Luke

5:17-26

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

3. The signs of the Messiah, 4:31-6:11

iv] Sign of the paralytic - Lord of the sinner

The story of the healing of the paralytic describes the actions of some friends who, unable to reach Jesus because he is teaching in the courtyard of a crowded home, climb onto the roof of the home and lower their friend down into the courtyard. The story is found in each of the synoptic gospels, each giving similar accounts, but each evidencing different sources. The account demonstrates the active and powerful character of faith, the spiritual power of Jesus and the saving work of God, but above all, it proclaims that Jesus has the divine authority to declare forgiveness of sins, cf. Bock. So, The sign of the healing of the paralytic is a sign of forgiveness. Forgiveness comes to Israel with the one who has authority to forgive sins.

The healing of the paralytic is the fourth episode of six in the section The signs of the Messiah which, by focusing on his acts, reveals the nature of his authority, 4:31-6:11. He does what only God can do. Thus "he supersedes all authorities before him, and sets forth to Israel a new and startling meaning of Messiah's person and rule", Earle Ellis.

en mia/ twn hJmerwn "one day" - on one of the days. Mark tells us that this miracle was performed in Capernaum, but Luke makes no mention of where the miracle is performed. Luke is not overly focused on geography.

kai egeneto "as" - and it happened. A common Lukan generalization.

h\n didaskwn (didaskw) pres. part. "he was teaching" - An imperfect paraphrastic construction probably emphasizing durative action. Interestingly, two other paraphrastic constructions are found in this verse: hsan elhluqoteV "had come", a paraphrastic pluperfect, and h\san kaqhmenoi "were sitting", an imperfect paraphrastic. Jesus is teaching, obviously in the inner courtyard of the house.

farisaioi kai nomodidaskaloi "Pharisees and teachers of the law" - The account notes that some Pharisees and scribes were present, although it is not stated if one of them owned the house. Although a lay movement, the Pharisees were a powerful lobby group dedicated to the business of maintaining the purity of Israel's Mosaic faith. This they achieved by developing a raft of rules on the application of Mosaic law. The Scribes (only here mentioned in the synoptic gospels) functioned as legal assistants documenting and adjudicating on the interpretation of Mosaic law. Most were Pharisees.

ek pashV kwmhV "from every village" - Obviously an exaggeration, a "hyperbolic expression", Plummer. The sense that every village had a Pharisee or two and that all were represented on this occasion is modified by a variant which implies that it was the sick from every village who had come to see Jesus, cf. NEB. The more difficult reading, as NIV, is likely original, cf. Metzger, 138.

dunamiV kuriou "the power of the Lord" - "Lord", without an article, obviously references "God", while "power" is interchangeable with "Spirit", cf. 4:15, 24:49. "Luke is continuing to clarify what it means for Jesus to have become, through the descent of the Spirit, the repository of the power of God", Nolland.

h\n (eimi) imperf. "was present" - there was [power from God]. Luke's comment here does not imply that this power came and went, that it was just present on this occasion. Rather, Luke is referencing the evidential outworking of this power to those present on this occasion, including the Pharisees and Scribes, which evidence exposes the stupidity of their comment in v21, and the surprise of Jesus in v22.

eiV to iasqai (iaomai) pres. inf. "for [him] to heal [the sick]" - to heal. This construction, the preposition eiV with the articular infinitive, usually forms a purpose clause, "there was power from God in order that ("so that" = hypothetical result) he could heal / enabling him to heal." The variant autouV, a corruption of auton shifts "him" = "Jesus" to "them" = "the sick". The stronger reading is auton sing. acc. subj. of the inf.

kai idou "-" - and behold. Luke's "now take note" references the popularity of Jesus and therefore the difficulty of a sick person approaching him.

feronteV (ferw) pres. part. "came carrying" - carrying. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "men"; "who were carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed."

h\n paralelumenoV (paraluw) perf. pas. part. "a paralytic" - [a man who] had been paralyzed. A periphrastic pluperfect construction emphasizing aspect, here the durative nature of his illness.

eisenegkein (eiVferw) aor. inf. "to lay" - [were seeking] to bring in [him]. This infinitive, with the conjoined infinitive qeinai "to put / lay", form a dependent statement of perception / object clause, expressing what the men wanted to do, namely to get their sick friend into the house and lay him before Jesus.

mh euJronteV (euJriskw) aor. part. "when they could not find" - not having found. The participle is adverbial, possibly temporal, as NIV, or possibly attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the verb "were seeking", v18; "they tried ...... but (kai) could not find ...."

poiaV gen. pro. "a way" - of what. The genitive of this interrogative pronoun is probably adjectival, attributive / qualitative, limiting a supplied oJdoV "way" (an ellipsis); "in what kind of way", Meyer. Also possibly a genitive of place, "of / by what [way]", Zerwick.

eisenegkwsin (eisferw) aor. subj. "to do this" - they might carry [him]. The interogative pronoun poiaV with the deliberative subjunctive forms an indirect question expressing what a person might ask as they observe the situation faced by the men, eg. "in what [way] might they carry him [to Jesus]?" = "how are they going to get this man through such a large crowd and into the presence of Jesus?"

dia + acc. "because of [the crowd]" - because of, on account of. Expressing cause/reason. "On account of the crowd", Moffatt.

anabanteV ( anabainw) aor. part. "they went up" - having gone up. The participle is adverbial, possibly consecutive, expressing result; "They were unable to find any way to carry him in because of the crowd. So (as a result) they went up on the roof", Barclay. The sense is of going up the stairs on the outside of the house to an upper room, usually a lightly constructed timber sleep-out.

dia + gen. "through" - through. "They let him down through the tiling", Cassirer.

twn keramwn (oV) "the tiles" - A flat roofed home in Palestine would not have clay tiles on the roof proper, but it could have a tiled area over part of the verandah / porch, possibly in this case around an internal courtyard. Of course, the word "tiles" can mean "clay" and so Luke may be describing the digging out of lumps of clay from the roof, clay which is laid down over a lightly thatched roof to seal it. On the other hand, if the owner of the house is wealthy the home may be a Roman villa, which of course would be tiled.

eiV to meson emprosqen "right in front of [Jesus]" - into the middle before. Emphatic position, dramatic, and very descriptive; "they lowered him down on his stretcher into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus."

"All the synoptics explain that Jesus sees the faith of the friends and addresses the paralytic", Bock. The fact that the declaration of forgiveness is made to the paralytic rather than his friends, particularly as it is the friends who have exhibited faith, has prompted comment. Yet, this issue is outside the remit of the passage. The friends exhibit the faith that Israel should exhibit, a faith that prompts divine forgiveness and thus salvation. The following verses, v21-26, establish that when it comes to the business of Israel's forgiveness, Jesus has the authority to forgive the sins.

idwn (oJraw) aor. part. "when [Jesus] saw" - having seen. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, as NIV.

autwn gen. pro. "[the faith] of them" - The faith, if any, of the paralytic is not mentioned, although Danker argues that the plural includes the paralytic. This is Luke's first use of the word "faith", a word he will use many times more. For Luke, "faith" is "the conviction that God's help is to be found with Jesus", a conviction that "gratefully receives God's action through him (Jesus)", Nolland.

anqrwpe (oV) voc. "friend" - man. Mark's "son", being a term of endearment, is certainly softer.

afewntai (afihmi) perf. pas. "[your sins] are forgiven" - Mark uses the present tense, but Luke's perfect tense seems a better expression of what has occurred, probably in the terms of an absolution, "your sins have been forgiven". The man's sins are already forgiven and the consequence of this fact, namely being in a forgiven state, continues. Divine forgiveness, which is what Jesus offers, provides access to salvation and the full entitlement to all God's eternal blessings which this salvation entails.

dialogizesqai (dialogizomai) pres. inf. "[began] thinking to themselves" - [began] to consider. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "began". Mark's periphrastic imperfect constructions here imply that the "thinking / reasoning" is associated with the whole occasion, whereas Luke makes the point that the negative thoughts are prompted by what Jesus has just said, so "then questions began to arise in the minds of the experts of the law and the Pharisees", Barclay.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. The participle is attendant circumstance, redundant.

afeinai (afihmi) aor. inf. "[can] forgive" - [is able] to forgive. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "is able". Only God can forgive an offence against him, although a messenger of God, eg. a prophet, may pronounce forgiveness on his behalf, ie. pronounce an absolution on God's behalf. Why do the Pharisees and Scribes assume that Jesus does not have this authority and is thus guilty of blasphemy? Marshall suggests it is because they believe prophecy has ceased. Yet, Danker is surely on the mark when he argues that given the link between sickness and sin ("according to the rabbis no sick man is healed until he is forgiven", Ellis) and the fact that the paralytic is still on his stretcher, proves that Jesus is acting beyond his authority. If the paralytic is truly forgiven he would not only be released from his sin, but also from his sickness.

ei mh "but [God] alone" - except. "Who except God alone has the power to forgive sins?" Cassirer.

epignouV (epiginwskw) aor. part. "[Jesus] knew" - having known. The participle is adverbial, possibly causal; "because Jesus was conscious of what they were thinking, he said to them ...." Jesus again demonstrates his capacity to read his audience, read their body language rather than their minds.

apokriqeiV (apokrinomai) aor. pas. part. "asked" - having answered [said]. Attendant circumstance participle, "answered and said", pleonastic / redundant = "he said to them / he asked them."

ti "why" - Introducing an interrogative clause. Possibly a simple "why all this gossipy whispering?" Peterson, but it is more likely that Jesus "is asking why they should question him", Bock, ie. question his authority to declare God's forgiveness. "Why do you think that I don't have authority to pronounce God's forgiveness for sins and that I am therefore guilty of blasphemy?" Given Luke's pointed comment in v17 that there was an evidential presence of the power/spirit of God with Jesus on this occasion which was enabling his healing ministry, the evidence of which was already before the Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus is obviously somewhat surprised that they would doubt his authority to pronounce divine forgiveness.

