UNORTHODOX JESUS

LAST WEEK

We finished

We saw Jesus confront our fear and our lack of faith

We talked about the things we can do when we find ourselves in the middle of the storm

We also saw Jesus speak into the lives of three types of people

The Scribes

The Disciples

The Demon Possessed

THIS WEEK

We are going to see Jesus do something completely unorthodox

We are going to see him continue to do the unthinkable

We are going to see him break rules

READ THE TEXT

Matthew 9:1–13 NKJV

1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. 9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

PRAY THAT HEARTS WOULD BE OPEN AND THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD MOVE IN POWER.

Matthew 9:1–2 NKJV

1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

MATTHEW 9:1

Jesus had just finished casting a bunch of demons out

He had gone to a place where nobody really liked to go

A place feared by many

A place that was dark and dangerous

But a place where He knew God the Father would be glorified.

After showing the disciples that we don’t serve from a position of fear

He gets back into the boat

And they cross back over to the Northwest side of the Galilee and arrived at Capernaum

His HQ

AKA The Shadow of Death

Though Matthews perspective of this story is a bit shorter

We know from Mark & Luke that Jesus was teaching in a home

Not only where the multitudes there

Luke says that Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had come out of the woodwork to see and hear Jesus teach

I love what it says in

Luke 5:17 NKJV

17 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.

This verse sets the pace and exposes God’s heart for what He was about to do.

As Jesus was teaching in a home

We know from Mark, that the home was overflowing with people

So many people that no one could enter through the front door

Now, here in Matthew it says that

“They brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed”

#1 How?

If the house was full, if there wasn’t any way to get in, how did this happen?

Luke tells us that

As Jesus was teaching

These guys took this man up on the roof

Began to dig through the roof of the home

As Jesus taught

Dust, mud, rocks, sand, would start falling from the ceiling

As light would break through

These men continued to break through the barriers that prevented the paralytic from coming to Jesus

They knew that the only hope this man had of ever being able to walk again was in Jesus

Friends, this is one of my favorite pictures of the church

Where Jesus is always at the center

His Word is always going forward

Those who are eager are listening intently

And then there are those who are willing to do anything to bring the needy to the feet of Jesus

Church, this is what I desire

If I had it my way

I would desire for all of us to be actively bringing people to church

To be actively doing whatever it takes to see broken people made whole

Why?

Because when Jesus see’s the faith of His Church doing the unthinkable

He responds

When we bring people to His feet

He responds

When we know the Gospel can save anyone

He responds

When His church loves the ostracized and alienated

He responds with SALVATION

At this point the crowd is probably confused

Here is a man that is paralyzed

Brought in by his friends who saw something in Jesus that could heal him forever.

But Jesus, in his Genius, doesn’t respond to their faith in a predictable manner

He responds by exceeding our expectations

He responds by blowing our mind

He responds in a way that ministers both to the follower of Christ, the Pharisee, the Teacher of the Law, and the People that aren’t supposed to be there.

The Paralytic would have at this point of his life been considered a sinner

Many would have looked at his life and condemned him on the assumption that his physical state told the story of his spiritual state

Many would have passed him by on the way to the temple

Many would have doubted that he could ever walk again

Many would have counted him out

But you know what

There were those who saw potential

There were those who saw his condition

Instead of allowing the predictable to finish the story

They place his physical and spiritual condition next to what Jesus had to offer.

They place the predictability of sin’s course alongside the unpredictability of Jesus’ Salvifical Mission.

This is Church.

This is why we are here

But w

To believe that Jesus can do the unthinkable

To believe that Jesus can do above and beyond all that we can ask or think.

To believe that He who has begun a good work will finish it.

See, to many, the proclamation that Jesus made in verse 2 made no sense.

But for the paralytic its probably all he wanted to hear

For his entire life he had been called a sinner

He had been counted out

He had been kept from coming to church

Jesus responds

Son, be of good cheer

Lift your head up

Look to the skies to see where your help comes from

Your Sins are forgiven you

You can come near now

You can come to church now

You can have a relationship with God now

You can be loved again

No more barriers

No more assumptions

No more maybes

You are now a child of God!

You are now a Son of the King

You are now whole

Want to know how the legalistic responds to seeing people saved?

VERSE 3

Matthew 9:3–8 NKJV

3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew 9:3-

The Scribes knew what Jesus was saying

They knew what it meant for someone to do what He did

They knew what Jesus had proclaimed

Instead of calling it Miraculous, they called it Blasphemy

Look at verse 4

Jesus knew their thoughts

It wasn’t bad theology

It was their heart behind their theology

It was the evil behind their head knowledge

Because Jesus wants to minister to the Legalistic also.

Because he desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of Him

Because He is willing that none should perish but all to come to repentance

He goes on to demonstrate an even deeper miracle

Which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven? Or to say, get up and walk?

But so that we may know

So the skeptic knows

So the legalist knows

So everyone knows

That Jesus has the power on this earth to forgive us of our sins

He turns to the paralytic and says

Get up

Something that he had never had the power to do

Take your Mat

Something that bound him to his sin

Go Home

Something that he could never do without someones help

And guess what

HE DID.

To the glory of God

Look at what happens when our sins are forgiven

Look at what happens when we are released from what kept us bound

Look at what happens when we respond to the voice of Jesus in confidence

Look at what happens when we walk away from the presence, power, and penalty of sin

Verse 8

The Multitudes Saw it

They Marveled

They Glorified God

But thats not it

They Glorified God for imparting such power upon men

They Glorified God for giving Jesus the name above every name

They Glorified God for being able to be a part of the Powerful move of God through Jesus Christ.

Remember what

Luke 5:17 NKJV

17 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.

THIS POWER NOT ONLY SAVED, HEALED, BUT LOOK AT WHAT ELSE IT DID

MATTHEW 9:9

Matthew 9:9 NKJV

9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

#1 Matthew is talking in 3rd person LOL!

#2 This is Matthews take on his Salvation

The things that actually happened

After healing the Paralytic and confronting the Scribes

Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office

Side Note:

What was Matthews real name?

Levi.

Why didn’t he refer to himself as Levi?

Because He was now in Christ

And if you are in Christ you are a new creation

And to some, God has given them a new name

Abram He called Abraham

Sarai he called Sarah

Jacob he named Israel

Simon He named Peter

Levi He named Matthew

Matthew saw himself as a new creation

He was now a follower of Christ

One who had left the Tax Collecting Business to be about the Fathers Business

Upon responding to the call to follow Christ

What did Matthew do?

He threw a Party! Luke 5:29

He invited all of his heathen tax collectors to the party

He invited Jesus to be front and center

As He sat there

He dined with them

Conversed with them

Got on their level

And guess what?

The Pharisees, the Religious, didn’t like it