We often view the spiritual life, our relationship with God, as a private affair. While in a certain sense that is true, in an equally as important sense, our spiritual life is communal. The prayers we say can impact someone else. The suffering we endure for Christ can benefit another soul. When we fall or we are struggling with faith, temptation, or sin, another soul, another human being, can help us through that. When we do sin, it wounds not just us, but the entire body of Christ. Therefore, our journey to holiness is only possible with the help of our friends. As we read this Gospel take a movement to pray for the grace to see how we have been helped thus far on our path to holiness and the wisdom to understand how we can help others.
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
On one of those days, as he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, 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, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought 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 that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?” When Jesus perceived their questionings, 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, take up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.” Luke 5 : 17-26
Scriptural Analysis
The healing of the paralytic is the first of what can be described as five controversies that will appear in Luke’s Gospel. This is the first appearance of the Pharisees, strict observers of the Jewish Law, in Luke’s Gospel. They will be Jesus’s opponents in the entire series of controversies. They along with teachers of the law have come, perhaps to check out the reports that they have heard. In their presence, Jesus’s teaching will be the context for a miracle.
Whereas the leper had previously approached Jesus in search of healing, some men lower the paralytic through the roof to get him in front of Jesus. By his words, the leper demonstrated his faith. By their actions, these men who bring the paralytic before Jesus demonstrate their faith.
Jesus recognizes the faith of these men. However, he also knows that this paralytic man needs more than physical healing. The effects of sin upon a soul are far worse than any physical ailment. Therefore, Jesus first handles that problem by telling the man, “your sins are forgiven you.” This is an important point. While the scripture gives us no indication that the man’s condition was a result of sin, it was generally believed that physical ailments like this were caused by sin. Certainly, on one level that is true. The fact that humans can even become ill or die, stems from their fallen condition that resulted from Adam’s original transgression. In a certain sense, the paralytic represents all mankind which Jesus, the new Adam, will once again make right with God.
The scribes and the Pharisees think that Jesus is being blasphemous with his pronouncement: of forgiving this man’s sins. In their mind, by doing so, Jesus is equating himself with God. Of course, the irony is that is exactly who Jesus is: God. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus responds with a pronouncement. He states that he has the authority to forgive sins. To demonstrate his authority, he cures the paralytic with a simple command: rise and walk.
This is where it gets interesting. Based upon the common belief that illness was a result of sin, if the man’s sins were not first forgiven him then he could not be cured. The fact that he was cured, is proof that his sins were forgiven him. However, the Pharisees object to Jesus forgiving sins and thus their entire argument falls apart.
Jesus also refers to himself in this exchange as the Son of Man. The authority he displayed harkens back to the reference to the son of man found in the writings of the Prophet Daniel:
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14
Of final note, there was no delay in the healing of the man. Immediately, upon Jesus’s words, he was cured as he stood and walked. He glorifies God.
Daily Application
In his 1978 Christmas address, a newly elected Pope John Paul II said, “A human being lives, works, creates, suffers, fights, loves, hates, doubts, falls, and recovers in fellowship with others.” (Urbi Et Orbi 1978 – 3) The existence of humankind is an existence in community with others. We do not live in isolation and it has been this way since the beginning of time when God created man and remarked, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18)
The spiritual life is no different than the temporal life. We were not intended to walk this journey to holiness on our own. Consider the paralytic in today’s story. It was the faith of his friends that ultimately saved him. They saw the crowd and yet they were not deterred because they knew Christ could help their friend. They found a way. We too must do the same for one another: recognize the struggles and lift each other up.
We often approach the spiritual life, especially sin and temptation, as something we need to do on our own. If I am falling victim to a particular sin, it is up to me to battle that on my own. I am going to white knuckle my way through this. This approach is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. Recall this line from the Act of Contrition, “I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more.” We resolve to sin no more but the important aspect of that is with the help of thy grace. As we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation and confess our sins we freely admit that we are incapable of sinning no more on our own. We need the grace of God.
One of the greatest graces God gives us is community. There are those he has placed in our lives, our family and friends, or perhaps a trusted priest or deacon, who can walk this journey with us. They can be there when the temptation to sin is great. They can be there when you have doubts and need to work through things. Rely upon their help.
Of course, there is no greater community to call upon than the community of the Saints. They are there waiting to help us in this battle, to intercede for us. They have walked this road and successfully completed the journey to holiness. Let them help you. Saints such as St. Joseph or St. Augustine are great ones to turn to when you are struggling. Let them be your guide.
The journey to holiness was never intended to be a solo trek. We were always meant to walk that path with others. Turn to your friends and ask for help. Turn to the Saints and ask them to intercede for you. With the help of our friends we too can become holy and when we do, we will look forward to the reward that awaits us in heaven.
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