WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:10.620 Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:18.460 We're going to be looking at God's Word this morning in Luke chapter 5. Luke 5. 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:26.600 As we prepare to do so, I want to share something with you about myself that may be true of others in this room. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.380 I don't do change very well. 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:36.760 I have been running the same route every morning for the last two years. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:42.719 I have been eating the same breakfast cereal every morning since high school. 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:54.520 I typically wait months to download the new operating system for my phone because it changes everything and messes me up and I can't deal with it. 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:01.359 I love to have a schedule, a plan to follow it. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.420 It works the way it's supposed to. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:11.120 And I'm often not pleasant to be married to or to work for when it's thrown off. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.920 Change can be really hard. 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:19.340 And it's one of the hard things for me about Jesus. 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:26.780 Because when Jesus shows up in the world and in your life, He changes everything, doesn't He? 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:29.700 He's honest about that. 00:01:29.740 --> 00:01:31.260 He tells you that's the reality. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:33.040 Maybe it's not all at once. 00:01:33.740 --> 00:01:37.280 And ultimately, it's in a beautiful, wonderful way. 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:39.140 But still, it's change. 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:40.719 And it's hard. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.640 He says He's making all things new, right? 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:49.079 And that includes my world and my heart and my life. 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:51.019 Not just one time. 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:53.180 Not just something happens when I meet Him. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:58.579 But over and over, He's turning things upside down as we've seen in Luke. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.219 He's renovating and restoring me and everything else. 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:10.800 And there are in Luke chapter 5 some Pharisees and teachers of the law who encounter Jesus 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:17.699 and they find the newness and the change that surrounds Him difficult to process and to swallow. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:25.039 They ask Him questions in three different encounters that help us see some glorious truths about Jesus 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:32.039 and then challenge us to consider our response to who Jesus is and how He changes things. 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:35.340 We'll read these encounters as we go this morning. 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.259 But first, let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at His Word. 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:41.039 Pray with me. 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:51.219 Father, the words of that song that James just sang are true of me. 00:02:51.219 --> 00:03:00.939 I'm a desperate man in desperate need of Your saving hand to come and rescue me. 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:03.579 That's where I live. 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:05.179 That's where we live. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:08.620 I'm desperate for You. 00:03:09.299 --> 00:03:10.899 I'm in need of You. 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.419 And so we open Your Word this morning, Father. 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:22.259 It's the reason we come to Your Word is that we need You to speak to us. 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:24.799 All of us do. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.799 And so, Father, would You speak to our hearts? 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:35.820 For the one who would presume to speak this morning, would You especially speak to my heart 00:03:35.820 --> 00:03:40.980 and speak through and in spite of me that Your Word might be clear 00:03:40.980 --> 00:03:49.220 and that the hope of Jesus might meet desperate people in a way that changes everything. 00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:52.380 Make our hearts open to that this morning. 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:57.519 Do Your work through Your Word and Your Spirit, we ask in Jesus' name. 00:03:58.219 --> 00:03:58.560 Amen. 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:07.280 The first question that Jesus gets this morning comes in the encounter I was just talking with 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:08.879 the kids about a few minutes ago. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.919 So you've heard a great summary of it from them. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:15.340 But follow along in Luke chapter 5 at verse 17. 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:22.199 On one of those days, as He was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:26.199 who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.259 And the power of the Lord was with Him to heal. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.360 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.459 and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus. 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:40.420 But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:46.900 they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:50.400 And when he saw their faith, he said, 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:52.720 Man, your sins are forgiven you. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.740 The scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, 00:04:57.100 --> 00:04:59.700 Who is this who speaks blasphemies? 00:05:00.139 --> 00:05:02.439 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:06.480 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered them, 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:08.700 Why do you question in your hearts? 