Luke 5:17-26

Introduction

What’s your favorite kind of movie?

We all have different responses to different genres of movies. Some people love action movies, some people love comedies. Some people love dramas. None of those are necessarily wrong, but we all will respond differently to them.

For example, my two year old has immense joy when watching “The Wiggles,” while I experience immense boredom.

During the days of Jesus, people responded in different ways to his ministry as well. Some people loved him and gave their whole lives to the cause of Christ. Others were not necessarily antagonistic, but were skeptical. Others outright hated him and sought to see him killed.

In the same way, when faced with the authority of Jesus in the Bible, people have different reactions today too. Some people’s response is “Jesus is a good teacher and man, but not the messiah.,” or “Jesus was a lunatic who led a crazy movement of zealots who cannot be taken seriously,” while others (like myself) would say “Jesus is the incarnate Son of God who came to save the world through his death burial and resurrection.”

Now while our various responses towards movies, music, or hobbies does not really matter. Our response to Jesus’ authority matters greatly! As Christians, we believe eternity is in the balance with how we respond to Jesus. If we reject Him, then eternal destruction in hell is what is coming. If we follow him and give our lives to Him, then we can be saved.

A.W. Tozer famously said,

What we think about God is the most important thing about us.

So today we are going to look at Luke 5:17-26 and consider some different responses to Jesus we might have and how we can more faithfully respond in obedience to Him.

Main Point: What is your response to Jesus?

Luke 5:17–26 ESV

On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Response 1: Association (The Crowds)

Explanation

The first response we are going to see of Jesus is the crowds. Crowds were something very common to see with Jesus. He was performing miracles and saying countercultural things. That drew a crowd. We see in the NT Jesus provide for crowds with the feeding of the 5,000 and then rebuke crowds when he flipped tables in the temple. Here’s the interesting thing about a crowd: when in a crowd it is easy to associate with someone at little to no cost. In a crowd it is easy to simply listen. You don’t have to follow or agree, but you can see what is happening at little to no cost.

This is the type of crowd we likely see in this passage. They had come from around the area and wanted to see what was going on with Jesus. It is unlikely that everyone in that crowd was a bought in follower, but they knew if they came around something cool might happen. You can characterize an associational response to Jesus this way: How does this teaching benefit me but not cost me.

If we are honest this morning, many Christians in our culture respond to Jesus’ authority associationally but are unwilling to truly give their whole lives to Jesus. Marks of someone who is simply associating with Jesus, but not following:

Christianity is only relegated to Sunday morning services, not to the rest of their lives. Their faith is incredibly compartmentalized.

Faith is seen as something to be kept private, not public.

Obedience is seen as optional, not commanded.

Church engagement is something that is done when we have time for it, but not a priority.

You see those of us who merely associate with Christ might know the right answers and put on our Sunday best, but if we got down to brass tax, you are a hearer of the Gospel, but not a doer.

I would just encourage you, if this describes your response to Jesus there is a much better way to live. Association does not lead to restoration in your life. God calls us to devote ourselves wholly to Him, not simply to associate with Him when it is convenient.

Response 2: Faith (The friends and the paralytics)

The next group we are going to look at here is the friends and the paralytic. I have always admired their faith and tenacity. Even when faced with something challenging, they still worked hard for their friend to be healed by Jesus. In fact, Jesus admires their faith. But how do we know they had faith? Because when their situation was challenged they remained the course and still had faith that Jesus would heal their friend. There were a lot of people in this category that followed Jesus. Many people responded in faith to Him being the Messiah and devoted their lives to Him.

There have been people like this throughout the history of the church—people who were so convinced of the deity of Christ that they endured mass amounts of hardship for their faith. Here are some examples:

The Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). Stephen was killed for preaching the Gospel, yet even in his dying breath he asked God to forgive his murderers. That is an individual who had responded in faith to Jesus Christ.

