Without a Prayer

Luke tells us here they're bringing in a friend, a man, verse 18, is paralyzed. There wasn't any way that he could get to Jesus unless his friends brought him. Wonderful illustration for us of the gospel enterprise.

This happens to be a picture of the Great Commission. We are delivering the gospel to helpless people who are spiritually paralyzed, bringing them essentially to Jesus by means of the gospel. Without Jesus, they don't have a prayer. Hello and welcome to Wisdom for the Heart.

Stephen Davey is continuing through his exposition in a series called, The Ministry Begins. Today, we come to a pivotal point in Jesus' ministry. For the first time, he's not only going to heal someone from physical illness, but he's going to announce his divine power to forgive sins. That's a power only reserved for God himself. Well, healing for our bodies is certainly a blessing. Healing for our souls is what we really need and will last throughout eternity. Here's Stephen with a message he's calling, Without a Prayer. The truth is when people don't have a prayer, they're most likely to begin praying. There's no option other than God, no other escape. People are ready to go to God, and many of them, perhaps even you, after some dilemma, because of that crisis which brought you to your knees, you're thankful it occurred. It brought you to God. Something like this is about to happen in the life of one very desperate man. He's introduced to us in Luke chapter 5.

Let's go back to where we left off. Luke introduces us to this man, not by his name, but by his illness. He tells us in verse 18, the man was helplessly paralyzed.

Now, before we jump in and deal with this man's illness, Luke introduces us to the audience. In fact, this is the first time we're told in the Gospel account that the religious leaders have shown up as a committee to listen to Jesus teach and to watch him heal the sick. If you were with us in our last study, Jesus healed that leper and sent him back to the priest, knowing that he was going to instigate then that priesthood an investigation of Jesus. Well, that investigation took place, and here's the investigating committee now showing up. Verse 17, on one of those days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who would come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.

That's a two-day journey, by the way. They're all packing in here. The power of the Lord was with the Lord Jesus to heal them.

Now, let me pause for a moment or two. Since this is our first encounter with these religious leaders, you may be new to the faith and new to who these men were, so let's introduce them. The teachers of the law are the scribes. These are the lawyers of the Mosaic law, so to speak. Many of them were Pharisees.

They handled the legal matters of the nation. They were the experts, the attorneys at Mosaic law. They're here in Luke, chapter 5, to basically take down the minutes and copy everything Jesus says in order to try and find some law he violates.

They're going to catch him in some legal error. The other group we're given here are Pharisees. That term just sort of summarizes it all.

It means separated ones. During the 400 years between the ending of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and the beginning of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, that 400-year period of time, this group had grown in prominence. These were men committed to defining and teaching and observing, keeping the law of Moses. They led a life of separation from the ordinary Jewish person because they were essentially so much better at keeping the law. It was quite challenging because we're not just talking about the law of Moses. We're talking about the oral law that had been developed over these 400 years.

It had expanded dramatically. Let me give you some illustrations. For instance, the law of Moses forbade working on the Sabbath. The nation of Israel wants to know what exactly is the definition of work. What would be against the law? Was it chopping wood? How about pulling weeds in the yard?

That ought to be against the law as far as I'm concerned. Is that work? What is work?

Over the years, the Pharisees provided the answers. They defined work into 39 categories. They called them the fathers of work, these categories. But then each of the 39 categories were subdivided into thousands of rules and regulations that defined work. In fact, it became full-time work just to keep up with all of the rules. The burden the law had become. It's one of the things Jesus said. Are you weary? Are you heavy laden? What's he talking about?

The law! Come to me, he said. I'll give you rest. Look at verse 18. Behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed. And they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd. Stop for a moment.

It struck me. They couldn't because of the crowd. They're trying to get their friend to Jesus, but the crowd is in the way.

It usually is. The crowd never helps people find their way to Jesus. The more convicting thought, though, to me is that whether or not we as believers, by the way we live, by the way we talk, by the way we act, by the way we work out there, are we showing people the way to Jesus or are we getting in the way?

The crowd's in the way. Luke tells us here they're bringing in a friend, a man, verse 18, who's paralyzed. Paralyticos gives us our word paralytic. It's the word he uses. Luke uses the more medically correct term for a man who's suffering from some illness which has made him paralyzed.

We're not told what that illness was. What we do know is that there wasn't any way that he could get to Jesus unless his friends brought him. He literally doesn't have a prayer, which provides, by the way, another wonderful illustration for us of the gospel enterprise.

This happens to be a picture of the Great Commission. We are delivering the gospel to helpless people who are spiritually paralyzed, bringing them essentially to Jesus by means of the gospel. Without Jesus, they don't have a prayer. We deliver the gospel to them.

I love the persistence, by the way, of these friends. Did you notice? They're carrying his mattress.

That's his mat. They've turned it into a stretcher. They can't get near the Lord.

There's just no way. The entire city has turned out. The house is jammed. The crowd is spilling out all over.

