He Saw Their Faith
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play baseball in the major leagues.
Breaking baseball’s color barrier, he faced hostile crowds in every stadium.
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While playing one day in his home stadium of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, he committed an error.
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The fans began to jeer him.
He stood at second base, humiliated, while the crowd booed.
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Then, without saying a word, shortstop Pee Wee Reese went over and stood next to Jackie.
He put his arm around him and faced the crowd.
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Suddenly the fans grew quiet.
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Robinson later said that that arm around his shoulder saved his career.
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Reese was a good friend.
Despite what people would think he stood by Robinson.
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A good friend is always going to look out for your best interests...
And there is no better way to look out for one’s best interest than to bring one’s friend to Jesus.
For an encounter with Jesus will not just change a person’s life...
An encounter with Jesus will truly save one’s life.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 5 and focus on verses 17 through 26.
Our message this morning is titled, “He Saw Their Faith”
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This message today...
Will focus on the visible faith of five individuals...
One was a paralytic...
And four were faithful friends willing to go at any length to get their friend in the presence of Jesus...
They were hoping for a physical healing...
They got that and a whole lot more.
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So, this morning we will cover four main points:
The Religious Elite...
Faith That Can Be Seen...
Forgiveness of Sins...
And...
Glorifying God.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
Holy, Holy, Holy is Your Name!
You mighty and awesome and worthy of all praise and glory!
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Thank You for Your Covenant promises that we find all throughout Scripture...
Thank You for your faithful and reliable promises we can rest our heads on.
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Teach us every day to be better ambassadors!
Teach us to have a heart like Yours...
A heart that hates sin...
And a heart that loves all who are created in Your image...
Especially those who are Your children...
Those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ!
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Forgive us for the areas in our life that was fall short...
And give us the strength to forgive others of there trespasses that they commit against us.
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Thank You the Bible You have given us...
Thank You for the Holy Spirit that You gave us...
Thank you for sending Your Son to save us.
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,
19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.
20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Religious Elite
1) The Religious Elite
Verse 17: On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
Let’s start with a little bit of background information...
Let’s identify a few of the players in this narrative so we can see what is going on in this lead up to a very pivotal scene.
The first group to be introduced here by Luke are the religious elite.
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The MacArthur Study Bible has this to says about the religious authorities of Jesus’ day:
“The Pharisees were a small, legalistic sect of the Jews who were known for their rigid adherence to the ceremonial fine points of the law.
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According to Josephus, 6,000 existed at the time of Herod the Great.
Although their origin is unknown, they seem to have arisen as an offshoot from the ‘Hasidim’ or ‘pious ones’ during the Maccabean era.
They were generally from the Jewish middle class and mostly consisted of laity (business men) rather than priests or Levites.
They represented the orthodox core of Judaism and very strongly influenced the common people of Israel.
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Their name means ‘separated ones.’
Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees was usually adversarial.
He rebuked them for using human tradition to nullify Scripture, and especially for rank hypocrisy.
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The Sadducees [not mentioned here but will come up throughout the New Testament] were known for their denial of things supernatural.
They denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels.
Unlike the Pharisees, they rejected human tradition and scorned legalism.
They accepted only the Pentateuch as authoritative.
They tended to be wealthy, aristocratic members of the priestly tribe, and in the days of Herod their sect controlled the temple, though they were fewer in number than the Pharisees.
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Pharisees and Sadducees had little in common.
Pharisees were ritualists; Sadducees were rationalists. Pharisees were legalists; Sadducees were liberals.
Pharisees were separatists; Sadducees were compromisers and political opportunists.
Yet they united together in their opposition to Christ.
John the Baptist publicly addressed them as deadly snakes.
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The Scribes [here called the ‘teachers of the law’] were primarily Pharisees...
Sometimes they are referred to as ‘lawyers.’
They were professional scholars whose specialty was explaining the application of the law.
[For example] they knew exactly where the Messiah was to be born, but lacked the faith to accompany the Magi to the place where He was.”
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The Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke has this additional note on the Scribes:
“Scribes taught Torah in synagogues and issued binding decisions on its interpretation.
