JESUS' AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE SINS

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1 JESUS' AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE SINS Luke 5:17-26 Key Verse: 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralyzed man, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. How are you today? A man with a nagging cough tried all the over-thecounter remedies he could find, but none worked. Finally he went to a doctor, who quickly discovered that he was suffering from pneumonia. The man was trying to ease the symptoms when what he needed was a cure. The doctor treated the deeper, more serious problem and in a short time the cough was gone. In today s passage, some men made an opening in the roof and lowered a paralyzed man on a mat. Jesus initially responded not by healing the man but by saying, Friend, your sins are forgiven. The deepest need of the man was not physical but spiritual. To show his authority to forgive, Jesus healed the man and sent him not only with legs that moved but with a heart that was forgiven. As you know, the world is full of pain and problems. It is tempting to spend a lot of time to treat the surface symptoms. Like Jesus, however, we need to deal with the heart issues. We need to tell people that their sins can be forgiven through faith in Christ. The gospel holds the cure for our deepest need. May God help us to accept Jesus authority to forgive sins through today s passage! Part I: Friend, your sins are forgiven (17-20) Look at verse 17. "One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and 1

2 Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick." Jesus was eager to teach the word of God after healing the man with leprosy. As a result, the power of the Lord was present with him to heal the sick people. But there were another group of people. Who were they? They were the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They came to discredit the work of Jesus. They were not listening to Jesus but were observing Jesus teaching to find fault. But Jesus was not afraid of them. Why? Jesus lived before God not before men. He was ready to demonstrate his authority as the Messiah by showing God s power to heal. Now, let us look at some men who brought their friend to Jesus. Look at verses 18, 19. "Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 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." According to Mark 2:3, there were four people in Capernaum who brought the paralytic. These four men had a bold plan to bring their friend to Jesus. They came carrying their paralytic friend on a stretcher and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. But there were many obstacles. When they tried to take him into the home to lay him before Jesus, there were already too many people lined up, waiting for Jesus' healing. It was too late. First come, first serve. There was no room for them to enter into the house. But they did not give up. Now what could they do in this desperate situation? Did they postpone helping this man? Did they blame the pesky crowds? Did they say next time? No. There was no wavering and there was no turning back: "Where there is a will, there is a way." Knock and the door will be opened to you. After looking around here and there, God gave them a creative idea. They exclaimed with high fives, It is the roof. Great! We can do it. We can make a hole and lower our friend. Once they made up their minds, they began to climb up on the roof, carrying the paralytic on his mat. Then they began to pound on the roof with a hammer and made a big hole right above Jesus. They made an illegal entry into the house. They annoyed the crowds who were listening to Jesus word. They violated property laws. The owner of the house was upset. They could be arrested by the Capernaum police. They disturbed Jesus' message. But nothing stopped them from helping this one needy friend. Their mission was to bring him to Jesus by any means. 2

3 When we try to help one friend, there are always some obstacles to overcome. But true love overcomes all obstacles. And God was pleased by the compassion for their paralytic friend and gave them miraculous power to carry out their mission. They did not care what might happen to them, if only they could help their friend. They were indeed beautiful friends to the paralytic. There is a saying, A friend in need is a friend indeed. There is a popular T.V. sitcom called Friends. People need friends to share the pains and joys of life in their pilgrim s journey. But it is easy to become a friend of powerful people. The lobbyist loves powerful people like the President. But they do not like powerless people. If a politician loses an election, no one calls. If elected, the phone line is jammed. We want to be around smart and popular people. We do not want to be a friend of dumb people. It is not easy to be a friend of this paralytic. He was only a burden to them. Four men did not expect any favors in return from this paralytic. But they loved him without any calculation. Their friendship came out of their compassion. When we love sheep, we expect them to grow in return for our love. When they do not grow as we expected, we feel that sheep become a burden. At that time we have to remember how Jesus endured us and loved us while we were wandering in darkness. Then we can love sheep out of compassion. O, Lord! Restore our compassion for one helpless friend. What was Jesus response to the friend? Look at verse 20. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, Friend, your sins are forgiven. Jesus did not rebuke their illegal entry into the house. Instead, he saw their faith. Wow! To Jesus, faith is everything. As we know well, paralysis is an incurable disease. But four friends had faith that Jesus could heal him. Hebrews 11:6 says, And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. When they had faith that Jesus could heal him, God graciously gave them the power of faith to believe all the more to bring him to Jesus anyhow, anyway. How can we bring our paralytic friends to Jesus? We can bring them through prayer. But that is not enough. We can also call them, them, visit them, give them a ride, and bring them to a Christian gathering. One shepherd visited a student again and again to bring him to Bible study. One time, the student turned the lights off in the house to pretend not to be home. Another time, he threatened to call the police. But the shepherd did not give up. God blessed the shepherd faith, and this young man was brought to Christ. He is still living for Christ. 3