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:11.039 Which is easier to say, 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.680 Your sins are forgiven or rise and walk? 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:19.779 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.740 He said to the man who was paralyzed, 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:25.180 I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:27.819 And immediately he rose up before them 00:05:27.819 --> 00:05:31.819 and picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorifying God. 00:05:32.719 --> 00:05:35.639 In amazement seized them all and they glorified God 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:37.339 and were filled with awe saying, 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:41.560 We have seen extraordinary things today. 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:44.819 What a neat story, right? 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:50.659 A remarkable display of divine power and healing and forgiving. 00:05:51.919 --> 00:05:58.060 An honest depiction of the desperation of faith in the paralytic's friends 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.579 that we were just talking about with the kids. 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:07.339 It's one of the most glorious depictions of the word and deed nature of Jesus' kingdom 00:06:07.339 --> 00:06:09.079 in one story. 00:06:09.779 --> 00:06:13.000 Forgiving sins and healing disease. 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:21.379 But the focus of the story centers in on the significance of Jesus' forgiving sins, doesn't it? 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.600 We've seen him heal all sorts of people. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.399 Cast out demons and so forth. 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:32.339 But here he sees this paralyzed man lowered through the roof right in front of him. 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:34.779 And his first response is to say what? 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:37.240 Your sins are forgiven. 00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:42.680 That's what sets off the Pharisees and teachers of the law, isn't it? 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.399 Causes them to ask the first question. 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:46.800 Forgive sins? 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:50.120 Who is this blasphemer? 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:53.379 I thought only God could forgive sins, right? 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:56.480 Well, they're right, aren't they? 00:06:57.740 --> 00:07:04.120 I mean, after all, the only one who can forgive a sin is the one against whom the sin has been committed. 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:09.379 And ultimately, all sins are committed against God. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:11.060 The religious leaders knew this well. 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.360 They studied their Old Testaments. 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:18.180 In the Old Testament, God is the one who forgives sins. 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:27.959 There is a rare instance of a prophet or someone like that speaking for God and communicating God's intent to forgive. 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.860 But God is the one who forgives sin. 00:07:33.460 --> 00:07:36.939 And so from a human perspective, how would that play itself out? 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:44.040 If you were someone who had sinned and was seeking forgiveness of that sin in the Old Testament, 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:47.120 you went to God through the proper ceremonies, didn't you? 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:55.740 The rituals and sacrifices at the temple where the priest could pronounce that the sins had been appropriately paid for. 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:59.420 But that doesn't go on. 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:02.740 This guy, Jesus, just declares it to be so. 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:04.460 Your sins are forgiven. 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:06.420 What in the world? 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.060 That's not how it works around here with us Jews, Jesus. 00:08:10.900 --> 00:08:12.660 Who does he think he is? 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.840 And that's exactly the point Jesus is making here, isn't it? 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:21.679 It's all about who he is. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.079 Which is easier, Jesus says? 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:30.239 Saying your sins are forgiven you or saying rise and walk? 00:08:30.939 --> 00:08:38.779 Either Jesus is making the point that both of those are very difficult things which require divine power. 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:51.039 Or perhaps making the point that it's easier to say your sins are forgiven because nobody can look around and verify whether or not it actually happened. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:57.699 And so in order that they may know of his divine power, 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:04.079 that you may know that he actually does have authority to forgive sins when he says it. 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:05.259 Jesus says what? 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:07.220 Rise and walk. 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:13.959 The point either way is Jesus saying how can I forgive sins? 00:09:14.339 --> 00:09:16.039 It's because of who I am. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.639 I do have that authority. 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:24.679 Let me show you my divine power in a way that you can see and it will be undeniable. 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:28.439 The reality of the release that I've come to bring. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:34.120 And so the deeds that you see in front of you are validating the words you hear spoken. 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:36.480 Things are changing. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.819 This is different. 