In the story from Mark 2 (or Luke 5) of the friends bringing the paralyzed man to Jesus, the storyteller uses a surprise to highlight something important in the story.
My retelling episodes focus in on certain story elements, either of the story we discussed in a previous episode, or the overarching story that the Bible tells.
In the story from Mark 2 (or Luke 5) of the friends bringing the paralyzed man to Jesus, the storyteller uses a surprise to highlight something important in the story.
My retelling episodes focus in on certain story elements, either of the story we discussed in a previous episode, or the overarching story that the Bible tells.
So, on today's storytelling episode, i will retell the story that we just talked through in a recent episode so that it's fresh in your mind.
Shannon Popkin:
I'll use my own words and I'll use my own way of telling the story, and then I'll circle back and talk about some of the story elements that we find in this particular story from the Bible. So we're going to look at this biblical narrative, asking you know what devices was our storyteller using, the person who told the story or the author, and why were they using these particular story elements? And then, at the end, i'll retell the story once more, and this is where I'd love for you to try and tell the story to yourself, either after you listen to me or pausing along the way. You know, stories are so easy to store up in our hearts. They're designed that way and they're packed with rich theology. So as you store up these stories in your heart, what's going to happen is you're going to be able to retrieve them for yourself and you're going to be able to give them away. So let's jump into our story for today. Here's the story of the paralytic found in Luke, chapter 5, 18 through 26. So Jesus was teaching inside somebody's house and there were so many people packed in the house that there was standing room only. Well, there were some men who had carried their paralyzed friend there on a stretcher hoping to get him to Jesus. But since they couldn't even get him through the door, they climbed up on the roof, dug through it and then lowered the man right down in front of Jesus. Jesus saw the great faith of these friends and he said to the man your sins are forgiven. The Pharisees and the religious leaders who were in that room began thinking to themselves what Who does this guy think he is? Only God can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and he said to the religious leaders do you think it's easier to forgive sins or to heal somebody? I want you to know that I have the authority to forgive sins. So then he turned to the paralyzed man and said get up, take your mat and go home. And the man did so. He stood up, he picked up his mat and he went home praising God. And all of the people in that room were amazed. They kept saying to each other we have never seen anything like this before. Okay, so let's talk about our story elements here.
Shannon Popkin:
Luke, our storyteller, inserts a surprise into this story. Every good story has a surprise. You know. If everything just goes exactly along according to how you're expecting it, well it's not a good story, right?
Shannon Popkin:
But the surprise that Luke gives us here is the order of things. So these friends, they're bringing this man to Jesus, and it's obvious. The problem is obvious. So the man can't move. He had to be lowered on a mat. You know, i mean, picture him being lowered down through that roof and maybe one of his limbs falls to the side, and I mean it's got to be horrible and embarrassing. But everybody's willing to take the effort to get this man in front of Jesus because it's obvious. The problem is the paralysis, right, we all know that's a horrible problem to have. And yet Jesus ignores that problem for a moment and he tells the man that his sins are forgiven. So the surprise in the story is the prioritization of the spiritual health of this man over the physical health. Kelly and I talked about that in our conversation. But because Jesus forgives the man's sins, it prompts this next part of the story.
Shannon Popkin:
So this order, it's really important because the next part of the story is where the Pharisees are saying well, who does this guy think he is, and that's really what this story is getting at. Luke wants us to be asking this question who is this? Who is Jesus? Think of it this way If Luke had told the story so that Jesus healed the man first, like we were expecting, and then forgave his sins, we wouldn't have that little moment between where everybody's surprised and where the religious leaders are saying to themselves who is this guy? So, because of the order, we have this little teaching moment where Jesus shows us the reason that he's healing people. He's using these miracles to show them who he is. He is the one who can first heal us from our sin and who will one day heal us from all of the effects of sin and death on our physical bodies. If you are a follower of Jesus, if he has cleansed you of sin, then you're going to live with him forever in his kingdom, in the new creation. The story That's who Jesus is. So see how the surprise order of things here calls our attention to this. Don't miss that order when you remember this story or when you share it with others.
Shannon Popkin:
This story puts a spotlight on forgiveness. Kelly and I talked about that. So who is Jesus? He's the one who has the authority to forgive sins. I mean, just think about that right now. Jesus has the authority to forgive your sins, and I don't know about you.