I love the fact that none of them said to each other, the crowd's too big. We'll never get through. This must not be God's will. No. No, let's try the roof.

I love their persistence. Verse 19, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. Now this gives us a little insight into the home, a typical first century home. The roof was the floor of the second floor, which made it the ceiling of the first floor. That upper story was open to the sky, and essentially you walked on the ceiling for the folks below. Luke uses the word here for ceramic tiles.

In fact, the Greek word gives us the word ceramic. So this is a more expensive home, a larger home. The tiles would be laid down for strength and support and then covered with dirt or plaster for waterproofing.

So these men here are digging through the outer layer. Then they're beginning to peel back these tiles. You can imagine the mess it was making inside the house. I wondered how the homeowner was going to explain this to the insurance company, but I don't want you to miss this. Jesus could have looked up.

Why make him go through all the trouble? He could have looked up and said, hey, look guys, don't worry about it. I see your face. I know what's going on. Son, you're healed.

You guys can take off and have a nice day. He could have done that, but he doesn't. Why? He wants this paralytic lowered right into the living room because he has something more in mind than healing. We've already learned in our last study that according to rabbinical theology, physical infirmity was a sign of divine displeasure.

In fact, they were teaching the people this axiom, the greater the sickness, the greater the sinner. So just look at this man. He's experiencing obviously terrible judgment from God because he's evidently a terrible sinner. He's paralyzed. How much worse could he get?

How much more helpless could he be? To them, this man doesn't have a prayer. Add to that the fact that one rabbi whose writings have survived the centuries wrote this.

I love this. No one, he explained, gets up from his sick bed until his sins are forgiven. So here's their logic. God is the one displeased with sin. God is the one punishing the sinner, in this case with paralysis. God is the only one who can forgive sin. And in order for this man to be healed, his sins have to be forgiven. See, Jesus is setting this up perfectly, which is, by the way, why Jesus isn't in a hurry here.

We don't know how long it took for them to tear up this roof. But Jesus wanted them lowered right down in front of all these Pharisees and scribes. They got out their legal pads. They're scratching away, probably taking some sketches like you do in court.

Here's what it looked like. They think they've got Jesus cornered. My friend Jesus has them cornered right where he wants them.

Why? Because he's about to show them a demonstration of deity. So that's why he doesn't even heal the man once he arrives. Look at what happens first, verse 20. When he saw their faith, plural pronoun, that, by the way, is for all of these men, including the paralytic, he didn't come, he didn't have them take him against his will.

They're demonstrating their faith in the power of Jesus. But Jesus says, man, your sins are forgiven you. Sins, plural, note that, every single one of them, your sins are gone. Literally, he's saying your sins are dismissed. They are sent forth.

They're gone. This is the distinctive element of the gospel, isn't it? Forgiveness, sins erased, your sins dismissed. God has chosen to forgive you and we also are told he's chosen to forget by the atoning work of Christ, who died and was buried and rose again to prove it was all true. Something greater happening here, though Jesus is claiming to do what David said God would do and these men would have known David's writings well in Psalm 103. For God, David said, is able to put your sins as far away as the east is from the west. He is able to dismiss them forever. He remembers them no more. Let me tell you something, Christian, if God remembers them no more, neither should you. Quit digging up what he's dismissed. Now this is the first time in the gospel accounts where Jesus has made any kind of claim.

I mean, this is staggering. I can see the scribes dropping their legal pads, the Pharisees feigning one or two of them, smelling salts, they didn't see this coming. In fact, none of them, they don't even know what to say, but they do get mad. Verse 21, when the scribes and the Pharisees began to question saying, who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins but God alone? Well, on that point, they're correct. That's the point. So when Jesus perceived their thoughts, follow this, this is part of the demonstration of deity, that word perceive, that verb means to know fully, to know thoroughly. He knew thoroughly their thoughts.

Why? Because they hadn't said anything yet. They're just thinking this. And Jesus can read their minds. Has it ever occurred to you or at least lately did he can't hide anything from Jesus? He knew every one of that paralytic's sins. He knew every one of them.

He knew every one of the thoughts of these men. See again, Jesus is fulfilling David's description of Messiah, this time in Psalm 139 where you could paraphrase David as saying, Lord, I am an open book to you. Even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. See what's happening here.

This is deity on display. Verse 22 again, when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, why do you question in your hearts? In other words, I know what you're questioning. You're wondering which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you or to say, rise and walk.

In other words, he just brings it all out in the open and he sort of agrees with them. You know, it really would be easier to say your sins are forgiven. Why? Because they can't be verified. That's invisible. So it's harder to say you're healed. But I tell you what, I'm going to do the second to prove the first. We're going to verify his healing in order to prove that I was in fact able to restore him spiritually. He said that this man, or but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise. That's the same word, family, the angels used when the women came to see Jesus in the tomb and he wasn't there and the angels said, who are you looking for? He's risen.

