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One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, \u201cFriend, your sins are forgiven\u201d (Luke 5:17-20).

Four men arrive carrying a paralysed friend on a mat. But they arrive too late; the crowds are thick around the door with no way to squeeze through. One of them has a bright idea: "The roof! We can get to Jesus through the roof!" They haul their friend up onto the flat roof, remove the outer tiles, and then dig through the saplings and plaster underneath.

In the crowded room below, hearing noises above him, Jesus pauses his sermon only to be showered by bits of mud and brush. A hole opens and a mat descends. Four anxious faces appear in the hole above as the crowd pushes back to make room for the mat.

The paralytic wants to be healed. And Jesus can make it happen. But they\u2019ve just interrupted his teaching and covered him with dust! Will he be angry? Will Jesus send him away? What claim does he have on this rabbi anyway? He doesn\u2019t deserve anything from him!"

The crowd is silent - waiting to see what will happen next. Sunlight streams down from the hole in the roof, particles of dust dancing in air. The room is filled with a haze and tension.

Jesus sees their faith. Not in an Apostle\u2019s Creed sense, knowledge based. But in the sense that they were willing to over come all obstacles. A faith that says, Jesus can heal, and we need to get our friend to him. That is what faith does, it brings us near Jesus.

And then Jesus does the most bizarre thing. He says to the man: "Your sins are forgiven."

The mood of the room changes again. This is not what the paralysed man or friends had hoped for. He\u2019d come to be healed - not forgiven. Not that forgiveness isn\u2019t a good thing, it\u2019s just this wasn\u2019t why he\u2019d come.

The religious leaders are not thinking about the sick man and his disappointment. Nor why Jesus didn\u2019t heal this poor broken body. These are theologians - they\u2019re thinking... theology. And they have their theology right: only God can forgive sins.

And that is exactly Jesus\u2019 point. He has come bringing the kingdom of God. Jesus\u2019 mission is to make this world whole. Sin and sickness are both part of the brokenness of this world and He has come to fix both. Sin is the deeper problem. Jesus chooses this setting, this audience, to make this announcement: He had come to bring forgiveness to humanity. If we are going to follow Jesus, we need to hear these words.

This is the only time in all the gospels that a sick person is told their sins are forgiven. Jesus is not saying that the sickness is directly tied to a specific sin. There are many good things that we want from Jesus that he wants to give. But none of those good things will bring wholeness to us without God\u2019s forgiveness.

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on our authentic humanity and self which is found in our relationship with God the Father. As our faith draws us near, God speaks these words of freedom, \u201cYour sins are forgiven.\u201d We need to be right in ourselves, and right with our neighbours. But above all we need to be right with God. With whatever more obvious \u2018paralysis\u2019 we may come to Jesus, this is the real deep need which his eye perceives and to which his word of power is addressed. And when he speaks, it is dealt with finally, for ever, \u2018Your sins are forgiven you.\u2019