The Extent of His Ministry Luke 5:12-26

Well good morning.

You did it.

Time -wise you adjusted for the for the change well.

But I guess in the old days prior to cell phones you literally had to make a concerted effort

to you know get your watches clocks change so you get up on this spring day

and but now you kind of cheat because your phones do it for you.

So but that's okay we'll take that there's some of the modern conveniences that we'll we'll enjoy.

Yesterday was a the first biblical counseling class and thank you pastor for for leading that

off and taking the time and commitment energy and effort to study for that and to bring it forward and

and it's going to be coming up again March 25th at 11 o 'clock.

You know it lasts what hour an hour and a half I don't know what you have programmed for it but thereabouts.

So the next one is March 25th if you weren't able to come out yesterday so please consider that and

Dexter was gracious enough to furnish the books for that so thank you Dexter for

your for your giving there.

Women's Bible study is next Saturday.

Okay and if you need to know more about that ask Barb.

First Kings chapter 16 right.

Men's Bible study next Saturday at 3 30 in the afternoon so

men take note and prayer meeting tonight at 6 and I think that

might be all the announcement announcements that we have so let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Our dear Heavenly Father we thank you this morning for your goodness and your grace father we thank you

that you sustained Victor this week through a very difficult physical

challenge there Lord that you have seen him through that father and you continue to watch over him God thank you

for that thank you for him thank you father that you watch over each one of us father that we are in your

care that as believers we can trust if we trust in you and put our faith in you God you

are there every moment of every day and we thank you that we can have you father for that we

thank you that we can gather together corporately as believers father to to lift our voices to

hear your word opened and preached and and Lord we may we grow in our faith and our understanding of

who you are Lord and how holy you are and how it may be our

desire to trust in you to look to you for all things that in this trying times in

the world around us father as many things seem to be crumbling around us father may

we help us to to know that you have victory father that in the end you

win you have victory father so may in the meantime may we be faithful may we be do

what you have called us to do and encouraging one another Lord so God may we honor you

today may you be glorified and all that we do may the Holy Spirit guide and direct us we pray in

Jesus name amen why don't we stand together we're gonna first hymn is gonna be there is

power in the blood there's power in the blood.

Good

morning

everyone.

The

scripture

reading

today will be from Isaiah 53.

Verses 4 through 12.

Isaiah chapter 53.

Verses 4 through 12.

Verse 4.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed

him stricken smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the

iniquity of us all.

Or he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth.

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it.

Shears is silent so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation.

For he was cut off from the land the living for the transgressions of my people.

He was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked.

But with the rich of his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in

his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

He has put him to grief.

When you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed.

He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge.

My righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the

strong because he poured out his soul unto death.

And he was numbered with our transgressors.

And he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

This is the word of the Lord.

Have faith in.

God he provides for his own he cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish.

He rules he reigns upon his throne.

Let's stand together and sing have faith in.

God

turn with me.

To Luke chapter 5 verses 12 through 26.

Luke chapter 5.

Verses 12 through 26.

And it happened when he was in a certain city that behold a man

was full of leprosy saw Jesus and he fell on his face and implored him saying Lord if you

are willing you can make me clean.

Then he put out his hand and touched him saying I am willing be cleansed

immediately the leprosy left him and he charged him to tell no one but

go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as a testimony to

them just as Moses commanded.

However the report went around concerning him all the more and great multitudes came together to hear

and to be healed by of their infirmities.

So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Now it happened on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law

sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee Judea and Jerusalem and

the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Then behold men brought on a bed of bed a man who was

paralyzed whom they sought to bring in and lay before him.

And when they could not find out how they might bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the

housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.

When he saw their faith he said to him man your sins are forgiven you.

And the scribes and the Pharisees begin to reason saying who is this who speaks

blasphemies who can forgive sins but God alone.

But when Jesus perceived their thoughts he answered and said to them why are you reasoning in your hearts

which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up

and walk.

But then you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

He said to the man who was paralyzed I say to you arise take up your bed and go to

your house.

Immediately he rose up before them took up what he had been lying on 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 today.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let us pray.

Father we are thankful that we have Jesus who heals

for more than just the healing purpose.

But healing that points to forgiveness of sins.

Healing that points to purification.

Father we pray that we would experience his compassionate care this

morning that your spirit would work through all of our hearts to help us see

and love Jesus better.

