She was wrong. You didn’t part on the best of terms. Now it has been several hours, and there’s a phone call. You’ve been thinking it through. You know what to say, so you begin, “Honey, I just want you to know, I’ve been thinking through what happened. It’s OK. I forgive you.” On the other end of the phone, there’s a stony, cold silence. Maybe she’s overwhelmed with the joy of being forgiven. Or, maybe she was calling so that you could apologize to her. That’s probably the best explanation for the sound you don’t hear on the other end of the phone.
People want to be forgiven. When they’re convinced they’ve messed up, and they feel bad for what they’ve done, people want to be forgiven. How about you? When you’re convinced you’ve messed up, don’t you want to be forgiven by the people you’ve hurt? How about when you haven’t messed up? How does it make you feel for someone to tell you he forgives you or she forgives you for what you did?
Consider it. When we talk to someone about his or her relationship with Jesus, that’s one of the difficulties we’re up against. “Take heart, friend! God will forgive you!” “Forgive me? For what? Who are you to say that I’m such a bad person?!” “Well, actually, yes, you are!” (we call that message the good news). Sounds judgmental, doesn’t it? Sounds arrogant, doesn’t it? “Hello! I don’t know you, but I’m a Christian and you’re not, and I just want you to know that God will forgive you!” It’s like taking a toddler into the bathroom and washing his face when he’s convinced the real reason you’re doing it is just to make his life miserable! “NO! I don’t want to! I don’t need to!”
What should we do? Well, Jesus dealt with this attitude all the time. All throughout Jesus’ ministry there’s this string of people who aren’t convinced that they really need to be forgiven of anything. “After all, I’m not so bad. I could name you a whole bunch of people far more guilty than me!”
1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
There’s a lot of honesty on the lips of the little kid in Sunday School who had just heard a lesson on Christian behavior. The class was asked, “What do we have to do before we can expect to be forgiven of our sins?” and the little boy right away said, “First, we gotta sin!”
Luke, in his account of this story, says
Luke 5:26 (HCSB)
…everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today!”
The word here is where our word “paradox” comes from – that’s “outside the parameters of conventional wisdom” “What we’ve seen here today is just outside the box – outside the parameters of conventional wisdom.” That’s how I’d like us to leave here today – not feeling guilty, but not deceiving ourselves, having the truth in us, with God’s word in our lives, forgiven, and not making God out to be a liar.
Maybe you’ve read this story several times before. Maybe you’re going, “OK. This story. I’ve heard it a thousand times. Blah blah blah…” Stop it! This is a story about faith, healing, and forgiveness! There’s nothing common or dull about that! Look deeper, and let’s be blown away by Jesus again! Let’s get around the Lord’s table, and think of the cross again. Let’s rejoice together for what we don’t have because we have Jesus – the burden of guilt we’d be carrying otherwise.
Once again, we’re looking at a man who was changed, but his change was a heart change, not just a physical change. In fact, what we really need to learn about isn’t about being healed from paralysis, but about being forgiven! Amen? Maybe you didn’t come here this morning with the need for forgiveness on your mind. That’s OK. Neither did the people in this story…
Luke 5:17-20
One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic 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, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
I wonder how well we’re doing at looking at people and thinking about this need. I have to confess to you that I personally need to learn to do this better. How often do you look at someone and think, “Man, he needs to get a job and get cleaned up,” or “Wow, she needs to learn about modesty and discretion,” or “Ugh! This guy needs to broaden his vocabulary beyond 4-letter words!” instead of looking at people and thinking about them “This person needs forgiveness from Jesus…now!” I’m talking about learning to look at people and see their greatest need.
With 5 words, Jesus underscored the real issue. This morning, I want to consider some necessaries for people to have the forgiveness they really need.
Forgiveness is …
I. The Outcome of Demonstrated Faith
The premier condition of forgiveness is faith. We can’t ignore this fact. The story that we’re looking at today is a great illustration of that.
1. Forgiveness is In Response to their faith
Look again at v20: When Jesus saw their faith, said… or “Seeing their faith, Jesus said…”
Mt, Mk, and Lk all make a point of this connection. Jesus sees the faith of these 4 men and their friend and responds to it.
There were a lot of other things going on here. But we don’t read how Jesus took note of their ingenuity, or their brashness, or their desperation, or their strength, or the man’s pathetic state. Maybe all of these things were obvious to everyone as this guy is lowered through the roof. But the thing that Jesus notices, the thing that moves Him, is their faith. Jesus is moved by faith.
• Jesus is walking along, and a woman who wants to be healed reaches out just to touch the edge of his clothing. Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you."
