The Heart of the Matter

Opening:

Well, here we go, week three of our series going through the book of Luke. Today, we will look at a story that involves faith, healing and forgiveness, and I believe that God will use this teaching today to impact your life in significant ways. If you would hear his voice speaking to you and you would heed his call, then this passage will not only remind you of how amazing Jesus is, it will challenge you to move past the surface to the heart of the matter in your spiritual journey. So, let’s just get right to it, shall we? We are going to read Luke 5:17-26.

Read Scripture

Luke 5:17–26 NIV

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. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 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?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 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.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

This is the word of the Lord. As you read this passage, I'm curious: what jumped out for you - what challenged you, what made you think, what did you notice that you maybe didn't see before? Go ahead and put your observations in the comments. Now, for some of you, this might be a familiar story, and for others, maybe this is the first time you have heard it. Today, I hope that God speaks to you in a new and fresh way through this story.

Can we pray for that? Let’s pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Speak to us, Oh Lord, for your children are listening.

When I look at that passage, there are three things that I want to draw your attention to:

1. Team work makes the dream work

As this narrative begins, Jesus’ popularity is beginning to surge. He is a rising star, a celebrity of sorts, and now people from all over are coming to see him. Some people see him because they wanted to be healed. Others wanted to hear Jesus teach. They were curious about what this new miracle-working rabbi had to say.

Okay, let's be honest here: How many of you miss going to Sunday service at the church building? I do. I miss it a lot. But here we see Jesus teaching in someone's home. Jesus loves church at home, and, in violation of all COVID protocols, a large crowd gathers at this house. Among those who travelled and are gathering is a small group of men - let's say, for the sake of argument that there are four of them - and they are carrying their friend, who is physically disabled, to see Jesus.

They arrive at the house, but the crowd is so large, there is no way they can bring their friend to Jesus. So, they go around back and go up the stairs to the roof, carrying their friend on his mat the whole time. They make a hole in the roof and, using ropes, lower their friend down in front of Jesus.

This story is a fantastic picture of friendship and faith. I am amazed at the fellowship of the four men. It's one thing to spend an afternoon helping someone move. It's another to pick up a disabled friend on his mat, carry him through the streets, up the back stairs and lower him through a roof. These were real friends, and they lived out what Paul would say later to the church in Galatia. Paul said,

Galatians 6:2 NIV

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

What some of us do spiritually, these friends did literally. They carried their friend to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. And that makes me wonder: How many of you have people in your life who would do the same thing; people who are committed to carrying you to Jesus in prayer; people who love you enough to go out of their way to demonstrate practical love to you? Or maybe more importantly, how many of you have the humility to ask people to carry your burdens, to carry you to Jesus in prayer?

Community is one of the core values we have at North Park Stratford. And I wish we had more opportunities to be in person to develop that community here. But whether or not the church programs it for you, it is so important for you to find some people who will carry you to Jesus. Team work makes the dream work.

Your #squadgoals need to be 4-5 people who you trust enough that you can let them into all your pain, all your wounds, and all your darkness. You need people who can rejoice with you in your victories and cry with you in your sorrow; people who can challenge you when you need a loving kick in the butt, and people who show you love, no matter what you have done. You need a team with you.

You will find greater joy, deeper faith and a fuller life when you do life in a community. The support you need to accomplish your dreams is available to you when you have a team that carries you to Jesus. And the beauty of this metaphor within this story of the four men carrying their friend is that when done well, some days you are the one on the mat being carried and other days, you are carrying someone else.

That's what life in a community looks like, and, as followers of Jesus, we should be the experts on this. We are the ones who have the Holy Spirit in us, producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control; all the things that make life in community sweeter as those character traits are multiplied by the believers who walk by the Holy Spirit together.

