JESUS' AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE SINS

Luke 5:17-26

Key Verse: 5:24

“’But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’”

            Do you want to be a different person or remain as the same person? Do you want a change or are you okay with the status quo? Do you suffer from paralysis? According to Encyclopedia Britannica, paralysis means 1) complete or partial loss of function 2) loss of ability to move 3) a state of powerlessness or incapacity to act. The third definition describes the condition of spiritual paralysis. Sin makes us powerless and unable to act. We suffer from all kinds of spiritual paralysis such as shame, guilt, depression, fatalism, despair, condemnation, fear, worry, an unthankful heart, complaining spirit and human dependency. Today, Jesus wants to change your life. Jesus has authority to heal our physical sickness and our spiritual paralysis. With the power of Jesus we can get up from our failures and take up our own mat of cross and praise God with a joyful heart. Also we can follow the example of four men who had faith in Jesus and brought their friend to Jesus. Let’s carry one friend to Jesus together this semester. I pray that we may experience the power of Jesus through our faith in him.

PART I. ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (17-20)

            Look at verse 17. "One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick." We see two images of spiritual leadership in this passage. Jesus was eager to teach the word of God after healing the man with leprosy. The crowds were listening to and enjoying Jesus’ word. When the news about him spread all the more, he withdrew to lonely places and prayed more. As a result, the power of the Lord was present with him to heal the sick. But there were another group of religious leaders. They were the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They came to discredit the work of Jesus. They were not listening to Jesus’ word but were observing Jesus’ teaching to find fault. Jesus was not afraid of their threats. Jesus lived before God not before men. He was ready to demonstrate his authority as the Messiah by showing God’s power to heal. Now, let’s look at some men who brought their friend to Jesus. We learn two spiritual lessons from these friends-compassionate friendship and faith in Jesus the Messiah.

            Look at verses 18, 19. "Some men came carrying a paralytic 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." According to Mark 2:3, there were four people who brought the paralytic. These four men had a bold plan to bring their friend to Jesus. They came carrying their paralytic friend on a stretcher and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. But there were many obstacles to cope with. When they tried to take him into the home to lay him before Jesus, there were already too many people there lined up, waiting for Jesus' healing. It probably took a long time for them to carry this man. Four men had to march together in step like a military parade. They needed team work to make their rescue operation successful. They were united in their goal to bring this man to Jesus. We resurrected three YDJ teams-Alpha, Beta and Gamma. They can work together as a team to bring one UM student to Jesus. Jesus said in Matt. 18:19-20, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” M. Sarah Chang asked me to pray for Mike Huse when he despaired due to his school problem. We agreed to pray for him. Their fellowship began to pray for him also. God heard our prayer. Mike got up from his despair and began to walk again. He made a decision of faith to start a new life. Praise Jesus. When they arrived at the house, it was too late. There was no room for them to enter into the house. But they did not give up.

            Now what could they do in this desperate situation? The door was closed for them to lay their friend before Jesus. Their mission looked impossible. Did they go home in despair? Did they give up on helping this man? Did they blame the pesky crowds? Did they say “next time”? No. There was no wavering and there was no turning back: "Where there is a will, there is a way." Just as Jesus said in Matthew 7:7b, “Knock and the door will be opened to you,” they knocked on another door. After looking around here and there, God gave them a creative idea. They exclaimed with high fives, “It is the roof. Great! We can do it. We can make a hole and lower our friend.” Once they made up their minds, they began to climb up on the roof, carrying the paralytic on his mat. Then they began to pound on the roof with a sledge hammer and made a big hole right above Jesus. They made an illegal entry into the house. They annoyed the crowds who were listening to Jesus’ word. They violated property law. The owner of the house was upset. They could be arrested by the Capernaum police. They disturbed Jesus' message. But nothing stopped them from helping this one needy friend. Their mission was to bring him to Jesus by any means. When we try to help one friend, there is always some obstacle to overcome. True love overcomes all obstacles. And God was pleased by the compassion for their paralytic friend and gave them miraculous power to carry out their mission. They didn't care what might happen to them, if only they could help their friend. They were indeed beautiful friends to the paralytic. There is a saying, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” There is a popular T.V. sitcom called “Friends.” People need friends to share the pains and joys of life in their pilgrim’s journey. It is easy to become a friend of powerful people. The lobbyist loves powerful people like the President. But they do not like powerless people. If a politician loses an election, no one calls. If elected, the phone line is jammed. We want to be around smart and popular people.  We do not want to be a friend of nerds or dumb people. It is not easy to be a friend of this paralytic. He was only a burden to them. Four men did not expect any favors in return from this paralytic. They loved him without any calculation. Their friendship came out of their compassionate love. When we love sheep, we expect them to grow in return for our love. When they do not grow as we expected, we feel that sheep become a burden. At that time we have to remember how Jesus endured us and loved us while we were wandering in darkness. Then we can love sheep out of compassionate love. O, Lord! Restore our love for one helpless friend.   