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:45.420 There is a new priest here who speaks for God and forgives sins on his own authority. 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.080 He just says it and sins are forgiven. 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:54.120 Just imagine for a minute if that were really true. 00:09:54.120 --> 00:10:04.100 Full and free forgiveness of all of your sins without lots of rituals and sacrifices and religious ceremonies. 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:07.259 Just your sins could be forgiven and wiped away. 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:12.600 I mean you wouldn't have to work your way back into someone's good graces. 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:17.379 You wouldn't have to outperform the people around you. 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:32.700 You wouldn't have to be a better husband or wife or friend or kid for an indefinite period of time after you've made a big mistake to be free from it and to feel loved and accepted again. 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:42.340 Imagine if you just had to get someone to push or pull or drag you into Jesus. 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:46.920 It's like a car dealership ad that I've heard on the radio many times. 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:51.280 If you want to trade your car in, whatever condition, it doesn't matter. 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:54.540 If you can push, pull or drag it in, you're going to get credit. 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:59.039 Your condition doesn't matter. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.740 Just get to Jesus and you're set. 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:04.539 Imagine if that were true. 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:08.099 Wow, if that were true, there might be hope for me. 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:12.740 There might be hope for my friend who has blown it. 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:22.659 Maybe I could even show my face to my ex-husband or my boss or even to God again. 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:25.319 I don't know. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:26.299 I'm not sure. 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:29.919 The religious leaders definitely weren't sure. 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:32.719 That's not how it works around there. 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:37.559 To be honest, in most of our lives, that's not how it works when we've messed up, is it? 00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:40.899 I'm not sure that's really how it works, Jesus. 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:46.299 Well, Jesus moves on to our second scene. 00:11:47.079 --> 00:11:50.339 It's in verse 27 that it begins. 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:58.200 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:00.560 And he said to him, follow me. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:03.759 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.620 And Levi made him a great feast in his house. 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:11.720 And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:16.360 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:20.019 Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:22.620 And Jesus answered them, 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:26.620 Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:32.100 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.680 While we're talking about sins needing to be forgiven, 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.539 let's just go ahead and deal with the big ones, why don't we? 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:44.599 Let's just start with the tax collectors, Jesus says. 00:12:46.299 --> 00:12:52.219 I could describe to you how despised tax collectors were in this culture, 00:12:52.579 --> 00:12:56.980 but if you've ever been audited by the IRS before, I don't think I need to. 00:12:57.779 --> 00:12:59.779 It's still very similar. 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:06.159 Except imagine adding to the distasteful experience you may have had. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:11.819 Imagine adding to that guys who made their living off of cheating you even more than you owed. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:15.179 Taking a cut for themselves off of that. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.480 And they had the ruling powers behind them backing them up. 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:20.959 So there's nothing you could do. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:21.719 You couldn't touch them. 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:25.980 These were Jews who were traitors to the Jewish people. 00:13:26.079 --> 00:13:27.279 They were loyal to Rome. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.600 They took money from their people and gave it to the enemy. 00:13:30.839 --> 00:13:32.339 And they got rich off of it. 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.360 These are the Jews. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:37.720 Don't come in the synagogue. 00:13:40.180 --> 00:13:42.560 But Jesus walks up to one of these. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:43.220 Levi. 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:44.740 Matthew. 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.519 And He calls Levi to follow Him. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.160 And sure enough, He does. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.660 Leaving everything at great cost to Himself. 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:57.940 Of the really great career He had and the money He was able to make. 00:13:57.940 --> 00:13:59.440 He follows Jesus. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.040 And He's so convinced of the value and worth of Jesus that He does what? 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:05.800 He throws a party. 00:14:06.260 --> 00:14:09.620 So that all of His friends can meet Jesus. 00:14:10.300 --> 00:14:14.300 His tax collectors and others who came. 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:18.540 These would be friends, of course, who are as outcast as He was. 00:14:19.180 --> 00:14:23.540 You can just assume that Levi had more friends in low places than Garth Brooks. 00:14:23.539 --> 00:14:27.779 I worked on that for a long time. