The Greatest Miracle

THE GREATEST MIRACLE

Luke 5:17-31

- The Whisnants sing a song that says:

You touched the blind man and when his eyes were opened

He saw in whom he believed

Then You fed five thousand with five loaves of bread

And two little fish from the sea

Then You calmed the storms with three little words

Then You turned the water into wine

Oh, You raised the dead, made the lame walk again

But these miracles, they just can't compare to mine

Of all the many miracles that Jesus has performed throughout history, none is any greater than the miracle of salvation!

Early in His ministry multitudes of people flocked to where Jesus was. But as time went on a transition took place. John 6 tells us that "many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." It seems that the majority of the crowd was more interested the miracles that Jesus performed than the message that He preached.

The physical miracles that Jesus performed were very important. But the truth is, those miracles were a means to an end. Far more important than any physical healing was the spiritual healing that Jesus could provide. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever; What He did back then, He can do today! He is still able provide physical healing, but greater than this is the fact that He is able to forgive us of our sins and save our lost souls.

We find an illustration of Jesus' healing power in Luke 5:17-31. Jesus healed a man who was paralyzed. But He did not stop with physical healing, He went on to transform his life spiritually and eternally. I would like to examine his story and preach on "The Greatest Miracle".

This chapter begins with Jesus preaching to a standing room only crowd. Word had spread of the many amazing miracles Jesus had performed in that region. By this time Jesus had cast a demon out of a man who was possessed and He healed Peter's mother in law.

Mark 1:34 says that "He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

In the preceding verses Jesus healed a man who suffered from the disease of leprosy. Now look with me to Luke 5:17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed...

Those who had experienced a miracle at the hand of Jesus went out and told others of all that He had done. When Jesus returned to Capernaum news began to spread that He was in the area. So many people were gathered together that the house was full. Outside of this house was a man who was in desperate need of a miracle. He had some devoted friends who were not going to let any obstacle hinder them from getting him to Jesus. They climbed up to the roof and began to rip it apart so that they could lower their friend down to where Jesus was. I want us to walk through this passage and consider what those 4 men saw as they looked through the hole in the roof that day.

- The first thing that these 4 men saw was:

I. JESUS AND HIS AMAZING COMPASSION

There were numerous people inside this house who needed a miracle. It is likely that there were many others outside who were in search of physical healing. When Jesus saw this man being let down through the roof, He noticed his helpless situation. Jesus had compassion on him and worked a great miracle in his life.

- This paralyzed man received assistance from several different people. Let's examine:

A. THE HELP THAT THIS MAN RECEIVED

There were four men who were willing to do all that was in their power to get this man to Jesus. This shows us that:

1) HE RECEIVED HELP FROM SOME DEVOTED FRIENDS - v18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.

There was a multitude gathered around Jesus to see what He could do in their own lives. But these men were not there for themselves, they were there for their friend. They were willing to do what was necessary to see him receive a miracle. This is a great picture of the kind of devotion we should possess. We should have enough compassion and concern for others that we would seek to get them to Jesus.