            What was Jesus’ response? Look at verse 20. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friends, your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus did not rebuke their illegal entry into the house. Instead, he saw their faith. They had faith in Jesus. To Jesus faith is everything. As we well know, paralysis is an incurable disease. Of course, the friends knew that paralysis was incurable. But they had faith that Jesus could heal him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” When they had faith that Jesus could heal him, God graciously gave them the power of faith to believe all the more, and to bring him to Jesus anyhow, anyway. Omy had one prayer topic to feed one sheep last year. But she had no sheep almost to the end of the semester. She did not fall into despair. She looked around and found her roommate. She asked her to study the word of God. She said, “Yes.” Now she is feeding two sheep Tori and Cathrine by faith. She is also thankful to her friends who brought her to Jesus. She was thankful to M. Sarah Yun and Faith Sambuco who carried her to Jesus. They all worked together to help her to grow in Jesus. I owe a lot to many friends who brought me to Jesus. I was a selfish paralytic who was ignorant and fatalistic when Jesus called me. Some sister rebuked me “You are worldly” because I loved breakfast more than God. I was upset. But God opened my spiritual eyes slowly and accepted Jesus. I am thankful for their love and prayer. Let’s be thankful to our friends who brought us to Jesus. In addition we cannot deny that Jesus included the paralytic as a man of faith. Theologically speaking, faith cannot be transferred to someone else, nor is the forgiveness of sins ever bestowed on account of another's merit. We would like to transfer our faith to our sheep and children. But each one needs their own personal faith in Jesus. According to verse 25, he had faith in Jesus’ word. His coming to Jesus was everything. Had he refused to come, his friends could not have brought him. Jesus welcomes anyone who comes to him and credits his coming as evidence of faith. This is Jesus' grace, and it is marvelous. Jesus accepted his “just coming” faith. Jesus welcomed him as a human being created in the image of God. Jesus called this paralytic "Friend", identifying him with the compassionate friends who brought him. Jesus is the holy, almighty God yet humbled himself to the paralytic's level so that he might bear all his sins and sorrows.

We wonder why Jesus said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven," instead of saying, "Your paralysis is healed." Jesus said this because sin is man's fundamental problem. Biblically speaking, the symptoms of paralysis can be compared to the symptoms of a powerless sinner. A paralyzed man who was carried on a mat could not move his body freely, so he came to Jesus carried by four friends. He was totally powerless to do anything. He could not but depend on others to help him all the time by saying, "Give me a ride. Bring me some tooth paste. Buy me a Big-Mac." Many times he complained when he did not get help from others saying, “There is no one who understands and help me.” He was a lifeless burden to others. It is good to be an encouragement and source of joy to others, but it is really no good to be a burden to others or to burden others' hearts because of one's powerlessness. In the past he was unable to praise God due to his physical condition. He probably was depressed a lot about his physical condition. But Jesus declared that his sins were forgiven. This was good news to everyone. God sent Jesus to forgive sins. This shows only God can forgive sins. The claim to forgive means that Jesus’ ministry has taken on a greater significance. Jesus begins gradually to reveal what his ministry is all about. It is to forgive sins. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In order to give us the grace of forgiveness, the Son of God became the Lamb of God. John 1:29 says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" In order to give us the grace of forgiveness of sin, the Son of God shed his blood in such a sorrowful way. Revelation 5:12 says, "...Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

