WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.940 We've been talking about how Jesus is trying to really tell us a bigger story. 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:09.620 And of course through the book of Luke, he's been going through this journey as he starts 00:00:09.620 --> 00:00:13.560 ! this ministry, and now he's starting to perform miracles. And we talked about miracles. Why 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.019 ! Does he do miracles? He doesn't do miracles just because he said, hey, I can do all these 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:21.100 party tricks. He's doing miracles because he's trying to reveal something. And actually last 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:24.080 week we talked about the young people with Johnny, but the week before we were talking 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:29.940 about how he heals the leper. And why does he heal people? Because Jesus heals because 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:33.920 healings preach. Because the whole point isn't just to show you I have the power, it's to 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:38.140 actually show you something about me, is what he's really trying to do here. And so actually 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:43.500 the story of the leper was just this beautiful one. Maybe the gospel summed up into this short 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:48.620 story where Jesus reaches out to the outcast, touches the one who is unclean, and in doing 00:00:48.620 --> 00:00:54.000 so becomes unclean himself, and includes this person, brings connection to this person, and 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.719 in doing so is disconnected himself. And maybe that leper story was just this wonderful, wonderful 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.679 depiction of the gospel. We're moving to the second one now, and actually he raises the 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.900 stakes here. Because first he heals the leper, and now he heals the paralytic. And this one, 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.299 actually this whole scene, you've heard this scene before, but if you have a look at the 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:22.159 scene, there is mayhem. There's a crowd, there is chaos, there is confusion, and ultimately 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:27.620 there is celebration. And what he's doing here, he's actually saying, I'm not here just to 00:01:27.620 --> 00:01:33.780 teach you, but I also have the power to heal you. The one who heals is the one who teaches, 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:40.560 and he's basically merging doctrine and healing together. And chapter 5 verse 17 says this, 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:45.320 and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. It shows us that it's the Holy Spirit that 00:01:45.320 --> 00:01:49.180 is the one who's giving him the power to do this. And this whole scene, as we unpack it 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:55.219 verse by verse, I found it completely just mind-blowing as to how it shows who Jesus really 00:01:55.219 --> 00:02:00.719 is. So verse 17, if you've got a Bible follow along, we'll begin fairly quickly today. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:06.260 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:10.860 there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:15.039 of the Lord was with him to heal. So a couple of weeks ago, we talked about cloud chasing. 00:02:15.139 --> 00:02:18.099 He doesn't want to be cloud chasing. He doesn't want it. He doesn't want the crowds. He doesn't 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:22.860 want the hype. Why? Because it's going to start attaching, well, attracting bad attention. 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:27.660 What is that bad attention? It's the Pharisees and the scribes and the teachers of the law who 00:02:27.660 --> 00:02:33.460 were saying, who is this guy? Why is everyone going to him? Is he a fraudster? Is he a con 00:02:33.460 --> 00:02:38.560 artist? We need to find out. And so we know the Pharisees. We know who they are. And they 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.280 pop up in these stories, and they often get trashed quite quickly in these stories. And 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:48.580 we paint them as kind of these villains of the Bible story almost. But actually, I find myself 00:02:48.580 --> 00:02:53.400 with a ton of sympathy and empathy for the Pharisees. Now, at that time, there were about 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.840 6,000 of these Pharisees. And what they were, basically, they were the self-proclaimed and 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:03.180 declared guardians of the law. That's what they would do. And actually, the word Pharisee means 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:07.680 the separated ones. And I have a lot of sympathy and empathy for them. Why? Because actually, 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:12.800 their initial heart and original intention was good. It was right. If you think about it, 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:19.640 between the Old Testament and the New Testament, there were 400 years. 400 years of nothing. 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:24.540 That the Israelites were just waiting. And they're like, wait, what are we waiting for? I don't know. 00:03:24.600 --> 00:03:28.800 And generation after generation happens, and generations pass away, and everyone was just 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.220 waiting. But then there were a group of people called the Pharisees, the separated ones who said, 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:36.400 hey, you know what? We need to make sure that we keep following the law. We've got to be patient. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.640 And actually, let's not violate the law of Moses. So what they did was they basically 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:46.659 built a fence around a lot of the Mosaic laws and a lot of the traditions, basically to help people, 00:03:46.899 --> 00:03:50.559 well, prevent people from violating the law. So this was a good thing. If we're going to be 00:03:50.559 --> 00:03:56.119 waiting for that long, we need to somehow help people stay on this path. And I actually thought, 00:03:56.199 --> 00:04:02.539 wow, that's actually an admirable thing to do. To be able to go, hey, look, the human heart is one 00:04:02.539 --> 00:04:06.759 that will sin. These people will sin if we don't help them. So let's put these things in place. Look, 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.500 the Mosaic laws may be hard to understand. Many people are illiterate. Why don't we just put things in place 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:17.639 so that people won't stray away? And that was the initial heart. And they kept it together. They 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:23.040 kept it going for 400 years. So actually, I give them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt when 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:28.139 they hear this random guy come out who's starting to do different things, attract attention. He's 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:32.939 like, well, we need to go check him out. Is he the real thing? Or is he going to lead a whole bunch 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:37.360 of people astray? Is he going to break down this fort that we've built for 400 years to try and protect 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:44.280 our people? So they go and they check him out. And I wonder actually where there, maybe I'm speaking 00:04:44.280 --> 00:04:49.639 mostly as a pastor myself. I wonder how much religion has really seeped into my own mindset. 