He Has Authority to Forgive Sins

Open with me in your copy of the Word of God to the Gospel according to Luke.

The Gospel according to Luke will be in chapter 5 this morning, verses 17 through 26.

Forgiveness is central in this morning's passage.

As we've sung and prayed, another theme as well that we often don't connect with forgiveness,

forgiveness, authority.

We had a little neighbor kid a couple of years ago, a good friend of our family's.

He'd be in and out of the house, and there was one afternoon he knocked on the door,

hey, can I come in and play?

And it just wasn't a good time, so one of our kids said, no, it's not a good time, sorry,

maybe a little later.

And he said, well, my mom said I could.

And those are just the kind of things that we would hear.

They're hilarious, and there's only a little sliver of time in a young person's growth

where they're trying to grasp authority, and they can understand the language, but they

don't quite get it yet.

You know, mom and dad, parental authority, he understood, have authority over the home

and him, but not over the neighborhood.

He understood authority, just not the scope of parental authority.

Well.

Tuck that away now as we head into our passage that will repay us a little bit later.

Luke chapter 5, 17 through 26.

On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting

there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power

of the Lord was with him to heal.

And behold, some men were bringing on a bed.

A man.

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, they went up on the roof and

let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.

And when he saw their faith, he said, man, your sins are forgiven you.

And the scribes and Pharisees began to question, saying, who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive?

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them.

Why do you question in your hearts?

Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, rise and walk, 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, pick up your bed, and go home.

And immediately he rose up before them.

And picked up what he had been laying on, and went home, glorifying God.

And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God, and were filled with awe, saying, we

have seen extraordinary things today.

Well, Jesus alone has the authority to forgive sins.

You can't get your sins forgiven by or through sin.

Anybody else.

It's not enough to confess sins to God generally.

We must receive forgiveness that comes through Jesus specifically.

Now, this claim assumes a few things.

First, that sin is a real problem.

That there's a such thing as sin.

That sin is our problem.

That it's a problem that I have.

It's not a problem.

It's a problem created by someone else.

My biology, my genealogy, where I come from, my society and structures about me.

It assumes that we need forgiveness.

It assumes that not just anybody can grant forgiveness.

And it assumes that Jesus is the one who can.

Well, there's a lot there in that little claim.

Jesus alone has the authority to forgive.

He has the authority to forgive sins.

I don't know what your relationship with Jesus is.

I don't know what your relationship to the idea of forgiveness is.

Maybe it's been, who cares about forgiveness?

And you're maybe in that category of folks who aren't comfortable even with the idea of sin.

There are mistakes or there are deficiencies.

But sins, that's a little strong.

Or maybe quite opposite.

Your relationship with forgiveness is, how could he?

It's not who cares, but it's how could God forgive me?

Your view of sin is large and maybe true, but you're missing the grace of God.

That's why we have the Bible.

God's a forgiving God.

It's a fair question.

How could he?

Some might say, well, of course he can.

But not have pondered why that is.

Of course he can because, of course, I'm so forgivable.

Of course, my sins are all understandable.

And so he can forgive me.

And that betrays a misunderstanding about God, too.

See, forgiveness isn't just a problem for us.

It's a problem for God.

And that God can't forgive and remain a just judge if there is not a payment for sin.

To allow him to forgive.

And this book of Luke ends with a cross and a resurrection.

We're not there yet.

Everything isn't given away at once.

But I'm happy to give it away now at the beginning.

For the first readers of Luke's gospel would have known about the cross.

For God to forgive, he must punish sins in his son on the cross.

And praise God that he's that holy that he just doesn't overlook sin like it's no big deal.

But he is gracious so that he makes a way that he can forgive.

So whatever your relationship with forgiveness has been, who cares?

How could he ever?

Or, of course he can.

This morning's passage offers us all a needed tune-up.

Well, if you've been...

Casual with forgiveness, maybe you need to be offended by the idea of forgiveness before

you can come to know it truly yourself.

Jesus is happy to offend you this morning in order that you might turn to him as Lord.

All right.

Well, all of this comes to us in a story this morning.

So let's do the story some justice.

And work our way from one top, one side of the story to the other, from the top to the bottom of our passage.

We'll do it in four movements.

And we'll follow the movements of the characters.

In the first place, the Pharisees have a seat.

That's what he says.

You see, verse 17.

On one of those days, he was teaching Jesus.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there.

Who had come from every village of Galilee.

From Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.

And the power of God was on the Lord Jesus to heal.

