Luke 5:18-25

Living Bible

^18-19 Then—look! Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus but couldn’t reach him. So they went up on the roof above him, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his sleeping mat, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven!”

²¹ “Who does this fellow think he is?” the Pharisees and teachers of the Law exclaimed among themselves. “This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he replied, “Why is it blasphemy? ^23-24 I, the Messiah,^[a] have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!”

²⁵ And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped to his feet, picked up his mat and went home praising God!