00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:54.240 I wonder how much religion has seeped into yours, where there are rituals that you've put in place 00:04:54.240 --> 00:05:01.100 and actually somewhere along the way, you've lost the main point. Because for these guys, they were 00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:07.920 actually, they knew that they needed to keep guard something. But what happened was they had put the 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:13.360 program over the people. And they had focused on the compliance as opposed to connection. 00:05:14.820 --> 00:05:19.060 Don't we have that even as parents? Well, actually, we just want to keep our kids in order, 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:24.040 like to behave well. And what does a well-behaved kid do? Sit quietly and not speak. 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:31.939 And so they're complying, but there's no connection. And then we were trying to run all these programs 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:36.020 and all these ministries and say, let's get these people and let's fill these seats. And so people 00:05:36.020 --> 00:05:41.020 will attend, but we're focusing on running the program and we're running around becoming poor 00:05:41.020 --> 00:05:46.300 event organizers where we've lost sight of the people. And I think this is what the Pharisees were 00:05:46.300 --> 00:05:51.520 doing. And they were trying. So again, again, sympathy and empathy for them. But I wonder for us, 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.539 whether there is that moment where actually we have basically put compliance over connection, 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.779 whether we have put program over people. And honestly, I find it 400 years of doing this, 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:05.459 that means they would have had the ones who were still alive during Jesus's time, 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:09.439 they would have had to come up through a system where maybe their parents and their parents' parents, 00:06:10.099 --> 00:06:15.099 they would have just been a whole thing in place about how you do religion and what a Pharisee is 00:06:15.099 --> 00:06:20.299 supposed to do. And so maybe they don't even, they've never had a chance to experience love. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:26.220 They've always been trying to keep people in a box by keeping themselves in a box. And so it's 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:30.379 kind of easy to understand why they don't really feel that loving. They don't sound that loving. 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:36.280 And so I come at this going, well, what about me? Is there anything in me that is rigid? Is there 00:06:36.280 --> 00:06:42.360 anything in me that is actually hypocrisy? Is there anything in me where I've actually focused on 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:47.460 compliance and program and not people in connection? This is the heart. And we all have a bit of 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:53.739 Pharisee in us. And then what happens here is verse 18. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed, 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:58.419 a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus. So people 00:06:58.419 --> 00:07:03.419 are starting to hear that Jesus heals. And so they've all had this friend who's been paralyzed. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:08.079 We don't know how long he's been paralyzed. Well, but he's been paralyzed. And actually, I like the 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:12.560 sensitivity that Luke, the physician has here, because he doesn't say the paralyzed man. He doesn't say 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.959 the leper, as I said a couple of weeks ago, whatever you're dealing with, that is not your identity. 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:23.399 The leprosy left the man. This guy was a man who was paralyzed. He wasn't a paralyzed man. 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:27.939 Sometimes the things that we're struggling with, we have made them become our identity. When he's 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:31.819 saying, this is just a man who is paralyzed. And we're about to see how that the paralysis 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:37.180 leaves him. And so Luke is being fairly sensitive there. And again, what else does this tell you? 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:43.139 Again, the outcast. Jesus is going for the outcast. He's going for the one who can't get to him 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:48.860 himself. He's going for the ones who are weak. And actually, I want to say that this is actually unique 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:55.960 to Christianity. This is unique to actually how the way of Jesus even caught fire was because the way 00:07:55.960 --> 00:08:00.680 that the people living following Jesus were living. If you think about society before, especially in the 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:06.920 Roman times, whoever was weak, whoever was vulnerable, whoever was sick, they would be just 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:11.480 cast away. Babies who were born with deformities would just be chucked in the bin because we don't 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.040 want them. And it was during that time where suddenly there were a group of people who professed 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:21.700 to live a different way, who were starting to care for the vulnerable, care for the weak. And I think 00:08:21.700 --> 00:08:24.740 right now we're like, hey, of course, of course, you've got to look after the people who need to 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:28.259 be looked after. That was never the case. And in fact, if you're out of the history of mankind, 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:34.840 that has rarely been the case. It has always been the strong survive, keep going, leave the weak 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:41.080 behind. And yet it was Christianity that turned that. And it was Jesus, his mic drop moment in 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:45.800 Luke four, where he says, I am here. The spirit of the Lord is on me to proclaim good news to the poor, 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:51.860 the weak, the broken, the oppressed. And so you see Christianity was the one that started this care 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:56.780 for the weak and care for the vulnerable. If you travel the world right now and you are looking for a 00:08:56.780 --> 00:09:04.340 place, a pharmacy or some kind of first aid, what sign are you looking for? The cross. It doesn't matter 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:10.639 where you are, you are looking for the cross. The cross is the one that reaches the outcast, 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:17.560 reaches the weak, reaches the sick. Through these miracles, Jesus is showing us that's what he really 00:09:17.560 --> 00:09:23.259 cares about. And, and so then you have these four guys. So the other accounts in the gospel say, 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:29.540 there's four guys who have this friend who is paralyzed and they carry him into the house. 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:34.639 Yes. At this moment, actually, and I was, I was talking to Ken a little bit about this. It's 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.959 been actually one year since Ken had his, uh, injury. Uh, and there was this one scene and I'm 00:09:39.959 --> 00:09:44.179 looking at Gab's right now and I, I found the video of it and I dug it up and I shared it with Ken. 