1 00:00:06,470 --> 00:00:08,119 Father, we thank. You for your word. 2 00:00:08,189 --> 00:00:11,180 We thank you for its sufficiency, for everything, 3 00:00:11,270 --> 00:00:14,690 salvation and godly living. And we pray as we come to it 4 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:17,320 this morning that our hearts would be prepared to listen, 5 00:00:17,410 --> 00:00:20,700 that we would be attentive to your word and what Billy has to 6 00:00:20,710 --> 00:00:22,660 say through it. Well, we thank you for his 7 00:00:22,670 --> 00:00:25,030 faithfulness throughout the week and however long he's been 8 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:26,940 preparing us for. And we pray that we would now be 9 00:00:26,950 --> 00:00:29,680 faithful listeners as we come in here and help us to then be 10 00:00:29,690 --> 00:00:32,790 faithful doors as we go and just name, we pray, Amen. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,610 Hi, would you open with me to the book of Luke? 12 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,190 We will be in Luke chapter 5 this morning. 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,810 Nice to be back in our series and Luke, we're picking up. 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,770 We were running through probably the second-half of last year. 15 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:50,180 Thanks as well to the guys who lead us and our summer and the 16 00:00:50,190 --> 00:00:52,030 sums. That was a real encouragement. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,310 And for a lot of those guys, that was some of their first 18 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,550 time preaching and I just thought they did an awesome job. 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:58,840 And that's such an encouragement for us as a church that we've 20 00:00:58,850 --> 00:01:00,610 got guys and that's their first sermon. 21 00:01:00,660 --> 00:01:02,190 That's pretty encouraging to see. 22 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:09,610 So Luke chapter 5 and we will be focusing on versus 12 through 23 00:01:09,620 --> 00:01:12,610 26. We'll read those to start. 24 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,230 This is God's word. Luke 5 verse 12, while he was in 25 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,960 one of the cities, became a man full of leprosy, and when he saw 26 00:01:20,970 --> 00:01:23,500 Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him. 27 00:01:23,550 --> 00:01:27,090 Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. 28 00:01:27,970 --> 00:01:31,620 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will 29 00:01:31,850 --> 00:01:35,380 be clean. And immediately the leprosy left 30 00:01:35,390 --> 00:01:38,090 him any charged him to tell no one. 31 00:01:38,100 --> 00:01:41,030 But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for 32 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,340 your cleansing, as Moses commanded for a proof to them. 33 00:01:45,310 --> 00:01:49,140 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great 34 00:01:49,150 --> 00:01:52,560 crowds gathered together to hear him, and to be healed of their 35 00:01:52,570 --> 00:01:55,100 infirmities. But he would withdraw to 36 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:59,750 desolate places and pray. On one of those days, as He was 37 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,990 teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there 38 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,610 who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from 39 00:02:05,620 --> 00:02:09,130 Jerusalem in the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 40 00:02:10,030 --> 00:02:12,740 And behold, some men were bringing on a bit a man who was 41 00:02:12,750 --> 00:02:16,120 paralysed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him 42 00:02:16,130 --> 00:02:18,980 before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in because of the 43 00:02:18,990 --> 00:02:22,280 crowd, they went up onto the roof and led him down with his 44 00:02:22,290 --> 00:02:25,510 bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 45 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,850 And when he saw their faith, he said, Man, your sins are 46 00:02:30,860 --> 00:02:34,110 forgiven you. And the scribes and Pharisees 47 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,370 began to question, saying, who is this? 48 00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:39,430 Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God 49 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,440 alone? When Jesus perceived their 50 00:02:42,450 --> 00:02:45,110 thoughts, He answered them. Why do you Christian in your 51 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,140 hearts? Which is easier, to say your 52 00:02:48,150 --> 00:02:53,400 sins are forgiven, or to say rise and walk, but that you may 53 00:02:53,410 --> 00:02:57,560 know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive 54 00:02:57,570 --> 00:03:01,020 sins, he said to the man who was paralysed. 55 00:03:01,070 --> 00:03:05,840 I say to you, rise, pick up your beard and go home. 56 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:10,050 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what 57 00:03:10,060 --> 00:03:13,400 he'd been lying on and went home glorifying God. 58 00:03:14,140 --> 00:03:17,840 An amazement sees them all and they glorify God and were filled 59 00:03:17,850 --> 00:03:22,610 with awe saying we have seen extraordinary things today. 