◄ Luke 5:18 ►
Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,
Study Bible
Just then some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

The men brought a helpless friend to Jesus, bearing both the weight of his body and the burden of his suffering. Paralysis left the man dependent on others, and the mat beneath him reflected his inability to travel or work for himself. Although some people associated illness with personal sin, Scripture does not treat every affliction as direct punishment for wrongdoing (John 9:1–3). The men acted with compassionate faith, fulfilling the call to love one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) and trusting that Jesus possessed authority to restore what disease had taken. Their service pictures the responsibility of believers to bring needy people to Christ through prayer, witness, and practical care.

Mrk 2:3 Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men.
Mat 9:2 Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic…

They tried to bring him inside to set him before Jesus,

Jesus’ growing ministry had drawn such crowds that access to Him was difficult. The men nevertheless sought to place their friend directly before Jesus, convinced that no condition was beyond His power. Their determination stands alongside other early responses of faith to Jesus’ authority, including the centurion’s confidence in His healing word (Matthew 8:5–13). Jesus’ healings revealed the promised restoration associated with the Messiah, for Isaiah foretold a day when the lame would leap like a deer (Isaiah 35:5–6). The effort to bring the paralyzed man into Jesus’ presence prepared the way for a greater revelation: Jesus would not only heal his body but also address the deeper need of forgiveness.

Mrk 2:4 They uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening…
Mrk 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
Central figure in the account, known for His teaching and healing ministry. In this passage, He is the one to whom the paralyzed man is brought for healing.

2. Paralyzed Man
The individual in need of healing, representing those who are physically and spiritually in need of Jesus' intervention.

3. The Men Carrying the Paralyzed Man
These are the friends or companions of the paralyzed man, demonstrating faith and determination to bring him to Jesus.

4. The House
The setting where Jesus is teaching, likely crowded with people eager to hear Him and witness His miracles.

5. The Crowd
Represents the obstacles and challenges that can hinder access to Jesus, both physically and spiritually.
Teaching Points
Faith in Action
The friends of the paralyzed man exemplify active faith. They did not just believe Jesus could heal; they took steps to bring their friend to Him. Our faith should also lead to action.

Overcoming Obstacles
The crowd was a barrier, but the men found a way around it. In our spiritual journey, we must be prepared to overcome obstacles that hinder our relationship with Jesus.

Intercessory Role
The friends acted as intercessors, bringing the paralyzed man to Jesus. We are called to intercede for others, bringing their needs before Christ in prayer and action.

Community and Support
The account highlights the importance of community and support. We need others to help us in our times of need, and we should be willing to support others in their journey to Christ.

Jesus' Authority and Compassion
This event underscores Jesus' authority to heal and His compassion for those in need. We can trust in His power and love in our own lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the determination of the men carrying the paralyzed man teach us about the nature of true faith?

2. How can we identify and overcome the "crowds" or obstacles in our own lives that prevent us from coming closer to Jesus?

3. In what ways can we act as intercessors for others, bringing them to Jesus through prayer and support?

4. How does this passage challenge us to be part of a supportive community that helps others in their spiritual and physical needs?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced Jesus' authority and compassion in your life. How can this passage encourage you to trust Him more fully?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Mark 2:1-12 and Matthew 9:1-8
These parallel accounts provide additional details about the event, such as the men lowering the paralyzed man through the roof, highlighting their faith and determination.

James 2:14-26
This passage discusses faith in action, similar to the faith demonstrated by the friends of the paralyzed man who took extraordinary measures to bring him to Jesus.