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:49.099 So, uh, Ken and I, we were just, uh, part of the gathering basketball team and just, 00:09:49.099 --> 00:09:56.000 just reigning and dominating and becoming just champions. Uh, uh, I won't mention how old the team 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:01.200 we were playing was, uh, they were well in double digits. I'll just say that their age. 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:06.620 And then of course, Ken gets injured and shortly after I do. And then I got to see two of our 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:13.399 strongest guys in our church, Cuban and Gab's carry Ken. Remember this? This is a, I thought it 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:17.019 was a really touching moment. It was, I thought it was a touching moment because these two guys are 00:10:17.019 --> 00:10:23.940 strong, but Ken's a big guy. Uh, so carrying him out of the sports center was, was, was a big thing. 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:27.900 And of course, meanwhile, Hillary is his loving wife was just filming him and laughing the whole 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:37.440 time. Uh, ever the loving wife filled with sympathy. Uh, uh, but I was like, it's really 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:44.220 hard to carry someone who has, who can't support themselves. Uh, and that we had, I mean, Ken, 00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:47.720 Ken may be big, but we had two of our guys and they were, they were struggling. Do you remember 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:52.280 that gaps? It was, it was, if anyone wants to watch the video, I'll ask Ken, I send it to him. 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:58.620 Uh, so you've got four guys now carrying their friend on a stretcher and they just imagine this, 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:04.019 they head into the house and they're like, we can't get into the house. It's full. And these 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:08.740 friends are so kind of keen to help their friend. Cause actually they could have just said, Hey guys, 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:12.399 it's, it's full. It's, it's not going to work. Maybe we just, God, it's so heavy. Why don't we 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:17.039 just, just lay wait here and maybe Jesus will come out and we'll figure it out. You've got these four 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:23.120 friends who are just determined to help their friend and they carry him up the stairs and then 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.899 they lower him down the roof. And those of us who have back problems, that that's, that's a back 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:33.419 breaker. Uh, and so you can see the determination of the friends as they do this. And it tells me 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:40.120 really one thing. We actually can never get to Jesus on our own. There are always people that we 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:44.360 need to rely on to get there. And whether it was Ken, whether it was two, me two months later, 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:49.139 whether it was just anyone, actually you might sit here thinking I'm here because of my own 00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:53.500 willpower. I'm here because of my own goodness and my own faithfulness. No, you're not. You're 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:59.800 here because there were a set of circumstances that the Lord had dictated to put around you, 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:03.860 where you were born, who you, which family you were born to, the people that you were around. 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:09.580 And it was all those things and all those people contributed to you being where you are right now. 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:14.039 I don't know about you, but that fills me with gratitude. That fills me with 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:18.959 humility. I think about me, uh, as a, as a 17 year old, when my dad passed away, 00:12:19.339 --> 00:12:24.759 it was my pastor, Bert, who came to the hospital that night. If it wasn't for him coming to the 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:29.339 hospital that night, I don't know if I'm stood here today. I'm thinking about my friend, 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:35.059 why who was five years older than me, who after that whole incident, he came and moved into our 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:39.699 house for about a month. He's just going to stay here with you. He had university at the time. And, 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:44.180 and he, I don't know if I'd be stood here if why didn't move into my house. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:51.740 All of us, all of us have people who have carried us to the foot of the cross. All of us have required, 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:58.320 needed people around us. We can't do it by ourselves. Now you might sit here and go, well, 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:02.420 okay, that's nice for you. You had Christian people around you. I didn't have that. I wasn't in the 00:13:02.419 --> 00:13:09.479 Christian family. I wasn't, I don't have Christian friends, but actually even then I've seen the Lord 00:13:09.479 --> 00:13:13.079 work in such different ways amongst different people. Those who don't even know him, those who 00:13:13.079 --> 00:13:18.379 don't even follow him still have contributed to our journey to get to where we're at. If you think 00:13:18.379 --> 00:13:25.579 about Moses, Moses who grew up in Pharaoh's house and Pharaoh was not a godly person, but somehow God 00:13:25.579 --> 00:13:29.879 uses people around to do it. You think about Joseph, who was sold off by his brothers. 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:37.159 Jesus, he ends up on his journey in his life still because of the people around him and all those 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:40.539 things. So as you look back and you go, actually, who are the people who have contributed to your 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:47.120 journey to taking you to Jesus? It might be people who have done it intentionally, consciously. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.019 There might be people who've done it completely just because they've shown you don't go this way. 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:57.620 You don't want to follow this way. I'm curious for you, who is that? Who comes to mind? Who carried you 00:13:57.620 --> 00:14:02.100 to Jesus? I want you to just have a little thing and I want you to show just the person next to you. 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:07.179 Who is that person? Whether good or bad, it really doesn't matter. Well, my point is someone has 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:11.560 helped you on your journey to get you to where you're at. Quickly, 30 seconds, turn to the person 00:14:11.560 --> 00:14:13.240 next to you. Danny, tell Alex. Alex, tell Danny. Go. 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:21.360 I was just about to ask you, Alex. I guess you're moving on. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:26.600 Okay. Nathan, who carried Rocky to Jesus? 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:33.120 He said when he first came to call from church, there was a lady that asked him to make a 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:41.039 girl. A girl that asked you to join the fellowship when you first came. