The life of Jesus- 9
August 15, 2014
We have seen strange things today.
Luke 5:17-26 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. 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. 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. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 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 immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.
Today we look at Jesus and find a few kingdom principles in this passage. Where Jesus is, the power of God is present. In this passage we see a face off between mans wisdom and God’s presence. The doctors of the Law and the Pharisees were there to observe. They came to represent the understanding of man. They were the ones that knew about God. In the mean time God was standing right in front of them. What happens when the wisdom of man is confronted with the power of God? God will do things that will be outside the box of mans understanding. Can you put God in a box? It would be better if you discard your understanding and allow the power of God to demonstrate His character. His character is to deal with sin and the consequences of sin. There is no room in the understanding of man for that concept. How can a God so holy love a sinner like me so much?
Next we see Jesus doing something that will offend the wise men of his day. He is about to heal someone but he will do it in a way no one expected. Instead of saying be healed, He says that the mans sin are forgiven. We can glean a lot from this. Let me say that sickness is not because you have sinned. If that was true we should all be sick. If a doctor could heal you then he could forgive you your sin. What Jesus is demonstrating is that he has the power to do both. If he could forgive they would not have something tangible for them to see. So Jesus is about to demonstrate something tangible for them to see and for them to believe he can do it.
Sometimes God will do something in the visible so that we can see his ability to do the things we cannot see. How many times have we asked for forgiveness and struggled believing that we are forgiven. Here is a visible proof that when he says he forgives, he actually does it. If he has the power to heal, he has the power to forgive. So he commands the sick man to take his bed and walk. He does and it proofs that he can forgive our sins.
We have seen strange things today. Were they talking about the man getting healed? I don’t think so because Jesus constantly healed people. I thing they have seen many healings before they have seen Jesus heal a lame man. The strange thing they are talking about is the fact that HE can forgive sins. In their minds you had to go and offer a sacrifice to be forgiven. You had to go to the temple and have them do it for you. Here this man is forgiven without a sacrifice. He is forgiven without having to see a priest. Do you struggle with receiving forgiveness? Don’t let it be a strange thing today. He is able to forgive you of all your sins.
1John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 103:11-12 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
- And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
He cleanses us, He forgives us and He forgets what we have done wrong. The Pharisees with their minds struggled to receive this. Don’t let your mind be the stumbling block that keeps you away from being forgiven. There was wisdom in that room and there was the power to heal and forgive. What will you receive today? Is it okay when God does something we don’t understand but we come out changed on the other side?