The characters are kind of easy to miss.

The story is in black and white.

And these characters weren't around us and among us in our own life experience.

So it can be easy to just imagine a crowd generally.

And there are lots of people gathering around Jesus.

So he's gathering attention and people are coming.

And it might be easy.

To skip over this.

You know, the characters, Pharisees, teachers of the law and the crowds and such.

Are just kind of like wallpaper for the action.

Which is Jesus' interaction with somebody.

But the crowds are a character in the story.

And in this case, we don't see crowds.

Although they're there.

What we see are Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there.

And if you were to get out Mark's gospel account and other gospel accounts.

You would notice that Luke gives special attention.

To the audience in his gospel here.

Now, sometimes if you study the Bible.

You might be thinking.

Oh, I've heard this story.

Let me go over to Matthew.

Or let me go to Luke.

Oh, look.

More information.

Excuse me.

You go to Matthew or Mark.

Oh, look.

More information that Luke did not include.

I will include it in my teaching.

I don't think that's the best way to use a comparison with other gospels.

Sometimes there's a simple fact that maybe this author is assuming.

But didn't say.

But often enough, the author is saying what he's saying.

And leaving things out for his own purposes.

So making a comparison.

With another gospel account.

That doesn't highlight the audience so strongly and clearly.

Can tell us that maybe there's something to this.

In other words, we don't compare Luke with Matthew.

To find out what's missing.

To fix what Luke didn't include.

Now, we compare Luke with Matthew or Mark.

In order to get a better insight.

Into Luke's meaning.

And I think this deserves a whole point.

In our little walk here.

The Pharisees have a seat.

I want us to begin imagining Jesus teaching.

There have been crowds following.

He's getting a lot of attention.

He's in a town.

We don't know which.

But now there are a handful.

Many even of these Pharisees and teachers of the law.

Sitting there.

It says they've come from every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.

So, word has been getting out about Jesus.

Reports going out everywhere.

And it's not just the paralyzed who have heard.

It's also the Pharisees who have heard.

They're easy to miss.

But we're paying attention.

It's to be expected.

Jesus was expecting this company eventually.

Because of the reports going out.

Now, let's examine them briefly.

Think about this like a TSA bag scanner.

Or maybe that scanner as you walk into a courtroom.

Who's?

Who's here?

And what do they have going on with them?

Well, the Pharisees were teachers of the law.

They were not priests.

But they were religious leaders.

They were looked to as the interpreters of the law.

The scribes were the professional class.

Who gave themselves to interpreting and applying the law to everyday life.

So, these folks are serious about the Bible.

They are determined that they would obey it.

They are determined that others would obey it.

And they've written all kinds of paragraphs and literature on how to go about obeying it.

So, you have this law here.

And then this is what you do in this circumstance and in this circumstance.

And some of that's good.

But these guys had made a law of it unto themselves.

So, I highlight their seriousness about obedience and the word.

Because they really were serious about obedience and the word.

But they missed the heart of the matter.

They missed the heart of the Bible.

And they will miss and do miss Jesus.

But obedience is good.

Carefulness in obeying the Bible is good.

It is not enough.

It is certainly not enough to save us from our sins.

A lot of obedience can actually deceive us into thinking we don't need forgiveness for our sins.

All of us do.

Jesus is worth our obedience.

But we need Jesus.

Because we're saved.

We're not sinners.

They're easy to miss.

But there they are.

We expected them to come.

Examine them.

We know who they are.

And what are they doing there?

Well, they're there to conduct a theology exam on Jesus.

That's what they're there for.

They're there to put Jesus in the dock.

To examine him.

To see if he passes muster.

To see if he's got good theology.

Or if he's a problem.

He's certainly getting a lot of attention as a teacher.

And there.

Their antennae are up.

Jesus was expecting them.

For remember, he sent that leper out to the priests.

As a proof.

And the priests would go through a process.

And the leper would be brought back into the community.

And good thing that Jesus had been getting a way to pray.

Remember how often he gets a way to pray?

Because not only can the positive adulation that Jesus was receiving take Jesus off his mission.

But he had negative attention coming.

Just after.

And now he's teaching in front of a hostile audience.

And it can kind of mess with your head as a teacher.

To have those sitting there who are studied in the scriptures.

Who are waiting for you to fail.

And there they are.

But Jesus has been praying.

He's faithful to his father.

And he's ready for this encounter.

The Pharisees have a seat.

Okay.

Now verses 18 through 19.

We meet a paralyzed man laying on a bed.