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:43.800 Was her name Adrienne? 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:46.800 That's where you met Adrienne? 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:52.159 Oh, praise the Lord. That was good. Okay. I'm going to keep flying around. 00:14:55.319 --> 00:15:01.379 Aaron, how did Rebecca get here? Who was in her life that was? 00:15:03.439 --> 00:15:05.919 One of her high school principals. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:11.620 High school principals. Wow. Can you tell us a little bit about that? 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:18.620 He kind of reminds me a lot of Gabe, actually. He had the 9 to 5 job. 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:19.340 He was good looking as well. 00:15:22.340 --> 00:15:27.919 He had the 9 to 5 job, but he also put in so much extra time. And so there was a group 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:35.759 of us that struggled and he took time to invest and connect and allowed us to explore faith as 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.799 we struggled. Wow. Yeah. I'm here today because of a lot of this contribution. 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:46.960 That's just heartwarming. That's just, just to be able to hear that there's people like that 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:51.019 who give themselves in such a way. Um, it's incredible. Really good. Uh, I'm gonna fly over here. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:56.700 Jackie, uh, just tell us about you. Like, how did you get to Jesus? 00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:58.700 Yeah. 00:15:58.700 --> 00:16:07.120 Uh, I got here. Uh, I just tell you that, like, one of the big life changers in my life 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.220 has always been, like, church community. Yeah. 00:16:10.680 --> 00:16:16.900 And my first church community, they taught me, uh, I always kept saying this one thing. 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:18.740 I felt like I was going into a cult. 00:16:20.180 --> 00:16:23.960 And it was, it was always saying, like, my ceiling is your floor. 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:24.820 Yeah. 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:24.860 Yeah. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:29.840 Yeah. 00:16:33.379 --> 00:16:34.320 Wow. Yeah. 00:16:37.800 --> 00:16:42.300 Yeah. I guess is that, I mean, one of my favorite things is just when you hear someone say that we, 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:47.500 we just stand on the shoulders of giants and we only see more because we're standing on top of them and 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:52.760 on everything that they've done. Uh, no, that's, that's huge. Just again, just reemphasizing the 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:57.379 need, uh, for people need, need, need for people. Uh, Julian, you're waving your hands. 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:03.980 Why don't you want to, I guess you were just trying to, Oh, okay. Okay. Well, why don't you, 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:08.000 why don't you tell us, uh, who are the people that carried? Oh, Sigmund. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:16.559 Well, Sigmund's story is very closely tied up with our community. Oh, his, uh, his, uh, 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:23.099 his classmate, our dear Eunice had a big role in, in, in, in introducing him to church. Yeah. 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:28.539 And then my dear wife was one of the first people we had a sort of serious conversation. Yeah. Wow. 00:17:28.659 --> 00:17:32.419 So yeah, his, his story is tied up in ours. So you didn't really contribute in any way. 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:38.519 I mean, I, I, I, I did my thing of sweeping it at the end. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.639 Taking the credit. Okay. Yeah. So you had Eunice, uh, as a, as a classmate and then you got, uh, 00:17:44.639 --> 00:17:52.679 Flo helping. We all need people. We all need to be carried by people. Um, maybe flip it another way. 00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:59.539 Who are you carrying? Who are you carrying now? Who around you is paralyzed who actually, 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:04.600 they need carrying and you're just impatient with them because you're just like, come on, 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:06.620 get on your feet. Well, that's the whole point. They can't. 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:13.240 Who are the people that actually need that bit of a help? And can we be the ones that recognize 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:19.200 that actually we needed help? It reminds me of Romans 15 where it says, we welcome others. Why? 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:27.180 Because we first were welcomed. Can we have that heart inside us? Man, there are people around me 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:31.640 that I need to help carry. And just like these friends and, you know, Timothy, uh, one of the 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:37.000 early church leaders, he had his grandmother, Lois and, uh, and, and Eunice and, and Paul himself 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.740 had Barnabas and Ananias. We all need people around us. Who are those people for us? And who can, 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:49.779 who can we be that person for as well? Cause you see here something fascinating happened. Verse 20, 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:55.160 it says this, and when he saw their faith, so they take him to Jesus, they lower him down from the 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:59.660 roof, which would have really hurt. And through this house into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw 00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:04.819 their faith, he said, man, your sins are forgiven you. When he saw their faith, whose faith did they 00:19:04.819 --> 00:19:14.639 see? Did he see? Not the paralyzed man's, his friends. So he saw their faith. And so you see 00:19:14.639 --> 00:19:19.599 here that actually our faith affects the faith of other people. That paralyzed man could not get 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:24.919 there by himself, but his friends had faith. And so they carried him and Jesus saw their faith and 00:19:24.919 --> 00:19:28.439 everyone who was expecting, you know, they, they know at this point that Jesus is healing people. 