Shocking authority

This transcript has been automatically generated

Luke chapter 5, verses 17 to 26. 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 paralysed, 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 paralysed, 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.

Now on Tuesday evening, Pete Hegseth— I think it was in the daytime— assembled all the senior leaders of the United States military— Army, Navy, Air Force— in Quantico Base in Virginia, and he delivered a speech that was electric. Clear, confident, certain. As United States Secretary for War, nobody listening to it could be in any doubt about what Pete Hegseth expects, and anybody failing his standards is out. I was sent the address by a friend. It was there on Wednesday morning at breakfast.

He said it was one of the best things he ever heard. You may disagree. And I listened to it on 1.5 speed, and I’m 3,700 miles away, but even I was absolutely gripped at what it meant have been like to the people in the room, I cannot think. It was clear, it left absolutely no room for doubt. Confident.

Now we hear some people downplaying confidence and clarity, as if to be assured and certain of a thing is bad, not good, a vice, not a virtue. And I guess it could be argued that in the last 25 to 50 years, uncertainty Well, it’s been slightly championed, uncertainty about who we are, what we believe, what is right. When you stop and think about it, there’s nothing particularly admirable about a lack of clarity when certainty and clarity are available. Yeah, the whole Western liberal belief system appears to have been built on a foundation of doubt. But it isn’t oh so humble to be unsure and wavering or hesitant, dilly-dallying, sitting on the fence when there is truth.

In fact, far from being humble, it can be quite arrogant. Well, I prize my doubt over certainty. And it’s certainly not courageous to be sitting on the fence when something is clear. So, a talk like we heard was absolutely gripping and courageous and was designed to build confidence and clarity. We’ll come back to it.

The aim of the material we’re looking at over these weeks is to give us confidence and certainty concerning the Lord Jesus. That much cannot be denied. If you look at chapter 1, verse 4, Luke, who is a medical doctor, has assembled all of this material from authenticated eyewitnesses, people who’ve been commissioned for the task, and And he’s pulled it together so that we can have, in his words, certainty concerning the things that we have been taught. And today, Dr. Luke wants us to leave this building without any shadow of doubt as to why Jesus Christ came to the earth. Jesus’ mission is to save us from sin, and judgement.

Jesus’ mission on the earth is to save us from God’s judgement at our sin. Now, the atmosphere provoked by what Jesus does in the incident we just had read must have created a sort of vibe that was at least as electric as the atmosphere in Quantico on Tuesday. Verse 20, I think, presents us with one of the most shocking statements in the Gospels. So, and when he saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, man, your sins are forgiven you. Now, I think that’s shocking at a pastoral level, and it’s certainly shocking at a theological level, as we shall see.

Pastorally, it is shocking. Let’s take it from verse 17. 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, Judea, and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed, 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 in the midst before Jesus. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said, man, your sins are forgiven you. Now notice that Luke stresses the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Jesus is in healing mode, if you like. And notice Jesus tells us that Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, and they come from every village of Galilee and Judea, even from Jerusalem.

So this is an off-stead moment The inspectorate are here.

And perhaps we get a sense of the shock as we think about the scene. So Jesus is in the house. The friends have this guy who is paralysed, he’s lying on his mat. And they’re sure that if they bring their friend to Jesus, Jesus is bound to heal him. He’s in healing mode.

They get to the house, they can’t get in, they carry their mate up the steps. That’s quite normal, houses in the first century had steps up the outside to a flat roof. They find themselves on the flat roof and they start to dismantle the tiles. Now imagine what it must have been like inside the house. I don’t know whether Benjamin and Rebecca Isaacson, who have just put together a mortgage to buy this house, had insurance for— well, they would have had it for fire and theft, I suppose, aggravated burglary, but this And now the stretcher is being lowered.

I guess 4 ropes, if you have ever had to lower a great weight on ropes with several of you, you all have to get the timing exactly right. You can imagine with a guy on the mat. And here is their friend. How would you expect verse 20 to read when you realise that he has been paralysed, probably for a very long period? When Jesus saw their faith, he said, What are you expecting?

Surely verse 24 is what we expect, the end of verse 24. He said, rise, pick up your bed and go home. But he doesn’t.