Deacon Laurence:

It is now AD 258, and a man named Laurence is one of seven deacons serving in Rome; his task is to oversee the church’s money and distributions to the poor. In August the news hits: Decius’s successor, Valerian, has issued a chilling edict—all bishops, priests, and deacons must be rounded up and killed. Laurence is soon taken before the magistrate. The offer: surrender the treasure of the church, and you will be freed. The deacon agrees. He only requests three days to retrieve it. Leaving the court, Laurence wastes no time. He entrusts the church’s money to safe hands, and then gathers together the sick, the aged, the poor, the widowed, and the orphaned. At last he returns to the court, pitiful band in tow. Incensed by the commotion, the magistrate demands an explanation. Laurence responds, “Sir, I have brought what you asked for.” Then, gesturing toward the people he’s gathered, he declares, “These are the treasures of the church.” Subsequently sentenced to a martyr’s death, the deacon endures the flames with startling calm, even quipping to his executioners, “You may turn me over; I am done on this side.” The spectacle of Laurence’s profound courage makes a great impression on the people of Rome, leading to many conversions.

Lottie Moon: Served faithfully as a missionary in China and ended up dying of starvation because she gave all of her food to children in need.

All of these people had something in common with the friends and the paralytic: Their response of faith was tested and proven through hardship. That’s because a faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted.

What about your faith? Have you responded in faith to Jesus? True faith is seen in obedience. As James says:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works

Response 3: Questioning (The scribes and pharisees)

The next response is the one of the pharisees and teachers of the law. This is one of the first times they appear in Luke and it is apparent from the beginning their goal, is to question Jesus and try to catch him in a falsehood.

Luke: Verse by Verse The Setting (5:17–19)

They were watching Jesus closely, suspecting that he would be a false prophet and teacher. So they were looking for things to criticize, and they quickly found them. They had come from all over the Jewish world to listen to Jesus and hear what he had to say, but they were far more interested in indicting him than in learning from him.

The pharisees and teachers of the law would have been some of the religious elite of the day. They had an impeccable understanding of Old Testament law. Honestly, they should have been the first people to welcome Jesus as the Messiah, yet they allowed this misinterpretation of the law cloud their understanding of who the messiah would be. When faced with biblical truth they held on to their power and would attempt to tear Jesus down.

Their big problem with Jesus in this passage is that he forgave the paralytic’s sins. God is the only one who can forgive sins after all…! Jesus then uses the miracle of the healing of the paralytic to prove his authority to them.

We have people like this in our world today. There are two primary groups:

Secular critics. These are people in our culture who view Jesus and the Bible as something from antiquity that cannot be trusted and should be cast aside as folklore and not truly beneficial for our “advanced” society. Similar to the Pharisees, secular critics’ authority is challenged by the Gospel and like all of us the inward rebellion is strong. Therefore, they criticize the way of Jesus.

Religious critics. These are people inside churches that will say they are Christians, but instead oppose every biblical idea brought forth.

We don’t need to give to missions! Let’s get something for ourselves.

We don’t need to start a kids ministry, kids are loud and annoying.

We don’t need to care for the homeless, the Bible says God helps those who help themselves (it actually doesn’t say that anywhere).

Unfortunately even the church has been infected with people who are critics of biblical mission. We must make sure our response to Jesus’ authority is not our way or the highway, but instead his way is our way.

Response 4: Amazement (The crowds after the miracle)

I love how this group responded to the miracle here: they were amazed! That does not mean all of them immediately came to follow Jesus, although we of course hope they did. But the reality was this, when we come face to face with the powerful work of Jesus amazement will come over us.

While amazement or admiration of what Jesus has done does not equal salvation, everyone who has experienced salvation should be amazed at Christ. As the hymn says,

I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene And wonder how He could love me A sinner condemned, unclean

How marvelous, how wonderful And my song will ever be How marvelous, how wonderful Is my Saviour's love for me

Have you lost your amazement at what Christ has done on our behalf? Notice the reaction of the paralytic...

English Standard Version Chapter 5

And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.

I fear that too many churches have forgotten that we were once dead in our sins and that now our sins have been forgiven through Christ. That should yield a mass amount of gratefulness and love for God.

If you have experienced the forgiveness and restorative power of the Gospel, then amazement and praise is going to define your life.

Conclusion

So we see a couple different responses to Jesus today:

Association

Faith

Questioning

Amazement

Which one of these best describes you? I pray that we are responding in faith to the love of Jesus and walking in amazement each day.

The question though is what do you do if you fall into the association or questioning category? Here are two things:

Be saved. You must know Christ and submit to Him.

If you are saved rekindle your amazement through meditating on God’s faithful love for you. If your heart is cold, it will be warmed by the Gospel.

As we think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ, our response to Jesus is of critical importance. Let us seriously consider what our life says our response to Jesus’ authority is lest we miss the opportunity to know Him and live for Him each day.