Month: February 2021

No Risk It, No Biscuit (Part Three)

Luke 5:17-26

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:20-21 NIV)

We have seen how four men took a risk to bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus, in order to be healed by him. Their faith impelled them to take the risk of removing part of the roof above where Jesus was inside the house, and then to lower their friend down through the opening before the Lord. Clearly, healing was on their minds and the paralyzed man’s mind, and probably on the minds of the people inside the house, when they got over the shock of the paralyzed man’s unconventional entry. All waited for the response of Jesus to what had happened.

First of all, we must understand that the Bible does not teach that an individual’s sin or sins is always a direct result of their sin. That is an error as old as Job’s friends. Certainly, it can be (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). But Jesus elsewhere taught that disability, disease, and physical suffering can be for other reasons. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him” (John 9:2-3 CSB). So then, we should not suppose, as some have suggested, that Jesus’ words, “Friend, your sins are forgiven”, were only a preliminary step to heal the man. What then was Jesus’ intent in this surprising greeting?

Christ spoke first to the man’s greatest need, his need to be right with God. It is common to assume that a person’s basic needs are medical, physical, familial, social, emotional, psychological, or financial. Most people spend most of their lives on a desperate search for the satisfaction of their assumed needs according to popular “wisdom”. Desires to improve our condition in this world are quite natural. It’s what people do. Jesus recognized human desires, but added a spiritual corrective to such passions. “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs” (Matthew 6:31-32 NLT). The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced (Matthew 13:22 NLT). Christ taught us to have higher ambitions: “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 CSB).

The Lord Jesus first met the paralyzed man’s spiritual need. His sins had separated him from God. The time had come to remove the barrier, so that the man could be right with God and to live as God’s child—in freedom from sin and in friendship with God over all.

Luke did not record the immediate reaction of the man or his four friends to Jesus’ word of forgiveness. However, we do know the correct response when our sins are forgiven. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered (Romans 4:7 NIV). It is a time of great joy. To have our sins forgiven and to be declared right with God through faith in the Risen Christ is the greatest blessing anyone can receive. Do you have this joy?

In the pursuit of earthly desires and their pleasures, many have no interest in being forgiven and accepted by God. Heavenly matters are considered a total waste of time. But my reader, do you know that your sins are forgiven? Jesus the Messiah died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead that we might be right with God. Don’t let this message be crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth. Before long, you will appear before the Lord. Your life is slipping away from you, and really, you cannot acquire anything in this world that can help you at the hour of death. You have an appointment with the true and living God that you will certainly keep (Hebrews 9:27)! Yet there is hope for you today. Now is the day of salvation and forgiveness of sins. Turn from them and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved today. Don’t risk eternal judgment by refusing mercy today!

Grace and peace,
David

No Risk It, No Biscuit (Part Two)

Luke 5:17-26

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven” (5:18-20 NIV).

Friendship. Brotherly love. This is the way that God wants people to live. It’s what we all need to share. Yet often it can be hard to find, especially when friendship becomes costly. Like when someone has a severe disability or illness. As time passes, the visits from people assumed to be our friends diminish. Their lives move on, and the ill or disabled person is not able to move with them. It’s hard to find people that can and are willing to invest their time, compassion, and other resources to help those that are very weak.

Here we read of four men (Mark 2:3) who were able and willing to help a paralyzed friend. We are not told the whole story. We do not know how much time and work they had already invested in helping their disabled, helpless friend. But on an important day, these four men of faith chose to act mercifully to take their friend to Jesus.

The Lord Jesus was already well-known in Israel as a healer. When he entered a town, many were healed from their disabilities and cured from many kinds of illnesses, including those that no physician had ever cured. And on this day, Jesus the Healer was in their town. Could he heal their friend of his paralysis? It seemed impossible. But they believed that Jesus was able, and so they started out.