I guess if we were to take our camera around each and every person in this building this evening and put it on record, and we asked every person, what is your greatest need? There would be, what, 350 different responses. I mean, some of them would be able to be bracketed together. Medical, perhaps, like our friend here. I have got this pressing medical need.

It has been with me for years. They can’t do anything about it. Financial, maybe just started as a student. I mean, have you seen my bank account? Relational, Multiple needs, I suspect, relationally.

Employment, I need a job. Housing, I’ve found nowhere suitable to live. Family.

Were you to be lowered from the ceiling, here is Jesus, your greatest need, what would you expect him to say?

And this man has been paralysed, probably for decades. There he is.

Man, your sins are forgiven you.

Now we need a little definition at this point. I think the Sunday school definition for sin is a really good one. The Sunday school definition for sin runs like this: S-I-N, shove off God, I’m in charge, no to your rules. We tend to think that sin is something naughty but nice, you know, a minor peccadillo or maybe one too many chocolates in Lent.

Or that sin is what the really bad guys do, somebody in a high-security unit in Belmarsh. But in essence, sin is saying, stay out of my life.

I want to run it.

I’m not concerned about what you say. Oh, there are specific acts involved in sin, Of course, there are. The attitude produces actions. But sin, in its essence, is an attitude towards the Creator of the universe, God himself, that resists his rule and his authority in my life. It’s a declaration of independence from the Creator.

And sin spreads, and sin spoils, and sin ultimately separates us from God, so that on Judgement Day, when we meet God face to face, we are guilty.

Now, we need to be clear, Jesus is not suggesting this man’s condition is a direct result of this man’s sin. The direct line between every person’s particular suffering and every person’s particular sin is never drawn like that in the Bible. I can do some stupid things and I can end up in terrible places, but there’s no direct cause and effect between my personal sin in every case and my personal suffering.

But Jesus’ point, you can’t miss it, is that this individual has a far greater need than that he get his legs back. His greatest need is that he have his sins forgiven.

And Jesus speaks deliberately in order to provoke the Pharisees and the teachers of the law to recognise who he is and what he’s come for. This is one of those moments. He is clarifying with crystal clarity why he came.

And so, if we were to go around the room, One by one by one by one. What is my greatest need? Financial? No, no, no, your greatest need is to have your sins forgiven. Medical?

No, no, no, no, your greatest need is to have your sins forgiven. Social, relational? No, no. Psychological? No, no, no, your greatest need is to have your sins forgiven.

Sin is our greatest problem.

But then as the incident progresses, we discover Jesus is our only solution. Sin is our greatest problem. Jesus is our only solution, God’s only solution. The response of the Pharisees and the scribes, or teachers of the law, in verse 21 shows us that we have understood Jesus rightly. The scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemy?

Who can forgive sin but God alone?

When Jesus perceived their thoughts, there’s a little aside, isn’t it? He actually knew what they were thinking. Jesus knows what you’re thinking this evening. When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, why do you question in your hearts which is easier? Why do you question in your hearts Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or rise and walk?

Now, we could argue all night as to which is easier. In fact, there are one or two people on the staff here with whom I have a slight disagreement as to which is easier. Is it easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or is it easier to say, get up and walk?

Technically, both are impossible.

You see, it’s impossible for a mere human being to say to another human being, your sins are forgiven, and for it actually to be true. That’s what the Pharisees are so upset about. How dare you blaspheme? To blaspheme is to speak against God. How dare you say that your sins are forgiven?

You can’t possibly, you’re just human. But at the same time, it’s impossible for a mere human being simply to speak healing to a man who’s been paralysed like this guy. Both are impossible. The Pharisees think it is theologically impossible for one man to forgive another person’s sins, and they’re right. Because sin, in essence, is an act against the Creator.

Shove off God. No to your rules. I’m in charge. And if sin is first and foremost an act against God, only God can forgive.

So, imagine you’ve just purchased the car of your dreams. It’s a Tesla Model S, plaid, £105,000 on the forecourt. And you parked it rather, you know, sneakily outside. You don’t want everybody to see it, but you’re quite glad you got it. And imagine, here’s Luke, well, here’s Luke, and Luke pulls up in his Nissan Micro 2007, secondhand, £700 on eBay or wherever he got it from.

And unfortunately, he just, in reverse, in reverse, straight into your Tesla. Okay, so imagine that happens. Okay, well, it might easily happen. Maybe it just has.