‘Scribe’ thus combined the offices of Torah professor, teacher, moralist, and civil lawyer, in that order.
The erudition and prestige of scribes reached legendary proportions by the first century, surpassing on occasion that of the high priest.
Only scribes (apart from chief priests and members of the patrician families) could enter the Sanhedrin.
Commoners deferred to scribes as they walked through the streets.
The first seats in the synagogues were reserved for scribes, and people rose to their feet when they entered a room.”
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So, the Pharisees and Scribes held on to much human tradition that they elevated to the same authority of Scripture...
They are identical in their core to the Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox of our day today.
Those groups have blind allegiance to oral tradition and build their faith on the foolishness of men.
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Jesus and His followers always got into confrontations with these type of religious authorities...
On the outside they seemed like they were “righteous” and “holy” but the reality is that they were rotten to the core.
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Beloved, look with me at the following quick survey of Scripture that records some of these encounters like that found in Matthew 12:1–2 which says:
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
Please note that the law that was being broken was not God’s law...
The disciples did not break God’s commands...
Scripture never that plucking the heads of grain to eat it was any type of violation of the Sabbath.
Yet the tradition of the Elders...
A man-made law...
Said that plucking the heads of grain to eat was a form of work and was not lawful to do on the Sabbath.
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Pharisees and Scribes had many such worldly traditions...
Just look at Matthew 15:2 which says:
2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”
Again, pay attention to the appeal to the tradition of the elders that is mentioned.
The Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches do the very same thing...
They appeal to the tradition of the fathers...
They appeal to man-made traditions...
They appeal to oral traditions...
And breaking one of there precious man-centered traditions in equivalent to breaking God’s law!
Honestly, that is such a wicked and arrogant thing to do.
To make up ones own laws and put them on the same level as God’s law!
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Although, Pharisees and Scribes memorized plenty of Scripture...
They did not really understand it...
And when they taught...
They appealed to past rabbis in their line of tradition in order to create some kind of sense of authority.
Yet as Matthew 7:28–29 records Jesus’ teaching based exclusively from Scripture was totally different:
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Go read the writing of famous Jewish rabbis...
Go read the homilies and writings of Catholic and Orthodox saints...
Their form of teaching in based on human wisdom and often miss the point of the heart of the Word of God.
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When people are not satisfied with Scripture...
They will really on their own wisdom and make fools of themselves.
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Church, I tell you Scripture is enough!
The whole council of God could never be mined over the course of multiple lifetimes!
We don’t need to go anywhere else for our ultimate and final authority!
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Not surprisingly...
With a lack of God’s wisdom and direction...
The Pharisees and Scribes became cruel in their treatment to others.
Matthew 9:10–11 records this:
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Their elitist attitude blinded the religious authorities in Jesus day to ministry to the people that needed it...
Instead they judged anyone who ministered to sinners the way Jesus ministered to them.
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Their blindness was so severe that they missed the whole point of the Old Testament Scriptures...
The God’s Word in the Old Covenant pointed to Jesus as the long promised Messiah.
As John 8:52–59 says:
52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’
53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Instead of joyfully welcoming the long promised Messiah...
Instead of celebrating the King of Kings and Lord of Lords...
Instead of seeing Jesus as the Son of God...
Instead of seeing Jesus as fully God and fully man...
Instead...
They plotted to kill Him like a hardened criminal.
As John 5:18 says:
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
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They accused Jesus of committing blasphemy....
They accused Jesus of having a demon...
But Jesus was preforming His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit in perfect obedience to God the Father...
As Acts 10:38 puts it:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
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Yet, not all had hard hearts like the Pharisees and Scribes...
Some believed the claims about Jesus...
Some even went to great length to encounter Jesus...
And this takes us to our second point.
2) Faith That Can Be Seen
2) Faith That Can Be Seen
Verses 18-20: And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Let’s again start with some background information...
Houses in the 1st century in Isreal often had flat roofs and typically had exterior staircases or ladders to those roofs...