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.299 That was a really important line. 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:32.980 Get that in mind. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.659 I do want you to have this picture of a group of people who are not just one Levi and some other. 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:41.740 These are people who are all like that. 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:43.899 Who aren't supposed to be around the Jews. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:49.099 That any respectable rabbi would never be found with much less eating. 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:54.659 Jesus gladly eats with them, which is what leads to the second question. 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.360 Because see, now the religious leaders aren't just questioning. 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:01.100 They're grumbling, the text tells us. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:03.139 Very bothered by this Jesus. 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:04.220 They ask Him what? 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:05.279 Why? 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:09.860 Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:18.340 You see, then, as now in many ways, sharing a meal with someone meant sharing life, too. 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:21.940 You were equals, so to speak, or friends. 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:24.600 You had fellowship together. 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:26.279 You had things in common. 00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:33.200 And that was not the way that things worked for the religious insiders of the day. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:37.860 These tax collectors and sinners were not just informally or relationally. 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:42.259 They were formally and officially unclean. 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:48.700 And so unwelcome in the clean lives of the religious. 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:50.659 Lest they rub off on them. 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:56.720 And once again, we see what we've seen multiple times in Luke's Gospel already. 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:59.860 That Jesus is building a new community. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.440 Where instead of sinners making Him unclean, 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:06.740 He makes them clean. 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:11.580 You see, it works in reverse from the way the religious leaders are thinking. 00:16:11.700 --> 00:16:14.200 Just like with the leper from last week. 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.000 When Jesus touches him, 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:20.799 Jesus should get the highly contagious leprosy, right? 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:21.779 That's how it works. 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:29.019 But instead, the leper catches Jesus' even more highly contagious purity. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:30.000 Doesn't He? 00:16:30.560 --> 00:16:31.580 That's what happens. 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:33.460 The leper doesn't make Him unclean. 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:37.020 Jesus touches him and makes Him clean. 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:42.759 And Jesus says in no uncertain terms that this is His purpose in coming to earth. 00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:45.639 That's the purpose statement there in verse 32. 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:52.740 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:54.440 This is why I'm here. 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.940 Not to find clean people to hang out with, 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:02.480 but rather to find unclean people to make clean. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:04.640 That's what He's about. 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:07.940 Jesus says, I've come to forgive sins. 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:12.940 And because of that, I'm coming for those who know they have sins to be forgiven. 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:15.779 Not for those who think they don't. 00:17:17.360 --> 00:17:18.340 Think of it this way. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.880 Imagine Governor Bentley decides tomorrow that he is pronouncing a pardon. 00:17:24.840 --> 00:17:26.900 He is going to pardon. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:32.640 There's going to be forgiveness of every crime that has ever been committed in the state of Alabama. 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:34.320 In the history of the state. 00:17:34.840 --> 00:17:35.799 Because it's a big one, right? 00:17:35.840 --> 00:17:37.380 That's usually not the way pardons go. 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:39.120 Every crime ever committed. 00:17:40.120 --> 00:17:42.620 For some of you, that's a pretty big deal. 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:49.420 For others of you, you're thinking, oh, there's that speeding ticket I got a few years ago. 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:51.779 I mean, I guess that would be nice to get that money back. 00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:56.460 I bet for some of you, not even that. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.259 Not even the speeding ticket. 00:18:00.340 --> 00:18:06.600 But how does the inmate on death row in Alabama receive that same news? 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:08.680 Crimes? 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:09.920 Pardoned? 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.160 All of them? 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.740 Best news ever. 00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:15.759 Right? 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:17.440 I'm free. 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:19.320 It's time to throw a party. 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:20.840 We're celebrating. 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:22.779 Everybody's invited. 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:24.980 Nothing better could have happened to me. 