I mean, Luke can come to me and say, I’m really, really sorry. But it’s your Tesla. Now, if he’s going to be forgiven, he’s got to go to you. It’s no good coming to me. And sin is first and foremost against God.

Only God can forgive sin. So, for Jesus to say, that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on— or, your sins are forgiven you, rather. For Jesus to say, your sins are forgiven you, how dare he? Only God can forgive sin.

But then practically, it’s impossible to say this, man, to this man, rise and walk. He’s paralysed. He’s had the examinations and the consultations, the X-rays and the MRI scans, the physiotherapy, and he’s in occupational therapy.

So then we could spend the rest of the night arguing about which is the more difficult to say. Both are impossible according to the premise of what we have here.

And I think verse 24, has it and is most helpful to us. Every phrase counts. But that you may know, he wants us to have certainty, that the Son of Man, the Son of Man is God’s final Lord and Judge, the one before whom every individual will stand on Judgement Day. You will stand before the Son of Man. I will stand before the Son of Man.

The Son of Man has been given absolute and complete right and authority pronounce judgement over every person who has ever lived, that you may know with certainty that the Son of Man has, present tense, now, authority, absolute right, to forgive sins on the earth.

In other words, Jesus declares that he has all of God’s absolute authority and dominion to declare a person forgiven here and now, the judgement of the final day pronounced today, the verdict available now, that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins. I say to you, take up your bed, or rather rise and walk. It is a claim to be God. It is a claim to determine our destiny. It is a claim to the unique position and role as judge.

It is a claim to be able to declare over an individual today the judgement of the last day.

And in order to prove this, Jesus does the second impossible thing. Verse 24, rise, pick up your bed, go home. And immediately he rose up before them, picked up what he’d been lying on, went home glorifying God. No consultation, no medication, no programme of fitness training. He doesn’t even touch him, he simply speaks.

I asked a medic friend, what would it be like for this paralysed guy to have been lying on his pallet for however long he’s been lying there? Have you ever broken a limb? Yes, I did many years ago, broke my right leg. What happened to it? Went into plaster, and long before these sort of trendy boots that people wear, Praesser of Paris, or 13 weeks.

What did it look like when it came out? Shrivelled, you know. How long did it take to get better? 6 months of physio before I reached the full peak of physical fitness that you can see standing before you today. And my friend said, actually, if he was paralysed, it would take weeks, months of physio even to get the blood going.

Immediately.

He rose up before them, picked up what he’d been lying on, danced home, and went and did karaoke in the local pub or whatever it was, just to show how good it was. Now, at this stage, we’re only partway through Luke’s Gospel. There’s a whole lot more. Jesus is on his way to his death, and on the cross, as he hung there, he carried God’s judgement at sin. He lived a perfect life.

He died a sin-bearing death. He rose victorious to demonstrate that he paid for our sin, and he now reigns in eternity with his Father. He is the Son of Man. We will meet him in judgement.

But he has authority today to before Judgement Day to declare your sin and my sin forgiven.

So the Pharisees and the scribes, or the teachers of the law, they are right. Who can forgive sin but God alone? Nobody can. Only God can. Go to the therapist, the therapist says, you must learn to forgive yourself.

That’s not the issue. The issue is, has God forgiven you? Go to the doctor, you need this medication if ever you are going to cope with what you feel on the inside. No, no, that’s not the issue. The The issue is, has God forgiven you?

And this clarifies everything about Jesus’ mission. He has come with all of God’s authority on the earth to forgive sin.

And so, finally, sin is our greatest problem. Jesus is God’s only solution. Salvation is his earthly mission. You see, stand back from this. We’ve been thinking about the manifesto the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he’s anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. We’ve said right from the get-go, 3 or 4 weeks ago, that the poor in Luke’s Gospel are the spiritually poor, those who are facing God’s judgement, you and me. And now we get to the very heart of the issue when he comes across this individual with what would appear to be the greatest of all needs. There’s one thing that matters. You face God in judgement.

You need forgiveness. I’ve come with all of God’s authority to forgive.

I want us to imagine that we are to speak to this individual today. You know, you’ve got one of the new iPhones, you know, with these huge cameras. They’re bigger than the old telephones we used to carry around all those years ago when they were bricks, you know, these big things with cameras on. Imagine your camera had a special power that you could actually interview somebody who lived 2,000 years ago. Okay, you are now interviewing this individual today in heaven.