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:32.519 So they're like, okay, we've got him there finally. Oh my goodness. They high five each other. We 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:36.660 thought we did it. And now we can kind of just walk out to the ground floor. We don't need to do this 00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:41.200 whole thing again. And then I just heal him, please heal him, please. We've only got four of us. We need 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:47.759 the fifth man to have our basketball team. Uh, and then Jesus just throws a curve ball. He should, 00:19:47.859 --> 00:19:53.920 he could say you're healed and get up, run job. But he says, your sins are forgiven. Again, once again, 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.279 you see Jesus Christ cannot be contained in a box. You cannot guess what he's going to do. You cannot 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:04.579 predict how he's going to act. And you see him completely raising the stakes in a whole different 00:20:04.579 --> 00:20:09.960 way. Remember the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are here. They're here to test, to see 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:14.480 whether he's legit. And maybe if he had just kept with just the healings, they would hit, 00:20:14.639 --> 00:20:18.839 it would have been okay. He wouldn't have gotten in trouble because you can't argue with a healing, 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:23.859 but actually know the parts of scripture they do, but you can't argue with someone who was paralyzed, 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:27.339 who suddenly walks off, they'd keep quiet. But Jesus, knowing that they're there, 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:31.179 raises the stakes and say something completely different. And he shocks the friends. Honestly, 00:20:31.179 --> 00:20:36.220 I can imagine this. What we carried you all the way here. And all we get is that now your sins are 00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:44.500 forgiven. That's it. We need you to walk. But Jesus shows something else and he leads to us into a 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:49.139 different topic. Now, just a little bit of context here. The Jews back in those times believed very 00:20:49.139 --> 00:20:54.799 strongly that if someone is sick, that person is a sinner, that that person did something wrong 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:02.519 that caused them to be sick. Now, in a theological sense, maybe on a macro sense, that is, yes, true. 00:21:03.139 --> 00:21:08.619 Universal sin is what led to the fall, which is what led to mankind kind of falling in this way. So 00:21:08.619 --> 00:21:13.559 we get it. But on the other hand, we also now know that just because you've got a cold today 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:21.200 doesn't mean it's because you sinned yesterday. That actually, not every sickness is associated 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:26.620 with sin. And so what we see here is that that's what everyone believes. So they would have looked 00:21:26.620 --> 00:21:30.900 to this paralyzed man in a very different way to what we look at him with sympathy, but they would 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:36.360 have looked at him with maybe pity. You are, you're a sinner. Sucks to be you. Shouldn't have sinned. 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:41.720 Shouldn't have sinned. That's why you can't walk. There would have been that kind of spirit in this. 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:47.140 And so Jesus actually comes at him at a very different level. And he says, your sins are forgiven. 00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:51.920 What does this tell me about this point? That actually, Jesus is less interested in just our 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:57.280 physical healing, but he's here for something much deeper. There is something much bigger that 00:21:57.280 --> 00:22:01.540 he's going. Tim Keller says this, your sickness is not your fundamental problem, is what he says here. 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:06.460 You come at me, you come at Jesus with your cancer, you come at him with your paralysis, 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:11.259 you come at him with any sickness that you can imagine. The gospel, the message of the gospel is 00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:17.680 even that, even that terrifying disease is not your fundamental problem. Your fundamental problem 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:23.379 is your sin. Your fundamental problem is that you are disconnected, alienated from God himself. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.579 That is the biggest thing. And that's the thing that Jesus is actually coming to try and heal. 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:34.319 So he's trying to bring a deeper holistic healing, a restoration that is more than just us. Hey, 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:40.339 Jesus, can you help me get rid of this cold? Oh, this COVID sucks. There is so much more that 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:45.819 Jesus is wanting to do for us that goes beyond just the healing of our physical bodies. He's saying, 00:22:45.959 --> 00:22:51.519 it's not your most fundamental problem. And your sickness is not the thing that's fatal. It is your 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:57.839 sin. That's a big one for us. Because if we are honest, most of our times when we're looking to Jesus, 00:22:57.939 --> 00:23:02.500 going to Jesus, we're just wanting him. Can you just help me just be healthy again? And can you give 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:09.439 me health and wealth? And just so I can be just, just so I can be happy. Jesus here shows something 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:16.380 completely different. He shows that he has the authority to heal, but also to forgive. And this 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:20.880 is where he gets into some real trouble. And this is where if you're watching, if you're just, you're 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.160 not a Pharisee, you're not the friends who carried your friend who was paralyzed, and you just sat there 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:31.920 because you're just nosy. You'd be like, just hand me the popcorn because this is about to get even 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:37.460 worse because now the Pharisees are angry. And this is what happens. Verse 21, 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:41.940 and the scribes and Pharisees began to question. So you suddenly start hearing murmuring. People are 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:45.840 like, what's going on? I thought he was just supposed to heal this guy. Now he's saying that 00:23:45.840 --> 00:23:52.759 he can actually forgive him. Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:58.100 Interestingly here, they actually get their theology right. They just get his identity wrong. 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:05.799 Because actually, they are right. Only God can forgive. They just don't know who Jesus is. Well, 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:10.299 they're here to kind of figure out who he is. Because they're saying, only God can forgive. 00:24:11.199 --> 00:24:15.419 You can't forgive this paralyzed man. He did something really bad, and that's why he can't walk. 00:24:16.699 --> 00:24:23.679 It's kind of like Julian punching Sigmund, and then Wesley going, hey, you're forgiven, Julian. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:28.600 Julian. That doesn't make sense. The only person who has the power to forgive Julian 00:24:28.600 --> 00:24:36.200 is Sigmund, because he was the one that was punched. Does that make sense? And it's kind of like 00:24:36.200 --> 00:24:42.060 Nathan owes Danny money, and then I go to Nathan, don't worry about it. You don't need to pay him. 00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:49.600 It's all good. It's all good. Danny's a banker. He'll be fine. That doesn't work. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:55.240 So in some ways, the Pharisees are actually on, they're thinking in the right direction. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:58.079 They're like, this guy, who does he think he is? 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:05.059 Not knowing his identity. It reminds me of Psalm 51, where David, when he sins, he says, 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:10.699 against you, God, only you have I sinned. Do you realize that the mistakes that you make, yes, 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:15.299 it might upset someone else. It might hurt someone else. And yes, you have sinned, and you have to go 00:25:15.299 --> 00:25:18.799 apologize and seek forgiveness from the other person. But first and foremost, you have 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:26.859 you have upset him. Every time we make any kind of action that isn't of him, we sin against him. 