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:28.740 And so you see what happens. 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:38.519 It's those kinds of people who flock to the new guy offering free and full forgiveness just by getting dragged into him, right? 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:44.319 That's the new in crowd that the Pharisees were so sure that they were. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.619 The sinners are the ones who can't wait to get to Jesus. 00:18:48.940 --> 00:18:50.379 And when they're with him, what do they do? 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:52.059 They throw parties. 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.000 They celebrate. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.799 They can't believe what's happening. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:12.160 You see, actual, practical, lived out belief in the reality of free forgiveness that we just kind of skeptically imagined a minute ago creates a new community, doesn't it? 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:16.960 There's different kinds of people that become part of that community. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:22.960 It's a community of sinners where the first vow you have to take to be a member is, I'm a sinner. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:24.840 I got problems. 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:35.320 Jesus not only came to invite sinners in, but he also did not come for those who don't think they need forgiveness, right? 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:41.679 I did not come for the righteous, the healthy, who don't need a doctor. 00:19:42.439 --> 00:19:46.419 Everyone in Jesus' kingdom shares that need. 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:55.279 That's a hard and sobering reality for religious church people like many of us, isn't it? 00:19:56.179 --> 00:19:59.679 Because we don't naturally see our need really quickly. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.839 We're used to be the benevolent ones helping the needy. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:10.500 We're the ones who give charity to those who need it, not the ones who receive it, right? 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:13.039 Check our taxes if you want to know for sure. 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:14.119 That's what we're like. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.599 We're the ones who are thinking of those who are in need. 00:20:19.179 --> 00:20:25.659 See, the sobering reality is that we in the church often just assume that Jesus came for us. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.179 Well, I mean, we are in church after all, and we do come regularly. 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:36.500 Of course, if Jesus came, we would be the ones that he would come for. 00:20:38.060 --> 00:20:43.240 I've got to ask you this morning, have you really looked your sin in the eye? 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:50.320 Have you really seen the desperate condition that you're in before a holy God? 00:20:50.319 --> 00:21:01.279 Really seen yourself and realized you're on spiritual death row with your only hope being the rescue, the forgiveness of God? 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:08.000 Jesus came to call sinners who had no one else to rescue them. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:13.559 Friend, did Jesus come for you? 00:21:14.099 --> 00:21:15.359 That's who he came for. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.240 Did Jesus come for you? 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:22.180 If you have no other hope, then yes, he did. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.380 How about corporately? 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:28.319 We've got it right on the books. 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.759 We've already talked about it this morning. 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:33.700 Some of our newest members have led us in this. 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:39.920 The first thing we say in becoming a member of the church, I'm a sinner in the sight of God. 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:41.360 I'm not worthy. 00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:44.460 I have no hope apart from Jesus. 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:51.580 Not that you have to be good enough to get in, but you have to admit you're bad enough to get in. 00:21:51.620 --> 00:21:52.600 What a weird place. 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:58.180 We say those things, but do we believe it and live it? 00:21:58.180 --> 00:22:05.220 I ask you to think, when we're together, do we celebrate Jesus more than ourselves? 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:16.100 When we gather to celebrate, do the religious elite or the morally corrupt feel more at home with us? 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:21.400 Are we ever afraid sinners will corrupt us? 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:26.420 Or are we regularly confident that our Savior will cleanse them? 00:22:28.600 --> 00:22:33.600 See, Jesus changes things in ways that stretch us. 00:22:34.620 --> 00:22:38.940 That's not a comfortable dynamic to be created for many of us. 00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:45.259 It's stretched for the religious leaders to the point that they're very uncomfortable, isn't it? 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:54.700 But if we want to be a part of His kingdom, if we want to reflect the reality of the family of God that Jesus makes us a part of, 00:22:54.700 --> 00:23:03.460 we will allow Him and His full and free forgiveness to change the shape of our community individually and corporately. 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:12.440 Jesus comes to bring forgiveness of sins and gather to Himself people who see their need for it. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:16.820 Finally, scene 3. 00:23:18.080 --> 00:23:19.720 Next verse, verse 33. 00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:23.539 And they said to Him, to Jesus, 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:32.539 The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:35.240 And Jesus said to them, 00:23:35.539 --> 00:23:39.000 Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:44.960 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:47.480 He also told them a parable. 