Daily Bible Reading 20th May 2026 // Luke 5:16-26
16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 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. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’, or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralysed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
There are several important lessons to be learned from the story of the man sick of the palsy, the first of which has to do with the man's friends, who brought him to Jesus. Taken at its simplest, what they teach us is to take our needy friends to where Jesus is to be found. Well, do we? Consider what happened: it does not say they asked Jesus to heal him. Presumably it was for healing that they brought him, although who shall say they did not also discern his deeper need, as Jesus certainly did? Now, we may say that the heart of the gospel is the word of forgiveness, and this is the word Jesus spoke to him; and the important thing we need to note is that it was when Jesus saw their faith that He spoke to the man the word of forgiveness. It is faith that calls forth that word from the Son of God, and it is when faith is present that He does speak it. Furthermore, their faith prevailed for him. This is the principle of vicarious faith - faith for those who do not have faith for themselves, who cannot exercise faith on their own behalf. This man literally and physically could not come by himself to Jesus, and there is no evidence in the story that he was capable of exercising faith for himself. The word Christ spoke to him created faith in his heart and enabled him to appropriate forgiveness and wholeness. More: these men overcame all sorts of difficulties and obstacles in order to bring their friend to Jesus, and this persistence was a proof of the validity of their faith. Sometimes it is difficult to get through to Jesus; yet these men were not discouraged: they persevered, and won through. Here is a lesson for us, indeed - to be put on our mettle by difficulties and impossibilities, hazards and hindrances, and to press on regardless, refusing to take 'No' for an answer from the circumstances around us.