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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk_5:17-26
17One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." 21The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" 22But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23"Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," — He said to the paralytic — "I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home." 25Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today."
Luk_5:17 "One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law" See parallels in Mar_2:3-12 and Mat_9:1.
▣ "Pharisees" See Special Topic below.
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▣ "teachers of the law" This seems to be parallel with "the scribes" of Luk_5:21 (see Special Topic at Luk_5:21). Most of them were Pharisees, but not all. They were the experts in applying the oral and written law to the practical matters of everyday life. In a sense they took over the role of the OT local Levites. These "biblical lawyers" became the rabbis of today's Judaism.
▣ "from Jerusalem" We learn from rabbinical literature that Jerusalem was considered a separate district of Judah. These were Jewish representatives from "headquarters"! In essence these biblical experts convened to examine Jesus.
▣ "and the power of the Lord was present for Him" Notice in Luk_4:14 it says "power of the Spirit." We must remember the close interpersonal relationship between the persons and work of the Triune God (see hyperlink at Luk_3:22). Notice also the term "Lord" in this text refers to YHWH. Jesus was YHWH's agent in creation, redemption, and judgment.
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▣ There are several related Greek manuscript variants in Luk_5:17. These are attempts by scribes to clarify the sentence.
1. It seems a staggering statement to say Pharisees and scribes from every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem came to hear Jesus (cf. MSS à cf8 i1, Ac, B, C, L, W and the Vulgate and Syriac translations), so scribes changed the sentence to refer to those who were being healed (cf. MS à * and some Coptic and the Armenian translations).
This shows that the later scribes, as well as modern westerners, do not understand Eastern literature (hyperbole).
2. The "him" is singular and refers to Jesus (cf. MSS à , B, L, W), but some scribes thought it referred to those being healed and made it plural (cf. MSS A, C, D, and the Vulgate, Peshitta and Armenian translations). UBS4 gives "him" an "A" rating, which means "certain."
Luk_5:18 "paralyzed" Luke, the Gentile physician, uses the technical, medical term (Hippocrates, Galen), while Matthew and Mark use the common vernacular.
Luk_5:19 "they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles" Most homes had outside stairs where the roof was accessible. The roof was a place of socializing and even sleeping in the hot season of the year. Can you imagine what it must have been like for those people sitting in the crowded home when the roof started falling in on them?
Luk_5:20 "Seeing their faith" "Their" refers to the friends as well as the paralytic man.
The term "faith" is a major NT term (cf. Luk_5:20; Luk_7:9; Luk_7:50; Luk_8:25; Luk_8:48; Luk_17:5-6; Luk_17:19; Luk_18:8; Luk_18:42; Luk_22:32). The Greek noun is pistis and the verb is pisteuô. This term is translated into English by three words—faith, believe, trust (see Special Topics at Luk_1:45). The concept is crucial for an understanding of salvation (cf. Joh_1:12; Joh_3:16) and the Christian life (cf. Heb_11:1; Heb_11:3; Heb_11:6).
The Hebrew equivalent is emeth, which originally referred to someone in a stable stance, but it developed the metaphorical extension of someone who is dependable, loyal, trustworthy, and faithful.
Faith is not something we do, but it is the hand that receives the gifts of God (cf. Eph_2:8-9). It is not a work, but a receptive attitude of need and thanksgiving. We are not dependable, loyal, trustworthy, or faithful, but God is! We trust His trustworthiness; we faith His faithfulness. The hope of all fallen humanity is the unchanging character of God, His mercy and grace towards His rebellious human creation.
These friends believed Jesus, as God's representative, would act graciously toward their friend and they would do anything to get their friend to Jesus (cf. Luk_7:9; Luk_7:50; Luk_8:48; Luk_17:19; Luk_18:42). Oh, that friends had that kind of love and concern today!
▣ "your sins are forgiven" The grammatical form is a Perfect passive indicative. This was an astonishing statement. It was meant to provoke a dialogue with the religious leaders who were present. In rabbinical Judaism, sin and sickness were related (cf. Joh_5:14 and Jas_5:13-15, however, not all sin is related to sickness, cf. Joh_9:3). Human guilt causes many physical ailments.
Luk_5:21 "scribes" See Special Topic below.
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▣ "Who can forgive sins, but God alone" This was exactly Jesus' point! Jesus was clearly, unambiguously giving them the sign they asked for. He is clearly proclaiming His Messiahship.
Luk_5:22 "But Jesus, aware of their reasonings" Does this imply that
1. Jesus overheard them
2. Jesus knew their theology
3. Jesus read their minds
The end of Luk_5:22 implies #3.
Luk_5:23-24 The man's healing was an outward sign for these religious leaders of the purpose, power, and person of the Messiah (cf. Luk_4:18-19). Instead of praise and adoration (which they initially gave, cf. Luk_5:25-26), their hearts will turn to self-interest, even murder (cf. Luk_22:2; Mat_12:14; Mat_26:1; Mar_14:1; Joh_5:18; Joh_7:1; Joh_7:19; Joh_8:37; Joh_8:40; Joh_11:53).
Healing can occur without faith. Jesus healed people as a means of
1. getting the attention of His hearers
2. demonstrating the power and compassion of God and His Messiah
3. training the disciples
Forgiveness of sin, however, is never possible without personal faith.
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Luk_5:24 "Son of Man" This term is Jesus' chosen self-designation. In the book of Ezekiel (example Luk_2:1; Psa_8:4) it means simply "human being," but in Dan_7:13-14 it derives an added connotation of deity (cf. 1Jn_4:1-3). This term was not used by rabbinical Judaism and, therefore, it did not have militaristic, nationalistic, exclusivistic connotations. See fuller note at Luk_6:5.
The parallel in Mat_9:8 has the phrase "glorified God, who had given such authority to men." The comment accentuates the human aspect of "Son of Man." One wonders how much the more developed Gnosticism of Luke's day is reflected in Luke choosing those aspects of Jesus' life and teachings which reflect His humanity.
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▣ "has authority on earth to forgive sins" This was the central question of the Jewish leaders. Where did Jesus get His power and authority (see Special Topic: Authority at Luk_20:2)? They could not deny His miracles or the power of His teaching, so they tried to attribute His authority to the Evil One.
Luk_5:26 "they were filled with fear" Jesus was filled with the Spirit before birth (cf. Luk_1:15). Elizabeth and Zacharias were filled with the Spirit so they could better understand His person and birth (cf. Luk_1:41; Luk_1:67), but the Jews (i.e., Nazarites) are filled with anger (cf. Luk_4:25) and their leaders are filled with fear (cf. Luk_5:26) and rage (cf. Luk_6:11).
Luke continues this theme in Acts.
1. The disciples are filled with the Spirit (cf. Luk_2:4; Luk_4:8; Luk_4:31; Luk_9:17; Luk_13:9).
2. The Jewish leaders (Sadducees) were filled with jealousy (cf. Luk_5:17).
3. The Jewish crowd at Pisidian Antioch was filled with jealousy (cf. Luke 13:45).
One's reaction to the gospel determines what one is filled with.