Luke 5: 17-26 … “Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures.”
Jesus Heals a Paralytic (original except for titles of outline points.)
What would you be willing to do for $10,000,000? In their book, The Day America Told the Truth, James Patterson and Peter Kim reveal some shocking statistics about how far people in this country are willing to go for ten million.
Would abandon their entire family (25%)
Would abandon their church (25%)
Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
Would give up their American citizenship (16%)
Would leave their spouses (16%)
Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
Would kill a stranger (7%)
Would put their children up for adoption (3%)...
What would YOU be willing to do for that sum of money? Maybe … Fudge a little on your taxes? Tell your insurance company … a story that wasn’t the whole truth?
Let’s forget about cash. What would you be willing to do to find a cure for cancer? How ‘bout world peace … or ending hunger? What would you do … to save your best friend’s life?
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
In the Bible in Luke chapter 5 we see a group of people who are willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to see their paralyzed friend healed.
Turn with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 5, beginning with verse 17. Luke chapter 5, verse 17.
“17: 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.”
First, notice the crowd.
Jesus had been baptized, gone through his 40 day temptation in the wilderness … been rejected in his own hometown, and was now teaching in Galilee, where He called Peter, James, and John to be His disciples.
He had healed many sick people, and people were coming from everywhere to be healed. Verse 15 records that “crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sickness. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Crowds were pressing around him constantly, and this day things were no different, except for who was in THIS crowd.
Instead of people wanting to be healed, Jesus was facing Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the toughest crowd there was … and they were just WAITING for Him to step one TOE out of line.
But The Pharisees were some of the Best people in the Land morally speaking… the kept the law. They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters pertaining to the law of Moses.
They tithed their income, they fasted twice a week and prayed 3 times a day. Their very name means “separated ones” … they separated themselves from the world.
At first glance, Pharisees would be welcome in just about ANY church today. They kept the Law.
And the teachers of the Law were just like them … they recorded and analyzed the body of the Mosaic Law and the traditions that surrounded them. They were there to watch for and point out error.
But more importantly, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law weren’t there to learn from Jesus, they were there to catch Jesus in a mistake.
Ya know, it’s kinda like NASCAR. People don’t REALLY go to watch the races … they go to party, to mingle … to drink (Coke of course) … and to see a couple real good wrecks!
And I wonder in some of our churches if that attitude doesn’t slip in every now and then. Maybe we’ve been a Christian a lot of years, maybe we’ve even been to school.
And at some point we change over from the teachable spirit God wants us to have … that we come to church to learn and apply God’s truth, to coming to church to make sure someone’s not teaching error.
When I was in Little Rock, attending a large non-denominational church of 6,000 I had to work really hard to overcome this. There were a couple things that were more opinion than anything else …
… like their particular view of predestination, for instance. And pretty soon a person can lose the forest for the trees over one nonessential matter.
They taught the essentials of salvation well and a great many other things, especially the authority of the Word.
You’ll never find a church that agrees in the Word with you 100% about every last thing.
Now don’t get me wrong, Jesus Himself in Matthew 7 warns us to “watch out for false prophets.”
The Bible says in Acts 17:11 that the Bereans were “more noble” because they searched the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true.
But there’s a fine line between a teachable Christian spirit and being a prideful self appointed watchdog of the truth.
So here they were, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, gathered together and ready to pounce on the first thing Jesus said.
Next, notice the crisis.
Look at verse 18 and 19. “18Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
19When 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.”
If YOUR best friend or … son … was paralyzed, what lengths would you go to in order to get them healed?
We’re not told in the Bible if they came from a long way away or they from next door, but regardless, there was no room for them to get in the door with their friend to be healed. No room for those who REALLY wanted to see Jesus.
Now, My wife Kim and I LOVE to eat at Outback Steakhouse. (insert your favorite restaurant) We don’t do it very often, because it’s pretty steep there, but it’s GOOD eatin’.
Ya gotta watch the bloomin’ Onion though, that’ll do things to a man’s stomach that just isn’t fit … for polite conversation.
