Luke 5:18
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. 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.
Helpless bearers carry a man taken with palsy on his bed to lay him before Jesus at Capernaum, but the crowd about the house blocks their way so they cannot reach Him. At the sick man's own suggestion they persist in faith, take him to the rear to the roof, open it and lower him down before Jesus. His palsy followed a life of sin and dissipation, and his heaviest burden is not his wasting, dying body but his guilt and longing for pardon and peace with God. Jesus first lifts that burden by assuring him his sins are forgiven, then heals his body so he rises in youthful strength and walks home carrying with ease the couch that had borne him. The miracle that follows proves Jesus is the promised Saviour with power on earth to forgive sins as well as to heal, and teaches physicians to bring sufferers to the Saviour without delay for both soul and body.
Bringing Him to Jesus
Behold, helpless men carry a man taken with palsy on his bed, couch, or litter, seeking means to bring him in and lay him before Jesus . He is entirely helpless, unable to use his limbs, yet urgently wants to come into Jesus' presence for help . His friends seek a way to place him straight before Jesus as the great Physician and Healer . Their effort shows determined care, for the man longs for help and they desire to obtain it for him .
The setting is Jesus' healing ministry at Capernaum, teaching beside the lake with people gathered about Him and the sick laid before Him for healing . A crowd around and in the house blocks the bearers' way, so they cannot reach Jesus or hear Him at first . They try to get through the crowd to bring him before Him but are stopped before they can reach Him .
When blocked they persist, and at the sick man's own suggestion take him to the rear of the house to the roof . There they open or tear open the roof and lower his bed down before Jesus . This persistence shows their desire and faith that overcomes obstacles, and their friends willingly help him in his plan . The urgency admits not a moment's delay .
The man is in extremity with no time to lose, dying with dissolution already doing its work upon his wasting and decaying body . Despite severe pain he keeps his full intellectual strength and himself proposes the plan to go by the roof . He fears he will lose his chance for help if they wait . He is slowly carried out from his family on his couch, with lifeless arms and shrunken, leaden-colored flesh bearing the marks of sin and suffering and gloom .
His friends and relatives bring him because they have heard Jesus' teaching and seen Him heal even lepers while turning no one away . Their accounts of His mercy and power to heal the sick and receive the needy revive his hope that he too might be relieved and cured if carried to the Saviour . They hope Jesus can relieve his infirmity and pardon his burdened mind . Encouraged by recalling that Jesus had helped other sinful and helpless people, they determine to carry him to the one from whom he hopes to receive help .
Sin Forgiven and Body Healed
His palsy followed a life of sin and dissipation, showing how bodily disease can come from a sinful life as its penalty, and remorse over his sin embittered his suffering. His bodily affliction is understood as the penalty of his wrongdoing, and his friends’ accounts of mercy and power to heal revived his hope even as he feared that sinful life would keep him from the Saviour.
He had lost all hope of recovery after appealing in vain to the Pharisees and doctors for relief, who pronounced him incurable, denounced him as a sinner under God’s anger, and declared he would die under the wrath of God, leaving him sunk in despair. His illness was treated as proof of God’s anger, yet the works of mercy he heard of revived his hope that pardon and relief might still be granted.
His deepest burden weighed more heavily than bodily illness, for he longed above all for pardon, relief from guilt and the burden of sin, and assurance of forgiveness and peace with God and heaven. He longed to see Jesus and receive that assurance, and with it he would be content to live or to die according to God’s will. He hoped Jesus would pardon his sins and relieve his mind, and his friends encouraged him by recalling that Jesus healed and received the needy.
He feared his guilt and sinful life made him unwelcome and unfit to approach the pure Physician, so his hope faltered as he remembered the cause of his malady. Hearing that Jesus had healed others as sinful and helpless as himself encouraged him to believe he too might be cured if carried to the Saviour, and kept him from casting away the possibility of healing. His friends’ efforts gave him hope of healing and forgiveness even while his past sin made him fear he would not be welcomed.
His repeated efforts to reach Jesus reflected growing faith that Jesus was his only help, and the determined effort to get the sufferer into Christ’s presence counts. Christ sees both bodily disease and sin-sickness of soul and is moved by the faith that brings the sufferer to Him. Their persistence in overcoming obstacles and the sick man’s urgent hope showed determined care and desire to obtain help.
Jesus first gave him peace by assuring him his sins were forgiven, lifting the burden of sin with hope, peace, and joy received by simple faith, and then healed his body so he could rise and walk. This joined the work of forgiving sin and preaching truth with healing the sick, convicting of sin while healing spiritual disease. He received the words with simple faith and remained quietly joyful as one both forgiven and healed.
Restored in strength, health, and vigor with the energy of youth, with arms quick to obey his will and flesh fresh and ruddy, he obeyed, rose, and returned home carrying with ease the same couch and litter that had borne him. Unable before to use his limbs, he now walked with a firm, free step, quietly joyful and filled with hope, peace, and purity, and glorified God. His restored health displayed power and compassion toward the guilty and afflicted.
His return brought great rejoicing, tears of joy, and glad thanksgiving in his house, and God was glorified through Jesus who brought hope and peace to the home. Through His Son hope is restored to the hopeless and strength to the stricken and light brought into the darkened home. The man and his family were left with unshakable faith and loyalty, ready even to lay down their lives.
Christ Proved and Applied
Luke 5:18 belongs to the record of Christ's work for people's spiritual and physical needs, showing Him as the great Physician to whom friends sought to bring the palsied man straight on his bed to lay him before Him. In that ministry He stands as the great Restorer and Medical Missionary, as Teacher and Healer who helps all who seek Him. Beside the lake He taught with the people gathered about Him and the sick laid before Him for healing, and the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and those dying of various maladies were healed and rose up in health praising God for deliverance. The sight of these healings, including paralytics made whole, strengthened faith that Jesus helps all who seek Him and gave hope even to the hopeless watching afar off.
His healing shows that Christ does not refuse even those who brought disease on themselves through a sinful life. He joined the work of forgiving sin and preaching truth with healing the sick, first giving the paralytic peace by assuring him his sins were forgiven and then healing his body. With physical healing He convicts of sin and heals spiritual disease as well, displaying power and compassion toward the guilty and afflicted that points to the mercy offered through salvation.
The miracle of mercy that followed gives the most convincing and unquestioned proof that Jesus is the promised Saviour, demonstrating that He has power on earth to forgive sins as well as to heal the sick. After the healing the man left carrying with ease what had borne him and praising God, and the miracle filled the crowd with awe at Christ's divine power. The Pharisees recognized that divine power but did not confess it, and the stronger the evidence became the more those who witnessed it and opposed Him armed themselves with hatred and unbelief, till left to forge chains binding them in hopeless darkness with no reserve power left to reach hearts hardened with malice and skepticism.
The word Jesus gave to that palsied man is the same message God gives to longing, starving people now, for Christ sees both bodily disease and sin-sickness of soul and is moved by the faith that brings the sufferer to Him. The bringing of the sufferer, with an urgency admitting not a moment's delay because dissolution was already doing its work upon his body, teaches physicians to do more than treat the body merely to cure disease. As spiritual fathers they are to bring sufferers to the Saviour to minister to the diseased mind and point the sin-sick soul to the never-failing remedy.