A Major Intervention

Well, good morning. It’s a privilege to be here. It’s nice to see you. I’m sorry I didn’t dress in royal blue, but at least I’m in navy blue, so I’m a start. And I know you’ve been studying Exodus, and you may think that this morning, this is a bit of a departure. But those of you who are tracking will realize, at least by the time that I’ve finished, that although this is different from Exodus, it’s right in line with all that you’ve been learning.

I’m going to read a passage from Luke’s Gospel, in chapter 5, and as I read this, I want you to think about this question. Perhaps you have heard somebody—an older person, maybe your grandparents (I don’t know)—and you perhaps were in a shop, and they were talking to the shopkeeper, and somebody said, “How are you getting on?” and the older person said, “Well, you know, as long as you have your health and strength, that’s all that matters.” “As long as you have your health and strength, that’s all that matters.” Now, as I read this passage, I want you to ask yourself the question: Would Jesus agree with that statement? All right? There’ll be a test at the end.

Luke 5:17:

“On one of those days, as [Jesus] 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 [middle of the room] 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[’d] 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.’”

“Extraordinary”! Without question at all.

Now, you know that Jesus was teaching the story of God. The very beginning of Jesus’ life—not in his birth but in his earthly ministry—he announces the fact that “the kingdom of God is at hand,”[1] and men and women, in hearing this story, should repent—do an about-turn—and should place their faith and trust in him. Immediately, people are healed, demons are silenced, and all kinds of things are going on. And Jesus is absolutely clear that he must keep going in order that he can preach the good news to people.[2] And it’s in that context that this little incident happens.

He’s in a house, and in the context of the house, there’s a big crowd. There’s not enough room in the house, and there’s no room outside the house. If you imagine that it had a front porch, the front porch would have been completely filled as well. And somewhere that morning, four fellows had decided that they would take their friend to see Jesus. Their friend had a real problem. He was paralyzed. He was unable to walk. And so they thought, “Well, Jesus is a healer. He fixes people. Maybe if we take our friend on his bed, Jesus will fix him.” Which was a good idea—I mean, I think you would agree! And so they arrive. But as the story records it, when they got there, there was no way to get him in.

Now, I don’t know; if you’d been one of the four… I think if I’d been one of the four, I might have said to the rest of my friends, “You know what? Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Why don’t we go away and see if there’s another time when we can meet Jesus and bring him to Jesus?” But they clearly didn’t do that. Presumably, it was somebody who said, “Well, you know, if we can’t get him through the door, maybe we can get him through the roof.”

Now, if you imagine that scene for a moment, it wouldn’t be a roof like your roof. It wouldn’t have all that cladding on the top. But it would be a roof that would be involving tiles and vegetation and clay and all kinds of things. In other words, it wouldn’t be a skylight or something that they were able to remove and drop him down. No! For them to do what they did was a major intervention. Jesus is preaching. He’s talking to the people in the house. And all of a sudden, there’s chaos up on the roof. And suddenly they realize, “Somebody is ripping the roof open!” And you can imagine the scene as bits of twigs and grass and vegetation and tile fall down, and they start landing on the people sitting in the room. Jesus, presumably, would have to pause in his talk. And then they watch, and they wait, and finally, down he comes, let down on the bed.

Now, I don’t know how big your bed is, but can you imagine four fellows dropping you down through your friend’s house? It would be a major event. It would be extraordinary. It would be weird. That’s what it would be. In this case, it is absolutely staggering.

Jesus is a miracle worker. Jesus is able to make huge changes in people’s lives. These folks know that, and that’s why they’re there. And all of a sudden, as Jesus looks on the situation, he says what nobody could have ever imagined. He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”

Now, think about it for a minute: If you’d been one of the four people that brought him to Jesus, you would be saying to yourself, “We didn’t bring him here… We brought him here for a visible change. We didn’t bring him here for an invisible forgiveness. We brought him here for his legs, not for what you’re saying.”

So, was what Jesus said inappropriate? Was what Jesus said irrelevant, given the circumstances? Was Jesus of the opinion that as long as you have your health and strength, that’s all that matters? Now, you’re sensible young people. You can think about this. And that’s why the record is in the Bible: so that we can think.

Now, right in the middle of all of that, we’re told that the religious authorities were there—the rulers of the Jews, the scribes, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the people that understood the purposes and plans of God. They were in charge of all of that. They were the people, if you like, walking around with big books, and they were the people to whom people went to ask questions about God’s purposes and God’s laws and so on.

We might have expected that although the demons had opposed Jesus, although people in the streets didn’t like Jesus, we might have thought that the religious people would have said, “Oh, this is good. Look at what Jesus is going to do.” But when you read the story, that’s exactly the reverse of what was happening. They said, “Who does this person think he is? Because, after all, who can forgive sins except God?” Now, they were right on that part, weren’t they? They were absolutely right. There is only one person who can forgive sins. But what they couldn’t conceive of, what they couldn’t get their heads around, was the notion that the one to whom they were listening was none other than God himself—that he was God in the person of the Lord Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, who had stepped down into time, who was born as a baby, who had grown as a man, and who was now announcing himself the King, establishing a kingdom. They just couldn’t get their heads around it.

Now, what it says in the text is very clear. It doesn’t say that Jesus heard them saying these things. You’ll often find that when people are opposing something, that they don’t want to say it out loud, because they don’t want anyone to really know. You’ve got to be far braver to actually challenge something and say it.

