Jesus and the Man on the Roof

A few days after Jesus had touched a man who had leprosy and made him better, Jesus was going from town to town performing miracles. Everyone wanted to see Him. As Jesus entered one of the homes in Capernaum, people quickly gathered around him. There was a huge crowd. People pushed and shoved to get closer.

Four men heard that Jesus was in town. They decided to carry their paralyzed friend on a mat to see if he could be healed. Nearing the house where Jesus was, they realized that they wouldn’t be able to get through to see him. One of them decided to take the paralyzed man to the roof of the building. Most houses had staircases outside to get to the flat roof. After digging through the roof the men lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on down to where Jesus was.

I’m sure Jesus was smiling as the man was being lowered down. These men were so sure that Jesus would be able to heal him.

The first thing Jesus said when He saw that they believed was, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Some of the teachers of the law heard Jesus forgive the man and they began thinking, “How dare this man forgive sins? Only God can do that.”

Immediately Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?” Jesus asked them, “Which was easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Jesus was reminding the teachers of the law that He was the Son of Man. God has given him the power to forgive sins and heal people. These things could not be done by just a regular person but only by God.

Then, before He was finished Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

The man got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all.

The crowd was very amazed and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

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Reprinted with permission from Bible For Kids: A Collection of Bible Stories for Children Complete (Over 60 Illustrated) (With Over 100 Fun-Filled Follow-Up Activities).