• 2 blind men ask Jesus to heal them. He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said yes, and He touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"
• Jesus heals 10 lepers. They all run away rejoicing. Only one comes back to say thank you. Jesus says to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
It works the other direction too:
• Mt 13, Jesus visits Nazareth, and “he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” Mark says, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.”
Jesus is looking for faith in Him. He often responds and then says that’s the reason for it: your faith. It’s obvious in this case. If these 4 men had no faith, they wouldn’t have gone to the measures they did that day to help their friend. And that paralyzed man had some degree of faith too – can you imagine being lowered by ropes, breaking up the teaching that day? If they hadn’t had faith, there would have been no healing. They wouldn’t have been there. Or, they would have looked at the crowds and said, “Oh, well. We tried!”
2. Forgiveness is In Response to their Active faith
We usually don’t take an intangible like faith and talk about the way we can see it. But that‘s what Jesus did. Jesus “saw” their faith. Real faith can be seen.
Down through the roof comes this guy on his palate, and maybe Jesus chuckles to Himself and says, “Just look at the faith these guys have!”
I know these men had faith - at least the 4 friends – would you agree? How do you know? Because of what they DID. And it takes me to the book of James where he’s talking about the need for faith to be active, and he says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
Forgiveness is in response to active faith, because it’s faith that leads us to seek out help.
Someone who doesn’t think the doctor is going to help heal him doesn’t make an appointment to go see the doctor. But if we’re really convinced that we can go to the doctor, and that visit is going to help us, we go.
Faith has to have hands and feet. Can you imagine these 4 guys sitting around that morning saying, “I believe Jesus could help you.” “I do too. I believe Jesus could help you,” and the paralytic saying, “You know what, guys, I believe that Jesus could help me,” and then all of them just sitting around saying that to each other all day, but never going to find Jesus? It wouldn’t have accomplished a thing. That’s why James says that faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead. That’s not faith that does any good, and that’s not faith that ends up with a person being forgiven.
If you’re wanting to become or to remain a forgiven this morning, you’re going to need faith strong enough that it leads you to seek out Jesus – not because He’s hard to find, but because it will take active faith that does something.
This story also helps us see that forgiveness is…
II. Our Greatest Need
Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
Ill - Thank God that this guy wasn’t lowered into the city of Washington, D.C.!
• Congress would have said, “Let’s pass a bill that provides FEMA funds for people whose houses are damaged by friends of paralytics.”
• The environmentalists would have said, “Actually, friend, you’re doomed because of global warming.”
• The liberals would have said, “Let’s get this guy signed up for some entitlement funds and form some government group that can lower paralytics through the roof. By the way, does this house meet federal requirements for citizens with disabilities?”
• Civil Liberties Union guys would have said, “Call the lawyers! What about all the people whose rights were violated today when this guy was lowered right in front of them?”
• Hollywood would have said, “This could make a good movie. Of course, we’ll have to work in some cussing and gratuitous sex, but it will fly!”
• Protesters would have said, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho! Paralytics through the roof have got to go!”
We live in interesting times, don’t we?
These 4 men and their friend all had an idea of what mattered. What did the paralytic need? They saw his greatest need as a physical need – he was paralyzed. All he could do for a living was beg. He was dependent upon his friends to be moved around. And what did the people in the house, listening to Jesus think as he was lowered through the roof? “Awe, this poor man! He’s a paralytic.” And you and I, as we picture this happening, we’re thinking about the way that Jesus is going to heal him. We’re getting ready for Jesus to wow the crowd once again by taking this guy in such a pathetic state and making him perfectly well.
Jesus is just getting to point 2 in His lesson. There’s some noise above. Suddenly, sunlight starts to come through the roof above. Some pieces of tile and plaster fall inside a pelt a few people, so that they back off from in front of Jesus. Jesus pauses. Everyone looks up as a small pallet appears in the hole. Slowly, it comes down. They can hear the men lowering talking to each other.
The mat finally comes to rest on the floor. Dust from the ceiling is still drifting around. Total silence. Everyone is thinking the same thing: “Man, does this guy ever need help. He can’t move at all. He needs to be healed.” Jesus, the great physician, looks down at this guy and says, “Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven.”
No one else even thought about this, except maybe the paralytic. But when Jesus looks at him, He sees his greatest need.
Ill - Take yourself, or some average person aside right now and ask “What, in order, are your needs?” The list would be interesting. For one thing, it would be a lot longer than the lists people made 50 years ago. At the top of the list would be some of the most basic stuff: food, shelter, clothing. Then there’d be some other new essentials – you know, cable TV, home computer, 2nd car, another pair of shoes, cell phone.
We generally have confused the difference between wants and needs. And, along with that we’ve confused the proper order for our list of needs. We mix up priorities for ourselves and other people.