Shannon Popkin:
But forgiveness is a concept that I need to be reminded of constantly And one that I need to remind others of quite a bit. In my family, relationships with my kids or my friends. We need to be reminded about forgiveness, and we've talked about how, in the Bible, some of the richest theology about forgiveness and other deep truths of God, they're wrapped up in stories. The story is what holds the theology together in our hearts and in our minds. So I want to invite you to be like these people who were crowded in that little room, who probably went home and told it to everybody they knew, and in moments maybe in a dark, quiet moment when they were feeling guilty about their sin or they worried that God was going to punish them because they had sinned I imagine that they returned to this story about this man who was considered by everyone to be sinful and how Jesus started with forgiveness. I mean, the fact is, we're all sinful, we all need to be forgiven And, just like this man, it might be something else, some other problem or pain or struggle that first causes us to turn our attention to Jesus.
Shannon Popkin:
You know, as I'm recording this, i have two friends who are my own age and who are in the hospital with COVID, and I'm praying for them all throughout the day, and I can imagine that COVID has caused many of us to pray more and to turn to God more. And as we approach God either for the first time, or maybe we've been coming to him for years and years sometimes we worry that our sin makes God unavailable to us. You know we're too dirty or our sin is too severe. We feel like we can only come to him when we're cleaned up. But that's when I want you to remember this story about this man. He was paralyzed. He couldn't do anything to fix himself up, either physically or spiritually, to make himself presentable to Jesus, and the fact is he didn't have to.
Shannon Popkin:
In just a short interaction, jesus forgave this man's sin and healed his body. Now we have to keep in mind the overarching story too, because it's true we've been forgiven in a moment, but it's also true that while God can heal us in a moment, he might not completely heal us in this moment. I'm sure that there were other paralytics that didn't get healed during Jesus' day. And this one who did get healed eventually probably got sick or hurt in some other way, and we know he eventually died. So Jesus didn't eradicate all sickness and death when he came, but one day he will.
Shannon Popkin:
When Jesus came and walked the dusty roads of Galilee, it was people's physical needs which drew them to him, but once they got there, jesus was most interested in talking to them about their spiritual need and inviting them into the kingdom. One day our King Jesus will return and there will be a new earth And those of us who are forgiven by his blood, by the blood of the Lamb, we will enter that kingdom and experience no more sickness, no more pain, no more sin. So as we continue talking about the story of the paralytic, i hope you'll be treasured it up in your heart, learn the story well enough so that you can retell it to yourself or to somebody else who needs to hear it, who has some physical ailment or who is struggling over the sickness of sin. It only takes one minute or so to tell this story, but it has such rich theological truths packed into it. Imagine the impact it could have if we stored this story up and reminded ourselves and others of it. So the next time you or somebody else is feeling just overwhelmed with grief over your sin, remember this story about the paralytic. Let me retell it to you one more time. It's from Luke, chapter 5, 18 through 26.
Shannon Popkin:
So Jesus was teaching inside somebody's house and there were so many people packed in that there was standing room only. And there were some men who had carried their paralyzed friend on a stretcher, hoping to get him to Jesus. But since they couldn't even get him through the door, they climbed up on the roof and they dug through it and lowered the man right down in front of Jesus. The saw the great faith of these friends and he said to the man your sins are forgiven. Well, the Pharisees and the religious leaders who were in that room began thinking to themselves what Who does this guy think he is? Only God can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking about and he asked the religious leaders do you think it's harder to forgive sins or to heal someone? I want you to know that I have the authority to forgive sins. So he turned to the paralyzed man and he said take up your mat and go home. And that is what the man did. He stood up, he picked up his mat and he went home praising God, and everyone there was amazed. They kept saying to each other we have never seen anything like this before.
Shannon Popkin:
If you're interested in a Bible study that looks at more stories of Jesus, I hope you'll check out my new study Comparison Girl Lessons from Jesus on Me Free Living in a Measured World. I hope you'll also take a look at Kelly Needham's book Friendish reclaiming real friendship in a culture of confusion. There's a chapter in Kelly's book called Ripping Up Roofs which talks about the very story we're discussing today. Come check the show notes at ShannonPepkincom for a link to Kelly's book, her website and her social media contacts.