Healing Of The Paralytic

Scripture

Luke 5:17–26 NIV

17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 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. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Introduction

What would you be willing to do for $10,000,000? In their book, The Day America Told the Truth, James Patterson and Peter Kim reveal some shocking statistics about how far people in this country are willing to go for ten million.

Would abandon their entire family (25%) Would abandon their church (25%) Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%) Would give up their American citizenship (16%) Would leave their spouses (16%) Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%) Would kill a stranger (7%) Would put their children up for adoption (3%)...

What would YOU be willing to do for that sum of money? Maybe ... Fudge a little on your taxes? Tell your insurance company ... a story that wasn’t the whole truth?

Let’s forget about cash. What would you be willing to do to find a cure for cancer? How ‘bout world peace ... or ending hunger?

What would you do ... to save your best friend’s life?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

In the Bible in Luke chapter 5 we see a group of people who are willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to see their paralyzed friend healed.

Our story begins when Jesus had recently healed a leper and his fame and popularity was getting greater and greater. By noting Jesus’ solitary withdrawal to the wilderness for prayer, Luke shows that Jesus has not let popularity diminish his piety

Same should happen to us as well.

When we get popular it should drive us back to the prayer closet cause that is where our power comes from From God

This is the 1st year of Jesus’ ministry. Ever since the Sermon on the Mount, He’s been out preaching, teaching, healing and casting out demons. And it seems that every time people know He’s in the area, they surround. They literally mob Him.

It’s hard for Him to get a moment’s rest. Hard to find the time to be alone and pray.

What seems to make it worse is that, when He heals people, it takes its toll on his body. In Luke 8, for example, we’re told the story of a woman who had an illness but who feared to approach Jesus face to face. She touched His garment and Jesus "felt power go out from Him."

Every time Jesus healed someone, it took some of His strength, some of His energy. It tapped into His power and took from His reserves. This might have been part of what made Him tired all the time.

So, He’s come to Capernaum and again He’s surrounded by crowds. In fact He’s teaching inside a home and it is packed with people.

Today we want to look at 3 steps these men took to see their friend cured from his problem

Firstly they Recognised the problem

Luke 5:18 NIV

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.

To get your miracle you need to realise that you have a problem and recognise the problem

These men they recognised their friend had a problem which was why he was called a Paralytic and they decided to do something about it

Symptom of an organic disease of the central nervous system affecting the temporary or permanent loss of sensation and/or voluntary muscle control. This degenerative condition was usually incurable. This disease may have been brought on by an injury at birth or by damage to the spinal cord.

We would describe his condition as being a quadriplegic. He did not have the use of his hands or his legs. He was in a very difficult situation.

We are people who hate to have problems

No one gets up each day and say man I hope I get a lot of problems today - I want problems, I need problems

Sometimes things can go right only by first going very wrong. -Edward Tenner

The first step to help you be delivered from your problem is to realise you have a problem.

You might be saying brian that is pure common sense why you telling me that

The truth is many people don’t realise they have a problem

Many people refuse to believe it or admit that they have a problem

Some people have a drinking problem but they refuse to see it or admit it

Some people have an anger problem and they refuse to admit it

How many of you know people like that!!! They have a problem but they refuse to admit they have a problem

PROBLEMS CAN ACTUALLY BE A GOOD THING AT TIMES Because problems can cause us to seek Jesus

This man had a problem and they brought him to Jesus

Many times we live our lives for our selves, I don’t want nothing to do with church, nothing to do with God but when problems appear we begin to seek Jesus

No one could pray as much as we can

No one can quote scripture as much as we can If we praying for 10 minutes a day, a problem causes us to pray for an hour day

Problems cause us to seek Jesus

ILLUSTRATION - MY INTERNET PROBLEM IN SCHOOL

We SHALL SOON SEE THAT WHAT WE THINK IS THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!

Secondly Bring it to Jesus

Joke about Husbands bringing their wives to church cause they are the problem

After you recognise your problem you need to then take your problem to Jesus.

We see that in verse 18 and 19

Luke 5:18–19 NIV

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man 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.

This guy had some great friends who wanted to help him out. Four persistent friends who said we don’t know what to do, but we know this. Get him to Jesus and the Lord will take it from there.

We the church can learn something from this

That is our goal is to get people to Jesus. We are to do everything that we can to bring them to hear the gospel.

You have a friend who told you he have a problem. Then we need to tell them we know who can solve it and that is Jesus. We need to bring them to Jesus.

A lot of people would say I am tired. Forget about it. Sorry. Jesus is obviously booked up today. Maybe another time. Let’s go home. My arms sure are aching.

