Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 5. Luke 5. We are going to read verses 17-25 this morning. Let's go ahead and read that.
[!bible] Luke 5:17-25 - KJV 17. And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. 19. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. 20. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 22. But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? 23. Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 25. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
This week, our oldest living member, Glen Drummond, passed away. Glen was 95 years old. His children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even great-great grandchildren are in our church. That's a pretty awesome legacy to leave behind.
At 95, that means Brother Glen lived a very long life, and the few remaining people his age probably saw more change in their lifetimes than any generation in history:
- Brother Glen was 26 years old when Elvis Presley came on the scene.
- When I was Noah’s age, my favorite historical movie was Appollo 13. That happened in 1970. Brother Glen was already my age, 41, when Apollo 13 actually happened.
- Brother Glen was in his 50s during the Reagan administration.
- He was already past retirement age when Bill Clinton became president.
- Brother Glen was 77 years old when Facebook burst onto the scene in 2006.
And through all of that, Brother Glen kept his wits. He was sharp as a tack a few months ago. In fact, a few months ago I was sitting with him in the nursing home and just for fun, he showed me that he could read things across the room that I could barely see with my glasses on. He was completely independent up until about four months ago. In his 90s he was still working on his car, still fixing things around his house. Something almost no one gets to do at that age.
But sadly, and very suddenly, he developed this paralysis. It was like he woke up one day and could no longer control his arms and legs. And this made him very, very helpless.
For the last four months of his life, he couldn’t do anything without someone else’s help. He couldn’t go to the bathroom, he couldn’t eat a meal, he couldn’t even change the show on the TV. He was absolutely stuck and at the mercy of other people.
And he hated it. He absolutely hated it. He is in a better place today, walking on streets of gold. Reunited with so many friends and family members who went on before.
Now, in our our story today. We have a man who was paralyzed. And knowing what Brother Glen went through the last few weeks, I don't think I can ever think of this story the same way again.
Jesus is back in Capurnaum. Remember the people of Capurnaum wanted to force Him to stay, but He had left to go and preach in other cities. Now He is back and He is preaching and teaching.
He's in a home. Warren Weirsbe suggested this may have been Peter's home and He is preaching and teaching there, and the house is packed. It is way past it's occupancy limit. Standing room only.
Now, the text tells us something interesting in verse 17. It tells us:
There were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem.
What's interesting is that this is the first mention of the Pharisees in the book of Luke. This will NOT be the last. The Pharisees are mentioned by name 26 times in this book. They are really the main "bad guys" in the story of Jesus' ministry.
But who were they? The Pharisees were a group of conservative Bible teachers and preachers. During the time of Ezra (which, by the way, we are studying on Sunday night - it's fascinating - you should come), when the people of Judah returned from exile in Babylon, they had a national revival and decided that they would never again go into idolatry and that they were going to live by the Bible.
And out of that revival came this group of preachers and teachers who called themselves "the separated ones" (that's what the word "Pharisee" means - it comes from the Hebrew word for separate). The Pharisees were absolutely dead serious about living by the Bible.
That's a good thing. A very good thing. And for hundreds of years, they had stood up for the truth. When Alexander the Great came in and tried to Hellenize, or Greek-ize, the Jews, the Pharisees took a stand, and many of them ended up in prison or even being executed for it.
But the problem with the Pharisees is that they were so focused on outward obedience to God's word that they lost the plot. While claiming to represent God, they forgot what God was all about, and they took things way farther than God intended and ended up using the Bible to hurt people more than help them.
And so by the time of Jesus, the Pharisees really were Jesus' biggest enemy. His biggest human obstacle.
And here in this story, a huge contingent of them have come to little Capurnaum to check Jesus out. They have come from all over Israel - even from down in Jerusalem - with one purpose - find something wrong with Jesus. Jesus is so popular, they need to knock Him off His pedistal.
It's kind of like a few years ago, there was this supposed revival at Asbury University in Kentucky and it was starting to make a lot of news and get really popular. And do you know what? Lots of preachers and leaders went there - to make sure it was ok. To make sure it was legit.
That's what these Pharisees are doing for Jesus. They are there to make sure that Jesus is legitimate. So there is this tension in the room as Jesus is teaching. There is this elephant in the room. What are these Pharisees going to do?
The text also tells us that "the power of the Lord was present to heal them." So there was something else in the air. The power of Jesus was there.
It's in this charged atmosphere that one of the most memorable stories in the Bible takes place.
Four men are trying to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. He can't get to Jesus himself. He's paralyzed. He can't do anything himself besides lay in his bed. But he has these four friends who have heard about Jesus and heard about his power to heal and they carry this man to the house where Jesus is teaching.
But there is a problem: no one is getting in that house. It is packed. Stuffed full of people like clowns in a Volkswagon.
So what do these friends do? Do they give up? Do they say "Maybe another day? Today just isn't working for us."
No. They go up on the roof of this house.
Now, to understand this, you have to know that in Bible times, in Palestine, the roof was very much a part of the living space. It would be flat, and they would have stairs on the outside of the house going up to it, and they would use their roof much like we use a patio. They would hang out up there, they would entertain up there. It was their outdoor living space.
So these men take haul this man and his bed up onto the roof. They listen and try to gauge where Jesus was teaching, and then...then they start tearing the roof apart.
Now the top level would have been grass. They literally had grass growing on the roof. Then there would have been about a foot of dirt. Then there would have been about a foot of thatch. Finally, there would be wooden beams. The roof was about two feet thick.
So these men, presumably without permission, start digging this, I don't know, 7 foot by 3 foot hole in this roof. This would have taken some time and it would have been loud.