Help us to know that we belong to you because of Jesus death on the cross and resurrection

in Jesus name.

Now today we see miracles two miracles of healing.

And what's really important is that these two miracles are not just portrayed as just

miracles themselves.

Right.

In in our modern day whenever there is a quote unquote miracle ministry or

ministries related to healing it's just a healing for themselves.

If there is one it's it's all about just the miracle and whoever's performing

it.

However today's text shows us that

these miracles are actually signs.

Signs just like signposts point to

something that's greater than themselves.

Right.

The difference between signs and miracles is that signs actually point to a greater reality

than the miracles.

And today's text shows us that these healing signs were not a money -making scheme

nor a popularity contest.

Jesus healings pointed to in fact the significance of his ministry

and his person who he is.

Jesus miracles were never to show off but to serve as signposts to the

ultimate spiritual truth about himself.

That's what we're about to find out today.

He's more than just the healer.

Now in the Old Testament as we've gone through many Old Testament passages

together the physical phenomena taught them the spiritual truth.

Here in the New Testament we see the unveiling of the spiritual truths

through Jesus use of the physical phenomena of healing miracles.

So these healing miracles are not just the fact that while Jesus can heal we've seen that already

but rather we have to think about what do these healing miracles actually show us

spiritually.

What do they mean.

What do they reveal to us in the spiritual realm.

The first miracle is a purifying miracle.

It's more than just the ritualistic purification.

But what we have in mind is there is a moral component.

There is an intertwining of it.

Now in the Old Testament of ritualistic on impurity was

mainly because this person made himself unclean either

intentionally or unintentionally.

And in this case this would be unintentional.

It's a disease.

No one chooses to just become unclean through a disease.

But what it taught in the Old Testament was that I cannot approach God because he's so holy

because of my impurities of the caused by this disease so that I have to be separated from God.

And what that pointed to in the Old Testament was that spiritual truth that if

the mere physical disease separates me from worshiping

God and separates me from God's holy people how much more.

So the impurity inside me.

And we see the unveiling of that there is a both

level at play here not just the physical impurity but also moral impurity.

Can Jesus does Jesus have the authority to cleanse both.

And then the second miracle here actually explicitly ties to the forgiveness of sins.

This is the spiritual realm right.

It is more than just a paralytic walking again but rather that Jesus

claims that he can forgive sins.

And the latter miracle will actually trigger the religious elites in audience.

What kind of person can claim to have authority to forgive sins.

So the main point the main question this text asks us this morning is what is

the extent of Jesus ministry.

What is the extent of Jesus ministry.

First Jesus extends his compassionate hand to purify

any who humbly seek to be cleansed.

Jesus extends his compassionate hand to purify any who humbly seek to be

cleansed.

Now as Jesus is ministering around Galilee he is

visited by a social outcast.

And it happened when he was in a certain day a certain city that behold a man who was

full of leprosy saw Jesus and he fell on his face and implored him

saying Lord if you are willing you can make me clean.

Now it is important note that the word for leprosy is actually more

expansive than Hansen's disease that what we consider as leprosy.

Because when you read over Leviticus 13 through 14 the the

variety of skin diseases and symptoms shown there are more than what you would normally

see in Hansen's disease where your skin is literally rotting and falling off.

So we can see that leprosy in ancient days included symptoms

of lesions swelling nerve damage psoriasis lupus

scabs on the head and so on.

It was very comprehensive and each of them made a person

unclean before God and unclean to worship among God's holy people.

And now what was the significance of this.

Now as I've mentioned in the Old Testament God used the physical phenomena to teach them

the spiritual truth.

And in order to be a part of God's holy people one had to be ritualistically pure.

This taught them what kind of pure and holy God that they all worshiped together.

Therefore if anyone had a skin disease like leprosy

he was naturally ostracized.

He was separated from the people.

He was a social and relational outcast.

He had to physically remove himself from his community.

And again the question is if impurity of the outside the skin disqualified someone

regardless of their status from approaching God and his people how

pure must a person be from inside to approach God.

Now in this text the man was full of leprosy and he was approaching Jesus

with a dire need to be healed.

There's a contrast here.

The man is full of leprosy and Jesus in the previous chapter is

described as full of the spirit.

You couldn't get a bigger dichotomy

an outcast with a desire to be purified.

Such desperation is physically portrayed as he fell on his face and implored

Lord if you're willing you can make me clean.

Before the purest holiest living.