But you ever tried to eat at the Outback in Lee’s Summit at about 6:30 on a Friday night?? (Long pause) Not only will you not see a waiter for hours, you’ll park in the grass … fight your way in the door … through the huddled masses who are also waiting.
And Somehow everyone else waiting looks at you with suspicion, like you’re trying to jump ahead of them in line.
Finally, you arrive at the harassed hostess. And, after finishing her conversation with her high school friend … and only somewhat hiding her annoyance at seeing yet ANOTHER … hungry pilgrim, she arches her eyebrow at you and asks, “How many in your party?”
I mean, if you dare to say any number higher than “2” you’ll be banished to Outback purgatory for life. Several times they’ve told Kim and I … it would be a two and a half hour wait.
I mean, these guys in Luke chapter 5 had the same chance of getting in to see Jesus that I did of ordering an “outback special with a loaded baked potato” before the clock struck 8. Zero … nada … zilch.
And they knew this might be their only chance … Jesus didn’t often stay in one place long. The Bible also doesn’t tell us whether this man had been paralyzed from birth or if it was an accident that had just happened …
Regardless, they were DESPERATE to see Jesus. So with people overflowing outside the door and crowded even outside, the friends hatched a desperate plot.
They climbed up on the roof … which as no big deal because most roofs in that day had a flat roof you could get to by stairs from the outside.
It was kinda like a first century version of a fire escape. But just try carrying someone up a fire escape … it wouldn’t be easy … remember, their friend couldn’t walk.
And so they get up on the roof and they don’t see any way in … up there either. Many houses in that day had access from inside the house to the roof. For this band of brothers, it was Strike 2.
And so desperate times call for desperate measures.
They were just going to have to go THOUGH the roof. As the saying goes: If Mohammad won’t go to the mountain … you take the mountain to Mohammad.
Maybe they tried to figure out where they would do the least damage, but in Mark, it just says they dug straight through the roof. Try turning THAT ONE in on your homeowner’s insurance!
It started out with just a noise on the roof, probably un-noticed as Jesus was teaching the crowd. But soon, they could see dust in the air, and finally, the clay, wood and branches that roofs of that day were made began falling on the crowd.
People in an already over-crowded room pressed toward the walls, opening a space, it says in verse 19, for them to “lower him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.”
Which brings us to … the cure. Verse 20.
Jesus knew exactly what was going on, and how this whole thing was going to play out. Verse 20 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Regardless of all those around him, Jesus saw straight through to this man’s need. Jesus saw the bigger picture. This man had a greater need spiritually than he did physically.
And it’s the same with us. However bad we have it physically, the bigger picture is the spiritual aspect.
Jesus knew that the man had come in faith … to be healed, so He did heal the man … spiritually … not so he could walk around for another 40 or so years on THIS planet, but so that He could spend eternity with God in Heaven.
But I want you to notice something. Jesus doesn’t say in verse 20 that he saw the paralytic’s faith. It says he saw THEIR faith … the friends AND the paralytic.
It was by THEIR faith that Jesus forgave this man’s sins. The application’s easy here: How far would WE go to help bring a friend to Christ?
Would ya risk a lawsuit by digging through a roof? Maybe a better question is, what WOULD’NT we do?
I love to think of things in concrete terms. How much of your own money would you give for a friend to know Christ? $1000? Would you draw the line at $5000? How ‘bout a year of your life in prison?
$10,000 and your house? Where would we draw the line?? I’d like to say I know where this line is or ISN’T for me too, but I’ve never been tested that far.
But Remember, this was the fate of many of the early Christians, but it worked. They risked their jobs, money, house and home … and it WORKED! In a short time after Jesus’ death, the whole Roman Empire became Christian.
So … will we give up some free time to work on a relationship that might lead to telling someone about Jesus? Give up a lunch hour at work to have a Bible study?
Risk being thought of as a “Bible thumpin’ Jesus Freak?” Take a risk and have your neighbors over for a cookout to begin the relationship that might end in their salvation?
