Who do you say the Son of Man is?

Today, may you get revelations of Jesus as the Son of Man. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! Amen.

Luke 5:17: Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of God was present to heal them.

Part of Jesus ministry was to teach. In fulfilling His purpose, He went about teaching and preaching the word of God, everywhere and God was with Him.

He said I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities also because of this purpose I have been sent. As Jesus taught the word of God, the power of the word was present to heal. Why?  “Because the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but in power.”(1 Corinthians 4:20, Mark 4:43)

Luke 5:18-19: Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  

Pause & Reflect:

1. Why did the men decided to lay their friend before Jesus?(Luke 8:41, Mark 5:22-34, Matthew 15:30)
2. What is the symbolic meaning of the crowd and who was in the crowd? (Mark 2:2-4, 5:17)
3. How did the men actions empower them to overcome the crowd?(Luke 2:7, 1 John 5:4)

The men must have heard about Jesus healing ministry. They decided to bring their friend to Him. Jesus healed the paralyzed with just a spoken word. “He sent His word and His word healed and delivered them from the grave. (Psalm 107:20)

 The paralyzed man did not only have friends indeed- a friend in need is a friend indeed -but he also had friends of faith.  These men of faith decided to bring their friend in the presence of the Lord and lay him at His feet, despite the crowd and despite no room in the house. They took “steps of faith” to bring their friend in the presence of the Lord. They believed the paralytic would be healed in the presence of the Lord.“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him “(Hebrews 11:6)

 Luke 5:20: When Jesus saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

Jesus saw despite the obstacle these men faced; they remained undeterred and accomplished their mission of bringing their friend in His presence. It’s only the acts of faith that moves the hands of God.  The coupling of the paralytic faith with his friend’s acts of faith brought him healing and salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Jesus, forgive the sins of the paralytic first, because sin separate us from God. Sin could have been a hindrance to his healing. Jesus forgives the paralytic sin to demonstrate that He is the Son of Man who has power on earth to forgive sin.

“Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”.

Jesus shed His blood on the cross to save us from sin. For in Him we have redemption and forgiveness of sin. The blood does not only forgive our sin, but the blood also cleans us from all sin.  “But if we walk in light as he is light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).

Under the law, the priest offered a bull as a sin offering to make atonement for the forgiveness of the people’s sin (Leviticus 4:1-35). Jesus offered His soul as a sin offering not only for you and me but also for the whole world- because of this, He has power on earth to forgive sin. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2)

How is this significant to you?  This is significant to you because you are innately sinful and you live in a sinful world. You are prone to sin but this does not negate you to sin. Because, the truth remains, if you say, you have no sin, you deceive yourself, and the truth is not in you. (1 John 1:8).

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not!  (Romans 6:15) The good new is if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  When we sin, we should not cover up our sin, (particularly, the innate ones) knowing that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  (1 John 2:1)

Go and confess your sin to Him, because the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Luke: 21-23: And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ”Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, why are you reasoning in your heart?  Which is easier to say, “You sins are forgiven you, or to say ‘Rise up and wall’

Pause & Reflect:

1. What does the bible say about blasphemy? (Matthew 12:30-32)
2. What are some ways in which we blaspheme? (Acts 5:1-11)
3. Why were the Pharisees offended that Jesus forgive the paralytic sin?

The scribes and Pharisee accused Jesus of blasphemies, which is punishable by death according to the law (Leviticus 24:16). They understood God alone forgives sin, as a result, if Jesus claims to forgive sin, then He is God- God who took on flesh and became a man to forgive sin. The scribes and Pharisees believed Jesus was claiming to be God and that’s exactly what He was claiming to be, the word became flesh and dwell among us and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. The truth is the paralytic had sin and Jesus graciously forgive his sin. Jesus said to Philips: “He who has seen me, has seen the father, so how can you say show us the father.”  In another instance, he said, “I and the Father are one “ Yet again, He said, “but if you do not believe Me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him” (John 5:38, 10:238, 14:19).

These scripture references point to the oneness of Christ with the Father that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me. (John 17:21). Christ challenge the Pharisee erroneously perception of who He was and is and is to come.  Instead of engaging in exchange of words, He demonstrated His power as the Son of Man who has authority on earth to forgive sin.

You can clearly see Christ preached repentance – to the scribe and Pharisee to change their perception of who He is and He remits the paralytic sin because He has authority to forgive sin. Sometimes we think we know what we need. But Jesus understands the needs of our heart- God judges the secret of every man by Christ Jesus. Jesus called the paralytic to repentance to fulfill his deepest need.

 “Jesus is commissioning you today to do the same and be His a witness”

As the Father sends me I sent you” go and preach the gospel and this gospel should include message of repentance and remission of sin. “ And that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).

Pause & Reflect

1. What was the message of repentance in this scripture?
2. What was the message of remission?
3. In what ways do you describe Jesus and what are your expectations from Him?

Luke 5:24-26:  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the man who was paralyzed. “I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house” Immediately, he got up and before them, picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorying God. And they were filled with awe and said “We have seen incredible things today”

The paralyzed man acted in faith. He heard the word: “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” and He acted upon the spoken word and He was healed spiritually and physically. For the word of God is life to those who find them and health to all their bones (Proverbs 4:20-22) The paralytic, his friends, the scribe, the Pharisee, along with the crowd, give glory to God and were filled with fear, saying  “we have seen strange things today!”

Study On The Son of Man