60 00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:27,630 And then well as I said, we're picking up our series through 61 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:29,990 the book of Luke. So we're gonna dust off the 62 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,110 cobwebs a little bit cause it's been a few months since we've 63 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,430 opened Luke. But essentially the book of Luke 64 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,010 has written, we see in chapter 1 it's written to a Greek man 65 00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:40,350 named Theophilus by a doctor named Luke. 66 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,790 And the purpose of him writing this is to give the Orpheus 67 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,130 certainty about what had been taught about the person of Jesus 68 00:03:48,140 --> 00:03:51,390 Christ. And so Luke wants to retell the 69 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,500 life of Christ. And as he retells the life of 70 00:03:54,510 --> 00:03:57,820 Christ, he is explaining to Theophilus and showing to 71 00:03:57,830 --> 00:04:02,360 Theophilus the identity and the mission of Jesus Christ. 72 00:04:02,890 --> 00:04:06,380 And so really Luke is here. The purpose of Luke is so that 73 00:04:06,390 --> 00:04:10,060 we might be certain as we read Luke and we examine the person 74 00:04:10,070 --> 00:04:13,880 of Jesus Christ has mission, has identity, what he came to do 75 00:04:14,050 --> 00:04:16,500 that we might read it and be certain, hey, we've got the 76 00:04:16,510 --> 00:04:19,610 right guy, we're on the right team. 77 00:04:19,660 --> 00:04:21,850 Jesus is is the one that we should trust in. 78 00:04:21,860 --> 00:04:23,970 Jesus is the one that we should put our hope in. 79 00:04:24,020 --> 00:04:27,590 Jesus is the only one that is worthy of us committing our life 80 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,410 to. Luke is here to give us 81 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:34,230 certainty about who Jesus is. And so so far Luke has done that 82 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,850 through the birth narrative of Jesus Christ and through his 83 00:04:37,860 --> 00:04:39,910 early ministry. And in this he's shown us that 84 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,630 Jesus is the one who has come down from God. 85 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,450 Jesus is the one true Messiah, the promised Saviour. 86 00:04:46,540 --> 00:04:49,330 And as Jesus has started his ministry, we've seen these 87 00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:52,190 extravagant signs, these incredible miracles that have 88 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,470 come from Jesus. And we're going to see two more 89 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,270 of these incredible healings today. 90 00:04:59,660 --> 00:05:03,490 And this is really the account, as Luke is continuing to unpack 91 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:05,720 to us, the identity of Jesus Christ. 92 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:12,890 We have two healings, one of Elijah and one of a paralytic, 93 00:05:14,010 --> 00:05:17,840 and each of them has a lot to tell us about the type of 94 00:05:17,850 --> 00:05:20,820 healing that Jesus has come to offer. 95 00:05:21,050 --> 00:05:25,770 But in each of them is a very unique surprise, which has a lot 96 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:30,650 to tell us about the healings that Jesus has come to bring. 97 00:05:31,540 --> 00:05:34,480 And I think all of us can see as, as we consider our own lives 98 00:05:34,490 --> 00:05:38,370 and we consider the world around us that we are in need of some 99 00:05:38,380 --> 00:05:41,550 form of healing. If it's maybe you're feeling 100 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,780 just the aches and groans of your body, of your mind, of 101 00:05:45,130 --> 00:05:48,920 physical, emotional, mental pain, or we just, we just look 102 00:05:48,930 --> 00:05:51,800 at the world, we understand that something's not quite right. 103 00:05:52,390 --> 00:05:56,080 Healing is needed. And and so the good news that 104 00:05:56,090 --> 00:05:59,220 Luke is saying is Jesus has come to bring healing. 105 00:05:59,310 --> 00:06:01,510 And I think these miracles here that we're going to look at, 106 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,520 they have a lot to tell us about the type of healing that Jesus 107 00:06:05,530 --> 00:06:09,980 has come to offer. But in in each of these 108 00:06:09,990 --> 00:06:13,030 healings, there is a unique and clear surprise. 109 00:06:14,590 --> 00:06:17,560 There was a profound surprise that Jesus is healing here in 110 00:06:17,570 --> 00:06:22,140 ways that were not expected. And so as we go through these, I 111 00:06:22,150 --> 00:06:25,500 just want to consider the healing that Jesus offers. 112 00:06:25,510 --> 00:06:28,320 What does this passage have to tell us about the healing that 113 00:06:28,330 --> 00:06:30,270 Jesus offers? And firstly, it's going to tell 114 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:32,680 us this. The healing that Jesus offers is 115 00:06:32,730 --> 00:06:38,140 not reserved for the elite. The healing that Jesus offers is 116 00:06:38,150 --> 00:06:43,880 not reserved for the elite. Our first account begins with 117 00:06:43,890 --> 00:06:47,880 this man coming up to Jesus, and it sees that this man was full 118 00:06:47,930 --> 00:06:51,460 of leprosy. Literacy is essentially in the 119 00:06:51,470 --> 00:06:53,230 Bible. It's an umbrella term for what 120 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,210 could be a variety of different skin diseases. 