Would you pray for your friends and acquaintances so MUCH that when the Spirit prompts you … you know when it’s time to say something to them?
What would it take for each of us to help ONE person to faith in the next year? If only half of us succeeded, we at Westridge would gain the momentum we needed to reach this entire community.
These are desperate times, and they call for desperate, EXTRAORDINARY effort and prayer on everbody’s part.
Because the bigger picture is not what’s happening to us in the few years we have left on earth, it’s what’s going to happen for eternity in Heaven … or that other place. It’s a matter of perspective. And Jesus saw that.
Look at the Criticism, verses 21-23.
Verse 21, “21The 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?"
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’?”
Jesus knew exactly what a commotion He was stirring up. For this very UNTEACHABLE crowd … it was gonna be the most teachable moment of the night.
It didn’t take all Jesus’ “miraculous power” to know what this crowd was thinking … it was written all over their faces.
It would be just like how we’d feel if someone came in here and preached a sermon on why they didn’t think Jesus really died on the cross!
They had come to catch Jesus in a mistake, but now they were dumbfounded by it. “Who do you think you ARE, Jesus? No one can forgive sins but God!”
Which was exactly the point Jesus was making. Later He would say in John 14:6, “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”
Now I know there are those who say that Jesus was a good man, maybe a prophet … in the same class as Mohammad, Ghandi, Buddha, and the like.
But if you read the Gospels, Jesus doesn’t leave us the option that He was just a good man. He is either God’s son, or you can’t believe Him at all. He very … intentionally leaves us no middle ground.
And so Jesus looks out to his audience in verse 22 and asks, “What’s the deal? … Why y’all gotta be like that?” (Pause)
“Okay, let me ask you a question then.” “Which is easier: to say, ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’”
Well, both are pretty easy to say … talk is cheap. But neither one is easy to DO. You have to be God to do the first, and have God’s healing power for the other. Which one do YOU think would have been easier? (Pause)
If you said the first, the people in the room would get very upset and maybe stone you for blasphemy. If you said the second and it didn’t HAPPEN, you obviously are a false prophet.
And while Jesus’ critics thought mulled over this unanswerable question, look at his masterful control of the situation, verses 24-26.
“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."
25Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
You can practically see Jesus think, “Fine, you don’t get it … here’s something you can understand.” And He heals the paralytic.
While the Pharisees and teachers were still thinking about which part is harder, forgiving sins or healing a paralyzed man, He has done BOTH! And the man gets up from his mat and starts praising God.
You ever had an injury, a hurt, or a chronic illness that lasted awhile? How many times did you pray for God to heal you? Can’t you just imagine this man’s joy at being able to walk again? “IMMEDIATELY” it says, he stood up.
Verse 26 records the crowds amazed reaction. “They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.” In Mark it says, “We have never SEEN anything like this!”
This hardened group that had come to oppose Jesus had seen UNDENIABLE evidence that Jesus … was Lord, Son of God.
What kind of evidence would it take for someone in YOUR life who doesn’t know Jesus … to come to faith in Him? … A miraculous healing?
Well, that’s probably not going to happen. But maybe they just need to see the evidence that God’s has forgiven our sins … by the way we live our lives … by the way we care about others, by the way we live our lives with abandon …
Jesus HAS left us with miraculous evidence … but we have to show it. We have to be intentional. How far will YOU go?
And if you haven’t made that first time decision to accept Christ – what kind of evidence do YOU need? Would it take a miraculous healing for you to believe?
Would it take evidence that Jesus truly was and IS the Son of God, capable of forgiving your sins and taking you to the Father when you die …?
Search the Scriptures for yourself, see if these things are true … and if you’ve come to that point …
That you believe that Jesus IS the Christ, the only Son of God, and you want to accept His forgiveness for your sins, His Lordship over your life, the Gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life, I pray you’ll make that decision this morning.
Just come forward and have a seat right here in the front and we sing this next song. Maybe you want to rededicate your life or join our fellowship here at Westridge.
You can do any of these things, just come forward, now as we all STAND, and we sing.