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:51.299 No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:55.299 If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:58.160 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:03.119 If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:06.299 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 00:24:07.219 --> 00:24:12.439 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, the old is good. 00:24:14.479 --> 00:24:20.559 Probably while seated at the same table with Levi and his friends, or maybe just afterwards, 00:24:21.159 --> 00:24:25.979 Jesus hears another question in the statement of the religious leaders. 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:31.059 Why do your disciples eat and drink instead of fasting? 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:40.799 In other words, why all these parties and feasts instead of days of fasting and mourning as prescribed by the religious leaders? 00:24:41.900 --> 00:24:44.680 That's how you're supposed to relate to God. 00:24:45.460 --> 00:24:48.180 That's how the religious leaders had taught people. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:51.539 You were to mourn and to look to His provision. 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:56.059 That was the heart behind fasting for the people of God. 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:02.700 And Jesus, in answer to that question, gives a relational example that they knew very well. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:04.200 He talks about a wedding. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.920 You see, Jews were told to fast two days a week. 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.960 Every week, two days of fasting. 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:13.619 But there was an exception. 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:15.659 And that was for weddings. 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:25.120 The wedding, with the wedding party gathered around the bride and the groom, was to be a feast for a whole week. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:30.279 Seven straight days, and none of the seven were you to stop and fast. 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:32.680 Seven straight days of feasting. 00:25:33.080 --> 00:25:37.180 And Jesus says, you would never make them fast during the wedding, would you? 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.720 Because the bride and groom are there with them celebrating. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:47.299 Jesus says, I'm here and we are in the midst of that feasting right now. 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:51.200 We're no longer fasting and longing for God to provide. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:52.980 God has provided. 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:54.400 God has come. 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:55.819 I am here. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:58.279 I'm the one who's been long awaited. 00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:00.180 The one who has to be celebrated. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:11.100 Then he adds a couple of parables about clothing and wine that highlight the fact that new and old don't fit together. 00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:17.759 When something dynamically new comes, you can't just keep doing things the old way. 00:26:17.840 --> 00:26:18.920 It won't work. 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:27.960 You can't keep thinking of God and relating to Him the way you have been because God has shown up and changed everything. 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:34.200 The full and free forgiveness doesn't just change the way you relate to other people. 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:38.240 It changes the way you relate to God Himself. 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:43.740 When the King is present, the subjects of the kingdom celebrate Him joyfully. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.519 When the one with full and free forgiveness of sins is with you, 00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:53.900 then you throw a party like no other celebration you've ever had. 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:59.440 Interestingly for us, we get to do both. 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:05.259 When Jesus was here with His disciples, they feasted rather than fasting. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:10.140 But Jesus says in this passage, there will be a time when they will fast again. 00:27:11.140 --> 00:27:17.140 It's part of the already and not yet nature of Jesus' kingdom in our time. 00:27:17.140 --> 00:27:24.220 The King has already come and brought in the kingdom, but not yet fully. 00:27:24.860 --> 00:27:28.900 The King will return to bring the kingdom fully forever. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.360 So we feast and we fast. 00:27:33.860 --> 00:27:37.340 We celebrate His coming and we long for His return. 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:42.339 We enjoy the life that Jesus has given to us in Himself. 00:27:42.699 --> 00:27:46.039 The full and free forgiveness of our sins which we know today. 00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:54.059 And we long for His return and mourn over the brokenness, 00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:59.419 the ongoing battle with sin and its effects from which He has not yet, 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.959 but will soon deliver us forever. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:10.799 So what makes the difference in all three of these interactions in this passage? 00:28:11.840 --> 00:28:15.600 What makes the difference in all three things that are changing? 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:17.500 It's Jesus, right? 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.880 What's the answer to all three of the Pharisees' questions? 00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:24.019 It's Jesus. 00:28:24.380 --> 00:28:27.200 Just like all good kids learn in Sunday school, 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:30.500 the answer is always Jesus. 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:30.700 Jesus. 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:34.799 Not always, but almost always. 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:39.779 It's who He is and what He has come to do. 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:41.940 He's the Savior of the world. 