Yeah, the friendship of that squad is a powerful thing to behold. For that matter, so is their faith. All five of them had this incredible faith that Jesus would do something wondrous for their friend. They believed it so much that they picked him up, took him to Jesus and refused to let anything get in the way. They persevered in their faith and overcame all obstacles to make sure this man met Jesus. They bypassed the crowd, went up on the roof, and removed a section of a stranger's roof because they believed that Jesus was going to heal their friend. That's extraordinary faith. That was a faith that impressed Jesus. Look at Jesus' reaction as he sees this person with paralysis lying on a mat, being lowered by his friends:

When Jesus saw all their faith - the whole squad's faith - he forgives the paralytic. This man experiences spiritual salvation because he and his friends had enough faith to bring him to Jesus. Jesus loves it when we step out in faith and trust him. He is delighted when we let our faith govern our actions, instead of just claiming it, but never living by faith.

There is a cool story in Matthew, chapter 8, where a centurion comes to Jesus on behalf of his servant, who is paralyzed and in pain. Jesus asks him if he wants him to go to his house and heal the servant. The centurion - a Roman, not a Jews - replies that he isn't worthy of Jesus coming, but if Jesus just says the word, the servant will be healed. And Jesus was blown away. In Matthew 8:10 it says,

Matthew 8:10 NIV

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

God delights in us when we live by faith, not by sight. Paul states this clearly in his letter to the Galatians when he says,

Galatians 2:20 NIV

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

These men had great faith in Jesus. So let me ask you: how is your faith? Are you fearfully reacting to what you see around you in life, or are you steadfastly holding on to Jesus in faith? The book of Hebrews calls Jesus an anchor for our souls, and in these crazy times we live right now, we all need to be anchored, so we don't get tossed around by the currents of life.

Now I am convinced that our faith is weaker when we try to go it alone than if we are in community. The best way to strengthen your faith is to talk through faith issues and pray with your squad because: teamwork makes the dream work.

The second thing in our passage that we should pay attention to is...

2. The Power, Authority and Compassion of Jesus

As always, the main character of this story is Jesus. It's not the paralytic, or the Pharisees or teachers of the law. It's not the friends who carried their friend. It's Jesus. As an author, Luke is trying to show us more about who Jesus is - his power, his authority and his compassion.

We see his power revealed here with the ability to heal. Our passage even says in verse 17 that the "power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick." Jesus had this tremendous power that came through the Holy Spirit. There is no sickness that he cannot cure, no miracle that is beyond his reach. The Jesus we put our faith in is not impotent and weak. He is strong and mighty to save. He is the one who walks on water, who feeds the multitudes, who heals the sick and who raises the dead. That is who our God is, and we had best remember that because it informs our worship. When we come to worship God by song, or prayer, or anything, we need to remember that our God is mighty and powerful and has done amazing things - like rescuing you and me from the kingdom of darkness and giving us a new life that is by faith.

In addition to being powerful, Jesus has authority. Power without authority is tyranny. Authority without power is ineffective. Jesus has both. He has both the power and the authority - that’s why we call him the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The issue of authority was what offended and bothered the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. When Jesus forgives the man's sin, they got their theological knickers in a bunch. They became defensive because they didn't believe that this man who stood before them, Jesus, had the authority to forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins. So they started thinking evil things about Jesus - that he was a blasphemer and therefore should be put to death. Although Jesus is fully human, he is also fully God, and therefore he has the authority to forgive sins - which is great news for you and me. And Jesus proves he the authority by miraculously healing the man.

But that healing wasn't just to prove a point. It's also because Jesus is compassionate. Later, we see how he weeps over Jerusalem, how he has compassion on the crowd and feeds 5000 with bread and fish, how he raises the widow's son, and how he touched and then healed the leper. The Roman and Greek gods of Jesus' time were known for pettiness, cruelty, abuse and didn't care about humanity. But the one, true God has compassion on us - so much so he sent Jesus to die on the cross so that we are forgiven and enjoy eternal life with him. And when on earth, Jesus, although he had power and authority, was compassionate. So let us give thanks and worship our God who is powerful enough to rescue us, authoritative enough to forgive us and compassionate enough to care for us.

In this passage, the first thing I noticed was the beauty of the faith and friendship of the men who brought the paralytic to Jesus. The second thing I saw was the power, authority and compassion of Jesus as he reacts to this unusual situation. The third thing I think is crucial for us to look at is...

