A Sign of Faith in Capernaum
~A.D. 27 – Jesus in Galilee
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
Gospel of Luke 5:43 LSB
“But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—
“I say to you, get up, and, picking up your stretcher, go home.”
Good News of Luke 5:44
Of course, a paralyzed man obeying Jesus’ command to ‘get up and walk’ is a miracle to the man who can now stand up and walk AND a sign of God to those who witness it!
Who can say such a thing to one born handicapped?
And immediately he rose up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. And astonishment seized them all and they began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying,
“We have seen remarkable things today.”
But this was a sign to the Jews.
Luke records [5:17]:
And it happened that one day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.
After having healed others as well Jesus answered the Prophet John who had been baptizing in the wilderness of Judea with Good News sent by his messengers:
“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” - Gospel of Luke 7:22b-23, LSB
But of course, these signs from the LORD God to the Jews were done by JESUS the Messiah.
These signs for the Jews where witnessed in regions of Roman Syria AND that had been years ago.
It’s about two decades later that Paul and Barnabas will enter Lystra.
A.D. 30’s – The Apostle Peter
And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. – Acts of the Apostles 3:
More recent signs from God
Keep in mind that Luke's two-part account of these events is recorded for a Roman-Hellenist world after A.D. 60, + some thirty years after Jesus' resurrection [~A.D. 30], + perhaps twenty-five years after Saul's encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, + about seven years [~A.D. 40] after the Apostle Peter baptizes a Roman Centurion in Caesarea Syria.
And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Acts of the Apostles 9:35 LSB
And what had Peter heard from the angel of God?
“Get up..”
ἀνίστημι – anistēmi
It’s a command of some significance — a command by faith also used by Peter and the Lord Jesus. And it is part of what the Apostle Paul is about to say to the lame man in Lystra.
- to rise, stand up
- of persons lying down, of persons lying on the ground
- of persons seated
- of those who leave a place to go elsewhere [of those who prepare themselves for a journey]
- of the dead
GOD’S signs have many witnesses among the gentiles by the time Barnabas and Saul enter Lystra.
~A.D. 48 –
In Lystra The Lame Walk!
Acts of Faith in Lystra 14:
And at Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, when he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had faith to be [made well] said with a loud voice,
“Stand upright on your feet.”
Acts 14:10 of Paul commanding a lame man in Lystra
And he leaped up and began to walk.
And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language,
“The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”
Acts of the Apostles 14:11b – LSB
In fact, these Lycaonian pagans were partially right.
For the Gospel of Paul and Barnabas would reveal that the One God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sent his only Son down to us for redemption of sins for those who have faith to believe — even pagan gentiles.
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
Gospel of Luke 5:43 LSB
Acts of the Apostles in Lystra — To be continued…
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