Tell us about the day. Oh well, it was an extraordinary day, mind. Mates, they let me down through the roof, and you know, I was wondering if I was going to fall off the pallet and all the rest. Benjamin and Rebecca, they were absolutely horrified. You know, they’d only just bought the house, got the mortgage, and all.

They’d had new tiles fitted just 3 weeks earlier. But, you know, then there I was in front of the Lord Jesus, crowded room, everybody had to make space for me. And he said to me, man, your sins are forgiven. And I said to him, what about my legs? And at the time I thought it was my legs.

But now, 2,000 years later, he pronounced forgiveness. I’m with the Lord Jesus. I didn’t face judgement.

So clarity and confidence, it really matters, especially when truth is available. It’s okay to be unclear about things when there is no truth, but actually if there is truth, clarity matters. In fact, to be unclear, ambivalent, sitting on the fence, neither one thing or another, it can be very cowardly. And it’s actually quite arrogant to think, I know better and I take pride in my uncertainty.

Luke’s determination is that we be absolutely clear on Jesus’ mission. Pete Hegseth, in his address to the American military, said, the test is whether, if you had a 15-year-old son as I do, you would want your 15-year-old son to be in combat led by the person who’s leading you.

And if the answer is no, they need to go. Now, that’s pretty clarifying, isn’t it? Here is the test for any church, any mission, any charity that claims to be Christian.

Is the forgiveness of sins today on earth at the centre of what they are doing.

Oh, there are any number of things around. Medical missions in the name of Jesus. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s great to seek to help people medically. Social missions in the name of Jesus.

It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a good thing to try and help people socially. Financial, educational missions, psychological aims and so forth. It’s a wonderful thing, therapy, to try and help people in all those different ways. But the thing that makes it Christian, the mission of the Lord Jesus, what Jesus came to do, was to see people with their sins forgiven on the earth, so that in eternity they did not face the judgement of God.

It’s a great test, isn’t it? It’s very clarifying. And if you look around the whole Christian world, you see any number of things which started out well, very clear on their mission, but have just drifted and have moved away from it.

But it’s not just a general thing, it’s also a personal thing. So, I’ve been thinking about this passage all week. And I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about things in my own life which have been patently sinful.

And as you think about these things, you can end up in a very dark place. Things you’ve said to your parents, things you’ve said to your siblings, the way you’ve treated colleagues, housemates, individuals, people of the same sex, people of the opposite sex. These things can weigh on you very heavily.

Sins of omission, things we haven’t done which we know we should have. Things of commission, things we have done which we know we shouldn’t have done.

And may I say, to walk through life with that burden of guilt, it’s utterly debilitating. Utterly debilitating. As one psychiatrist says, it is the reason, as much as anything else, for many cases of various sorts of illness.

But to face God’s judgement with that burden is intolerable.

And so these words are extraordinarily precious, aren’t they? Man, your sins are forgiven you.

Do you know, you could walk out of here tonight, you may be just here for the first time or looking into the Christian faith, knowing that your sin has been cleared absolutely by the Lord Jesus. It’s wonderfully relieving.

The Son of Man has authority to on the earth to forgive sins. The Son of Man has authority on the earth. The Son of Man has authority on the earth, that you may know for sure.

We are going to sing a great hymn. I first sung this hymn, I mean, way back in 1803.

It had been written by then. I had grown up in a Christian home. I had never heard Christians sing. I had never been to a church where people actually really I suppose, sang, really believed what they were singing. My first week up at university, my granddad had told me I must find out the Christians and go to the Christian group and to a church.

And I went to a church and there were like 300, 400 people at the Christian Union. This was back in the day. And they sang this. I’d never heard people sing like it. I couldn’t believe people could actually sing like this.

But the words are remarkable. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night. Thine eye, your eye diffused, sent out a quickening ray of light. I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free.

I rose, went forth. And followed thee. If you’re somebody who’s never come to Jesus and asked to have him take your sin away, recognised him as Lord, this song we’re going to sing, it’s full of me, my, my, me. You could sing it, really mean it, and you could walk out of here knowing that the verdict of the final day has been pronounced over you today, because the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins.