Reading: Luke chapter 5 verses 17-26.
Ill:
• (a). DVD – Rolf Harris - Jake the Peg (on Youtube or email me)
• (b). Kids Talk illustration
I WANT US TO LOOK AT THE 4 TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THIS STORY:
(1st) The friends of the paralysed man.
• Ill: Have you ever had a picnic or B-B-Q and watched;
• A black ant crawl up a table leg until it reached some spilled sugar.
• It seemed to eat, then crawled back down the table leg.
• Soon the two black ants crawled up the table leg to the sugar.
• They ate and left. Soon a steady steam of black ants;
• Moved up and down the table leg to enjoy the sugar.
• Point being that they must have some system by which they communicate,
• 'I have found something good and I want to share it!'
Now look at the 4 friends:
(1st). They cared.
• These four friends believed that Jesus could heal their friend,
• And they were determined to get him through the crowd to Jesus.
• Sad that many Christians never share their faith!
• Personal but never private!
Verse 18: There is a problem:
“They could not find a way to do this because of the crowd”.
• Now in eastern culture there was (and still is) an open door policy,
• So when a celebrity visited a home, it would soon became crowded.
• Now the house where Jesus was staying was not just crowded,
• It overflowing, it waqs teeming with people.
This caused a problem:
• The really needy people couldn't get through to see Jesus,
• Often it is those close to Jesus that prevent others from discovering him!
• We can easily allow are own preferences our own prejudices or our own traditions;
• To become a hindering block to others.
Ill:
In the life of Jesus;
• He was again and again criticised for being unconventional,
• Because he would not play be the rules of religion,
• Because of where he went ill: Tax collectors & sinners (end of the chapter)
• And because of who he associated with ill: Woman of Samaria.
Yet despite their apparent righteous criticism of Jesus:
• The text makes it quite clear that it was Jesus who had God’s approval upon him,
• And not the religious leaders, who sadly are called ‘a stumbling block’ in the scriptures.
Verse 19: Is the solution to the problem:
Ill:
• The roof of a Palestinian house was flat,
• It was often used a place of rest and quiet,
• So there was usually an outside staircase, which ascended to it.
• And so the four friends decided to go up it.
I would have loved to have been inside the house:
• While Jesus was preaching, all of a sudden he looked up,
• And noticed dust (ill: Luke St “Jesus didn’t mind a bit of dust”)
• Within minutes sunlight shone through the hole,
• Followed by four faces peering through the hole in the roof.
Jesus must have smiled when he saw their enthusiasm:
• He greets the man with the expression: "Friend".
• A term of affection, with a welcome and not with anger over a damaged roof.
• After all it was only a building, an inanimate object,
• Here was a living person with feelings and needs.
Notice: verse 5: "When Jesus saw their faith"
• Matthew, Mark and Luke all agree,
• That Jesus spoke of "their" faith, not "his".
• Jesus always recognised real faith and enjoyed pointing it out.
• The friends believed in him and THIER faith was about to be rewarded.
(2nd). They acted.
• They didn't sit at home praying about it (don’t miss understand me!)
• They put some feet to their prayers.
• Real belief results in action!
• Our doing is an expression of our concern.
ill:
The Good Samaritan.
• Not the ones (Priests & Levite did) who felt sorry for the man;
• But the one who ‘did something’ for him that mattered!
(3rd). They worked together (unity).
• Four men, Mark is the only writer who reports that it took four men to carry him.
• But they had to pull in the right direction or ooops!
Question: Unity is so important in the Christian life.
• Are we pulling together? Are we rowing in the same direction?
• Ill: Psalm 113 verse 1
Ill:
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together;
• When all of a sudden both sides were filled with Indian warriors on horses,
• They were obviously dressed for battle.
• The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, “What are we going to do?”
• Tonto replied, “What do you mean ‘we,’ Whiteman?”
(4th). They were imaginative.
• They didn't give up when they saw the crowds,
• They used their initiative.
• "So they uncovered the roof where he was":
• or, "they dug through the clay roof above his head" (TLB).
• These four friends looked at their friend and thought:
• "How can we get him to Jesus?"
Application:
• If we want to impact the lives of people around us;
• It will require imagination and flexibility.
Ill:
Sanctified imagination.
• One new thing that the new churches have taught is;
• If you want to win people, then you adjust to them, don’t expect them to adjust to you!
(5th). They were prepared to pay a price.
• Time and effort to carry the man to where Jesus was.
• More effort to dig out the roof and lower him,
• And they were not sure they would be welcome intruders.
• The cost of being misunderstood.
• Don't forget, someone would have had to pay for the roof!
• And it would have probably been the mans friends.
Ill:
• Life ought to teach us that nothing is free,
• It takes time and effort to succeed!
• Book of Proverbs;
• “All hard work brings a reward”
(2nd) The paralysed man.
• He came to Jesus the hard way, through the roof,
• Yet look at the surprising words of Jesus to him,
Verse 20: Jesus said to him: "Friend, your sins are forgiven":
• The crowd who had gathered, no doubt expected Jesus to say:
• "Your legs are healed",
Question: So why say; "Your sins are forgiven"?
