And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

1) What was going on when this encounter with Jesus took place?
Jesus had just crossed over the water and had entered the land. He had been teaching and performing miracles. (Matt 5-8).

2) What was Jesus doing when the paralytic man was brought to Him?
Scripture does not tell us what exactly Jesus was doing but it says that this man was brought to him. As in previous chapters, people would bring the sick, feeble, and hurt to Jesus in hopes of Him performing a miracle. He was a very popular man and was known for His abilities all throughout the region. Sometimes so much so that they missed His message because they were blinded by the miracle.

3) Why was their opposition to Jesus healing this man?
The opposition was not with the healing, although that terrified the leaders because of the power of the miracle. The opposition came when Jesus professed the man’s sins were forgiven ,which is an act that only God can perform. With His statement of forgiving this man’s sins, the Jewish leaders/teachers would have equated that statement with Him professing to be God, having God-like characteristics and powers. This is the reason why they accused Him of blaspheming, which ultimately led to His crucifixion.

4) Why were the crowds afraid?
The word “afraid” is not intended to evoke the idea of fear as if “scared” of something. The better translation of that word is awestruck, amazement, reverence, or even startled by a strange sight. Sometimes it is good to seek out a better understanding of a word using resources like www.studylight.org.

1) What was going on when this encounter with Jesus took place?
Jesus was doing what Jesus did during his three years of ministry. This encounter is like many others; this man’s friends and maybe even the man himself knew that reaching Jesus would mean being healed. There were those who simply touched Christ’s cloak and were healed; He didn’t even have to touch them. The faith that Jesus could heal was all that was needed. Jesus recognized that faith in those who came to Him and followed Him. That is the same faith He desires and requires of us….believe, trust, and obey!

2) What was Jesus doing when the paralytic man was brought to Him?
Jesus was always looking for opportunities to teach, to heal, and to proclaim His Father’s name. Jesus used moments like this to show the truth behind the miracles. Even today He desires for us to be His gospel on display, ready in and out season. (2 Timothy 4:2)

3) Why was their opposition to Jesus healing this man?
Jesus faced opposition because He was doing His Father’s will. There will be moments in all of our lives that opposition is inevitable if we choose to follow Christ. The faith we say we have will be tested. Just like with Jesus’ ministry, when we stay true to the gospel and stand firm in our faith, there will be those who question and even oppose what we are doing.

4) Why were the crowds afraid?
Fear, awe, respect…whatever word we use, this crowd knew there was something different about Jesus. The very next sentence says, “they glorified God”. They recognized that Jesus was not simply a man but also fully God. They glorified God because of the miracle that Jesus performed. As it should be with us, our faith on display pointing others to God. Our outrageous, radical faith showing the world the salvation we have and the God we serve!

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We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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