But Jesus, says Luke, knowing what was in their hearts… He knew them, as he knows us this morning. Whatever’s going on in our lives, Jesus knows us—knows who our mom and dad is, knows whether we’re going good, knows whether we’re being friendly, knows everything about us. He knows us. He knows us at a level that is quite wonderful and amazing.

And since he knows these folks and what they’re thinking, he says to them, “Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you a question. Which do you think is easier to say: A, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or B, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now, if we had time, we could discuss that together. I could say, “How many people think A? How many people think B?” But you’ve got to get on with your life, and you’ve got to go to class. So, let me answer it for you.

Whatever’s going on in our lives, Jesus knows us—knows who our mom and dad is, knows whether we’re going good, knows whether we’re being friendly, knows everything about us.

I think that A is easier to say: “Your sins are forgiven.” Because how would anybody know whether they were or whether they weren’t? “Your sins are forgiven. Have a great afternoon.” That’s easier to say than “Hey, take up your bed and walk and go home.” Because if you say, “Take up your bed and walk and go home,” and he doesn’t take up his bed and walk and go home, then the people are going, “Well, you obviously don’t have the power and authority that you think you have.”

And so what happens? Jesus essentially says, “Having said the easier thing, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ in order that you might know that the Son of Man”—which is a designation of Jesus all the way from the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Daniel[3]—“in order that you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you: Take up your bed and go home.”

And when you read the text, what does it say? “And immediately he rose up before them.” How extraordinary is that? “Immediately.” Of course “immediately”! He needs to immediately respond, because if this is true, I want to know right now. I mean, if Jesus had said to him, “And so take up your bed and walk,” and he said, “Well, you know, I kind of like my bed; it’s nice here; it’s been nice so far,” the people would have said that the young man is crazy.

No, immediately he takes up his bed, and he walks. And he picks up the thing that he was lying on. It’d be like, again, a palliasse or whatever one of those things is that sometimes, when you go camping, and you put your sleeping bag on it. He grabbed ahold of that, and presumably, with his friends, he went right out the door. And the response of the crowd was amazement and awe, and “they glorified God,” and they said, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Now, we haven’t seen it, but we have heard it. And here’s the point: When you think about all your studies in the book of Exodus, the story of Exodus is the story of a great deliverance. You know that. It’s the deliverance of God’s people from the bondage, from the enslavement, from the fact that they’re trapped in Egypt. They are under the jurisdiction of another power and authority. And God intervenes and sets them free.

That is why Jesus does what he does here, and that is what Jesus does always. That is why when we say that we know Jesus, that we love Jesus, that we follow Jesus, we’re actually declaring that Jesus is the King. We’re declaring that Jesus is the Savior, because he’s the only one who is qualified to save. And we’re acknowledging the fact that the biggest need in all of our lives is the need that was represented in that man’s life. And that is the need for our sins to be forgiven.

Now, I was told this kind of story when I was about your age. And I had to figure out where I was, and so do you. You can be in this school, singing these songs, going to the classes, obeying your parents, and in your heart of hearts, you have never asked Jesus to forgive your sins. You’ve never actually come to Jesus and said, “Cleanse me from my sin, Lord.” Because you’ve said to yourself, “The big issue of my life is not my health and strength. It’s not whether I can dunk a basketball—whether that can come or go. But the fact of the matter is…”

And we were just singing about it. How solemn was that to sing, about when you die? “And when I die and find my rest…” Why would you even introduce that on a morning like this, when it’s freezing cold, and you’re all young and everything? You’ve got a thousand years in front of you—so you think. Why would we even introduce this subject? Because that is the reality of our lives. And Jesus has come to take care of that.

It goes like this:

Cleanse me from my sin, Lord;
Put your pow’r within, Lord;
Take me as I am, Lord,
And make me all your own.
And keep me every day, Lord,
In the narrow way, Lord,
And make my heart your palace
And your royal throne.[4]

This is an extraordinary thing. It is the great change that Jesus makes in the lives of those who come to him in repentance and in faith. And I leave it with you: the exodus, an amazing, dramatic intervention of God in long, distant past; the transformation of this man a long time ago; and the great change that he makes in our lives, right up until today. Because he loves us, he longs for us, and he comes to woo us. And that’s what we discover when we read his Word.

God loves us, he longs for us, and he comes to woo us. And that’s what we discover when we read his Word.

Thanks for listening. I’m going to pray, and then you could go on and enjoy the rest of your day.

Our Father, we thank you this morning that we have your Word to turn to. We thank you that it is a lamp that shines out on our pathway.[5] We thank you that it is food for our souls. We thank you that while there are many other voices that clamor for our attention, while there are many other ideas that are presented to us as we make our journey through the stages of our lives, we thank you that you have sent Jesus to be a Savior, a Friend, a Lord, and a King.

And we pray that you will so work in our hearts and minds as we go through our studies here, as we enjoy the friendship with one another, as we listen to those who teach us, and as we consider your calls and your claims so that we will be able to look over our shoulders and say, eventually, “Lord, you have done an extraordinary thing. I used to be so jealous, so spiteful. I used to want my own way all the time. And although I’m still not as good as I might be, I know that you have forgiven my sin and that in you, Lord Jesus Christ, I have hope, forgiveness, and joy.”

So we commit ourselves to you as we go into the day. Help us, guard us, guide us, and keep us. For we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] Mark 1:15 (ESV).

[2] See Mark 1:38.

[3] See Daniel 7:13.

[4] R. Hudson Pope, “Cleanse Me from My Sin.” Lyrics lightly altered.

[5] See Psalm 119:105.