Clean & Forgiven

Clean & Forgiven - Luke 5:12-26

INTRO: What’s the dirtiest you’ve ever been? … Have you ever been so dirty that you can’t get the stink off, or you just can’t seem to get clean, and you’re trying every remedy? … the tomato sauce bath for the skunk smell… the paint thinner (mineral spirits) to get the really bad stains off your hands.

I tend to sometimes tell children that my freckles come from chasing a horse after a hard rain and not cleaning up for three days. By then it was too late. (moral of the story: shower often)

On a more serious note, have you also experienced the weight of your sin to the point where the filth of it overwhelms you? You feel like you couldn’t possibly ever be clean, like even God couldn’t love you and forgive you. The glorious, the outrageously good news of God’s mercy and grace is that such a notion is a lie. It’s a lie that you can’t be clean and forgiven.

It’s true that you can’t do it on your own, but it isn’t true that God can’t and won’t forgive you. If you come to God through Jesus, realizing the depth of your need and his ability, God willingly can and does forgive, He can and does make us clean.

That’s what we’re meant to see with the cleansing of the leper and the healing of the paralytic in Luke 5. The section we’re in deliberately begs the question…

Who has power and authority to make clean and forgive sin?

Luke is continuing to go deeper with the identity of Jesus and call his readers to confront their own need and decide how they will respond to Him.

I sure hope too that as you read vv. 12-26 of Luke 5, that you picture yourself being present, and being mind-blowingly astonished at what Jesus does… and what Jesus says. And then I pray that you see yourself confronted with Jesus’ power and authority to make clean and forgive sin, and that you decide today, and every day, how you ought to respond to Jesus.

So first let’s look more closely at this scene where…

A Compassionate Jesus Cleanses a Leper (vv. 12-14)

In one of the towns in Galilee, most likely still near the sea...

A man comes who is medically and ritually unclean - Leprosy in this context is a term for various skin diseases, not exclusively Hansen’s disease. - And those with such diseases were outcasts, ostracized from society. The purpose for this was not to be cruel; rather, it was necessary because of how contagious the condition.

But because the disease was associated with ritual uncleanness, many also associated it with sin. - So while the original purpose for the social distancing was merely intended for people’s safety, it also became an avenue for some people to look down on them and mistreat them.

Yet this man comes to Jesus, having heard about his healing power.

… Saying, If you will (if it’s what you desire to do for me), I know that you can make me clean.

Jesus has such compassion that he touches him and heals him. - Um, er… the way they understood the situation with leprosy, Jesus was totally NOT supposed to be touching this guy.

Illust. - scene from The Chosen, where Jesus heals the man, and after touching him, touches every one of his friends, his disciples, who is within reach!

Are we as compassionate to those in need as Jesus is to this leper? Or do we tend to be overly concerned with not “getting dirty”? - Do believers, in a sick twist of irony, sometimes avoid those who are sinning as if they have some plague that we might catch? - Now of course there is wisdom, there is prudence, in taking precaution not to participate in their sin. But I mean of course that sometimes we’re the ones with the cure who are avoiding those who are sick.

Can you imagine if, in our current situation with COVID-19, our skilled medical workers were avoiding the patients who need their attention and care?

Jesus specifically states in v. 32 of the very next section, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Or the exact same context in Mark adds this:

Mark 2:17 ESV

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Now after declaring him clean and immediately making it so, Jesus gives him two further instructions:

Keep it on the down-low… “tell no one” - probably for two reasons: 1. To keep silent until he is officially declared clean by the priest (which would be proof to the priest of Jesus’ power), and 2. To not draw “excessive popular excitement as a result of [Jesus’] healing ministry” (Darrel Bock). - The healing ministry is secondary, it is for the purpose of authenticating the message he is speaking… the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand.

So too then Jesus tells him to go do what the Jewish law commanded (in accordance with Mosaic law, Lev. 14) - That way there would be, according the Jewish law, verifiable evidence of his cleanness and he could resume his life in society.

Before moving on, let me ask, are we not spiritually like this leprous man?

Are we not similarly in desperate spiritual need, powerless to make ourselves clean?

But consider the mercy of God (the compassion of Jesus) and the power of God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves! (I want to return to this again as we close today.)

Next, I’ve chosen to make an interesting break in the text here because I believe the application is poignant and important. I want to be absolutely sure we don’t miss something about our Lord and how we should follow in his footsteps. - Notice Jesus’ emphasis on prayer as a means of maintaining relational closeness with the Father.

More specifically in the verses, I want to point out…

Jesus’ Understanding of Popularity & Prayer, and of Power & Prayer (vv. 15-17)

[re-read the verses with comment on growing popularity, but that he insisted on withdrawing to pray; and even the religious establishment being drawn to examine this one about whom report is spreading; and God’s power in Him (Jesus) to heal people… as authentication of his authority]

See, I think we could just read right through this and miss two completely amazing (and critical) applications for us. But when you slow down to consider it, it’s blatantly right in your face.