A paralyzed man laying on a bed.

Let's watch him and follow him.

Now usually a paralyzed man laying on the bed isn't moving.

At least off the bed.

In this case, he is doing a good bit of moving with the help of some friends.

His bed is a kind of cart or car.

And even a crane it seems.

I don't know how they did it.

Verse 18.

The men bring the paralytic.

The man who is paralyzed to Jesus.

And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who had been paralyzed.

And they were seeking to bring him in and to lay him before Jesus.

And so we meet the man who is oppressed in his own body.

Who is a captive to his own body.

He is not able to walk.

He is not able to move.

He is not able to walk.

He is not able to move naturally.

No doubt this would lead to all kinds of other troubles.

If you have a close friend or family member who is paralyzed.

You would have a certain understanding of the difficulty here.

And no surprise we meet the man.

But we have also met his handlers.

His carriers.

It says he was carried by men.

And no doubt there were women who cared for him in his life.

Don't know his age.

He may be out of the house.

Maybe his mother has died.

And family.

Maybe his mother has died.

but it is men who were carrying him. There were not wheelchairs, there weren't orthopedic beds and

beds with wheels and such. No, life is hard enough if you're paralyzed today. It was very hard

in the first century. And a burden for all, a burden for the man who is paralyzed,

who doesn't get to enjoy the experiences and life that he may have lived, that his

friends and family live out before him. There is a kind of a dehumanizing,

degrading experience of having to be cared for and carried and wiped and everything

that comes with it. A burden for him and a burden for those with him.

Heartache and backache, literally and figuratively speaking, that can be an umbrella for all the

losses.

That come with the good care of those who are hurting in our lives.

So here the men bring this man they care for, they're given to,

and they care enough about him to bring him to Jesus. And so in verse 19, we've seen him move

to Jesus, his home. But now we see him move up and then down, up on a roof and then down

into the midst,

finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on a roof and let him down

with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. This is obnoxious. This is aggressive.

This is likely risky. This is attention-getting. This is an act of very great faith.

They really believe.

That Jesus can do something about this man's paralysis.

Now movement three. Jesus takes his seat behind the bench in verses 20 through 24.

We might expect Jesus to sit by this man by his bed, but Jesus does something different.

And by what Jesus does here, he teaches us,

not that our infirmities and pain and medical maladies are no big deal,

but he's teaching us that we have a very much greater need that those maladies point to.

So all of the pain and the suffering in your body and in the body of your loved one,

that's real. And the Lord cares for that and he knows it.

Just imagine then,

a suffering that is greater, a problem that is greater. You would want to know if you had it.

Well, Jesus knows what that is. He doesn't sit beside the man's bed.

He, I'm using this kind of a courtroom metaphor. You'll see why. He takes his seat behind

the bench. And when he saw their faith, verse 20, he said,

man, your sins are forgiven you.

And in this way, Jesus makes a judgment. He clears the man's guilt. That is not why he came.

That is not why his friends picked him up. I have to wonder what they were thinking when they heard

it. Maybe they thought even better. Maybe they thought he doesn't get it. But Jesus knows,

what he is doing. He makes a judgment. He speaks to the paralytic.

Your sins are forgiven. And this is a kind of climactic moment. You remember two weeks ago,

Jesus encountered Peter. Jesus was teaching before a large crowd, borrowed Peter's boat,

pushed off into the water. And then after the teaching was done, told Peter, a tired fisherman,

hadn't caught anything all night, to go ahead and put his net down. Peter reluctantly,

but obediently did so and caught a lot of fish. And then Peter confessed his sins. I am a sinner.

Depart from me. And Jesus did not depart and did not send Peter away, but received Peter and put

Peter into his service. Now, that's not the whole of the story. We have the rest of Luke's gospel.

Implied, though, is forgiveness. Not that you're not a sinner, not that your sins don't matter,

but implied is forgiveness.

Last week, Jesus heals a leper. No, remember we said he cleansed a leper.