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:32.659 And of course, Jesus here is revealing himself to be the son of God. And here, he actually, 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:36.839 it's the first time he refers to himself as the son of man. So he truly is raising the stakes. 00:25:36.919 --> 00:25:41.799 So what he's really saying is, my authority starts with my ability to forgive sins. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:46.419 That actually, the one who heals is the one who forgives. The one who forgives is the one who heals. 00:25:46.420 --> 00:25:51.480 I am the same person. This is much bigger than you realize. And I am not who you think I am. 00:25:51.820 --> 00:25:57.800 I am much bigger than that. And this is where, again, you see Jesus isn't, isn't, isn't, he is 00:25:57.800 --> 00:26:02.100 interested in our health. He is interested in our well-being, but he is interested in far much more. 00:26:02.560 --> 00:26:08.519 It is not a partial salvation he's going for. It's a complete one of the body, soul, mind, and heart. 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:14.599 And that's what he's trying to bring about. His words are forgiveness and healing coming together. 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:17.339 It's funny, verse 22 says this. 00:26:19.879 --> 00:26:23.680 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, why do you question in your hearts? 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:28.119 I mean, Jesus would be the most, would be the worst person to have an argument with. 00:26:28.119 --> 00:26:34.279 Because he just knows the thoughts. I mean, that would be terrible. And so he's like, I know what you're thinking. 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:37.959 Why are you worried about that? Why are you asking such a stupid question? 00:26:38.879 --> 00:26:43.539 But again, just standing on the Pharisee side, we've been doing this for 400 years, mate. 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:49.239 Like, there's been people like you who have come. You're going to have to really show us something different. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:54.519 Because actually, otherwise, we will guard this with our lives. Our whole livelihood has been put on this. 00:26:55.299 --> 00:26:59.319 Of course, we have the benefit of hindsight. Oh, you guys are stupid. Of course he's Jesus. No, no, I don't know. 00:26:59.819 --> 00:27:03.819 If I was sat there, I wouldn't be sure. I will be after this event. 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:07.079 But up until that point, actually, I wouldn't have known. 00:27:08.259 --> 00:27:12.000 And so Jesus knows what's in their heart. And I see here the compassion and patience of Jesus. 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:17.460 He knows what's going to happen. He knows how they're going to be frustrated and angry about what he's going to do. 00:27:17.460 --> 00:27:20.640 He knows later that actually this will end up with him on the cross. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:25.700 That actually their frustration and their pride is going to lead to him being crucified. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.640 But in this moment, he's just patient. And he's still trying to teach. 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:35.319 This is not what I would have done. And so he says, hey, tell me, which one is easier? 00:27:35.620 --> 00:27:38.120 To tell him to get up and walk or to tell him that his sins are forgiven? 00:27:38.120 --> 00:27:43.460 Honestly, this is a bit of a strange question. People struggle to understand this because the truth is both are hard. 00:27:43.460 --> 00:27:48.680 If someone who can't walk, if you're told, hey, someone is paralyzed, can you tell him to get up? 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:53.120 Well, that's a pretty hard thing. And of course, it's equally hard to be able to forgive someone's sins. 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:58.880 What he's really saying is actually both are impossible with man and both are equally possible with God. 00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:01.860 It's ironic, actually, because there is another element. 00:28:01.860 --> 00:28:06.600 Maybe if you really go for it, maybe it is actually harder to say, get up and walk. 00:28:06.819 --> 00:28:09.559 Why? Because you have to then have the evidence of it. 00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:12.740 Right. So Jesus is saying, hey, look, both are hard. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:17.179 You can't do either of those. But if we're just entertaining the conversation here, 00:28:17.379 --> 00:28:22.899 then actually me telling this person to get up and walk is pretty hard because it either works or it doesn't. 00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:26.039 Whereas at least if sins are forgiven, I can say, Jay, your sins are forgiven. 00:28:26.879 --> 00:28:29.000 You're going to have a huge house in heaven. You're going to be just fine. 00:28:29.419 --> 00:28:32.059 There is no way to verify that. That's actually an easier statement to make. 00:28:33.339 --> 00:28:35.099 And so Jesus is saying, you guys can't make either. 00:28:35.099 --> 00:28:37.980 And that's really what's happening here. 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:43.539 And really, this really points to the mystery when it comes to bondage and affliction and sin and sickness. 00:28:44.419 --> 00:28:48.139 And yet we don't truly understand because we know that there is spiritual warfare, 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:53.399 that there are people who are suffering from long term sickness because of spiritual warfare and because of sin. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:59.199 Maybe not their sin, but maybe their generation, their family's sin, or maybe just the just universal sin in the world. 00:28:59.419 --> 00:29:01.439 So we're not saying that those don't exist. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.279 So the mystery still remains. But what he does do is he points us to a solution. 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:10.019 He says, I'm not going to answer that question necessarily, but I will answer the whole thing. 00:29:10.100 --> 00:29:12.580 And the answer is me. And the answer is me. 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:17.940 And this is where he comes out with this big line, which really ultimately gets him into a lot of trouble and ultimately gets him killed. 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:21.820 And that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. 00:29:22.120 --> 00:29:27.980 He said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. 00:29:27.980 --> 00:29:31.319 So this is crunch time. 00:29:31.980 --> 00:29:40.460 This is Jesus has to come up clutch here or it's going to just be pretty lame because he says, rise, get up and go. 00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:42.680 In that moment, you're going to know. 00:29:43.059 --> 00:29:44.640 You're going to know whether he's the son of man. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.620 You're going to know whether he has authority on this earth. 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:53.000 You're going to know whether he has the ability to forgive sins, because in this moment, God will either vindicate him or he won't. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:58.380 And so what we see here is just this just this powerful moment where it happens. 00:29:58.519 --> 00:30:07.339 And it tells you that the man does immediately rise up, pick up his mat and go home, glorifying God. 00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:11.440 And so in that one moment, you see the Paris Lines man walks. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:19.100 This moment is key, because if you're sat there as someone, a part of the crowd who just wanted to be nosy. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:24.720 In that moment, you actually have a very simple decision that you have to make. 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:27.160 The paralyzed man walks. 00:30:28.180 --> 00:30:31.740 Do you walk with him and acknowledge that Jesus is truly Lord? 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:35.080 Or do you stay put and ignore what he just did? 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:38.840 There is there is no sitting on the fence. 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:41.180 Do you understand what happens here? 00:30:42.100 --> 00:30:44.360 That what Jesus does is force people into a decision. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:45.980 Do you believe me or do you not? 00:30:47.360 --> 00:30:49.559 Do you believe who I say I am or do you not? 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:52.400 You cannot kind of sit halfway. 00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:54.259 It's either one or the other. 00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:55.700 And so this man walks. 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.900 And I love it because actually the attention isn't on Jesus even after this. 00:30:59.019 --> 00:30:59.539 What happens? 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:03.140 And he glorifies God and everyone else glorifies God. 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:05.620 So everyone knows that just Jesus is God himself. 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:08.759 And so the big announcement has come. 00:31:08.759 --> 00:31:12.379 And you see that Jesus isn't necessarily focused on orthodoxy. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:13.740 He's focused on human need. 00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:15.839 He's not focused on just theology. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:19.420 He's focusing on can people know who I truly am? 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.400 He's not focused just on physical healing, but he's focused on complete healing. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:27.259 He's not just focused on compliance, but he's focused on connection. 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:29.440 He's not just focused on the program and the events. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:31.160 He's focused on the people. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.920 And you see Jesus is just completely outside of the box. 00:31:36.080 --> 00:31:39.320 And I pray that there would have been Pharisees there who would be like, you know what? 00:31:39.420 --> 00:31:39.900 This is it. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:48.059 The empty religion that I've had, the traditions that I followed, I can see the one who fulfills all of it. 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:51.400 I can see the one who has authority over all of it. 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:54.140 Just one final thing to note here before I conclude. 00:31:54.140 --> 00:31:56.400 This man is healed. 00:31:57.860 --> 00:32:01.680 And so he gets up and he goes, but not once do we hear a confession. 00:32:03.320 --> 00:32:07.940 Not once do we hear Jesus saying, hey, can I lead you in the sinner's prayer? 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.520 I, Clive, have sinned and made a mistake. 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:16.200 And I confess. 00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:16.900 No, I've just. 00:32:16.900 --> 00:32:23.720 This is a scandalous demonstration of the mercy and grace of God. 00:32:24.360 --> 00:32:30.259 When someone who hasn't even said sorry yet is healed, is forgiven. 00:32:31.140 --> 00:32:32.180 It is outrageous. 00:32:33.280 --> 00:32:34.200 It is reckless. 00:32:35.259 --> 00:32:38.180 And yet that is the very gospel that we're talking about. 00:32:38.840 --> 00:32:45.300 And so you have all these Pharisees and teachers of the law here who are teaching people to follow all these traditions and laws, 00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:47.500 building a fence so that they won't violate them. 00:32:48.639 --> 00:32:52.039 And yet you see this man, this ridiculous man who dares to come and forgive. 00:32:53.299 --> 00:32:56.419 Someone who hasn't even repented yet. 00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:01.839 Now, I think we have reason to believe that this man had a hunger for healing. 00:33:02.940 --> 00:33:03.980 That's pretty obvious. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:05.240 That's not a stretch. 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:12.960 And because honestly, again, I'm not even saying that the Achilles injury that we had is anything like this. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:15.960 Please, that is not what I'm trying to say here. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:22.299 But at least what Ken and I got a glimpse of was the helplessness that you experience. 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:25.799 When you can't do what you want to do. 00:33:26.779 --> 00:33:32.200 I remember sitting in the wheelchair, being pushed by my son, walking, pushing to church here, 00:33:32.659 --> 00:33:36.819 and just looking at all these human beings with two legs, walking with disgust. 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:38.399 Like, you know not what you have. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:43.639 Right? 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:47.279 It's like, you guys have no idea. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:49.920 And now, you have no clue. 00:33:51.779 --> 00:33:56.359 So I have reason to believe that the man who was paralyzed knew of his deep need. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.019 And had a hunger for him. 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:04.079 And so in that moment, Jesus seeing his heart, heals him. 00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:07.920 Reminds me of Romans where it says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:10.000 And you might say, that doesn't make sense. 00:34:10.059 --> 00:34:11.139 Well, that's exactly the point. 00:34:11.259 --> 00:34:12.219 It doesn't make sense. 00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:15.059 That's why we're all here. 00:34:15.179 --> 00:34:16.320 Because it doesn't make sense. 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.440 Someone did something that doesn't make sense. 00:34:18.860 --> 00:34:21.300 And it sent ripples through mankind. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:24.019 That is it. 00:34:25.140 --> 00:34:29.200 While we were still sinners, while we didn't deserve it, he died for us. 00:34:29.580 --> 00:34:31.900 And I think this is a demonstration of that. 00:34:32.700 --> 00:34:33.580 Where does that leave us with? 00:34:33.600 --> 00:34:34.660 I'm just going to quickly conclude now. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:37.120 First of all, we are the paralytic. 00:34:38.640 --> 00:34:39.840 We are the one who is paralyzed. 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:41.380 We are the one who needs to get to Jesus. 00:34:41.460 --> 00:34:43.180 But we are the one who cannot get there ourselves. 00:34:43.179 --> 00:34:46.599 So if you're sat here thinking, I got here myself. 00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:47.519 I've clawed my way here. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:48.480 You've just missed the gospel. 00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:51.119 You may have got a half the gospel. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:52.359 Kind of right. 