Hebrews 11:1
Defines faith as confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see, which is exemplified by the actions of the men in this account.
Sermons
The Healing of the Leper and the ParalyticR.M. Edgar Luke 5:12-26
Superabounding KindnessW. Clarkson Luke 5:18-25
A Mother's Belief that God Would Justify Her Faith for Her Son's ConversionLuke 5:18-26
Carried by FourC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 5:18-26
Christ Can See Through MenH. W. Beecher.Luke 5:18-26
Faith HonouredLuke 5:18-26
Faith's RewardW. Burkitt.Luke 5:18-26
Forgiveness and HealingG. F. Pentecost.Luke 5:18-26
God Interprets PrayersQuesnel.Luke 5:18-26
God's WondersLuke 5:18-26
Jesus' Method of Doing Good Newman Smyth, D. D.Luke 5:18-26
Omniscience of ChristG. T. Coster.Luke 5:18-26
Reflections on the Healing of the ParalyticJames Foote, M. d.Luke 5:18-26
Rejoicing Through ForgivenessMiss Leigh's work in Paris.Luke 5:18-26
Revivals of ReligionJ. M'Lean.Luke 5:18-26
Sixty-Five Years' Sins All ForgivenLuke 5:18-26
Spiritual Uses of AfflictionD. Davies, M. A.Luke 5:18-26
Strange ThingsC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 5:18-26
Strange ThingsC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 5:18-26
The Gospel of ForgivenessEmilius Bayley, B. D.Luke 5:18-26
The Healing of the PalsiedLeonard W. Bacon.Luke 5:18-26
The Healing of the ParalyticJ. Parker, D. D.Luke 5:18-26
The Purpose of Christ's Miracles of HealingLeonard W. Bacon.Luke 5:18-26
The Simplicity of Christ's Method of HealingC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 5:18-26
The StoryS. Cox, D. D.Luke 5:18-26
The Vicarious Nature of FaithA. B. Bruce, D. D.Luke 5:18-26
Two Kinds of WonderC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 5:18-26
Who Can Forgive Sins?R. D. Hitchcock, D. D.Luke 5:18-26
Zeal Will Always Find a Way to Accomplish its PurposeMilner.Luke 5:18-26
People
James, Jesus, John, Levi, Peter, Simon, Zabdi, Zebedee
Places
Galilee, Genneseret, Jerusalem, Judea
Topics
Attempts, Bearing, Bed, Behold, Bring, Bringing, Carrying, Cot, Couch, Endeavoured, Front, Ill, Lay, Mat, Moving, Palsied, Palsy, Paralysed, Paralytic, Paralyzed, Party, Power, Seeking, Sought, Struck, Tried, Trying
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 5:18

     5297   disease

Luke 5:17-26

     5162   lameness
     6654   forgiveness, Christ's ministry

Luke 5:18-19

     5229   bed

Luke 5:18-20

     2027   Christ, grace and mercy

Luke 5:18-25

     6040   sinners

Luke 5:18-26

     2012   Christ, authority
     5285   cures

Library
March 25 Evening
Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.--LUKE 5:5. All power is give unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea. Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: necessity is laid …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 19. "Launch Out into the Deep" (Luke v. 4).
"Launch out into the deep" (Luke v. 4). Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian life might be best settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have and leave the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have, and as we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide. Beloved, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

December 9. "Launch Out into the Deep" (Luke v. 4).
"Launch out into the deep" (Luke v. 4). One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Humility
LUKE v. 8. Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Few stories in the New Testament are as well known as this. Few go home more deeply to the heart of man. Most simple, most graceful is the story, and yet it has in it depths unfathomable. Great painters have loved to draw, great poets have loved to sing, that scene on the lake of Gennesaret. The clear blue water, land- locked with mountains; the meadows on the shore, gay with their lilies of the field, on which our Lord bade them look, …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons

Instructions for Fishermen
'Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.'--LUKE v. 4. The day's work begins early in the East. So the sun, as it rose above the hills on the other side of the lake, shone down upon a busy scene, fresh with the dew and energy of the morning, on the beach by the little village of Bethsaida. One group of fishermen was washing their nets, their boats being hauled up on the strand. A crowd of listeners was thus early gathered round …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Fear and Faith
'When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' --LUKE v. 8. 'Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him,... and did cast himself into the sea.'--JOHN xxi. 7. These two instances of the miraculous draught of fishes on the Lake of Gennesareth are obviously intended to be taken in conjunction. Their similarities and their differences are equally striking and equally instructive. In the fragment …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Blasphemer, or --Who?
'And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him. 19. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the house-top, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

"The Moody and Sankey Humbug. "
There was a man, while we were in London, who got out a little paper called "The Moody and Sankey Humbug." He used to have it to sell to the people coming into the meeting. After he had sold a great many thousand copies of that number, he wanted to get out another number; so he came to the meeting to get something to put into the paper; but the power of the Lord was present. It says here in this chapter (Luke 5) that the Pharisees, scribes, and doctors, were watching the words of Christ in that house …
Dwight L. Moody—Moody's Anecdotes And Illustrations