Regardless of the distance of the journey, transporting their friend would require hard work and time. It is not easy to carry anyone, and they were doing it under the hot near eastern sun. There would be many stops to rest their muscles, coupled with changing arms and so sides of the stretcher. They would also have used emotional energy, taking care that they did not tip the stretcher and drop their helpless friend to the ground.

Finally, they reached the place where Jesus was. He wasn’t outside like many times, but inside a house, and the house was packed and there were crowds of people surrounding the house. Now, if you think that the crowds would have made way for the men to carry the paralyzed man into the house, you have not been around people, especially people who want their own needs met. Jesus experienced crowds of people pushing and shoving to get near him throughout his earthly ministry. Think of the grace of Jesus. He put up with self-centered people so that he could end their self-centeredness and bring them to God.

The four men of faith surveyed the scene and considered what they could do. They could not find a way through the crowds. But it was relatively common for houses to have flat roofs that people could go on to catch a breeze. I have been on one such rooftop in Mali, and in the high heat, it was cooler. So, they came up with a plan to carry the paralyzed man up to the roof. They would go above the crowds. That involved a bit of a risk as you can imagine if you think of yourself being on that stretcher.

Then came the big risk of their plan, a risk that would make them work hard, cost them money, and perhaps bring them into legal problems. But their compassion and their faith led them to do it. As Mark says in the Greek text, they unroofed the roof (Mark 2:4)! Imagine the scene, as they pulled up the tiles and debris began to fall into the house in front of Jesus. To do this would take more than a couple minutes. Did anyone try to stop them? It all was a huge risk. But they took it to get their friend to the Lord and Savior. What would Jesus do?

Before we continue, ask yourself, “Would I take a risk like that to get a friend to Jesus? What risks have I taken to spread the good news of Christ? Or am I content to let others suffer and perish because I overvalue my own safety and comfort?”

Grace and peace,
David

No Risk It, No Biscuit (Part One)

Luke 5:17-26

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick (5:17 NIV).

The title is a phrase made famous by Bruce Arians, head coach of the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It presents his coaching philosophy that a team must take risks to succeed. In this section, we will see men who took a risk to bring a friend to the Lord Jesus. Before we consider the risk they took and its outcome, we should consider the setting of this event.

Jesus constantly taught people about God and his kingdom, and the common people were interested in what he had to say. They would gather in great numbers to hear him. But along with them came others Pharisees and teachers of the law. They were the conservatives in the religious establishment, highly devoted to God’s law (torah) and their own rules and regulations, and for most of them, the second more than the first. Sometimes, some priests would also come to observe what Jesus taught and did, but they are not mentioned here. Luke points out the group of religious leaders who would quickly become critics of Jesus. By the large area that they came from, we can observe that they already regarded Jesus with jealous or otherwise hostile opinions. In that time you did not walk a long distance to hear Jesus out of casual interest. They had an agenda.

However, God also had an agenda; he had a purpose for Jesus to fulfill during his earthly ministry. For example, read Isaiah 35:1-7, and notice verse 6: Then will the lame leap like a deer…. (NIV). Why would this happen? They will see the glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God (35:2 NIV). The Pharisees ought to have looked for the glory of the Lord; instead, they searched for ways to find fault with Jesus.

God doesn’t take risks. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will (Isaiah 46:10 CSB). In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11 CSB). So then, the Sovereign Lord has no regard for the phrase of the Tampa Bay coach. God collects all the “biscuits” he desires. Sending his one and only Son to earth was not a risk. God over all had a purpose that he wanted to accomplish. In his grace, it included a plan of salvation for all who repent and believe in Jesus. Have you turned from your sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ?

In this event, God made known his purpose of grace and mercy by Jesus healing the sick. Every healing was a sign pointing to God’s love. Each one proclaimed loudly the glory of the living God.

Sadly, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were not interested in salvation. They had their own evil agenda, just as many in our time. They wanted power and prestige. It’s shocking how many will forsake truth for things that last such a short time.

Grace and peace,
David