PART II “GET UP AND TAKE YOUR MAT AND GO HOME” (21-26)

            What was the official reaction from the religious leaders? The Pharisees asked among themselves, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (21) Theologically, forgiving sin is God’s work alone. But they did not know who was standing in front of them. Jesus, the Son of God was standing in front of them. They did not recognize him. The work of the Messiah was self-evident when Jesus healed a man with leprosy and when he was about to heal this paralytic. So the religious leaders should have realized that Jesus was the Messiah promised to come to this world to save men and women from their sins. But they were blocked. Because of their unbelief, their pride was hurt and they became the prey of the devil. What did Jesus do with them? Despite their animosity, Jesus quietly appealed to their conscience and asked, "Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" (23) We call this kind of question a “hypothetical dilemma.” Both questions are difficult to answer. Which is easier do you think? Which one is more difficult? The gist of this question is not which one is easier than the other. The main point is that both of them are hard but Jesus can do both. Jesus declared the power of forgiveness first and wanted to show that power with his actions. Jesus wanted to prove that he could give us complete healing-our spiritual sin and physical paralysis. Jesus demonstrated his authority to forgive men's sins. He backed up his word with actions. It is easier said than done. George Bush senior promised not to raise taxes by saying “read my lips.” But he raised taxes. He did not back up his words with action. He said it to be elected and then did not back up what he said. He became a one term president.

Look at verse 24b. "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Jesus turns to the paralytic and gives him three commands: get up, take the mat and go home. What does it mean to get up spiritually? We were lying on our mat of despair due to our inability to act upon faith. We remained in our pathetic unbelief for a long time. I also remained in my own excuses and failures. It is time to get up from my worldly kingdom and human thinking by faith. I remained in my lazy mat too long. I was stubborn in my human thinking. Jesus commanded me, “Jacob, get up from your blaming game and many excuses and human dependency. Have faith in me. Take your cross and walk again” Jesus is saying to us “Get up from your bed and take up your cross of mission and go to campus to find one paralytic sheep with faith.” M. Caleb Kim got up from his bed and came to 6AM prayer meeting. Praise Jesus who gave us strength to obey his world. What was the response of the paralytic? By faith he obeyed Jesus’ command. It was a miracle of faith. Verse 25 says, "Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God." What a great sight it was! Finally, he got up with the power of Jesus. He never was able to carry anything. Now, he was able to carry his own mat. He dreamed to have a new life. He planned to have a good job establishing a house church. The paralytic who had only bitterly complained about everybody and everything suddenly began to sing a song of praise. By his actions Jesus reveals himself as the Son of Man and shows the authority he possesses. He was none other than the Messiah who came into this world to save sinners. Praise Jesus who made us get up and walk again when we were spiritual paralytics. In the past we were lying on our mat depressed and complaining. But Jesus lifted us from our darkness of sin and healed our sin sickness and called us to serve campus students. Jesus is using us to praise his name and giving us the privilege to help many paralytic friends to walk again. There are many powerless sinners like the paralytic and they need to experience the power of Jesus’ forgiveness. I pray that God may use us to bring them to Jesus with faith.

What was the people’s reaction?  Look at verse 26. "Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'We have seen remarkable things today.'" Why were they filled with awe? It was because they saw with their own eyes that the paralytic was healed and was jumping around, praising God. But the real reason was that they had seen the marvelous one who has the authority to forgive men's sins. They were ordinary people. But when Jesus healed the paralytic, they could see in Jesus the authority to forgive men's sins. To the eyes of the historian Luke, God's love in sending Jesus who has the authority to forgive sins was truly amazing. In order to give us the grace of forgiveness, God sent his one and only Son as the Lamb of God to be slain as the atoning sacrifice for sin. (Rev. 5:12) In order to forgive our sins, Jesus took up all our iniquities and transgressions and hung on the tree. He was cursed and condemned in our places, shedding his precious blood on the cross. May God bless us to bring all our problems to Jesus. I pray that God may use our compassionate love for one friend so that Jesus may heal many paralytics around our campuses. Let's read the key verse 5:24.