Being an impure filthy man begs to be cleansed.

How does Jesus respond.

Then he put out his hand and touched him saying I am willing

be cleansed.

What's emphasized here is not the capacity of the healing miracle

but Jesus willingness to perform the healing miracle.

It's not that Jesus can do it.

There's no question about that.

It's that Jesus wanted to do it.

The fact that Jesus touched this man in even is astounding.

Jesus remember did not need to touch anyone to perform a healing miracle.

We've seen this before in the last chapter.

He's able to heal just by speaking.

The act of Jesus reaching out to touch this leprous man

reveals Jesus heart toward the humble and lowly

his heart.

Jesus heart is filled with a deep longing to his to see his

creation made whole again.

When you and I see something disgusting

the hairs on our arms stand up and we naturally flinch back.

Sometimes it's just a reflex.

Whether it's a spider whether it's a dead animal it's a natural reflex.

Far from our mind is the desire to touch it reach out our

hands to pet it.

But when Jesus saw an utterly broken and impure man who is

helpless but who sought him out he could not

resist but to tenderly touch him.

And what was the result.

Immediately the leprosy left him.

It was visibly and evidently effective at that

very moment.

Another surprising fact here is that unlike every other person

if they tried to touch a leprous man they themselves would be made

unclean and would have to go through a week -long purification process.

However Jesus touches an unclean man.

He remains unaffected but moreover the

leper becomes completely clean instead.

And the echoing questions here are.

What is the extent to Jesus ministry.

Who is this man that he can perform such a sign.

And verse 14 shows Jesus response to the healing and he charged him to tell no

one but go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing

as a testimony to them just as Moses commanded.

The reason why Jesus may want to silence the healed leper is because he does

not desire this healing miracle to boost his popularity.

That was not the point of healing.

This was not the sample preview of a movie so that people would come to the

premiere.

And in fact we see this in the next two verses when the whole of the word gets around inevitably.

Of course when you see a leprous man fully healed how can you keep that silent.

Jesus removes himself from the crowd.

He goes into the wilderness.

Jesus purpose purpose for the miracle was not to popularize his ministry

but to signify what he has come to do.

He has come to purify any who seek to be cleansed

he has come to take away the uncleanliness of man

and make them pure again.

That's the extent of his ministry.

It's more than just a doctors without borders kind of ministry.

Jesus is more than just setting up a

medical office.

Here in Galilee is showing us what kind of ministry

he is leading.

It's that of compassionately healing any who desire to

be clean indiscriminately

healing tenderly.

Any who want to be made pure.

And Jesus ordered to go to the priest is following the law.

Leviticus 14 a cleansed leper had to make a sacrifice of two birds and that blood

would be used in the purification ritual.

And it would be a week -long ritual.

And on the eighth day the priest would testify.

The priest would confirm yes indeed you have been made clean.

And this healing would have been a testimony of Jesus from Jesus to the religious

leaders.

There is someone of this magnitude who can purify.

Come and see.

Check him out.

In fact the testimony was so effective.

We see that all sorts of sick people gather around him in the next two verses.

And as a result of that Jesus secludes himself to pray.

So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

When Jesus popularity rose he did not enjoy the spotlight

but rather prior taught prioritize what was truly important in his ministry.

His relationship with the father time spent

with God was more important than increasing his influence.

And imagine if many of our pastors including me believe that and

practice that we'd have much higher quality teaching and preaching

if we prioritize the time spent with our Heavenly Father.

Now Jesus tender touch of purification applies to us this

morning.

When you look at yourself and all the sins that you've committed

all the moral filth that's adding up so dirty that you can't even look at

yourself in the mirror.

But the moment you approach Jesus he

cannot resist.

But to make you clean it's not that he finds you

you're just fine.

It's just some little dirt in his perfect

holiness.

Even the filth that we see is detrimentally disgusting to him.

He even sees filth that we don't see that we blindly skip over.

Rather Jesus desire to see his people made clean

made pure drives his heart to reach out to the most

rejected.

That's his heart.

It's not that we're pretty good.

It's not that we're we're better than the leper.

It's that his heart to see

his people overwhelmingly drives his

next action which is to cleanse them completely.

And how would we know if this is true in our case.

Well I don't think you know my case.

Oh I don't think you know how impure I am.

Impure I've been all week.

I don't know if you've seen my private life.

Now if you don't think Jesus reaching out to a pus -covered discolored scabby leper is

enough isn't is not enough of evidence.