00:28:42.339 --> 00:28:46.779 Come as the new priest to forgive sins and create a new community 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:51.019 of forgiven sinners in a new and joyous relationship with God. 00:28:51.700 --> 00:28:53.839 That's who He is and what He's come to do. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:56.779 It's what Luke wants us to see in these stories. 00:28:56.779 --> 00:28:59.500 Jesus changes everything. 00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:03.779 So how do we respond to Jesus? 00:29:05.960 --> 00:29:12.200 I think the responses of people who encounter Jesus in this passage are really instructive for us. 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:18.299 Look as we think about our own hearts at the former paralytic in verse 25. 00:29:18.840 --> 00:29:23.700 Immediately, He rose up before them, picked up what He'd been lying on, went home glorifying God. 00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.240 And then you see the rest of the crowd. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:28.480 Verse 26. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:46.160 The paralytic is now glorifying God in joy and freedom, jumping and running, praising God. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:50.660 The crowd is glorifying God with wonder and amazement. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:52.940 How amazing that I'm healed. 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:55.100 How amazing that He forgives sins. 00:29:55.099 --> 00:30:03.859 And as you go through the rest of the passage, people begin demonstrating the faith of the paralytic and his friends. 00:30:04.379 --> 00:30:07.139 In their desperation to get near Jesus, right? 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:10.759 All these others that begin to crowd around Him and show up at the parties. 00:30:11.379 --> 00:30:12.740 Desperate to get near Him. 00:30:12.959 --> 00:30:15.819 And when they do, they celebrate Him. 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:20.179 Crossing physical and social and spiritual barriers. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:24.179 Saying nothing can keep me from Jesus and from celebrating Him. 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:27.419 Does your heart respond that way? 00:30:27.919 --> 00:30:29.079 To the good news of Jesus? 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.579 Does it have that kind of unbridled joy? 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:36.720 Is that the way you feel this morning? 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:44.000 Or do you feel as though you've lost your sense of joy and wonder at Jesus? 00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:51.859 If you have, it may be because you've lost your sense of your need for Him. 00:30:53.079 --> 00:31:03.439 What drives people to Jesus in this passage is things like paralysis, sin, need, desperation. 00:31:04.899 --> 00:31:08.639 But what keeps people from Him is the opposite of that. 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.000 It's pride. 00:31:11.439 --> 00:31:12.859 It's self-sufficiency. 00:31:13.379 --> 00:31:14.359 It's health. 00:31:15.819 --> 00:31:24.339 You see, there are others in this passage less joyful and amazed than the paralytic and the crowds and the tax collectors and sinners. 00:31:25.179 --> 00:31:31.240 They're the religious leaders who respond to Jesus as we've seen with questioning and grumbling. 00:31:31.659 --> 00:31:33.220 They keep their distance from Him. 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:34.079 Why? 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:37.659 Perhaps for many reasons. 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:41.200 But at least this passage tells us theological pride. 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.200 They were hung up, right, on who can forgive sins. 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.019 And they were actually right about that theological question. 00:31:48.100 --> 00:31:49.580 Only God can forgive sins. 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.759 But the fact that they were stuck on that question kept them from Jesus, didn't it? 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.940 Then their social pride and their moral pride. 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:08.559 Being too good and too proper to celebrate either the unclean sinners or the newly arrived king. 00:32:09.460 --> 00:32:14.340 You see, they've been relating to God for years on the basis of right theology. 00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:17.820 Right community and right behavior. 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:19.420 Knowing the right things. 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:21.160 Hanging with the right people. 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.180 Doing the right things or at least enough of them. 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:27.640 And Jesus has come to change that. 00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:31.940 I don't like change. 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:34.920 That's a hard one. 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:40.180 Have you been relating to God as though He's your teacher? 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:48.000 Just grading to see how much you know and feeling some days pretty good about your theological knowledge. 00:32:48.100 --> 00:32:49.420 Especially compared to the next guy. 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:56.060 Have you been relating to God as though He's impressed by the company you keep? 00:32:57.259 --> 00:32:59.519 You know, hanging around the church most Sundays. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.480 And spending most of your time with pretty good people. 00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:04.759 As though that's what really matters to God. 00:33:04.820 --> 00:33:08.160 And He's very impressed by the people that you associate with. 00:33:10.840 --> 00:33:16.740 Have you been relating to God as though He's evaluating your moral performance like an Olympic judge? 00:33:17.380 --> 00:33:18.800 Some days pretty impressed. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.240 Some days, a little stumble. 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:21.059 Tenth of a point. 00:33:22.879 --> 00:33:23.980 Doesn't take much. 00:33:25.139 --> 00:33:26.480 Better straighten back up. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:30.319 You relate to God those ways? 