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.940 But Charles Persian was the one to say that it's pretty dangerous to be almost right. 00:34:58.139 --> 00:34:59.819 We recognize that we are broken. 00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:01.679 That we are paralytic. 00:35:01.919 --> 00:35:02.480 The paralytic. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:07.419 The second thing that we need to understand, of course, that we need others to bring us to Jesus. 00:35:07.539 --> 00:35:08.000 We need help. 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:13.320 And are we that person to other people as well? 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:19.019 Let the spirit give us the wisdom to see who he wants us to bring to him. 00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:23.180 The third thing is, we know we need help, but we need more help than we realize. 00:35:24.019 --> 00:35:25.720 It's the Keller quote that I always love saying. 00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:29.019 The gospel is that you are far worse than you ever imagined. 00:35:30.059 --> 00:35:30.579 Far worse. 00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:32.619 You think you need healing just from your sickness? 00:35:32.900 --> 00:35:33.740 There is so much more. 00:35:33.739 --> 00:35:37.359 You think you just need help with just reading the Bible better? 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:38.779 You need so much more help. 00:35:38.819 --> 00:35:39.399 You need a savior. 00:35:40.659 --> 00:35:42.779 You need far much more help than you realize. 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:46.519 You are far worse than you imagined, but you are far more loved than you ever dare dream. 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:50.359 So one, we are the paralytic. 00:35:50.839 --> 00:35:52.779 Two, we need others to help us. 00:35:53.059 --> 00:35:54.679 Three, we need more help than we realize. 00:35:57.479 --> 00:35:59.459 And then four, there is someone who can help. 00:36:00.619 --> 00:36:02.639 The son of man who has authority to forgive. 00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:05.599 The son of man who has authority to heal. 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:11.460 The one who became immobile for us on the cross. 00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:16.900 The one who moved into humanity and then put himself on a cross where he was stuck. 00:36:17.159 --> 00:36:21.279 So that we would not be paralyzed anymore by our fears, by our sins. 00:36:22.219 --> 00:36:25.119 That we would be free to move towards him. 00:36:26.059 --> 00:36:28.299 The one who was mobile became immobile for us. 00:36:28.300 --> 00:36:32.860 We who were paralyzed had become free to walk towards him. 00:36:34.860 --> 00:36:35.620 The beauty. 00:36:36.740 --> 00:36:40.180 The scandalous demonstration of the gospel there. 00:36:40.900 --> 00:36:42.940 So why won't you give him all that you have? 00:36:43.940 --> 00:36:47.700 Why won't you give he who gave all that he was? 00:36:47.699 --> 00:36:51.179 And trust him. 00:36:53.059 --> 00:36:56.579 It's in those moments of need when you recognize you are the person with paralysis. 00:36:57.460 --> 00:36:59.579 Either physical or spiritual or emotional. 00:36:59.579 --> 00:37:04.119 It's in that moment when you realize that you are in need. 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:07.219 And there's that, again, another quote I love. 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:11.579 That you only realize that Jesus is all you need when Jesus is all you have. 00:37:12.619 --> 00:37:16.400 And I can imagine the desperation of that man would be like, you're my last chance. 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:17.079 This is all I have. 00:37:17.659 --> 00:37:18.920 If you don't heal me, that's it. 00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:23.639 We don't realize that Jesus is all we need until he is all we have. 00:37:24.740 --> 00:37:27.400 May we recognize our depravity, our need for a savior. 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:30.659 And recognize that this savior is good. 00:37:30.920 --> 00:37:33.139 And he gave all of himself to us. 00:37:33.820 --> 00:37:36.099 So would we give all of ourselves to him? 00:37:36.680 --> 00:37:40.599 I'm going to invite Ellie and the team up and then we'll finish with one final response. 00:37:40.599 --> 00:37:40.659 Thank you. 00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:51.720 Jesus, we come to you. 00:37:54.280 --> 00:38:03.780 Recognizing that we come to you only because you've put people around us to allow us to come to you. 00:38:09.780 --> 00:38:10.800 And we need your help. 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:19.539 But I think we need your help more than we realize. 00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:32.860 So Lord, we come to you as a person who is just lying on a stretcher. 00:38:34.019 --> 00:38:35.360 Carried by friends to you. 00:38:38.620 --> 00:38:39.920 Just desperate for healing. 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:49.080 Desperate Lord to being restored. 00:38:56.019 --> 00:39:01.039 We come to you with some of our requests for healing, especially for our physical body. 00:39:02.180 --> 00:39:06.820 But like the man here, we pray that we will come out getting so much more than we asked for. 00:39:06.820 --> 00:39:14.620 The deep, holistic, complete restoration and healing of the body, mind and soul. 00:39:22.539 --> 00:39:26.559 Lord, would you shake up any religion and any tradition that isn't of you? 00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:30.460 Any reliance on compliance or programs? 00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:34.440 Any pride in us? 00:39:38.139 --> 00:39:38.920 We come to you. 00:39:38.980 --> 00:39:39.779 You are all we need. 00:39:41.460 --> 00:39:43.000 And in truth, you are all we have. 00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:46.500 So would you have it all? 00:39:47.759 --> 00:39:48.519 Would you have it all? 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:48.519 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:48.519 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:57.579 So Jesus, have it all. 00:39:59.579 --> 00:40:01.519 In truth, it all belongs to you anyway. 00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:09.900 We take on the heart and the spirit of the man on the stretcher, on the mat. 00:40:11.980 --> 00:40:13.679 And desperately cry out to you. 00:40:13.860 --> 00:40:14.719 Would you have it all? 00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:14.739 Would you have it all? 00:40:14.739 --> 00:40:14.800 Would you have it all? 00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:15.300 Would you have it all? 00:40:15.300 --> 00:40:23.880 Would you bring healing into areas of our lives that we didn't even realize needed healing? 00:40:26.720 --> 00:40:31.900 Would you bring forgiveness in the place where we don't even realize that we need forgiving? 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:42.019 But through it all, after it all, would we leave here just glorifying you? 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:44.360 Grateful for who you are. 00:40:45.380 --> 00:40:46.579 Grateful for what you've done. 00:40:47.139 --> 00:40:48.320 And grateful for what you are doing. 00:40:49.239 --> 00:40:50.039 We trust you. 00:40:50.780 --> 00:40:51.400 So have it all. 00:40:53.940 --> 00:40:54.719 We love you. 00:40:55.860 --> 00:40:58.119 With all our heart, soul, mind and strength. 00:41:01.079 --> 00:41:02.139 In your name we pray. 00:41:03.739 --> 00:41:04.099 Amen. 00:41:04.099 --> 00:41:04.199 Amen. 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:04.199 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:04.199 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:04.199 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:04.199