I'll give you a more.

I'll give you more concrete concrete evidence in order to make you

pure.

Jesus suffered the most excruciating death on

your behalf.

There was no other way to make you pure make you acceptable to

God to wash you clean white as snow.

There was no other way but to willingly die on the

cross for all of our impurities our sins.

It's when he faced the wrath of God and he cried out my God my

God.

Why have you forsaken me.

After that he knew it was finished.

That's the extent in which he went to to make you pure

with any of your sins.

This past week change Jesus heart of compassion

from reaching out to you once more.

Second what is the extent of Jesus authority.

God confirms Jesus authority to forgive sins.

God confirms Jesus authority to forgive sins after such a

shocking miracle.

Now we get some new categories of audience here.

Now it happened on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law

sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee Judea and Jerusalem.

Up until now we mainly saw the common folks fishermen their

family people were sick.

Now we see the esteemed theologians and religious

religious elites from all over not just Galilee but Judea Jerusalem

the capital.

And the Pharisees were non -priestly.

So they were not Levites.

They were not descendants of Aaron's.

They were non -priestly religious leaders who sought to keep the nation of Israel

committed to Mosaic faith.

And they heavily relied on the ancestors traditions to apply

the law.

And this is because their context changed so they had to rely on traditions

more so so they would come up with more and more traditions and they would

religiously zealously get people to obey that.

And it's important to know that the Pharisees were actually not the majority.

They were in the minority yet because their zeal was so strong they were

heavily influential.

The teachers of the law were basically all lawyers religious lawyers who

support supported the Pharisees application of these extra biblical traditions.

They were the supporters and they were.

They both really were extremely strict religious rulers who held a lot of

influence in the region.

Now as these religious elites are watching Jesus was healing.

And here Luke tells us the source of Jesus healing and this is important and the power of the Lord

was present to heal them.

Jesus is healing through the power of God.

And this will be important later on because this concept that

God heals only through those whom he has approved

of will be at crucial point.

John 9 has a very similar context when a blind man is healed and then other

religious leaders are trying to find out who healed you what kind of man is this.

And then they start accusing Jesus of being a sinner and a liar.

But the blind man's question is can God do that through a liar and a sinner.

And that stumps them and they get really mad.

But that's that's the important part here.

It's that Jesus is not healing through Satan's power

but Jesus is healing through God's power.

He has the full stamp of approval from God himself.

That's what these healing ministries all about God approves approves of

Jesus ministry.

Jesus miracles verify his authentic

ministry for God right.

Jesus miracles are the divine blue checkmarks.

And starting with verse 18 Luke shows a source of

a new conflict.

A group of men tried to get a paralytic man lying on the bed to be healed by Jesus.

And their goal is clear they need to get their friend to lie before Jesus

just get him before Jesus.

If they can just accomplish that they trust that Jesus will do the rest.

In fact verse 19 shows that no amount of difficulty will stop these group of friends.

And when they could not find how they might bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the

housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst of midst before

Jesus.

In ancient Israel a house was usually two stories and there

was actually a public set of stairs leading up to the roof.

Anyone in the public could actually use that the roof was flat right

and wooden beams laid across the top and it was layered with

various materials with like it reads you know sticks and clay

or tiles.

In fact clay or tiles are the same word in Greek so some translations might have clay

so that would make sense to easily remove the rooftop right

for that friend.

And because of this structure most people would not have noticed what's going

on up top right there just surrounding their crowding all that

house in which Jesus is healing from.

And there's a public access to the roof anyway.

So these friends just carry their friend unknowing right without getting

caught just up there and there's they start digging right.

In fact the only person who would have noticed would be the one inside right underneath.

And that's Jesus.

And Jesus frankly did not say a word about it.

He didn't stop them.

And because of the structure of the house right they're just digging

unnoticed.

And the significance of this text is the extent to which these friends were

willing to go to see their paralytic friend healed.

And after each removal of clay or tiles they may have panted

but under their breath they might have said before Jesus before Jesus

before Jesus and before Jesus hears

their request he responds in verse 20.

And when he saw their faith he said man your sins are forgiven you.

This is the first time faith is mentioned in the gospel according to Luke.

And this is the belief of the paralytic man's friends

that God will work wonders through Jesus

that Jesus would complete the meet completely meet the needs of their friend lying on

his bed.

That's the faith.

