Second Monday in Advent

Second Monday in Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 85:8-13; Luke 5:17-26

Where do I start with this story?  Some friends bring a friend to Jesus to be healed of his paralysis.  Jesus offers him healing, but not of the sort that any of them were expecting.  He heals his soul, forgiving his sins.  He does it because of the faith of the group of friends, who carried their friend in and found a way to get him to Jesus. Jesus later heals the man’s paralysis, but for Jesus that is secondary.  He’s trying to prove the harder point, that he can forgive sins.  Everyone who sees the healing is amazed and talks of it, saying “‘We have seen strange things today.”

Which strange things were they talking about?  Was the crowd filled with awe at the healing of body they witnessed, or at the forgiveness they heard?  Were they amazed that one person dared to forgive the sins of another?

Jesus asks, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?”  Good question.  For some of us, forgiveness seems as remote as the removal of paralysis.  In fact, forgiveness is the removal of paralysis.  it removes the load that holds us immobile, frozen in our scripts and parts.  It restores us to relationships.

I imagine this man, surrounded by a community of friends, paralyzed by his sins and regrets.  His friends have to carry him, to get him to Jesus, to help him find release.  Their faith gives them the strength to hang in with him until he can get on his feet again.

I’ve had friends like that.  How about you?  

I’d like to be a friend like that.  How about you?

At the risk of repeating myself: Forgive, and be forgiven!  We have miracles to witness!