And that leprosy was symbolic of the touch of death on a person because of their participation

in sin with Adam and our whole race. So, Jesus needs not just to heal the leper, but to cleanse

him. And implied there is forgiveness. Well, here, now it's on Jesus' lips. What has been implied,

is now explicit. Now, it will take us all the way to the cross before we'll know how he's going

to accomplish forgiveness. But here, the idea is introduced. You see, each of these stories don't

stand alone as like, it'll date me a bit, but like a little MacGyver episode that starts and

ends and finishes and you move on and there's a whole new episode later. No, you'll binge watching

Netflix shows is a thing now. And so, the story, there's a story arc that can carry you across

weeks and even weeks. And so, the story arc that can carry you across weeks and even weeks and

even months or like one long day if that's you or us. You know, everyone's got some time for that

sometimes, not all the time. You shouldn't have time for that all the time. Come talk to a pastor,

it's okay. But you know what I mean. The old shows, you know, they couldn't count on you having

watched anything before. You knew the characters and the framework and they stand alone. They're

in parallel. Well, in this case, these stories that we're looking at of Jesus' encounters are

building. They're building. So, we bring the work we've done to Jesus. We bring the work we've done

over the last weeks to this story. And now, we hear on Jesus' lips, your sins are forgiven. And

now, we know where he's been going with all of this. These were not merely compassion power

stories. In fact, we might say, oh, Jesus heals to prove he's God. Yes and no. Here, he heals to

prove something else to prove he's God. Put a pin in that.

The men bring their friend. He goes up and down the roof. Jesus has a seat behind the bench. Jesus

makes a judgment and clears the man's guilt. He speaks to the paralytic when he does this,

but he speaks for the Pharisees.

That's what's special about this passage. The Pharisees are right there, a good little crowd

of them.

And Jesus is saying this, and they're hearing to provoke. And of course, in verse 21 through 22,

the Pharisees object. And the scribes and Pharisees began to question, saying,

who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

They didn't have a problem with Jesus' forgiveness.

Exactly. They had the problem. They didn't have a problem, excuse me, with forgiveness. Exactly.

They had a problem with Jesus' claim that he can forgive.

Let's stay in the neighborhood with the neighborhood illustration.

If I sin against one of my children or my children sin against me,

they're not going to the neighbor for forgiveness.

But I see a,

a scuffle between a neighbor kid and his father. I don't offer the child forgiveness.

Come over here, young one. You're forgiven. You know, take it for, you know, I am the one.

I'm not, I don't have anything to do with it. I can point him to Jesus,

but that's between him and his dad. His dad's got to forgive him. Son's got to forgive the dad.

I mean, it matters. Well, the Pharisees are right. They've got decent theology,

they might be a little clearer in their own heads than some of us.

They know, and they are passionate about the plain truth that only God can forgive

sinners all their sins because God is the offended party.

Do you have a God that can be offended by you? Do you have a God that can be offended by sin?

Is he only nice?

If he's only nice, he is not really nice.

Now, we need a God who is offended by sin because sin is an offense against him,

and typically when it's committed against another person, and he loves his image bearers,

and he loves his image as reflected in those whom he has made. The Pharisees object

because they understand something, that God is offended by sin, and God alone can

forgive. The Pharisees spoke privately to themselves about this, and Jesus heard them

perfectly. He saw the faith of the men in the paralytic, and he understands exactly what's in

their hearts. The Pharisees, as they talk, they questioned in their hearts, and Jesus then

questions them publicly. Why do you question in your hearts?

Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or rise and walk?

Jesus knows what's in your heart. He knows your honest questions, and he knows these kinds of

questions, your hostile questions. Be intimidated by Jesus before you find him helpful as the one

who can forgive your sins. He sees all. To have a God who sees all, to have a God who sees all,

to have a God who sees all, to have a God who sees all, to have a God who sees all, to have a God

who sees all, and a Lord who sees all, makes his forgiveness all the more comforting and

assuring, because you know that he actually knows all of your thoughts, as we see here.

The Pharisees object privately. Jesus questions them publicly. And now in verses 23 through 24,

Jesus offers conclusive evidence of his authority as judge,

of the whole world. Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, rise and walk?

Poses the question, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth,

not just here in this town, or with this man, or on earth, to forgive sins. And now he says to the

man who is paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. And that you may know that

is exactly what the man does. The Pharisees set themselves up as a judge over Jesus. And in every

age, this is every sinner's temptation. And there are always classes of people who are happy to set

themselves up as judges over Jesus. And to tell us that Jesus is right or wrong, or where he's right,

or where he's wrong.

But Jesus demonstrates perfectly that he is judge of the whole world.

Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive.

What this means is that Jesus is the one who makes the final verdict on your life.