And unexpectedly rather than healing Jesus forgives the man's sins.

Your sins are forgiven you.

The passive verb here is what we call the divine passive.

When a verb is used passively without a subject that is explicitly said and the context

allows for God to be the subject obviously who can forgive sins except God

himself we can infer that God is the subject of the passive

verb.

So in another sense Jesus is telling this paralytic man that God has just forgiven

his sins.

Here Jesus connects the physical miracle of healing that we will see to the

spiritual reality that it represents.

His miracles are not done for the healing sake only but they are signed post pointing to

the greater spiritual truth that when Jesus heals

he's reversing the course of sin.

When Jesus came for his ministry he came to undo the

footprints of sin.

He's that kind of man.

He's that kind of God.

Now Jesus statement however leads to a massive theological dissonance in the minds of the religious elites.

They're like the theological clattering of symbols in their minds.

Who is this who speaks blasphemies who can forgive sins but God

alone.

Now first blasphemy is a serious charge because it is a one of the Ten Commandments.

And it's a defilement of God's name.

And remember as we always we've studied Exodus and the Psalms God's name is more than just

the name the Lord.

Right.

It's more than just Yahweh.

It's it's what the name represents.

God's name means who God is in all totality.

So to blaspheme against God's name is to

misrepresent who God is.

Right.

It's a slander of God's character and action.

And you can see why this would be a blasphemy if God did not actually forgive this paralytic man's sins.

To say that his sins are forgiven would be a slander of what God has done.

It's accusing God.

It's it's attributing God of doing something which he hasn't.

Right.

It's a it's a false accusation almost

and no wonder why the religious leaders could not

understand this.

It's it's it's a cognitive dissonance in their minds.

Jesus is just a man powerful man.

He's healing but it's just a man.

How could this Jesus guy claim that this man sins are forgiven when he's just a man.

How can a human a mere human claim to do something that is clear on clearly only under God's

jurisdiction.

Now perceiving their thoughts.

There's the irony there.

They don't even have to speak it.

And Jesus knows what they're saying.

Really gets us to question who is this Jesus.

So Jesus responds why are you reasoning in your hearts.

Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk.

Now first Jesus ability to perceive inner thought shows that he must be someone more than

just a man.

He's not.

He can't be just an ordinary teacher here and verses 23 to 24

show Jesus intention to back up his divine claim

which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk.

The logic behind this question is this let me

prove to you my authority to forgive sins which is spiritual and invisible.

Right.

You wouldn't know if someone sins are forgiven.

Let me prove to you that his sins are forgiven.

That I have the authority to do that by visibly healing this paralytic man

I will give you a physical verifiable sign of the invisible spiritual

reality.

If he heals then I have the authority to forgive sins.

If he doesn't.

Well there's a bigger problem.

Isn't there.

Now what is the purpose of this miracle.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins.

Here for the first time Jesus refers himself.

It refers to himself as the Son of Man.

And this is one of his favorite titles that he calls himself.

This is an allusion to Daniel the book of Daniel 7 13 through 14 an

eschatological vision of the vision of the last days.

Right.

There will be a human figure.

That's what the Son of Man means.

A Son of Man means he's no angel and he's no beast.

He's someone who looks like a man.

So in in the end days there's a human figure whom the ancient of days

God himself will give expansive and divine authorities.

This was a mysterious figure in the Old Testament.

How can a man be given this kind of authority.

Right.

For example a man on the last days he's riding on the clouds.

Who else.

What kind of man can do that.

And another one is that he is

given everlasting dominion over every nation.

What kind of man can receive that.

Right.

There is this divine hinting here in Daniel 7.

But those are only two verses that we don't know.

We don't know who the Son of Man is.

How is this fulfilled.

We don't know.

But Jesus here calls himself the Son of Man.

A divine godlike figure introduced in Daniel 7 all of a sudden

is Jesus title.

And now it kind of makes sense.

Well there is someone who is a man in the Old Testament who is given divine

authorities that no other man has.

Well if Jesus is the Son of Man perhaps

he has the authority.

And here Jesus reveals himself as that figure his word not mine.

And because he is the Son of Man he has the authority to forgive sins.

And with this newly revealed identity and the promise of a healing miracle

Jesus will prove his divine authority to forgive sins.

If the paralytic man begins to walk Jesus the audience will have to

face the fact that Jesus is obviously working through God.

God is working through Jesus.

If God is working through Jesus then everything Jesus has said about his authority

must be true.