Absolution.
Preached June 2, 1850. ABSOLUTION. "And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"--Luke v. 21. There are questions which having been again and again settled, still from time to time, present themselves for re-solution; errors which having been refuted, and cut up by the roots, re-appear in the next century as fresh and vigorous as ever. Like the fabled monsters of old, from whose dissevered neck the blood …
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Carried by Four
When our Lord left his retirement he found the crowd around him exceeding great, and it was as motley as it was great; for while here were many sincere believers, there were still more sceptical observers; some were anxious to receive his healing power, others equally desirous to find occasion against him. So in all congregations, however the preacher may be clothed with his Master's spirit and his Master's might, there will be a mixed gathering; there will come together your Pharisees and doctors …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Secret of Success.
5th Sunday after Trinity S. Luke v. 5. "We have taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word, I will let down the net." INTRODUCTION.--S. Peter and the other Apostles had been fishing all night, and had met with no success at all, then Jesus entered into the boat of Simon, and bade him launch out and let down his net. S. Peter did not hesitate. He had met with no success when fishing in the night, nevertheless now, at the word of Christ, he fishes again, and this time the net encloses a great multitude, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Christ the Great Physician.
"They that are whole have no need of a physician; but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Luke v. 31, 32). "For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them" (Matt. xiii. 15). "He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted" (Luke iv. 18). …
Frank G. Allen—Autobiography of Frank G. Allen, Minister of the Gospel

Jesus, Still Lead On.
"Jesu, geh Voran." "They forsook all, and followed him."--Luke 5:11. [7]Ludwig von Zinzendorf transl., Jane Borthwick, 1846, 1854 Jesus, still lead on, Till our rest be won! And although the way be cheerless, We will follow, calm and fearless. Guide us by thy hand To our Fatherland. If the way be drear, If the foe be near, Let not faithless fears o'ertake us, Let not faith and hope forsake us For, through many a foe, To our home we go! When we seek relief From a long-felt grief-- When oppressed …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Penitence, as Explained in the Sophistical Jargon of the Schoolmen, Widely Different from the Purity Required by the Gospel. Of Confession and Satisfaction.
1. Errors of the Schoolmen in delivering the doctrine of repentance. 1. Errors in defining it. Four different definitions considered. 2. Absurd division. 3. Vain and puzzling questions. 4. Mode in which they entangle themselves. 2. The false doctrine of the Schoolmen necessary to be refuted. Of contrition. Their view of it examined. 3. True and genuine contrition. 4. Auricular confession. Whether or not of divine authority. Arguments of Canonists and Schoolmen. Allegorical argument founded on Judaism. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Seventh Appearance of Jesus.
(Sea of Galilee.) ^D John XXI. 1-25. ^d 1 After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself on this wise. 2 There was together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee [see p. 111], and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. [As usual, Peter was the leader.] They say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered into the boat; …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Heals a Leper and Creates Much Excitement.
^A Matt.VIII. 2-4; ^B Mark I. 40-45; ^C Luke V. 12-16. ^c 12 And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities [it was a city of Galilee, but as it was not named, it is idle to conjecture which city it was], behold, ^b there cometh { ^a came} ^b to him a leper [There is much discussion as to what is here meant by leprosy. Two diseases now go by that name; viz., psoriasis and elephantiasis. There are also three varieties of psoriasis, namely, white, black and red. There are also three varieties …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Disciples of Jesus.
In this terrestrial paradise, which the great revolutions of history had till then scarcely touched, there lived a population in perfect harmony with the country itself, active, honest, joyous, and tender-hearted. The Lake of Tiberias is one of the best supplied with fish of any in the world.[1] Very productive fisheries were established, especially at Bethsaida, and at Capernaum, and had produced a certain degree of wealth. These families of fishermen formed a gentle and peaceable society, extending …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Conflict with Evil
The Kingdom of God Will Have to Fight for Its Advance The great objective is the Kingdom of God. In realizing the Reign of God on earth three recalcitrant forces have to be brought into obedience to God's law: the desire for power, the love of property, and unsocial religion. We have studied Christ's thought concerning these in the foregoing chapters. The advance of the Kingdom of God is not simply a process of social education, but a conflict with hostile forces which resist, neutralize, and defy …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

The Lake of Gennesaret; Or, the Sea of Galilee and Tiberias.
Jordan is measured at one hundred and twenty furlongs, from the lake of Samochonitis to that of Gennesaret. That lake, in the Old Testament, is 'The sea of Chinnereth,' Numbers 34:11, &c. In the Targumists, 'The sea of Genesar'; sometimes, 'of Genesor'; sometimes, 'of Ginosar': it is the same also in the Talmudists, but most frequently 'The sea of Tiberiah.' Both names are used by the evangelists; 'the lake of Gennesaret,' Luke 5:1; 'the sea of Tiberias,' John 21:1; and 'the sea of Galilee,' John …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Peter's Repentance
"And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61, 62). That was the turning-point in the history of Peter. Christ had said to him: "Thou canst not follow me now" (John 13:36). Peter was not in a fit state to follow Christ, because he had not been brought to an end of himself; he did not know himself, and he therefore could not follow …
Andrew Murray—Absolute Surrender

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