This offered relief from dank quarters below, access to fresh air, and space to dry laundry, eat, and even pray.
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Here in our passage we witness what happens when a group of friends attempting to bring a sick friend to Jesus meet a major road block...
Due to increasing popularity of Jesus...
The house He is preaching and teaching at is overflowing with a massive crowd...
It is impossible for these friends to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus using conventional means...
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But they will no be deterred...
They know Jesus has the power to heal their friend...
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They just need to get to Him...
Even if that means they have to move a few tiles and dig right through a roof to do it...
And that is exactly what they do.
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Can you imagine...
As we you are listening to this message right now...
You start noticing derby coming from the ceiling...
And then moments later a paralytic man gets lowered right in the middle of the room?
That is what it was like for those in the house.
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Yet, Jesus was not angry or offended by this...
Instead we see that Jesus makes a great observation...
Luke records that Jesus “saw their faith” and this is in reference to both of the paralytic and his companions.
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True genuine faith is visible.
A person with saving faith will display that faith by their actions.
In fact, I would like to take an extended pause and turn to Hebrews 11 and look at what the Word of God has to say about faith there.
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Let’s start with Hebrews 11:1–3 which says:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Genuine faith involves belief in something we may not be able to see...
Yet, it is something we are sure of with more confidence than the things we can see...
And it is by faith that we know that God is the Creator of everything both visible and invisible.
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Then in Hebrews 11:4 the Word of God starts giving us examples of saving faith from the Old Testament:
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
By faith Abel believed in God and his faith was seen in the sacrifices he offered.
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Next Hebrews 11:5–6 says:
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith Enoch believed in God and his faith was seen in the fact that God directly took Him up with Him even though he never experienced death...
The author of Hebrews adds that it is impossible to please God without faith....
Genuine faith is necessary in order to experience eternal life.
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Hebrews 11:7 says:
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Noah believed in God and his faith was seen in the many years it took him to build the ark...
Literally, the whole world thought that Noah and his family was crazy...
But faith in God lead to 8 individuals surviving a worldwide flood...
And out of there eight individuals the whole world was repopulated.
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In Hebrews 11:8–12 it is recorded as saying:
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
By faith Abraham and Sarah believed in God and their faith was seen in their obedience to God by moving from their homeland to a new land...
And although they were of an old age God blessed them with a child.
In Hebrews 11:17–19 it says:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
By faith Abraham believed in God and his faith was seen in his willingness to sacrifices his believed son of promise...
The author of Hebrews even says that Abraham believed in the promise of God to the degree that even if Isaac died he believed God would raise him from the dead in order to keep His word.
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Then in Hebrews 11:23–29 it says:
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
By faith Moses believed in God and his faith was seen in his refusal to live the luxurious life in Pharaoh’s household and instead be mistreated with God’s people...
Moses’s faith was seen his fearlessness to leave Egypt with God’s people...
And his faith was seen in keeping the passover and crossing the Red Sea.
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Then in Hebrews 11:32–39 it says:
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
All the heroes of the faith in the Old Testament had faith in the promised Messiah...
True genuine saving faith...
And that faith was visible.
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There is no such thing as a carnal Christian...
One can’t claim to have saving faith and at the same time continue to produce rotten fruit...
True saving faith produces good fruit that is visible for others to see.
Just look at what James, the brother of Jesus has to say in James 2:14-26:
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
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So, back to our passage, we see that Jesus sees the faith of this group of friends...
But His response caught everyone off guard.
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I am sure many people thought Jesus would have been mad that his teaching was interrupted and expected theses individuals to be rebuked...
Others, like this group of friends believe Jesus would be compassionate and physically heal their friend...
Jesus would do that...
But not yet.
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You see Beloved...
Initially Jesus ignored the paralysis of the man to instead address the man’s greater need first...
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You see a good physician is not going to treat your paper cut first while you are bleeding out from a life threatening wound...
So, before Jesus ever addresses the physical needs of this man...
He first responds to the need of this man to be forgiven of his sins.
So, when Jesus says “Man [better translated as ‘friend’], your sins are forgiven you.”...
