The Roof Rippers!! Pt. 1 of 3

Always Present.

Crazy title, right? I’m pretty proud of it. It makes me think of an old party anthem. “The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on fire…” I won’t go on with that because this entry may become un-redeemed. The fifth chronological healing in the Gospels is about 4 (or more) friends who ripped a roof open to get their buddy access to Jesus’ healing touch. You may remember the story from children’s church - if you went to CC. This story is found in Matt 9:2-8, Mark 2:3-12, and Luke 5:17-26. All three do a great job covering the story, but Dr. Luke gave a little extra info in his record; that’s why we’re covering his first.

Luke 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When 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.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
21 The 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?"
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

Amazing story! Talk about true friends with some crazy faith. I want to be a friend like that. Oops, let me back up; that subject is for “The Roof Rippers!! Pt. 2 of 3” What I want to cover in this entry has to do with something else. It’s something that I talked about in “The Leper Pt. 1 of 2.” It is the subject of “is it God’s will to heal?”. I said earlier in this entry that Dr. Luke gave a little extra info in his record; that is found in Luke 5:17. Here’s what it says: “And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.” But who were the sick that were there to be healed? Let’s look back at the beginning part of verse 17: “Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there.” Looks to me that Jesus’ healing touch was there for those in attendance, and those who were in attendance were the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Check out how the Amplified Bible puts verse 17 “One of those days, as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting by, who had come from every village and town of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was [present] with Him to heal them.” I am no English Major but I believe it would be safe to assume that “them” is speaking of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The very ones who would in just a few years later stir up a crowd to yell “Crucify Him” (Matt 27:20). Those in the crowd that day must have needed healing because verse 17 says that the Jesus healing power was there to heal them. “Them” represents multiple people but in this story we have on record only one being healed - just one. The person that was healed doesn’t appear to be a Pharisees or a teacher of the law. As matter of fact he seems to be just a run-of-the-mill sinner. I come to that conclusion because Jesus forgave him first before healing him. This dude must have needed his life straightened out before his body was straightened out. But what about the Pharisees and teachers, did any of them get healed? I don’t believe so because the only recorded healing in this story is the sinner lowered to Jesus feet. Instead of receiving the healing they needed, the Pharisees and teachers of the law only got doubt and unbelief. Look at verse 21: “The 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?’” “Them” missed out on what they needed because of their own unbelief. We have another example of doubt and unbelief blocking the power to heal; it’s found in Mark 6:5 & 6. It states “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.”

So is it God’s will to heal or is it our will to not be healed? We see here in Luke 5:17-26 that Jesus was willing and able to heal the very ones who would soon crucify him, but only one person was on record of being set free. We also see in Mark 6 that it was a lack of faith that hindered Jesus from doing miracles in His own hometown. Is our faith, or lack of faith hindering us from Jesus’ healing touch?

You know what I notice Luke never said in his story? Luke never states that the power to heal left that meeting even after the Pharisees and teachers started questioning Jesus authority. It was still present for them to be healed. A matter of fact, in the whole New Testament it never says that that His healing power has ever left us either. In Mark 16:17-18 Jesus states “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." That means, since I believe, the same power that was present to heal the Pharisees and teachers of the law is right here in my living room as I work on this blog. That also means, if you believe, the same power that was present to heal the Pharisees and teachers of the law is right there with you as you read this blog. That’s some seriously good news.

Stay blessed y’all, it your choice.
Jimmy.

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