I like to have three books going at once in my life: the Bible, a book to help me grow or learn, and a novel. So, for my devotional time lately, I have been working through the book of Revelation, and I am have been struck at how much worship of Jesus is found in it. It has been forming some of the ways that I have been worshipping God in my prayers at home. For my educational book, I am reading "The Deeply Formed Life" by Rich Villodas, which is excellent, and I highly recommend it if you want to grow deeper with God. What have you been reading lately? Tell us about your current reading list in the comments below or in the chat.

For my novel, I have been on an Agatha Christie kick lately, reading her books about Belgian super-detective Hercule Poirot. They are amazing. The first one, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written in 1917, and the one I just finished recently, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, was written in 1926, and both of them surprised me. I could not guess whodunnit until it was revealed. They are amazing mysteries where the outcome is wholly unexpected.

I feel like that could describe this story as well. Here are four men, bound together by faith and friendship, carrying their paralyzed friend on a mat to meet Jesus in the hope that the miracle worker might heal him. They arrive on the scene and see the massive crowd spilling out of the house, making it impossible for them to get through. So they go around back and climb the stairs to the roof, being careful not to drop their friend off the mat. They make it, huffing and puffing from the strain of carrying their friend. Still, they push through it and begin to take out roof tiles, exposing some stranger's house to the elements and creating a hole at least 6 feet by 3 feet - large enough for them to lower their friend down on the mat with the ropes that they brought.

Jesus sees his man being lowered down beside him and instantly recognizes the faith of this little fellowship. So, with a smile, he says, "Your sins are forgiven." Wait. What?

That's the twist in the story. This squad has worked hard to see their friend healed, but Jesus doesn't heal him right away. Jesus sees that the man's greatest need wasn't healing; it was forgiveness. And that's a word for us today.

Most of us are more interested in Jesus solving our here and now problems than we are in him solving our eternal issues. We want Jesus to rescue us financially, give us direction, or heal us or someone we love. But our greatest need isn't for our body to be healed. Our greatest need isn't a financial windfall that gets us out of debt. Our greatest need isn't the answer to "what do I do next?". Our greatest need is forgiveness.

Most of the problems we experience are due to us abandoning God and his principles and living for ourselves; they are because of the idols we worship and allow to have control of our lives. What we need most is not a solution to the symptom but a cure for the condition, and the cure is forgiveness.

Picture this: You are painting a picture on a canvas. Everything seems to start okay, but soon you make a mistake. You try to work around it and fix it, but now the mistake is worse. So you ignore it and do some more strokes elsewhere, and oops! You make another mistake. You try to fix that too, but you can't. And soon, your whole canvas is a mess, and there is nothing you can do about it.

But then Jesus, the master artist, comes in and takes his palette and begins to paint over your mistakes, and when he steps back, the canvas is white again. He covered over your mistakes with his paint so that you can start again. That's what forgiveness does. It covers over all your sin, and it cleanses you.

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The paralytic’s greatest need wasn’t healing in his body - it was healing in his soul. It was experiencing forgiveness from God for all his sins so he could have a clean start again.

Have you been forgiven by God? You can be. All you need to do is confess to him in faith, and you will be forgiven, and with that forgiveness comes new life. But that isn't just a word for those exploring Christianity - it's for committed believers as well. Christians, we still sin. We still hold on to our idols instead of trusting God with some areas of our life. We need forgiveness too. More than physical healing, more than financial healing, more than relational healing, we need forgiveness first. We need to confess our sins to Jesus and know that he delights in forgiving us. We need to see that he rejoices when we call for help and ask him to cover over our sins.

Some of us are so busy praying for the healing that we forget our need to repent and turn from sin. The paralytic's greatest need wasn't healing; it was forgiveness. I believe that for you and me, the same is true. We need to be forgiven, we need to get right with God first, and then, if God wants to heal us, he will.

Conclusion

This story illustrates not only the importance of having a team in your spiritual life but the importance of forgiveness. My great hope for you is that you would take the time today to bring all your sins, all your failures to Jesus and allow His forgiveness to permeate your heart and transform your life. Don't let the secondary things, like healing, overtake the essential thing, forgiveness. And when you have done that, I would challenge you to reach out to a few people to be in your squad and then begin carrying each other to Jesus in prayer.

Pray.