Everyone is shocked...
Especially, the religious authority....
And this takes us to our third point.
3) Forgiveness of Sins
3) Forgiveness of Sins
Verses 21-24: And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
The response by the religious authorities that Jesus blasphemed would be a true judgment about anyone but God incarnate...
For only the One who has been sinned against has the prerogative to forgive...
Therefore, Jesus’ words to the man were therefore an unequivocal claim of divine authority.
Pastor John MacArthur puts it this way:
“Appalled and outraged that Jesus presumed to forgive the paralytic’s sins, the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this man who speaks blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’
They were absolutely correct in their assertion that no one can forgive sins, in the fullest sense so that the sinner is cleansed, righteous, and never again guilty or condemned, but God alone.
Only He as lawgiver and judge can forgive sin in that eternal way, since all sin is ultimately against Him.
But their characterization of Jesus as this man who speaks blasphemies wrongly assumed that He was merely a man and not God incarnate.
By claiming the authority to forgive sins, Jesus was either God, or a blasphemer.
There is no middle ground; Jesus could not have been merely a good man, a true prophet, or a teacher of morality and ethics, if He were a blasphemer of God.
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Blasphemy was the most heinous crime in Jewish thought, since it was a direct affront to the person of God.
They defined three levels of blasphemy.
First, one blasphemed God by speaking evil of His law, as Stephen and Paul were falsely accused of doing.
A more serious form of blasphemy was to slander, speak evil of, or curse God Himself.
But the ultimate form of blasphemy was to assume the rights and prerogatives of God; to usurp the role of God and act as if one were God.
It was this third and most severe type of blasphemy that the scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of.”
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Yet, Jesus was no blasphemer for He was God in the flesh!
The religious authorities were so absorbed by their own understanding and man-made traditions that they missed the very person all of Scripture points to!
All Scripture points to Jesus and as the Son of God He has the right to forgive sin.
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In fact, another clue that Jesus was divine was shown by the very act of Jesus knowing what the religious elite were thinking...
Please note, Beloved, that Jesus probed the unvoiced thoughts of the Pharisees and teachers of the law...
So, Jesus knew the thoughts of the Scribes and Pharisees due to His omniscience...
An attribute that only God has...
For example Psalm 139:2 says:
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
And Genesis 6:5 says:
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
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In addition, the Koine Greek helps us better understand this as the use of Greek word “epignous” means Jesus “knew fully” their thoughts...
So this is more than mere natural perception...
This is a divine act!
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But instead of acknowledging His divinity....
The Pharisees and Scribes accuse our Savior of a terrible crime...
You see, Church, blasphemy was a very serious accusation.
The Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“Blasphemy is a serious charge, one that will eventually become the basis of Jesus’ conviction.
It involves an overt defilement of the divine name, that is, abusive speech or action directed against God.”
And the punishment for blasphemy was death...
Yet, Jesus does not back down...
He proves His claim...
When He says, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”...
Jesus is showing that his miraculous work carries a message about spiritual realities...
This means that His ability to heal anyone and everyone at will...
That is both totally and immediately...
Was incontrovertible authority over the natural world and proof of His deity.
And with this miracle Jesus begins gradually to reveal what his ministry is all about...
And Jesus will start to reveal who He really is.
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As God almighty, He had all authority to forgive sins.
This was a decisive moment and should have ended once and for all the Pharisees’ and Scribes’ opposition to Him.
Instead, they intensified there opposition of Him and began to try to discredit our Lord and Savior.
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Later in the Gospel of Luke we will see how many times the these religious authorities are critical of Jesus for interacting with sinners...
Instead of having a heart to minister to those living a life of sin like Jesus did...
The religious elite ignored them and at the same time were blind to there own sinfulness...
Luke 7:37–38 says this about on of those iterations between Jesus and a known sinner :
37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
As sinners...
Our attitude should be like this woman who wept over her sins at the feet of Jesus...
For understanding the holiness of God and the wickedness of our sin will always result in a grieving and morning over our sin...
