Who Is The Man Called Jesus?\

Who is the Man called JESUS?

Luke5:17-26

– These are the words of Napoleon Bonaparte:

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man.

Between him and every other person in the world there is no

possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar,

Charlemagne and I have founded empires. But upon what

did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus

Christ founded his empire upon love. And at this hour millions

of men would die for him.

Although it has been 2,000 years since Jesus walked the dusty

roads of Palestine, the words of Napoleon are more true today

than when he first spoke them. “At this hour, millions of men

would die for him.”

A. It is a fact that the men and women of the world

are instinctively drawn to Jesus.

1. Many people do not know him well, but what

they know, they like.

2. It is rare to find a man on the street who will

speak ill of Jesus

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH JESUS

A. What was Jesus really like? What was it like

to be around him?

1. What kind of person was he?

2. How did he deal with the problems of

life? How did he treat people?

3. What would we have seen if we had been

there in Galilee by the sea or in

Jericho or in Bethany?

4. What was Jesus really like?

B. In order to answer those questions, we have to

go back to the only records we have–the four

gospels.

2. I not looking for “Jesus the great

teacher” or “Jesus and his disciples,”

but for “Jesus and the common man

THE GOSPEL OF THE UNDERDOG

A. No gospel answers that question better than

Luke. It is the gospel of the individual. It is full of

real stories about real people. f

1. In Luke’s gospel we see Jesus dealing

with a tax collector up a tree and with

a prostitute who washed his feet with

her tears.

2. We see him with the rich young ruler who

went away sorrowful and with the woman

who touched the hem of his garment.

B. We know that Luke was a physician.

1. It has been said that a minister sees men at their best,

2. a lawyer sees men at their worst,

3. but a physician sees men as they really are.

C. Luke saw men as they were and loved them all

D. His gospel is the story of Jesus written by a kind

and compassionate family doctor.

E. To my mind, he has given us the most appealing

picture of our Lord.

1. If you want to see Jesus as the Messiah

read Matthew;

2. if you want to see Jesus as the

powerful Savior, read Mark;

3 if you want to see Jesus as the Son of

God, read John.

4. But if you want to see Jesus as the man

for all men, read Luke

BAITING THE HOOK

Our first close encounter with Jesus comes from Luke 5"17-19

It is the story of a miracle and a controversy. Jesus Forgives

and Heals a Paralyzed Man17 One day Jesus was teaching,

and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They

had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and

Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal

the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a

mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.

19 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.

A. 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.

1.And the power of the Lord was present to

heal the sick.

2.Some men came carrying a paralytic on a

mat and tried to take him into the house

to lay him before Jesus.

B. 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.

C. As we study this little photograph clipped from

Luke’s mental scrapbook, the players in this

drama come clearly in focus.

1. First, there is Jesus who is teaching the people.

2. Second, there are the Pharisees, the

professional teachers of the law.

D. They have come from all over Galilee, have

made the long, hard trip to Capernaum to check

out this new man from Nazareth.