
Otherwise people
would have been fixated on the healing as usual.
13)
In accordance
with verse 21 why did the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law consider Jesus to be blaspheming?
o
They held that
only God alone could forgive sins.
o
They considered
Jesus to be a mere man.
o
Therefore they
considered Jesus to be blaspheming.
14)
What was Jesus
implying from the perspective of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law when
he forgave the sins of the paralyzed man?
o
Jesus was
implying that he is God.
15)
According to
verse 22 what did Jesus know about what was going on in the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law?
o
Jesus knew what
they were thinking.
16)
How did Jesus
know what the teachers of the law were thinking?
o
Jesus knew
§
Because they held
that only God could forgive sins.
§
And because he
Ø
Is God.
Ø
And therefore
knows all things.
17)
From a human
perspective which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get
up and walk’, and why?
o
It is easier to
say, “Your sins are forgiven,”
o
Because
o
No one can tell
whether the sins of the paralyzed man have indeed been forgiven or not.
18)
When Jesus said
to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, "But I want you to know that
the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” what was Jesus
more clearly pointing out?
o
Jesus was more
clearly pointing out that he is God.
19)
In accordance
with verse 25 had Jesus’ authority to forgive sins been confirmed and why?
o
Yes, because the paralyzed
man was healed.
20)
What did Jesus’
authority to forgive sins further prove?
o
It further proved
that Jesus is God.
21)
How do we see the
faith of the paralyzed man in action?
o
Though he could
not get up by himself, he was healed.
o
While
o
He was trying to
obey Jesus’ words for him to get up.
22)
According to
verse 26 what was everyone’s reaction to
the healing of the paralyzed man?
o
Everyone
§
Was
Ø
Amazed.
Ø
And filled with
awe.
§
Gave praise to
God.
§
And said, “We
have seen remarkable things today.”
23)
What were people
amazed at, what Jesus did or what Jesus said, and why?
o
People were amazed
§
At the miracle.
§
That
§
Jesus did in
healing the paralyzed man.
§
Not at Jesus’
words
§
That
§
His sins had been
forgiven.
o
Because
o
They said that
they had never seen anything like that.
24)
Did people
praise God because the paralyzed man had been
healed or because his sins had been forgiven?
o
They praised God.
o
Because
o
He had been
healed.
25)
What did people
actually miss when they were amazed and praised God because they had never seen
healing like that?
o
They missed the
fact.
o
That
o
Forgiveness of
sins is more important than physical healing.
o
Because
o
Physical healing
is temporal.
o
But forgiveness of
sin is eternal.
26)
Is it really
easier to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ than to say, ‘Get
up and walk’ and why?
o
No, it is
actually
§
Easier to heal
the paralyzed man.
§
Than to forgive
his sins.
o
There are other
incidents of people working miracles to heal paralytics in the bible.
o
But these people
could not forgive sins.
o
Only God can.
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Luke 5:17-26
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