He makes God's verdict on the whole world. And there is no one else who can say they can do that,

for there is no one else who has the authority to do that but jesus has the authority to judge

the whole world the son of man has authority on earth to judge and therefore his emphasis to forgive

sins so back to our little lessons on that initial claim that jesus alone has authority to forgive

sins means that sin is a real problem it means that we really have sin and it's our problem

means that we need forgiveness it means that not just anyone can offer it

and here's the rub it means that jesus alone can now see the pharisees understood about sin

the pharisees understood the truth about god

that he is offended by sin and is holy and just and must judge it and that he alone can offer

forgiveness they even understood what jesus was saying they really did they understood the

implications of what jesus was saying that he was claiming to be god and so you see jesus's healing

of the man was to prove that he had authority to forgive sins which meant a claim to be judge of

the whole world which means he's going to be a judge of the whole world and he's going to be a

god so follow the line in the passage it's not from healing to his divinity it's from healing

to his authority to his divinity see some can look at a miracle and explain it away or accept

that there may be intrusions supernatural intrusions on the natural order some would

say oh in the first century they they uh they didn't understand miracles or they thought

everything was a miracle that doesn't make sense jesus is breaking into normal life

everyone knew what normal life was this man was paralyzed they weren't taking him into anyone else

that's why everyone was flocking to him he was doing miraculous things

that broke the pattern that were unnatural that were supernatural

but you see even for this group here that is the focus these pharisees they would see a miracle

and it's not what they needed to believe in jesus they understood jesus perfectly

very well

miracle did them no good they were fine with miracles they were not fine with the meaning of

these miracles as it concerned jesus seen the pharisees have a seat we've seen a paralyzed

man lay on a bed and move to jesus and up and down in this midst we've seen jesus take a seat

behind the bench of the universe the judge of the world

what does he do with it but offer forgiveness to those who have faith in him

and finally fourth a forgiven man gets up and walks home immediately he rose up before them

and he picked up what he'd been laying on and he went home glorifying god and amazement seized

them all and they glorified god and were filled with awe saying we have seen extraordinary

things

today so the man is perfectly healed physically he is no longer paralyzed

no pain meds when he goes home at least for that no follow-up appointments the next week

or indefinitely to catch a thing when it comes back or to watch his muscles

make sure they're forming right no no no he went home perfectly healed

and one thing we learn from this story is that it is not enough to be perfectly healed he can

walk like everybody else can walk but everyone else still needs jesus so whatever malady you

have whatever pain you have jesus has compassion he knows we show one another compassion we help

we carry one another but let us not think that what we need is to be healed we need to be healed

what we need is just to be able to walk again what we need is just to have a clear head or a clear

throat or to have our pain gone because then we're actually still in the very same relationship to

god as those who need forgiveness we're in the same place as everybody else who can walk

or think without trouble now he leaves perfectly healed and that's very good for him

but that perfect healing is a picture of

perfect forgiveness

as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove your sins from you

it is because of the death of the son of god the lord jesus who will go on from this story

and there's more to tell and he'll find himself on a cross put there in part by this religious

establishment who loves obedience and hates a savior from sin

god's savior from sin a picture of total forgiveness is what we see in the picture of

this man who is walking home so i don't know what your relationship with forgiveness have been

whether it's that who cares who needs forgiveness or whether it's of course he can

but your god can't be offended of course he can forgive because it's so understandable

my sins are because of what other people have done to me society and

my family and my boss or whatever or maybe you've thought how could he ever and so you've got an

offended holy god but you don't have a god of grace who makes a way to forgive us our sins

so i hope this has helped you to tune up your vision of god it healed you of a delusion

that either God doesn't need to forgive you

or that He won't and can't

so that you might be healed in your heart

and forgiven of your sins.

So how are you going home today?

That's the question.

How are you going home today?

Are you going home confused about Jesus?

Confused about sin?

Confused about God and His holiness?

Well, I pray you would seek out a Christian friend

and open the scriptures

and come with your questions.

Your questions are important

because you are important

and that you would be forgiven of your sins

is important to God and to us.

So don't be ashamed of questions.

Don't be afraid to ask.

Don't be afraid to have someone over

to ask if you can come over

and tell your whole story

of where you got where you're at

and how you can't quite make sense

of what you're hearing on the Lord's Day here at church.

Any of us would be so happy

to spend all the time that you need

to answer your questions.

Sin really is a problem.

It really is our problem.

We really do need forgiveness.

Not just anyone can forgive.

There is one who can and His name is Jesus.

So how are you going home today?

Confused?

I hope not.

I hope that you could go home.

Forgiven of your sins.

Walking with the Lord.

And as this man was, glorifying God.

And what does that mean but

giving Him credit for the new situation that you're in.

