The Church of Eleven22 - Lent Devo Episode 13: Paralytic

Episode Date: March 16, 2020

Luke 5:18-25; Matthew 9:2-7

What is it in Jesus? Some of the miracles. Jesus has all the order. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Welcome to our Lent podcast. Good morning. My name is Matt Allen and I'm the student minister at the Bay Meadows campus. This Lent season, we were working through some of the miracles of Jesus, shared with us across the gospel accounts.

We're looking at how each of these miracles point us to the greatest of all miracles. which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The miracle we are focused on today is found in Luke chapter 5, verses 18 through 25, in Matthew chapter 9, verses 2 through 7. We'll look first at Luke chapter 5. This is what it says in verse 18. 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 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 the 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. Matthew 9, verse 2. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven. And some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming.

But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk. But that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And then said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your bed. and go home. And then he rose and went home. In these passages, we were picking it up during Jesus' ministry in Galilee,

where Jesus spent most of his life and ministry. Specifically here, Jesus is in Copernum. So this miracle starts with a physical need. A group of men bring to Jesus a paralytic. And as I walk up, there are a ton of people. Imagine like big crowds, a bunch of people, so they weren't able to get to Jesus. These men were desperate to get to Jesus.

Jesus, so much so that they began to climb up on the roof. Now houses in ancient Palestine typically had external stairs that led to a flat roof. So they climbed up on the roof and let the paralytic down into the house where Jesus was. Jesus saw their faith and he said, man, your sins are forgiven. This response that Jesus gave is surprising. The men who brought the paralytic are probably expecting Jesus to respond with the physical miracle, the physical healing of their friend. They've already heard, and maybe they've already seen this miracle Jesus had been doing.

Earlier in Matthew chapter 8, Jesus had just healed a leper, he had just healed a servant who was paralyzed, he had just healed a woman who had a fever, and he cast it out demons. So that is probably what they are expecting, but instead of Jesus physically healing the paralytic, Jesus says, your sins are forgiven. Part of what Jesus is saying here is that there is nothing more important than your soul,

and there is nothing more destructive than sin. Jesus looks at the paralytic and undoubtedly acknowledges his physical need, but responds first to his spiritual need. The truth is that the wages of sin is death, and Jesus shows here that he is more concerned with this man's spiritual need over this man's physical need. Now, after hearing this, the religious leaders questioned Jesus, and accuse Jesus of blasphemy. They ask, who can forgive sins but God alone?

What they're saying is, only God can forgive sins, and we believe that you are not God. These religious leaders often questioned and challenged Jesus. They knew the law better than anyone else, and they taught the law. So when they hear this, they think, whoa, this isn't right. God is the only one who can forgive sin. But they're missing the point. Jesus isn't denying that only God can forgive sin.

but what Jesus is declaring with this statement is that he is God. Jesus reveals his divine authority and declares he is God. Jesus, who is himself God and human flesh, responds to them with, I had the authority to forgive sins. And then Jesus looks at the paralytic, tells him to stand up, pick up his bed, and go home. Not only does Jesus declare he has the power to forgive sin, he then displays this power by physically healing this paralytic.

He looks at the paralyzed man and he says, rise. For maybe this man's entire life, the word rise, probably represented hopelessness, mockery, or maybe even a feeling of abandonment from God. But now, because of Jesus, the word rise represents hope, it represents faith, and it represents the power of God displayed right before their eyes. In that moment, the paralytic is physically healed.

Jesus, he first healed this man spiritually, and then he heals this man physically. Jesus displays his defined power to heal and forgive. See, we all have needs. In fact, some of us might be desperate for someone to meet this need, just like the paralytic friends were desperate to get their paralyzed friend of Jesus. Maybe it's a physical need. like cancer or some other disease. Maybe it's a financial need,

losing a job, or maybe it's a debt that's hanging over us. Or maybe it's a relational need. It's a divorce or a broken friendship or a prodigal child. But just like the paralytic, our greatest need is that we are sinners and we need a savior. We don't need Jesus to simply manage our circumstances. We need him to save our soul. sin is our greatest problem, and we are all desperate for someone to save us from it.

In this miracle, Jesus declares and displays his divine power. He declares with his mouth that he is the savior of the world. He declares that he is God, and he displays his power by healing the paralytic. He tells this man to stand up, and the paralytic stands and walks. As we look toward the resurrection, we celebrate that Jesus has the power to forgive sin. In fact, Jesus' death and resurrection proves his power over sin. Because sin itself demands a payment. The Bible is clear that the only payment that could satisfy sin is death.

Jesus, he lived the life that we could not live, and he died to death that we should have died. Because of this, Jesus is the perfect payment of sin. Jesus is the propitiation of sin. He is the payment that satisfies forever and ever. Romans 10.9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raise him from the dead, you will be saved. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the hope we have in you. Thank you for sending your son,

Jesus. We do not deserve him. As we look toward the resurrection, we look back and we glorify you for your power displayed in these accounts of the paralytic man. We read and we declare that you have the power to heal and the power to forgive sin, and we declare that you are the one true God. I pray that you would forgive us of our sins and you would cleanse us from all in righteousness. Thank you for being faithful. Our hope is in you. We love you. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. Thanks for listening. Our prayer is that this podcast will help you deepen your relationship with Jesus. For more resources, go to C-O-E-22.com forward slash length.