No matter how much popular demand on his time and attention, Jesus knows the necessity of time alone in prayer with the Father. - This is how he maintains communion with the Father. - The application for us is this: If I don’t pray, I lose my way. - The path of obedience was hard, and Jesus knew who to stay close to in order to accomplish the Father’s will.

Through prayer Jesus demonstrates for us the source of power—God. - To whom are you turning as the source of power? - We say we believe in God’s power, but we spend little effort asking for his help… and probably too often when we do, not asking for & trusting in his will his way.

Christian leaders ought not to be teaching people that if they have enough faith, that if they speak the positive words, believing them, that God will comply. Since when is it better to have faith in my own definition of what God should do, rather than having faith in God, trusting in him that he is good and his way is in fact best?! What we ought to be praying is, Father, we know that you are absolutely powerful enough to heal, if it is your will. But we also, above all, trust you and know that you are good. Father, accomplish your will, your way, and help us to see you in it and love you for it.

Let’s turn now to our second major miracle of the day…

A Demonstration of Jesus’ Authority to Forgive Sins (vv. 18-25)

As a friend in need is lowered to Jesus, tensions rise concerning His identity.

Here’s the scene: While Jesus is teaching in a house, some men bring a man who is paralyzed to be healed by him, but they can’t get to Jesus because the crowd is packed in and blocking the entrance.

These friends (four of them, as Mark tells us) get creative. It was apparently common for some of these houses to have a roof portion of the house which became like an outdoor room and useful for various purposes. Access to it was usually from an external staircase or ladder. First there was supportive structure built of wood framing, and then the roof covering made of thatch and packed with mud.

Luke describes this such that a section of the roof, pictured like the men removing mud tiles, was opened so they could lower their paralyzed friend down to Jesus. (Now there’s no commentary on it in the text, so Jesus must have simply remained calm during all this for it to take place.) - They lower him down on his mat (“bed,” stretcher).

Before I go any further, let me interject an application here: Friends in a desperate situation need people of faith to bring them to the source of healing! - A woman goes into labor and it is evident that she is experiencing complications. What do you do? What do you tell the couple? You say, I have a car, and I’ll drive. - Or better yet, give me the the keys to YOUR car, and I’ll drive that! 😂

(Back in our text) Jesus recognizes the faith of these friends, but then he says something odd: “Man, your sins are forgiven.” - Now the Jews know that only God has authority to forgive sin, and Jesus knows that they know that. So there’s no question that he does this on purpose. It is Jesus who instigates this confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees who are present.

The religious establishment reacts exactly as Jesus anticipates, grumbling amongst themselves that claiming the authority to forgive sin is blasphemy—a charge which would be accurate if Jesus were not in fact divine!

So Jesus addresses them directly with the following simple argument:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 5:17–26

Anyone could say, Your sins are forgiven. In that sense it was easier than saying, Get up and walk, for if He did not have the power to heal, all would know it immediately.

Jesus essentially seems to be saying to them, “Why should it surprise you that the one with authority to heal as I do, also has authority to forgive sins?” In fact, Jesus says that he proves his authority to forgive sins by the verifiable evidence that he has the power and authority to heal.

At Jesus’ command, immediately the paralytic is healed. He gets up, takes the mat that had been his stretcher for this whole time of his paralysis (upon which he would have been carried by others to get anywhere), and he carries it in his own hands! He heads home, glorifying God… no doubt to tell all his remaining family and friends what had just happened to him! (It’s no wonder the report about Jesus spreads like a wildfire.)

To conclude today, I want us to see that these are…

Claims that Demand a Response (v. 26)

In the end, the people present are amazed at all that takes place, but evidently still have a shallow understanding of the true identity of Jesus. Luke’s readers, on the other hand, are meant to respond differently.

The authority to forgive sin lies with God.

But…

Who is the only means, the only agent who can grant you forgiveness leading to right relationship with God?

- The answer in the given context is as obvious as it seems: only Jesus.

Why do we need forgiveness? Why must we be made clean? - Because God made man in his image to walk in perfect fellowship with him… but the very first people sinned, making themselves unclean with relationship to God. And their sin caused us to all be born with the disease. We’re unclean, separated from God. Every one of us continues in our lives proving the truth of our sinfulness as we walk in rebellion against God and thinking that somehow in our own strength we can be good!

So, how significant is it that Jesus can make us clean and forgiven? How can he accomplish such a thing? - By his atoning death and resurrection to life, Jesus paid for our sin. If we come to him with our desperate need for him to make us clean, he will forgive our sin and purify us from our unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9), and the Father will grant us spiritual life in Christ, giving us the indwelling Holy Spirit and making us one of his children.

For His part, Jesus has the power and authority to forgive sin and grant you new life and access to right relationship with God. He proved it by his work on the cross and rising from the grave.

For your part, you must come to Jesus with your desperate need. If you think you don’t need him, you won’t come. - Is God calling you to do that today? Respond to him.

Children of God, let’s remember how we got to where we are. Let’s swim deep into this grace in which we now stand. Let’s allow this gospel truth to make us love him more and depend on him more to keep changing us and giving us the strength and courage to bring others to him.

Let’s PRAY.