Scripture
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
17One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.
18Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
21But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
22Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24So I will prove to you that the Son of Man[1] has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
25And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
Translation notes (1)
- 5:24 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
11And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
One of the best indicators of someone’s priorities is their actions. After all, we can talk about our priorities until we are blue in the face, but our words may not always reflect what is really important to us. Watching our actions, however, is a completely different story. Our actions point straight to what is most important to us. For example, when Jesus’ disciples left everything to follow Him, they showed exactly what their priorities were.
We have been studying Jesus’ call to the first disciples this week. Today we will focus on what they did once Jesus called them. When Jesus called some of His first disciples while fishing on the Sea of Galilee, Luke 5:11 tells us that “as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.” These men demonstrated that they were totally committed to Jesus. They left “everything.” They left the lifestyle they knew. They left their occupations. They left their families. They gave up everything to follow Jesus. These actions demonstrated to everyone watching their priorities. Jesus became the most important Person in their lives, and following Him was their number one priority. Everything changed the day that they met Jesus. When they started following Jesus, they saw Him heal people in miraculous ways. They saw crowds of people amazed by His power and praised God. They left everything to follow, and the cost was absolutely worth everything they gave up.
Everything changed the day we met Jesus, too. He saved our lives and called us to follow Him. His call to us is a call to change our priorities so that following Him and His kingdom is what matters the most. His call to us is a call to full devotion. It is a call to re-align our priorities. The things on earth that are temporary do not matter anymore. We no longer live for temporary things but instead for eternal things.
Moving toward action
How do your actions prove your devotion to Christ? Are you sharing your faith? Are you serving in the church? Are you giving to His church? Think about what you want your devotion to look like? Write down what you want people to say about you regarding your priorities and what matters to you. Then list three action steps to help you live out your devotion to Christ.
Going Deeper
Luke 5:17-26 (NLT)
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