Giving Him praise.

Giving Him worship.

Because He's the God who has transformed your situation.

Who has reversed your relationship with God.

We were living apart from Him.

We were alienated from Him in darkness.

According to the course of the world.

We were dead in our sins, scripture says.

But He makes us alive together with Christ.

He forgives us our sins.

He makes us to walk in a new way with Him.

And as this man is walking with new legs.

So we can walk spiritually with new legs.

The new relationship with God.

Forgiven.

I pray you're not leaving hardened.

I pray you're not leaving confused.

Pray you're leaving fully forgiven.

Glorifying God.

Even we can pray this for our church.

Filled with awe.

Saying we have seen extraordinary things today.

When we come to church we do the same old things in a way.

These are old things that we do.

But this truth should never get old for us.

And pray for me as the preacher that it won't get old for me.

And pray that I would not rehearse it with you.

In the same old way.

Put it in fresh terms like the authors do.

But not meddle with it.

Not try to make it more interesting than it is.

We can pray for our church that we would be filled with awe.

And say each Lord's day that we have seen extraordinary things.

And sometimes the Lord in your specific life will bring you to a place.

Where you're able to see how extraordinary forgiveness is.

Brings you to a very low place.

Gives you over to sin for a time.

So that you can see what comes out of your mouth.

So that you can see the thoughts that you think.

So that you can find out how you act under that kind of pressure.

And just know that whatever came out of you.

God is pleased to forgive it.

If you come to him in faith.

That's not to be missed here by the way.

It's the first time that forgiveness is mentioned.

And it's the first encounter in which faith is mentioned.

Jesus will explain more what all that means.

And who all we're trusting in.

But it's enough right now that Jesus responded to their faith.

And offered forgiveness.

So what do we bring to Jesus in order to get forgiveness from him?

Well we don't bring.

All the things that we did to try to remedy our situation.

And now we're out of options.

But hopefully we did enough that he can pick up where we left off.

We don't bring a list of our achievements.

The Pharisees had plenty of those.

We simply bring our open hands.

That's it.

That's faith.

Is receiving from God.

All that God has offered to us.

And if your hands are closed.

And you say I've got it.

I'm fine.

And I don't need you.

Then you will not be forgiven of your sins.

But no matter what your sins.

If you open your hands.

Your heart.

You come with faith.

That fully believes.

That God can and is pleased to clear your guilt.

These men came confident that Jesus could heal the man paralyzed.

And so we come to Jesus confident that Jesus can take away all our sins.

And if you come with that confidence.

The forgiveness is yours.

And we go away and we walk in newness of life.

Giving praise.

To God.

From the heart.

And a new walk.

Not a perfect walk.

But a new walk.

And praise in the heart.

It's a good sign.

It's a good sign that you know what Jesus is offering.

And you know what Luke and I are talking about.

This morning.

So how are you going home today?

Confused?

Hardened?

Or glorifying God?

Because you're fully forgiven.

Or let me put it this way.

Have you come to Jesus?

The only judge of all the earth.

For the full forgiveness of all your sins.

That neighborhood kid.

Friend of ours.

At that little time in his life.

Misunderstood the scope of his parents authority.

He thought it extended to neighbor houses.

No I can come in and play.

My mom said I can.

Well some of us have.

Underestimated and misunderstood the scope of Jesus's authority.

And he leaves no question as to the scope of his authority here.

He has authority in all the earth.

To offer forgiveness to anyone who comes to him.

By faith.

So have you come to Jesus?

The only judge of all the earth.

For the full forgiveness of all your sins.

That forgiveness can be found nowhere else.

But oh it can.

It can be found in full in him.

Let's pray.

Father we thank you for the forgiveness of sins.

We thank you for making a way.

That you could be both.

Just.

As a judge and justifier.

Of those who come to faith in Jesus.

And we confess that our faith is not in our faith.

It's not in.

It's not in our open hands.

It's in Jesus.

Whose hands were outstretched.

When he was crucified for us.

But all of our faith in him.

And we confess that there is no other way for us to be forgiven.

Apart from this man and his authority to forgive.

Because of his death on the cross.

And his resurrection to new life.

Give us awe in this great truth.

Help us to.

Speak this truth to one another.

To rejoice in it.

To comfort one another in it.

And ever to be ready to speak this truth.

To anyone who asks.

Who is yet outside the forgiveness.

Of sins.

So may we all leave today.

Fully forgiven.

Glorifying God.

It's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.