Luke 5:17-26
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
There is no way all the superlatives in the world don’t apply always, completely, and exclusively to Jesus. You just can't overstate how wonderful He is. All the praise of saints and angels, all the respects offered him, and all the recognition isn't ever enough to convey the matchless goodness of our Savior.
I wish I could love Him as much as He deserves to be loved. I wish I could thank Him somewhere in the neighborhood of how He’s blessed me. But at least He grants me the privilege of trying.
Think of a time when you have really tried your hardest to find words to express just how much the grace of God means to you and how precious Christ is. It’s like going on your tiptoes, like reaching up to a height of eloquence human words have yet to achieve. How do you say without fumbling that the forgiveness of sins is both the sweetest and the most magnificent gift you have ever received?
What stratosphere of poetry or loftiness of prayers can do Christ justice? It just can't be done. Even at my best, I’m like the paralytic in this beautiful story of Jesus. The man’s friends carry him up to a roof to get to Jesus. That’s like somebody lifting up my lame and palsied words a few feet in the air when the real tributes and homage made to Christ deserve to echo across the mountain tops and rebound between the stars. How can we accomplish openly enough or boldly enough the command, “What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” Let the Gospel of Jesus Christ soar to every corner of the universe. Yet, no pulpit is high enough and no spire tall enough to touch the glories of the Lord.
True it is: Christ is transcendent Lord and infinite God. By the communication of attributes, Jesus possesses all that can be ascribed to God. He is omniscient, immutable, perfectly benevolent, omnipotent, and endlessly more. As the Nicene Creed declares, He is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
But from my little perch on the house top, the divine magnificence is beyond both comprehension and reach.
But do you know the real wonder — I mean the really, astonishing wonder about this Jesus?
He’s down below us, sitting among people in the most ordinary of ways. The superlative words are not mine or yours. They’re His. The dearest words ever to fall on ears like ours are, “Your sins are forgiven you.” That’s what the paralytic was told. No pearl draped speech; no gilded tongue. Just wholesome, comforting, tender words.
Your sins are forgiven!
Oh, God, what a blessing to hear those priceless words from your dear Son.
God is not remote in the far-flung heavens. He is here in Christ for us. Here with us is this wonderful man, this rare and loving man who isn't just the superlatives but also the most normal of men. So authentically human.
We’re told that one of those days, “the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” Of course Jesus could heal any time, but as with us, there are just some days when God uses His children exceptionally. Jesus wasn't on parade being the “super-guy,” the “super-healer,” or the “super-image” of future Christians trying to be perfect.
He is simply teaching and serving, listening and answering, loving the lost and curing the lame.
Yes, I wish I could love Him as much as He deserves to be loved, but the fact is He loves me though I deserved it not at all. I wish I could thank Him in proportion to how He’s blessed me, but He’s chosen to beat me to it. He blesses me and all his children, including you, with grace beyond all thanks, with forgiveness beyond all bounds, and with peace beyond all endings.
Such goodness is beyond my words.