Answer:
• Jesus dealt with the mans greatest need:
• Which was not a new pair of legs but a new heart & mind!
• A new pair of legs might last the man 30, 40 maybe 60years (until he died);
• A new heart and mind would put him back in touch with the living God (eternity!)
Quote Warren Wiersbe:
"Forgiveness is the greatest miracle that Jesus ever performs.
It meets the greatest need; it costs the greatest price; and it brings the greatest blessing and the most lasting results".
Ill:
• D. M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia.
• At the close of the service a stranger came up to him and said,
“I don’t like the way you spoke about the cross.
I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example.”
• Stearns replied,
• “If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?”
• “I certainly would,” said the stranger without hesitation.
• “All right then,” said the preacher,
• Let’s take the first step. He did no sin.
• Can you claim that for yourself?”
• The man looked confused and somewhat surprised.
• “Why, no,” he said. “I acknowledge that I do sin.”
• Stearns replied,
• “Then your greatest need is to have a Saviour, not an example!
(3rd) The Scribes and Pharisees.
Notice: verse 17:
• The leaders had come to hear Jesus from all over the country, ("Every village")
• Even from the capital Jerusalem (He had attracted the big guns, the religious heavyweights).
• They had come in their capacity as guardians of orthodoxy,
• To check out this new itinerant rabbi, teacher.
• They wanted to make sure he was in line with their rules and regulations.
• That he was kosher!
Note:
• Mark in his gospel says:
• “As Jesus looked at them he saw a critical spirit in their hearts”:
• They had every right to investigate this new teacher,
• But they came with minds already made up and not with open minds and hearts.
• They were looking for error (negative) rather than the truth (positive).
• It was a case of: "We've made our decision, now don't confuse us with the facts".
Verse 24: Look how Jesus responds to them:
24But 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.”
• This is amazing stuff:
• Jesus has made a statement that puts him on a parallel with God:
Note:
• In the Jewish faith, NO ONE can forgive sins except God.
• If a man claimed to be able to do this, it was blasphemy and the penalty was death.
• So here, by his words, Jesus is claiming to be equal with God.
• These words must have shocked, amazed and angered the religious leaders.
• To them Jesus was just a carpenter turned preacher,
• Yet now he has the audacity to play God!
Verse 22: Jesus knowing what the religious leaders were thinking:
• So he got in first and pre-empted their strike.
• In other words Jesus backs up his words by his actions:
22Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
The obvious answer to the question is the first ("Sins forgiven"):
• Because no-one can prove whether forgiveness took place or not, it's uncheck-able.
• But that leads to a problem;
• Because any charlatan, con artist could say the words “You are forgiven,”
• Because no-one can prove whether forgiveness took place or not, it's uncheck-able.
So notice what Jesus does:
• Jesus does something which is impossible, yet visible!
• He will do something that they can see!
• e.g. Heals the mans body in front of their very eyes:
• Thus proving he could also do that which was invisible!
Verse 24: "Get up, take your mat and go home".
• Jesus knew that when the man picked up his mat,
• Everybody would see that he had been instantly and completely healed.
• Those outside of the house who saw him go in through the roof lying on it,
• Would now surprisingly see him coming out through the door with it tucked under his arm.
Verse 25:
5Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God
• What had once been a symbol of his miserable confinement,
• Was now a trophy of his total freedom.
• While the people followed the man with their eyes,
• Their ears must have been still ringing with Jesus' words:
• Verse 24: "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins."
• Jesus had made his point.
(4th) Jesus.
• The title "Son of man":
• Is used 80 times in the New Testament.
• 79 times in the gospels,
• 1 occasion outside the gospels (Stephen’s speech Acts 7:56).
Two possible meanings:
• It can simply mean: "A man", "A person".
• It is used in the Old Testament like that (i.e. Psalm 8:1, Ezekiel 2:1).
• It was also a Messianic term (to do with the Messiah / Christ).
• Ill: Daniel chapter 7 verses 13-14.
• Daniel talks about one who receives:
• "Authority, glory and sovereign power".
So it was a title that the Messiah / Christ would own:
• And here in this context remember Jesus talks about "Authority" & "Forgiveness".
• Messianic, Godly characteristics, which he himself possesses.
Verse 26b:
6Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.
"We have never seen anything like this!"
• Forgiveness was nothing new to the Jews,
• But seeing a man like themselves actually forgive sins was a first.
• Those who witnessed what he had just done,
• Must have sensed that he was more than just a man,
In this chapter Jesus encounters 3 people:
• Leaper (verses 12-16).
• Picture of the decay of sin (spoils a persons life).
• Paralysed man (verses 17-26).
• Picture of that sin cripples us (prevents us standing before God).
• Calling of Levi (verses 27-32).
• Picture of freedom from sin (corrupt life over, new name & calling).
To the surprise of everyone;
• Jesus takes each situation under control.
• And restores it to what it should have been!