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:37.379 Or are you willing to give up all of those and any other ways that you tend to relate to God 00:33:37.380 --> 00:33:47.380 in order to have Jesus and be found in Him forgiven and clean and secure? 00:33:48.340 --> 00:33:54.240 Trusting Jesus means God is your Father who has removed your sins far away from you 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:58.800 and loved you with an everlasting love because you're His child. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:02.299 It's a new and unparalleled relationship. 00:34:02.940 --> 00:34:04.399 You've known nothing like it. 00:34:04.639 --> 00:34:06.639 It's the way you relate to God now. 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:11.019 You have Jesus and His full and free forgiveness. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.039 And that means you have a new way of relating to God. 00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:20.739 You're a forgiven, beloved child of your Heavenly Father. 00:34:22.599 --> 00:34:25.719 Are you so desperate for Jesus and His forgiveness 00:34:25.719 --> 00:34:30.820 that you'll dig through the roof or anything else it takes to get to Him? 00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:33.360 Do you still need Him like that every day? 00:34:33.360 --> 00:34:41.099 Is your faith in Him such that no one and nothing else will satisfy you 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:42.840 and make you deeply joyful? 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:44.800 You have to get to Jesus. 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:51.460 Listen, here's the beauty and glory of this passage and this Savior. 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:53.780 It is really true. 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:55.500 Push it. 00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:56.240 Pull Him. 00:34:56.720 --> 00:35:00.559 Drag yourself into Jesus and He'll take you. 00:35:00.680 --> 00:35:01.539 Yes, that's true. 00:35:01.539 --> 00:35:03.759 But it is even so much better than that. 00:35:04.759 --> 00:35:11.559 You see, Jesus comes and finds you broken down on the side of the highway. 00:35:12.460 --> 00:35:15.659 That's the beauty of what's happening with Jesus. 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:20.880 He comes running toward paralyzed sinners who can't get to Him. 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:25.440 You see, the thing about forgiveness in the paralytic story 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:28.800 is not merely that Jesus is acting like the new priest 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:31.279 when He declares forgiveness of sins. 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:33.000 There's something else missing. 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:35.599 If you were going to get forgiveness of sins, 00:35:35.659 --> 00:35:36.679 you didn't just need the priest, 00:35:36.779 --> 00:35:38.300 but something else needed to be there. 00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:39.659 What else did the priest need to have? 00:35:40.460 --> 00:35:41.420 A sacrifice. 00:35:42.759 --> 00:35:46.259 You needed a new priest to pronounce sins 00:35:46.259 --> 00:35:47.719 and a new sacrifice. 00:35:48.219 --> 00:35:50.199 Jesus is both the new priest 00:35:50.199 --> 00:35:52.659 and the new sacrifice. 00:35:52.659 --> 00:35:56.219 That's how He can declare sins on His own authority 00:35:56.219 --> 00:35:59.259 because He comes running to the cross 00:35:59.259 --> 00:36:02.779 to give His life in the place of sinners 00:36:02.779 --> 00:36:05.339 as a sacrifice for their sins. 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:07.699 He runs toward us this morning 00:36:07.699 --> 00:36:09.119 right where we are 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:11.719 in the lowest place that you can find yourself, 00:36:11.879 --> 00:36:14.239 not able to get over your shame 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:15.399 and your guilt 00:36:15.399 --> 00:36:16.659 to come towards Him. 00:36:16.659 --> 00:36:18.440 And He comes running towards you 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:18.779 and says, 00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:20.599 I've crossed all those barriers. 00:36:20.859 --> 00:36:22.699 I've removed all the hindrances 00:36:22.699 --> 00:36:24.199 that would keep you from me. 00:36:25.659 --> 00:36:28.000 So we don't even have to climb and cross 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:29.399 all those barriers 00:36:29.399 --> 00:36:30.779 keeping us from Jesus. 00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:32.619 We just have to trust 00:36:32.619 --> 00:36:35.219 that He's crossed them for us. 00:36:35.219 --> 00:36:37.639 That's the good news of the gospel. 00:36:38.059 --> 00:36:39.719 If you've never trusted Him, 00:36:40.359 --> 00:36:41.500 trust Him today. 00:36:43.299 --> 00:36:45.399 If you've forgotten your great Savior 00:36:45.399 --> 00:36:47.179 and your sin 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:49.359 and your shame over it, 00:36:50.179 --> 00:36:51.000 trust Him again. 00:36:52.139 --> 00:36:52.619 Let's pray. 00:36:57.859 --> 00:37:01.079 Jesus, what a wonderful Savior you are. 00:37:01.079 --> 00:37:06.960 would you make us desperate for you? 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:10.019 That there would be nothing else 00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:11.259 that fulfills us 00:37:11.259 --> 00:37:13.440 and nothing that could keep us from you. 00:37:14.319 --> 00:37:15.079 Thank you 00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:18.920 that nothing could keep you from us. 00:37:20.099 --> 00:37:22.480 That your love for us was so great 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:24.779 that you came after us 00:37:24.779 --> 00:37:27.639 and you have rescued us. 00:37:28.420 --> 00:37:30.480 You've paid the price in full 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:33.360 and so we have a heavenly Father 00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:36.059 who otherwise ought to disown us. 00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:39.320 Thank you, Jesus, 00:37:39.460 --> 00:37:40.780 for the forgiveness of sins 00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:43.639 that we find in your cross. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:45.920 We praise you for it. 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:46.559 Amen. 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:51.039 For more information, 00:37:51.420 --> 00:37:53.639 visit us online at southwood.org.