4 Please ask yourself: Do I care about someone else's problem? Without love, we are just hired hands. But with love and faith, Jesus is pleased to do his work. I owed a lot toward many friends who brought me to Jesus. I was a selfish paralytic who was ignorant and lazy. Dr. John Jun rebuked me You are a lazy servant because I did not turn on the heat early for others on a cold day. Through his rebuke, God opened my spiritual eyes and accepted Jesus compassion for others. I am thankful for his love and prayer. Let us be thankful to our friends who brought us to Jesus. Let us read verse 20. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, Friend, your sins are forgiven. We wonder why Jesus said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven," instead of just saying, "Your paralysis is healed." Jesus said this because sin is man's deep-seated problem. Sin makes man powerless. Biblically speaking, the symptoms of paralysis can be compared to the symptoms of a powerless sinner. The paralyzed man was totally powerless to do anything by himself. He could not but depend on others to help him all the time by saying, "Give me a ride. Buy me a Big-Mac." Many times he complained when he did not get help from others saying, There is no one who understands me. It is good to be an encouragement and source of joy to others, but it is really no good to be a burden to others because of one's powerlessness. In the past, he was unable to praise God due to his physical condition. Probably he was depressed a lot in his physical condition. But Jesus declared that his sins were forgiven. Wow! This is good news to everyone. God sent Jesus to forgive sins. This shows only God can forgive sins. Jesus began gradually to reveal what his ministry is all about. It is to forgive sins. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 1:29 says, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" In order to give us the grace of forgiveness of sin, Jesus shed his blood in such a sorrowful way. But revelation 5:12 says, "...Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Praise Jesus! Part II: Get up and take your mat and go home (21-26) However, what was the official reaction from the religious leaders? The Pharisees asked among themselves in verse 21, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" The religious leaders did not 4

5 know who was standing in front of them. The work of the Messiah was self-evident when Jesus healed a man with leprosy. So they should have realized that Jesus was the Messiah promised to come to this world to save man from their sins. But they were blocked. Why? It was because of their unbelief, their pride was hurt and they became the victim of the devil. What did Jesus do with them? Despite their hatred, Jesus quietly appealed to their conscience asking in verse 23, "Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" Which is easier do you think? The main point is that both of them are hard but Jesus can do both. Do you like Football? Me too! Irritated with a young quarterback who had accomplished little yet boasted about his ability, a TV commentator said, Do not tell me what you are going to do. But tell me what you have done! Actions speak louder than words. Jesus declared the power of forgiveness first and wanted to show that power with his actions. Jesus wanted to prove that he could give us complete healing-our spiritual sin and physical paralysis. Jesus wanted to demonstrate his authority to forgive men's sins. He wanted to back up his word with actions. It is easier said than done. George Bush senior promised not to raise taxes by saying, read my lips. But he raised taxes. He did not back up his words with action. He said it to be elected and then did not back up what he said. He became a one-term president. Look at verse 24b. "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Jesus turns to the paralytic and gives him three commands: get up, take the mat and go home. What does it mean to get up spiritually? We are lying on our mat of despair due to our inability to act upon faith. We have remained in our unbelief for a long time. We have remained in our own excuses and failures. It is time to get up from our human thinking by faith. I also have remained on my lazy mat too long. Jesus commanded me, David, get up from your many excuses and human dependency. Have faith in God. Take up your cross and walk again. Jesus is saying to us Get up from your bed and take up your cross of mission and go to campus to find one paralytic sheep with faith. One woman of God I know gets up from her bed at 6 am every day and goes to work in the downtown of Chicago and come back to COD at 7 pm in order to fish sheep. Praise Jesus who gives her strength to obey his word. What was the response of the paralytic? By faith he obeyed Jesus command. What happened at that moment? Verse 25 says, "Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God." What a 5

6 great sight it was! It was a miracle of faith. Finally, he got up with the power of Jesus. In the past he was never able to carry anything. Now, he was able to carry his own mat. The paralytic who had only bitterly complained about everybody suddenly began to sing a song of praise. By his actions, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah. Praise Jesus who made us get up and walk again when we were spiritual paralytics. In the past, one young man in this room was lying on his mat depressed and complaining. But Jesus lifted him from his darkness of sin and healed his sin sickness and called him to serve campus students. Jesus is using him to praise his name and giving him the privilege to help many paralytic friends to walk again. Now there are many powerless sinners like the paralytic and they need to experience the power of Jesus forgiveness. I pray that God may use us to bring them to Jesus with faith. What was the people s reaction? Look at verse 26. "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'We have seen remarkable things today.'" Why were they filled with awe? It was because they saw with their own eyes that the paralytic was healed jumping around, praising God. But the real reason was that they had seen the marvelous one who has the authority to forgive man's sins. They were ordinary people. But when Jesus healed the paralytic, they could see in Jesus the authority to forgive man's sins. Praise Jesus! *Conclusion: Today we learned that Jesus has authority to forgive our sins. To the eyes of the historian Luke, God's love in sending Jesus who has the authority to forgive sins was truly amazing. In order to forgive our sins, Jesus was cursed and condemned in our places, shedding his precious blood on the cross. I pray that God may use our compassionate love for one friend so that Jesus may heal many paralytics around our campuses. May God use us as a good friend to one soul this fall semester! 6