In the act of healing the paralytic Jesus reveals He is God, and that He has authority to forgive sins. Are you more like the religious leaders, the paralytic, or the four friends?
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The Authority Of Jesus To Forgive Sins
Luke 5:17-26
C. S. Lewis, in his famous book, Mere Christianity wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg–or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
In our text this morning, we have one of those sayings of Jesus that forces us to conclude that he is either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord and God. All of us need to make a choice. Which is it?
Luke, the author of this gospel, has been going to great pains to show us the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 4:32 says, “and they were astonished at his teaching, for His word possessed authority.” After casting out a demon from a possessed man in the synagogue, the people were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out?” (4:36). Luke has shown that Jesus has authority over demons, disease, fish, and leprosy. But this morning, we are going to see that Jesus even has the authority to forgive sins.
There are four individuals or groups of people in this scene: the religious leaders, the paralyzed man, the four friends, and the Lord Jesus. Let’s look at each in turn.
1. The Delegation of the Religious Leaders
Where Did This Take Place?
Mark tells us it was in Capernaum. Matthew tells us it was in Jesus’ own city. By this time, Capernaum had become known as Jesus’ city. It was His base of operations. Jesus would often stay at Peter’s home, where He had healed his mother-in-law. In fact, this very scene may have taken place in Peter’s house. It is interesting that of all the gospel accounts that record this scene, Mark gives us the fullest picture and greatest detail. We also know that Mark was Peter’s assistant and traveling companion. In fact, in 1 Peter 5, Peter refers to Mark as “my son.” So, more than likely, what we have here is Peter’s firsthand account of what took place as he told it to Mark, who recorded it in his gospel.
Who Was There?
Verse 17 tells us that Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. In other words, these religious leaders had been sent to check Jesus out and scrutinize His teachings. A delegation of religious bigwigs had been sent to critically examine Jesus and His ministry. They rightfully accepted this as their responsibility. If anyone made a claim to be the Messiah, then the religious leaders must examine that person and make a judgment concerning him, whether his claims were true or not.
What Was Their Posture?
We read in verse 17 that they were sitting. Now that is very telling. Why? Well, verse 19 tells us that there was a great crowd gathered. Mark tells us that a great crowd had gathered so that there was no room, not even at the door. Picture the scene. The house is jam packed to capacity. Not one more person could squeeze into that room. There were so many people, that there was a great crowd outside, trying to peer in the door and the windows. Perhaps there were 75 people in the house, and another 100-200 outside. Now, when you want to get as many people into a room as possible, how would you position them? You certainly wouldn’t have them all sit down, because you can get many more people in a room if they are standing than if they are sitting. Yet, these religious leaders are sitting. Why? Well, remember that when a rabbi taught his disciples, he would sit, and they would stand. Yet, these religious leaders aren’t standing. They are sitting. I believe this was their way of quietly stating, that they had not come to put themselves under the authority of Jesus’ teaching. They had come to judge His teaching! If they had stood, while He sat, it would have given the impression that they were His humble disciples who had come to learn from Him.
2. The Desperation Of The Paralyzed Man
Verse 18a says, “And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed.” Behold! Look! Check this out! Something very unusual is about to happen. Notice the condition of the man that was being brought. He was paralyzed. He had at least lost the use of his legs, and may have also lost the use of his arms, like Joni Erickson-Tada. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t crawl. He may not have been able to clothe himself or feed himself. Consider what life would have been like for a paralyzed man in the first century. He couldn’t work and make a living. There was absolutely nothing he could do to protect himself or provide for himself. There were no State-funded agencies which took care of people like this. He was cast on the mercy of some family member or friend who would voluntarily take care of him. He was absolutely helpless and dependent on others. His was a state of total inability. There was nothing that any doctor could do for him.
How do you think he felt when he heard that there was a rabbi, who had been reported to heal the sick, as well as some paralytics? A glimmer of hope begins to rise in his heart. I wonder… Could it be possible that this Jesus might heal me? He must have begun to talk to his friends. “Would you be willing to take me to Jesus? I just have this crazy belief that if you could get me to Him, He would make me whole!”
You know, this is what a person needs to feel in order to be saved. He must feel his case is desperate and hopeless humanly speaking. He must know that Jesus Christ is the only one he can go to for salvation.