Ill- Jesus fed a crowd of over 5,000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. Then, He split. They followed Him, Jesus said to them “you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (Jn 6:26-27) In other words, they were following Jesus around in search of something that was a lesser need. They wanted to be fed a meal. Jesus wanted them to have life.
And, often, when we come to Jesus, we come seeking not only our lesser needs to be met, but less than what Jesus has to give us.
• We come seeking temporary, physical help. Jesus gives us eternal, spiritual help.
• We come seeking deliverance from hardships, Jesus helps us see how our hardships bring us to depend on Him
• We come seeking healing, Jesus gives us forgiveness.
How many parents approach their work as parents saying, “I want my kids to have better than what I had.” That’s fine. But rather than getting caught up in wanting your kids to have more opportunities, better clothes, a nicer house, and all that stuff, how about getting caught up in the one thing that matters the most above those: our kids’ relationship with Jesus? How about starting out by saying, “I want my kids to have a stronger, more real relationship with Jesus than I had as I was growing up.”?
Ill – Our situation tends to be like a guy who comes into the doctor – “Hey, doctor, I’m having these pains. I think I need a prescription.” And the doctor, who has studied the situation and who knows what needs to happen looks at you and says, “It’s a good thing you came in. You need major surgery!”
Jesus knows our greatest need is for forgiveness. When you sit down to work on the budget, when you look into the mirror, when you make your Christmas list, when you interview for a new job, your greatest need is to be forgiven.
And when you look at other people, the same is true of them. When you see a homeless person, when you talk to your co-worker, when your eyes meet with a good looking member of the opposite sex at school, when on the evening news you see a country that is torn by war, the greatest need for people in the world today is to be forgiven.
To say that isn’t being trite or overly simplistic. This man who was healed, died. At some point in his life, something happened. Either he grew old and feeble and slowly lost all that strength Jesus restored that day, or he got some disease that weakened and killed him, or something happened suddenly. It doesn’t matter. He died. If not, he’s really old! Physical things, including these bodies, are temporary. We need them for the moment, but our greatest needs last longer than this lifetime.
Forgiveness is…
III. Only by the Authority and Grace of Jesus
Luke 5:21-26
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
The Pharisees got one thing exactly right that day: Who can forgive sins but God alone? According to their teaching, even the Messiah couldn’t forgive sin – only Yahweh Himself. And I notice, when Jesus said this and they inwardly objected, that Jesus didn’t say, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that I’m forgiving this man’s sin!” Instead, He went on to prove His authority to do it!
That’s what’s behind the miracle of healing in this story. Who but God alone? Exactly, guys!
Just like faith is proven because of what we do, forgiveness also is proven by visible things – in this case, a healing. In our own lives, that fact that we’ve been forgiven gets shown by the way we’re willing to forgive others. God goes to work on our hearts. Changes take place in our lives, and we aren’t the same people we once were. Every good change becomes another visible proof that forgiveness really has become a part of us.
Also, God has given us a visible help in baptism. Which is easier to say, “You’ve asked Jesus into your heart – you’re forgiven!” or “You’ve participated in a tangible, visible act as you were united with Jesus in death, burial and resurrection. See, feel, hear – you’re forgiven!”?
How could Jesus do this? I could offer to forgive you today. That would be nice of me, but it’s of no use. Maybe it’s nice to know I forgive you of any bad thing you’ve done, but maybe you don’t even care if I forgive you. And when you stand before God, you’re not going to want to say, “But Sherm forgave me!” That won’t work.
Psalm 49:7-9
No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him--the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough--that he should live on forever and not see decay.
No human can do this for you. In fact, how can God do this? How can God just overlook our sins as if they’ve never happened?
Romans 3:25-26
God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
When Jesus looks at this man and says, “Take heart. Your sins are forgiven!” That’s the short version. Behind those words is the long version that He spells out with the rest of His life on earth: “Friend, I love you. I know you, and I know that you’re wanting to be healed. I want to heal you, not just from this disease, but from your greatest disease. It’s going to take a pretty drastic procedure. I’ll have to die of your disease in your place. Even though I don’t deserve to, I will. I’m covering the debt for you that you owe. And it’s on the basis of My work on your behalf that I can look at you right now and say your sins are forgiven.”
Conclusion:
Jesus proved His authority over disease and demons and over what we believe, but today there’s an even greater authority in His hand that we need – His authority to forgive sin.
Standing in front of God’s glory one day, we’re not going to feel the need for stuff, or for financial security. Worrying about our health will be out the window. We won’t be worried about looking good or accepted by other people. We’re going to be standing before the God of all creation without a doubt that what w need is to be forgiven. And it’s also going to be evident that the only place, the only hope for forgiveness will be the power and grace of Jesus to forgive sin.