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Just like Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic...
So, He saw the repentance of this woman...
Yet, the Pharisees were blind to the truth and only focused on outward appearances of holiness and righteousness...
Look at what it says next in Luke 7:39:
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
Yet, Jesus response like this in Luke 7:40–50:
40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Again, we see another event were Jesus forgives the sins of those who come to Him in humility.
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If we repent and genuinely believe in Jesus...
Then we will find our old self crucified...
And we will find our sins...
Even if they are many...
Will be washed away by the blood of Christ...
And only then will we ever be freed from the bondage of sin as it says in Romans 6:6:
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
And as 1 Peter 2:24 beautifully says:
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
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Next, a miracle will happen that proves the claims of Jesus...
And this takes us to our fourth and final point.
4) Glorifying God
4) Glorifying God
Verses 25-26: And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
Luke reiterated that praise is the proper response to this manifestation of God’s grace.
Often Luke notes that with the saving action of God, there comes gratitude and joy...
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The reality that every true believer will confess is that God’s saving work brings a song to one’s heart!
God’s saving work brings about praise, glory, and worship!
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However, even with an incredible miracle like this...
Many missed the whole point of it...
And I am not just talking about the religious authorities...
The crowds themselves may have been in awe and may have had a favorable opinion about Jesus...
But the fact that He was God in the flesh was lost on many of them...
Just look at what it says in Matthew’s parallel account in Matthew 9:8:
8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Beloved, pay attention to were the focus of the crowd was...
Matthew records that the people were in awe due to God “giving such authority to men”...
They missed the whole point of this miracle...
That it was Jesus who was unique...
That this was not just a man doing miracles and forgiving sins but the God-Man, Jesus Christ!
Fully Man and fully God!
By preforming this miracle in this fashion it was to show that Jesus truly had the authority to forgive sins...
And if it is only God who can forgive sins as Scripture makes clear...
Then Jesus is God!
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The New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke summarizes this passage like this:
“What a challenging example is given to us by these men who, without counting the cost, were so determined to take their paralysed friend to Jesus!
And it still remains the holy vocation of the faithful to take to the Saviour those who are spiritually paralysed through the stranglehold of sin.
And where He finds real faith in Himself, the Saviour repeats His word of power:
‘Man, thy sins are forgiven.
Rise up and walk.’”
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
Mr. Pharisee and Mr. Publican lived in the town of Doomsville, both heard that a great Physician was going to be in the neighboring town of Gilead.
The great Physician was going to hold a free Health Clinic and give people a free complete examination, and if they passed this examination he would give them a clean bill of health.
Many people walked from Doomsville up to go see the great Physician, Mr. Pharisee was determined to be the first in line to verify his clean bill of health.
So, away he went cutting in front of others and seeing some who struggled in the journey because of their age but he quickly passed them. arriving at his destination he was as he planned first in line to get a clean bill of health. he was invited in to see the great Physician, but after a thorough examination the Great Physician told Mr. Pharisee that he had a terrible disease and that he was going to die, Mr. Pharisee said I won't believe this and in anger he threatened the great Physician with stoning and stormed out of his office.
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Just like Mr. Pharisee, Mr. Publican walked away from Doomsville as well but could not travel in the speed he would have liked because of all his aches and pains, also he was heavy ladden with a load of guilt upon his back, and the road was steep, after some time he arived at the clinic but found himself last in line.
The great Physician was kind and invited him in and after his examination he told Mr. Publican that as Isaiah 1:5-6 says, “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”
When Mr Publican heard this he began to weep profusely and asked if there was any hope?
The great Physician came and sat beside Mr. Publican and put his arm around him and then took some balm that he had and put it in his sores and bound up his wounds, he also told him that “Your sins are forgiven you”, and when he said this Mr. Publican felt his heavy load come off his back and he turned around to see the heavy load but could not find it.
Mr. Publican was very happy and left and told all of his friends and neighbors what had happen and even went into all the world publishing the goodness of the great Physician.
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As Matthew 9:12–13 records Jesus’ words to the religious elite:
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.