3. The Determination Of The Four Friends
Verse 18b and 19 says, “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.” Somehow the paralytic had been able to convince four of his friends to bring him to Jesus. So, they picked him up and laid him on a bed. This bed was probably like a primitive stretcher. In other places, Jesus tells a paralytic that He has healed to take up his pallet. So, this bed was like a pallet or bed that he would lie on, and probably beg from. It’s good that he had four friends, because it would take four of them, each holding on to a corner of the bed.
They initially tried to get him through the front door. Their plan was just to carry him straight into the house, and lay him down right in front of Jesus. However, the crowd was so great, that they couldn’t even get in the door. Now, at this point, most people would have just said, “Well, I guess it’s just not in the cards for you to see Jesus today. God, in His providence, has shut the door to my healing. I guess we should just go on home. Maybe there will be another opportunity.”
Right about then, somebody got a bright idea. “Hey, what about the roof?” The roofs of Jewish homes in the first century were flat, often with an outside stairway that led up to it. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? If there’s a closed door, let’s find an open roof. The problem was, the roof was not open – it was closed. So, how is the roof going to help? Well, roofs in those days were constructed with tiles, sealed with hardened mud and straw. So you could quite literally dig through your roof.
These guys were absolutely determined to get this paralytic to Jesus. Nothing was going to stop them, even if it meant destroying somebody’s roof! They were not about to take “No” for an answer. If it was impossible to get him to Jesus one way, they would find another way. So, after digging up the roof, they must have attached ropes to each of the four corners of the bed, and slowly and carefully lowered him down. Can you imagine, if the guys lowering the ropes at his head lowered that side faster than the guys at his feet?! He would slip right off the bed and smash his head on the ground! This venture required not only determination. It also required courage.
You know folks, wouldn’t it be great if we had the same determination to get our friends to Jesus?! We have the spirit that whatever it takes, I’m going to make sure that I get my friend to Jesus. Last week I heard a story of a visiting preacher who went to preach in a chapel some distance from his home. He had been there before, and there were usually 20 or 25 people, so that’s what he expected to find. However, when he arrived, he found that chapel full to overflowing. He was dumbfounded! Come to find out, one of the members of that church who loved Jesus, had gone to every person in that town he knew and offered them a full day’s wages if they would go and hear the gospel. He was bound and determined to get his friends to Jesus! How much effort are we putting forth to get our friends and family and co-workers and neighbors to Jesus? Are you inviting your unsaved friends and family to come here on Sunday mornings, where you know the gospel will be preached? Are you taking the gospel to them by handing them tracts, or witnessing to them, or even preaching in the streets or parks?
4. The Domination Of The Lord Jesus
As in every situation, Jesus is in complete authority. He exercises dominion over the religious leaders, the paralysis, and this man’s sins.
Try to imagine the scene from inside the house? Jesus is teaching all the people crowded into that room about the kingdom of heaven, when all of a sudden, a little dirt begins to rain down on their heads. There’s a little more dirt, and a little more, until a patch of sunlight shone right through the roof, and four sweaty faced men looked down on them. Jesus tried to continue teaching, in spite of the distractions, but eventually the congregation watched in amazement, as a man was being lowered from the roof on a bed right into their midst! Right in front of Jesus!
Your Sins Are Forgiven
Verse 20 says, “And when He saw their faith, He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Seeing their faith…Wait a minute! How do you see someone’s faith? Faith is invisible. It is a matter of trust and confidence in the heart and mind of a person. You can’t see that. Yes, but you can see the effect of faith in someone’s life. Jesus looked at these four guys and the paralytic and saw their faith. My question to you this morning is “Does Jesus see your faith?” Is your faith demonstrable? Has your faith changed the way you live? Has it changed the way you handle your money? Has it changed the way you spend your time? Has it changed your values and priorities? Can anyone actually see your faith?
Your sins are forgiven you…Now, wait a minute! Why is Jesus talking about this man’s sins being forgiven? That’s not why they came to Him. Surely Jesus knew that this man had come to be healed, not forgiven, right? In fact, maybe there was a sense of let down when they heard those words. So, what’s going on here?
First, I think we learn from this that Jesus rightly puts the priority on spiritual salvation over physical healing. He wanted healing, but he needed salvation. Folks, what does it really matter if someone gets healed and then drops into eternal hell? It might make their life more comfortable for a few years, but then they find themselves in eternal torment. I do believe we should pray for the sick, and believe God to heal people. But, having said that, it is far more important that we see people saved than see people healed.