That's the word here. This is a foreshadowing, just a little taste of the power of Jesus. Rise, pick up your bed, go home, literally start walking and don't stop walking until you get home. Now for this paralyzed man to immediately get up and roll up his mat and start walking home is going to demand a series of instantaneous miracles.

Think about it. Muscle memory of how to walk implanted in his brain. Physical balance restored. Atrophied muscles instantly regenerated. Nerves regenerated. Nerve signals refiring.

Damaged spinal tissue healed. Muscles, tendons, joints operating instantly and perfectly to allow this man to just get up like he'd been sitting there for a few minutes, roll up his mat and head out the door. That's exactly what happened. Can you imagine all the people there in the front who had their little legal pads out? Well, you don't have to imagine. Luke tells us in verse 26, an amazement seized gripped them all. You ought to circle the word all. And they glorified God and were filled with awe saying, we have seen extraordinary things today.

Well, no kidding. You get translated, we have seen unbelievable things, unexpected things, marvelous things today. Now there are two sets of miracles that have taken place.

One verifying the other. Spiritual regeneration and physical regeneration. Sins forgiven, a body healed. By the way, don't overlook the fact that the greater miracle of the two was the first. Spiritual.

Why? Well, because physical healing would be temporary during this man's lifetime. He will eventually grow old and die. Physical restoration here was tremendous, but it was temporary. But the spiritual miracle of regeneration, the power of God to dismiss all sin is eternal. This is going to take him from earth to heaven through Christ. You've experienced, believer, the greater miracle. We pine for the lesser miracle. We have received the greatest, the eternal miracle.

Let me offer a couple of observations. First, only helpless sinners understand their true need to be forgiven by God. When your back's against the wall, this is total helplessness. You've tried everything. You've got your rules, your list, your works, a little baptism maybe. You're a good person. You're coming to faith in Jesus, however, because there's no other option.

Because you've come up empty everywhere else. I remember reading the story told by Hugh Redwood, a preacher from England a couple hundred years ago. He wrote about a woman who lived in the dock district, the slum district in London. She lived with a Chinese man, and they had what they called back then a half-caste baby. She was considered an outcast to her society. She heard of a lady's Bible study in a church not too far away and decided to make the effort to go. She recognized her spiritual need. Redwood writes, she went and enjoyed the study of God's word with these women.

It was new to her. She returned the next week and the next, bringing her baby with her that time because on that occasion there was no one to keep them. But then the vicar came to her and said, ma'am, you cannot return any longer.

The other women do not want you and your baby here. Tears filled her eyes and she looked at this religious leader and said, I know I am a sinner, but isn't there anywhere that a sinner can go? People turned away by the religious world, people turned away by their own society, people who know they're sinful. That's the place where you turn to Jesus. The Bible says call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. I've met a lot of people who don't call on the name of the Lord because they don't need to.

They'll tell me everything they've done. But a helpless sinner recognizes their helplessness and according to the Bible, you're able to make that call. Secondly, only forgiven sinners understand the true joy of singing praise to God. Look at verse 25, he went home glorifying God, but then notice verse 26, all of them, again mark that, they're joining in glorifying God as well. They're all filled with all, they're all glorifying God. This is the only verse I can think of where I've even been given the slightest impression that an entire group of Pharisees and scribes believe in who Jesus is. This whole thing turns around. This whole thing, a revival just sort of breaks out right here in this man's home. By the way, these Pharisees will not be the last to leave their religious pride and their good works in the dust in favor of a relationship with Jesus Christ and in him alone.

Why? Because the apostle Paul will tell us a little later on in the book of Acts in chapter 23 and verse 6, he tells us that he once was a Pharisee. But here they all are. And to this day, a song of praise, by the way, comes from the heart of people who realize that without the Lord's forgiveness, we don't stand a chance, we don't have a prayer. But when you come to him and ask him for forgiveness and faith, the gospel message we deliver is that he will forgive you and you'll understand like this man here why you don't just get up and walk home, you get up and you start walking and glorify God. Jesus offers us the healing we really need, healing for our soul. This is Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey.

Stephen is the pastor of the Shepherd's Church in Cary, North Carolina. It's always a real joy to hear from our listeners. Let me share with you what some of your fellow listeners have said recently. One listener wrote to say, I appreciate your ministry and preaching. I'm inspired to study the word and walk closely with the Lord because of the truths brought out in your sermons.

Teresa who listens internationally said, I love to listen to Stephen and his many different series. They helped me understand the mysteries of the Bible so much better. And because of that, I tell others about this program all the time.

And one more from Gail in South Carolina. Thank you for serving our Lord Jesus so faithfully. It's my routine pleasure to listen daily to Stephen's messages from the Word. My understanding of God's Word grows clearer and stronger through your sermons. May God continue to bless your ministry. Well, thanks to those who took the time to write to us and friend, we'd be encouraged to hear from you. Send an email to info at wisdom online.org or write to us at wisdom for the hearts P.O. Box 37297, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27627. Thanks for joining us today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you'll be back with us on Monday for more wisdom for the hearts.