From: Luke 5:17-26
The Cure of the Paralytic in Capernaum
[21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this
that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?” [22] When Je-
sus perceived their questionings, 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 paralyzed — “I say to you,
rise, take up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose before them,
and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying God. [26] And
amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe,
saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
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Commentary:
17. A little earlier, beside the lake, Jesus addressed His teaching to crowds (ver-
ses 1ff). Here His audience includes some of the most educated Jews. Christ
desired not only to teach but also to cure everyone — spiritually and, sometimes,
physically, as He will soon do in the case of the paralytic. The evangelist’s obser-
vation at the end of this verse reminds us that our Lord is ever-ready to use His
omnipotence for our good: “I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and
not for evil’, God declared through the prophet Jeremiah (29:11). The liturgy ap-
plies these words to Jesus, for in Him we are clearly shown that God does love
us in this way. He did not come to condemn us, to accuse us of meanness and
smallness. He came to save us, pardon us, excuse us, bring us peace and joy.”
(St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 165). On this occasion also Jesus wan-
ted to benefit His listeners, even though some of them would not receive this di-
vine gift because they were not well-disposed.
19-20. Our Lord is touched when He sees these friends of the paralytic putting
their faith into practice: they had gone up onto the roof, taken off some of the
tiles and lowered the bed down in front of Jesus. Friendship and faith combine in
obtaining a miraculous cure. The paralytic himself had a like faith: he let himself
be carried around, brought up onto the roof and so forth. Seeing such solid faith
Jesus gives them even more than they expect: He cures the man’s body and,
what is much more, cures his soul. Perhaps He does this, as St. Bede suggests
(cf. “In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, in loc.”), to show two things: that the illness
was a form of punishment for his sins and therefore the paralytic could only get
up once these sins had been forgiven; and that others’ faith and prayer can move
God to work miracles.
In some way, the paralytic symbolizes everyone whose sins prevent him from
reaching God. For example, St. Ambrose says: “How great is the Lord who on
account of the merits of some pardon others, and while praising the former ab-
solves the latter! [...] Therefore, let you, who judge, learn to pardon; you, who are
ill, learn to beg for forgiveness. And if the gravity of your sins causes you to doubt
the possibility of being forgiven, have recourse to intercessors, have recourse to
the Church, who will pray for you, and the Lord will grant you, out of love for her,
what He might have refused you” (St. Ambrose, “Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lu-
cam, in loc.”).
Apostolic work should be motivated by desire to help people find Jesus Christ.
Among other things it calls for daring — as we see in the friends of the paralytic;
and it also needs the intercession of the saints, whose help we seek because
we feel God will pay more attention to them than to us sinners.
24. Our Lord is going to perform a public miracle to prove that He is endowed
with invisible, spiritual power. Christ, the only Son of the Father, has power to
forgive sins because He is God, and He uses this power on our behalf as our
Mediator and Redeemer (Luke 22:20; John 20:17-18, 28: 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Co-
lossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:9; Isaiah 53:4-5). Jesus used this po-
wer personally when He was on earth and after ascending into Heaven He still
uses it, through the Apostles and their successors.
A sinner is like a paralytic in God’s presence. The Lord is going to free him of
his paralysis, forgiving him his sins and enabling him to walk by giving him grace
once more. In the sacrament of Penance, if Jesus Christ “sees us cold, unwilling,
rigid perhaps with the stiffness of a dying interior life, His tears will be our life: ‘I
say to you, My friend, arise and walk,’ (cf. John 11:43; Luke 5:24), leave that nar-
row life which is no life at all” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By,” 93).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
| First reading | Isaiah 35:1-10 © |
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| The return of the redeemed through desert |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 84(85):9-14(Advent) © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Lk3:4,6 |
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| Or |
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| Gospel | Luke 5:17-26 © |
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