Imagine Jesus is teaching and suddenly you hear "thump." Then He starts talking again and "thump." Over and over. You hear guys chuckling and laughing and franticly digging. Little dirt clods start falling through the ceiling onto people's heads. Maybe the guys in the crowd are wondering if this house is going to fall down on top of them and kill them all.
But then...the sun shines through. There is a hole in the ceiling. Everyone stops and looks up as this hole gets bigger and bigger. Finally, lowered down with ropes comes this paralyzed man, right at the foot of the Teacher.
You would remember this. This would be a story you told your kids and grandkids.
So now you have Jesus, interrupted. You have this paralyzed man on a bed before Jesus. You have the crowd of Pharisees looking on and everyone is wondering "what is Jesus going to do?"
And here is where Jesus throws a curveball. Here is where the story goes from strange to bizarre. Because Jesus doesn't say what everyone expects Him to say. He doesn't do what everyone thinks He will do. He doesn't just heal the man and go back to teaching.
He looks down at this paralyzed man and says "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." (In Matthew and Mark it records "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.")
What? What does that have to do with anything? This man is in a horrible situation. He's unable to take care of himself. He is unable to provide for his family. And Jesus is saying "Your sins are forgiven."
Why?
Two reasons:
First, because the most important need we all have is to have our sins forgiven and to have our relationship with God made right. This man was a sinner. Perhaps his sin had caused an accident that led to his paralysis. But even if he wasn't, he was a sinner who was lost in his sin.
What would be the use if Jesus healed his legs and he used them to walk right into Hell?
The second reason for Jesus saying "Your sins are forgiven" was His audience. They were doctors of the law. They were Bible scholars. They knew what that meant.
Only God can forgive people's sin. They knew that Jesus was claiming to be God here. They were immediately in an uprage over it. This was blasphemy to them. This was stone the man right away kind of stuff.
But Jesus put them in a bit of a pickle. Because anyone can say "I forgive your sins." You can't see my sins. You can't know my relationship with God.
But not any man can make a paralyzed person walk again. That's why Jesus said:
[!bible] Luke 5:23 - KJV 23. Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
He's asking them "What's easier? Forgiving sins or healing paralyzed people?" It's a bold question - because both are impossible.
So then he says
[!bible] Luke 5:24 - KJV 24. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
And the man just gets up and walks home, glorifying God.
Actually, I think he probably danced home. Bollywood style.
Now, what is the point of this story? Why is it recorded in the Bible for us?
I think there is a twofold point this story is making:
- First, Jesus has the power to forgive sin and heal broken lives.
- Second, Jesus uses faith-filled, loving, motivated friends who are compassionate enough to bring others to Him.
Let's talk about each one of those things for a few minutes and we'll be done this morning.
So the first point I want to talk about is...
1. Jesus has the power to forgive sin and heal broken lives.
That's what Jesus did here. He forgave a man's sins. He healed a man's broken life. Jesus wanted to demonstrate this ability for the Pharisees and really wanted to show them that He was God incarnate and had the power to forgive sins.
And today, Jesus still has the power to forgive sins.
This is what Jesus came to do. He came to save sinners. The Apostle Paul could say near the end of his life...
[!bible] 1 Timothy 1:15 - KJV 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Not righteous, but sinners. Not the clean, but the sinners. People who had run afowl of God's law and judgment.
Romans 5:6-8 puts it this way:
[!bible] Romans 5:6-8 - KJV 6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
You may think that you will come to God when you get your life cleaned up. But that's not how it works. God became man and died for you in your sins. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died for the ungodly.
Have you come to Jesus as a sinner needing forgiveness? Have you come to Him knowing you couldn't save yourself - desperately needing His free salvation?
That's the first thing Jesus wanted to do here - to show that He could forgive sins. That He could heal this broken and paralyzed man.
But there is a second part of this story that I think is just as important for us...
2. Jesus uses faith-filled, loving, motivated friends who are compassionate enough to bring others to Him.
This poor paralyzed man could not bring himself to Jesus. Even if he wanted to - he couldn't get to Jesus. But he had friends who had faith - who believed that Jesus wanted to heal him and would heal him.
They had love - they didn't want to see their friend like this anymore. They didn't want to see him so helpless.
They had determination. They were going to get him to Jesus, even if they had to break the roof down to do it.
They had creativity. When everything else was stopped. They found a way.
And listen, today Jesus has the power to save people and the power to put lives back together. We have all seen it - but God chooses to use us to bring people to Jesus.
My families faith story started when a man my stepfather worked with started talking to him at work about the gospel. Just a friend who loved Gary Morris enough to share Jesus with Him. To bring Him to Jesus. Eventually, he trusted Christ and our family was never the same.
My wife's family came to Christ when a man had enough compassion to go to the Whitfield County Jail and witness to a rough inmate named Larry Styles. Then that man became his lifelong friend and discipled him.
And I think the main thing I want to tell you today is that you have friends, maybe family members, maybe coworkers that need to come to Jesus. You can't heal them - but you know the one who can. And you need to do your part in bringing them to Christ.
It takes faith - you have to believe that Jesus can heal and help them. Most of us fail here. It takes strength. It takes determination. Most of the time we run into obstacles in the way. It takes love and compassion. It might take creativity.
But it is the way God chooses to work in this world.
So this morning, there is one of two lessons for you to learn from this story:
- Either you need to come to Jesus to have your sins forgiven and your life healed
- Or you already have, and you need to have the love and compassion to bring others to Christ.
Let's stand for invitation and prayer.