Or else that same lingering question from John.

Why.

John 9.

Why would God work through a liar and a blasphemer.

Hence Jesus gives three commands to the paralytic man.

I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house.

Verse 25.

Immediately he arose up before them took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own

house glorifying God word for word verb for verb.

Every cell of this paralytic man obeys the Son of Man's command.

More.

So the man goes home praising God for the healing.

From this text we will know at least one person has believed Jesus claimed to have the authority to forgive

sins.

And it's the paralytic man himself.

He knows that it is God working through Jesus.

He knows that Jesus does have the authority to forgive.

Verse 26 shows us the response from the rest of the crowd.

And they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying we have seen

strange things today although a marvelous sign

the tension of Jesus extensive authority is not resolved from this text.

As Jesus performs more miracles the looming question of what is the

extent of Jesus authority will become clearer.

The blur of Jesus portrait of his identity and authority will resolve as Luke

narrates on.

And by the end of it all it will be impossible to claim that

Jesus never claimed to be divine.

And similar to the crowd we are faced with the same question.

Who is this Jesus who claims that he has the

authority to forgive sins.

If we go by the modern man's understanding of Jesus just as a historical figure

just as a religious leader just as a great moral teacher

such a claim that he could forgive sins would be

preposterous at best and extremely wicked at worst.

In fact in a monotheistic nation like Israel it was extremely evil

to claim to have authority.

That was only God's prerogative.

To say that you can do only what God can do would actually make yourself

making yourself into God.

It's self -idolatry.

And after this account viewing Jesus just as a mere moral teacher is not a feasible

option.

If you want to read the text honestly maybe prior to that

he's he must have been a great prophet.

Maybe prior to that he's a great miracle worker.

Maybe prior to that he's a wonderful teacher.

Sure.

But after this account from what he's claimed he cannot just be

a good moral teacher.

The only option that remains for us is either Jesus can forgive sin by God's authority

or he is the biggest fraud in human history.

And the readers have to make the decision.

Are you going to continue reading.

We're gonna close the book because he's a fraud.

Now for those of you who already believe that Jesus does have the authority to forgive

I want to remind you Jesus what that means for us.

Jesus authority to forgive sins means he does not hang your sins over you.

There's no sin.

He dangles over your head so you feel guilty enough.

So you feel ashamed enough.

There's no sin.

He brings up out of the closet two years later just to remind you just

to put you back into your place where you belong.

That's not how he uses his authority at all.

He in fact does not even wait for you to get your life together.

He does not wait for you to make it up through good works.

Gal I'll write it off.

I'll forgive you this time.

But you owe me how Jesus forgives.

How he exercises his authority must be read with the account right

prior.

He forgives with the utmost death of his heart

with the deepest compassion.

He forgives immediately just as these two men were healed immediately.

And he forgives willingly.

The desire to see you healed forgiven overflows from his

heart.

And that's how he forgives.

That's who he is.

His absolute authority to forgive sins is paired with his

deepest desire to see you forgiven.

And when you rebel against God for the umpteenth time maybe of the same sin.

And you convince yourself you even you convince yourself.

You can't even justify yourself anymore.

That man I wouldn't even forgive myself.

Well you can always look to Christ who is not made in your image

thank God and confess your sins to him.

And he is faithful and righteous to forgive you of all of your sins

and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

Jesus ability.

Jesus authority.

Jesus willingness to forgive your sins

is not dependent on the wickedness of your sins

tenderness of his heart.

It's the faithfulness of his character.

It's the immutability of his nature.

He forgives because that's who he is.

And he willingly cleanses you because that's what he does.

Let us pray father.

We're thankful that we do have Jesus the Son of God the

Son of Man God incarnate who is not disgusted

by us but his heart draws him closer to us than ever.

Especially when we sin because he lives to forgive.

That's what he does.

And that's who he is.

That's his nature.

And father.

There is nothing we can do to change who he is because he is God and we're not

father we pray that you would help us to go to Christ willingly

humbly and immediately whenever we do sin

knowing that Jesus tender merciful touch

is never far away.

But it's immediate in.

Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you pastor.

And what makes it all possible is the power is the blood of Jesus.

And so let's all stand together we're gonna sing.

The blood will never lose its power and some of you know this some of us not but we're gonna work our way

through it.

If we were the Gaithers we really romp it on this one so that's in the back of your head.

Just go at it.