The answer to the "what is easier to say?" question has always been a matter of debate. Is it easier to proclaim a genuine absolution or is it easier to heal the sick with a word of command? Possibly "both are very difficult (since) ... the achievement of the one implies the achievement of the other", Evans, so Nolland, Marshall (with a proviso), possibly declaring God's eschatological forgiveness is the more difficult, so Lohmeyer, Grundmann cf. Marcus Mark, but it is more likely that "it is easier to say something that cannot be visually verified than to say something that can be visually substantiated", Bock, so Plummer, Fitzmyer, Geldenhuys, Stein. Of course, when it comes to what might be easier to do, both aren't easy to do. The point is, for a Jew in the first century who holds that forgiveness and healing are integrally linked, then having the authority to do the one authenticates a person's authority to do the other. Sadly, the patently obvious is not obvious to the Pharisees and Scribes which is why Jesus goes on to spell it out in v24.

eukopwteron adj. "easier" - easier labor. "Which is more easily said?" Cassirer.

iJna + subj. "that [you may know]" - that. This construction forms a purpose clause. Who is the plural "you"? Is it the Jewish officials (so Marshall), the crowd, the healed man and his friends, or the reader/church ("an editorial comment to the reader", Nolland)? The last option seems best, although open to some debate. "Things turned out the way they did in order that you (the reader) should be made to realize that the Son of Man, while he is on earth, has the authority granted to him to forgive sins", Cassirer.

oJti "that" - Introducing a dependent statement of perception expressing what they should know.

oJ tou anqrwpou "the Son of Man" - To the ears of those who heard these words the phrase could just mean "man", expressing nothing more than a self designation, nothing more than "I have authority to forgive sins." Yet, it is likely that Jesus did intend something more when he used this title. Jesus did not publicly associate himself with the accepted messianic titles of the day. Rather, he took to himself an enigmatic messianic title referred to in Daniel 7:13. This glorious figure is the messiah who, as corporate Israel, comes to claim his eternal kingdom and reign at the right hand of the Ancient of Days. With the Son of Man role Jesus associates the role of the Suffering Servant, again another corporate figure representing the people of God. Both together display the true nature of the Christ, the messiah.

exousian (a) "authority" - authority, power. Possibly the "power" to forgive, but better the "authority" to pronounce forgiveness because Jesus' credentials are from God.

afienai (afihmi) pres. inf. "to forgive [sins]" - Is the infinitive adverbial, forming a final clause expressing purpose, "in order to forgive sins", or is it epexegetic explaining the nature of Jesus' authority, an authority that gives Jesus the right to pronounce forgiveness. The latter seems best.

epi thV ghV "on earth" - What does this phrase qualify? Is it "has authority" (NIV), "to forgive sins" (so Plummer), or "the Son of Man" (cf. Mark)? The favored view is that "the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins while on earth", reflecting his role as Suffering Servant. Nolland argues, given Luke's changed position of the phrase from that of Mark's account, that it qualifies the authority of the Son of Man. "Before the eschaton, while life on the earth goes on, (the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins)", Nolland. That is, Christ's authority to forgive extends to the day of judgment.

tw/ paralelumenw/ (paraluw) dat. perf. pas. part. "[he said] to the paralyzed man" - to the one having been paralyzed. The participle functions as a substantive. The phrase itself, "he said to the paralyzed man" is best treated as a parenthesis. It is actually bracketed in the AV. "He then turned to the paralyzed man. I am telling you, he said, rise to your feet ....", Cassirer.

araV (airw) aor. part. "[get up], take [your mat]" - having picked up. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "get up"; "get up, pick up your bedding and go home." Mark has three imperative verbs, but Luke has one as an attendant circumstance participle to subordinate it to the two main verbs "get up" and "go".

paracrhma adv. "immediately" - at once. Mark usually has euquV. Used for vivid movement.

enwpion + gen. "in front of [them]" - before. God does not listen to sinners, but to the righteous he hears and acts. The Pharisees and their friends have witnessed the healing, the question is, can they accept Jesus' authority?

anastaV (anisthmi) aor. part. "he stood up" - having got up. As with "having picked up", the participle is attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the main verb "he went".

ekastasiV (iV ewV) "[was] amazed" - terror [took hold of]. Referring to a state of intense amazement, to the point of being beside oneself with astonishment*. The reaction of amazement, awe, wonder, ..... serves as a preliminary reaction to Jesus which then moves to either faith or rejection / disbelief.

fobou (oV) "awe" - fear. "Fear", as in "fear of the Lord", does not mean scared, possibly "absolutely astonished", Barclay, but better "awestruck", as NIV. "Everyone was filled with awe and reverence", Junkins.

oJti "-" - [saying] that. Here introducing a dependent statement, direct speech. "We've never seen anything like that!", Peterson.

Luke Introduction

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