Second, I think Jesus begins with forgiving this man’s sins, because it enables Him to teach this multitude, including the religious leaders, something extremely important. It enables Him to teach them who He is. I believe that Jesus intended all along to heal this man. But He begins with forgiving Him, because He knows that is going to blow some fuses in the minds of these religious leaders that needed to be blown. Notice, that Jesus is the one who initiates this conversation. In all the rest, it is the needy person who initiates the conversation. The leper comes up, falls on his face before Jesus and says, “If you are willing, You can make me clean.” However, Jesus deliberately initiates this conversation before the paralytic can say a word because He wants to go somewhere with all of this. Let’s watch it unfold.
Verse 21 says, “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” That’s exactly what Jesus wanted them to ask. In fact, they were right. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Every sin we commit is against God. If Jesus is not God, He can’t forgive those sins. It would be like if one of you were to slander Kelly and gossip about him. Then I find out about it, and come up to you and say, “It’s O.K. I forgive you.” The truth of the matter is that I can’t forgive you for something that you did against someone else. I can only really forgive you for something you did against me. And if all sin is committed against God, only God can forgive sin. If Jesus is not God, He can’t forgive anyone of their sins. However, that’s where they made a fatal mistake, didn’t they? They assumed Jesus was blaspheming, because He was taking on Himself the rights and privileges of God. However, they never stopped to ask themselves whether Jesus could have been God. Once you believe that Jesus is God, that changes everything.
So, how does Jesus respond. Verse 22 says, “When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?” It is very clear in all of the gospels that the religious leaders were only thinking that Jesus had blasphemed. They hadn’t actually said it. But Jesus proves that He is God, by telling them what they had just thought!
He goes on in verse 23 and 24 to say, “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.” Now, let me ask you. Which one of those is easier to say? It would be much easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, because no one would ever know if their sins had been forgiven. There would be no way you could verify if it had happened or not. It would be much more difficult to say, “Rise and walk”, because everyone would know instantly whether your words carried any power or not. So, Jesus is saying “It is very easy for me to say to this man that his sins are forgiven. But I want you to really know that I have the authority to actually forgive sins. So, I’m going say the much harder thing. I want to show you in a tangible way that I have the power to forgive sins. So, my friend, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” Jesus gave them a display of His authority in the natural, visible realm in order to show them His authority in the spiritual invisible realm.
What was the result? We read it in verses 25 and 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.” That was very true! They had seen extraordinary things. They had seen a man read the thoughts of other men. They had seen this Man forgive someone of their sins. And they had seen this Man heal a paralytic. The bed which just minutes before had carried this man, is the very bed that he is now carrying! Can you imagine the explosion of joy that must have flooded this man’s heart as he walks home carrying his bed? Maybe he tossed it in the garbage heap on the way home. “Won’t be needing that any more!”
Life Application
Who do you most identify with this morning?
The Religious Leaders. Have you come this morning to listen to the teaching of the Bible, but your mind is already made up? You come, not as a humble disciple, ready to do the Word, but as a proud critic. Are you looking for something that you can pounce on and say, “See, right there. The Bible can’t be true because of that!” And you think that if you can show that the Bible is not completely true, that lets you off the hook. If the Bible’s not true, then the God it displays is not true, and you are no longer accountable for your sin. Have you come as a sermon critic this morning?
The Paralyzed Man. Maybe you identify with this paralyzed man. Maybe the Lord is opening your eyes to see your helplessness, and impotence, and utter dependence on Him to save you. Oh, I pray that He is doing so. I pray He is giving you a longing to be set free from your sin. Is there anyone in the house who knows how debilitating sin has made us? Sin devastates lives! It crushes us. It destroys us. Oh, how I pray that there are some this morning that see that and are longing this morning for a Savior who can heal them and set them free from their guilt and shame!
The Four Friends. Are you a sermon critic, a helpless sinner, or a stretcher carrier? Friends, if God has truly saved you, you’re not the paralyzed man, and you’re not the religious leaders. You are intended to be a stretcher carrier. God’s will for you is for you to bring as many people to Jesus as you can. A stretcher carrier recognizes that Jesus is God and so has the power and authority to forgive sins. He’s willing to do whatever he has to in order to get people to Him. Often it costs them great personal effort and sacrifice. I want to personally challenge you to give your life to carrying helpless sinners to Jesus. Bring them here to hear the gospel on Sundays. Bring them into your home where you will feed them and tell them about Jesus. Bring yourself to them, so that you can give them the life giving words. Oh, Lord, make us stretcher-carriers for the glory of God!
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