Look how much line to see Jesus

Thus a group of men who were carrying a paralytic had to take him to the roof of the house, there was a staircase there, remove some tiles, and let him down in front of Jesus.

Let me tell you something. If you have a friend like this that would go out of their way to bring you to church, that is a true friend. You may have your buddies that you hang around with. You met this Christian who has been asking you to come to church. Maybe they are co-worker or a fellow student, a neighbor or family member. So you came to just appease them and get them off of your back.

But you know the paralytic’s friends don’t care. They don’t care if they ruin the roof. They don’t care if they upset the meeting. And they don’t care who’s there in house with Jesus. All they care is that they have a friend who’s sick - and Jesus can heal him. Nothing else matters.

You see when you have a problem the main thing is to bring your problem to Jesus

Not to the Obeah man, Not to the Millionaire Next Door, Take it firstly to Jesus

There is only so much man can do for you..... Take it to Jesus

But SOMETIMES WHAT YOU THINK IS THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PROBLEM!!!

Thirdly - Receive the breakthrough

Luke 5:25 NIV

Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.

These men BELIEVED if they could just get their friend to Jesus, Jesus could change his life forever. And so, they were willing to do whatever they needed to do bring their friend to Jesus And because of that – Jesus SAW their faith.

In verse 25 we see that the man got the breakthrough that he wanted

To be able to walk once again like a normal man

Many of us we want our breakthrough just like this man

We want to be healed of cancer, healed of depression, our marriages to be healed, we need a financial breakthrough

We have lots of problems that we need someone that is higher than any man to solve

We have a big and great problems and we need them to be solved And yes Jesus can cure the problem

In the same way how he cured this man’s problem he can cure yours today .

But here is what I want you to know today

Sometimes what we think is the problem is not the problem

THERE IS A DEEPER PROBLEM THAT WE CANNOT SEE

Luke 5:20 NIV

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Imagine what would have been going through his mind at this time We have a deeper problem than sickness and that is sin

In fact it is because of sin sickness came into the world

The first humans adam and eve

Since then sin has been passed on to all of us

Only by putting our trust in Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven

There is a famous psychiatrist whose last name is Minenger. He said that if he could convince his patients in a psychiatric hospital that their sins were forgiven, 75% would walk out the next day. That is how many people are troubled sin.

We need to have our sins forgiven

This was one of the early events that got Jesus into trouble: the claim to forgive sins. And in the claim to forgive sins, Jesus’ authority is put forward in a background that says the only being that can forgive sins is God. Thus, Jesus is making a claim about who He is that the leadership found offensive but that the healing established had come from God.

This was one of the main events that led to Jesus being nailed to the cross

But my friends he was nailed to the cross for me (sing the song)

Have you had your sins forgiven by Jesus

Some people might say I am a good person why do I need my sins to be forgiven

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned Romans 6:23

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

We are all sinners and we need a Saviour

In the same way as this paralytic turned to Jesus and believed in him to receive forgiveness of sins - would you say today I need forgiveness

Steve Brown said Once in seminary, I got an A on a directed study course—an exegesis on the Sermon on the Mount. I should have gotten a C. Let me tell you why.

Somebody told me that since I hadn't seen this professor in the directed study, he was going to flunk me out of the class. I got scared. I sat down and put a bunch of books on the subject on our dining room table. I wrote an 80-page paper in five hours. It was thick! I handed in this paper. The professor was so busy and so impressed with 80 pages, he didn't read it. He gave me an A. When he gave me the A, did I go back to him and say, "You ought to read that paper. I really wasn't that good. It was a lot, but it wasn't good." No, I didn't. I accepted the A. Why? Because the one in authority had given me that A. (Steve Brown, "Forgiven and Forgotten)

It's the same way with Jesus Christ. If I tell you you're forgiven, that doesn't amount to a hill of beans. But, if he tells you, you're forgiven, you're forgiven. He's the king at the right hand of the Father; his enemies are his footstool.

In previous accounts, Jesus shows himself powerful to reverse the effects of the fall—he casts out demons, heals the sick, and even cleanses lepers (1:21–45). Now Luke tops off this string of miracle stories with a climactic one that is more than a miracle. Jesus heals a paralytic in order to prove his authority to forgive sins. Christ doesn’t reverse only the physical ramifications of the fall; he also deals with spiritual ones—and humanity’s most important one: the burden of sin

I am a big sinner

I don’t care what you have done Jesus loves you

Name sins here

John 3:16 Would you turn to Jesus today

Don’t stay in your sins

3 Lies story

Lead them in sinners prayer