What is mankind’s greatest need? That is a loaded question, and the answer you get depends on who you ask. A question like that is fairly grand and sweeping. Is the answer different for people living in poverty versus those living in affluence? Is the answer different for people living in a war-torn nation versus those living in a nation at peace? Is it different for a person who has access to clean water versus a person living with no access to clean water. Everywhere you go mankind needs something, but what is man’s fundamental need? Read the account of a man in need found in Luke 5:17-26.

It is clear from the story line that this invalid and his four friends are on a mission to have a very specific need met. These men tear through the roof to get access to Jesus so He will heal their friend. We are not told why the man can’t walk only that his friends were seeking to lay him before Jesus. No doubt they had heard the reports of Jesus’ healing ministry. Their friend had a need and they believed Jesus could meet that need. Luke does not record whether or not the four men or the paralytic asked Jesus anything. But think with me for a minute. If Jesus would have asked the paralytic what his greatest need was, what would he have answered? We will never know, but we could probably guess. Put yourselves on the mat of the cripple. You can’t walk. You can’t work. You can’t provide for yourself. You are not whole. The culture around you looks at you with either pity or disdain. If you were the man on the mat, what would you say your greatest need was? I am guessing most people would say, “I need to be healed so I can walk.”

Jesus, impressed with their faith says, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” If you are the cripple, do you hear those words as a letdown. We aren’t told because before the man can respond to Jesus' statement of forgiveness, the Pharisees are furious because they correctly assert that only God can forgive sins. Jesus proves that He has the authority to forgive sins by commanding the man to walk and thereby healing him. 

The world’s problems are layered and multifaceted. This man had a physical problem – he could not walk, but his underlying problem was that his sin was a barrier between him and God. The problems we face as individuals and as a culture are never simple. Racism, injustice, political strife, the disintegration of the family, sexual chaos, greed, a global pandemic, etc. As we watch the world burn, it is not quite as simple as saying, “All we need is the gospel.” The world needs healing, education, justice, clean water, and a whole host of needs, but at its core the world needs the gospel most of all. May the church be the people who are willing to rip through the roof to get the world what they need most.