121 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,430 Usually when you're Speaking of leprosy, you're Speaking of 122 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,750 something that once contracted, it is lifelong. 123 00:07:03,220 --> 00:07:07,430 You'd get painful lesions across your skin, kind of oil like 124 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,370 things sores and serious cases. Literacy would attack the 125 00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:14,330 nervous system. It would be incredibly painful, 126 00:07:14,450 --> 00:07:17,670 horrible, and and often the kind of thing that once you've got 127 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,850 it, it doesn't go away. And we get the idea that this is 128 00:07:20,860 --> 00:07:24,770 no minor case because Luke says this man was full of leprosy. 129 00:07:25,530 --> 00:07:29,000 So you kind of picture here from head to toe, this man is full of 130 00:07:29,010 --> 00:07:32,040 sores. He's full of lesions of, of 131 00:07:32,050 --> 00:07:35,200 boils. And if you've had any sort of 132 00:07:35,210 --> 00:07:39,460 of, I guess, skin problem, even if like eczema, serious eczema, 133 00:07:39,470 --> 00:07:42,040 you might have an idea of what this might have been like. 134 00:07:42,050 --> 00:07:46,300 It was a horrible disease to have, but the effects of 135 00:07:46,310 --> 00:07:49,350 literacy went far, far deeper than just physical here. 136 00:07:49,490 --> 00:07:54,770 Essentially, A lipper would be a complete social outcast in the 137 00:07:54,780 --> 00:07:58,530 Old Testament Israelites who contracted leprosy, they were 138 00:07:58,540 --> 00:08:02,030 actually commanded to live outside of the camp where the 139 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,510 Israelites lived. And the reason was it was an 140 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,810 incredibly contagious disease. And so if flippers were allowed 141 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:10,820 to dwell within everyone else, pretty soon everyone within the 142 00:08:10,830 --> 00:08:13,350 Israelite camp would be infected with leprosy. 143 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,700 So the lipper was outcast. They had to live outside the 144 00:08:16,710 --> 00:08:19,420 camp. They were deemed ceremonially 145 00:08:19,490 --> 00:08:22,140 unclean. They were to dress in torn 146 00:08:22,150 --> 00:08:24,250 clothes. And whenever someone was around 147 00:08:24,260 --> 00:08:26,300 them or they were walking around, they were to shout 148 00:08:26,310 --> 00:08:29,500 unclean, unclean. So people know, hey, AA, Lipa's 149 00:08:29,510 --> 00:08:31,450 coming. I need to stay out of the way 150 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,620 and actually to touch Oliver yourself would to become 151 00:08:35,630 --> 00:08:39,320 ceremonially unclean yourself for seven days. 152 00:08:40,730 --> 00:08:43,380 And so you know, 1 commentator puts it this way. 153 00:08:43,669 --> 00:08:47,190 Leprosy was a sentence of social ostracism. 154 00:08:48,210 --> 00:08:51,220 The disease deprived victims not only of health, but of their 155 00:08:51,230 --> 00:08:55,040 names, occupations, social habits, families, fellowship and 156 00:08:55,050 --> 00:09:00,060 worshipping communities. So put simply, we have a guy, a 157 00:09:00,070 --> 00:09:03,510 man coming before Jesus who is living a living death. 158 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,730 He was cut off from society. He's an outcast. 159 00:09:06,820 --> 00:09:09,340 As he walks down the street, people would, would, would hop 160 00:09:09,350 --> 00:09:11,250 over to the other side of the street because they don't want 161 00:09:11,260 --> 00:09:14,790 to be anywhere near him. And I think there was even this 162 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,900 this assumption that leprosy was a punishment from God for sin. 163 00:09:20,030 --> 00:09:22,980 There were a couple of isolated examples in the Old Testament 164 00:09:22,990 --> 00:09:26,290 where because of someone's continual sin, God cast someone 165 00:09:26,300 --> 00:09:28,500 down with literacy. He gave them literacy. 166 00:09:28,650 --> 00:09:31,960 And so it was that I idea within the Jewish community, well, if 167 00:09:31,970 --> 00:09:35,360 someone's got leprosy, they must have done something to deserve 168 00:09:35,370 --> 00:09:36,900 it. We we see that kind of attitude. 169 00:09:36,910 --> 00:09:40,760 And John Chapter 9, Jesus is with his disciples and they see 170 00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:45,160 a blind man, and the disciples say to Jesus, who sinned this 171 00:09:45,170 --> 00:09:47,220 man or his parents, that he was born blind. 172 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:51,150 You know, he's got this disease. He must have done something to 173 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,190 deserve it. And Jesus is actually neither. 174 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,990 But I think there was this understanding within the Jewish 175 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,150 community. They brought it on themselves. 176 00:10:02,230 --> 00:10:04,120 They could have done something to get themselves out of it. 177 00:10:04,130 --> 00:10:05,860 They've brought it upon themselves. 178 00:10:05,870 --> 00:10:08,600 And so here we have this lipper, this this social outcast, this 179 00:10:08,610 --> 00:10:13,600 man is suffering physically, socially and always he comes to 180 00:10:13,610 --> 00:10:17,550 Christ and he comes down before Christ's feet and he says, Lord, 181 00:10:18,420 --> 00:10:21,930 if you will, you can make me clean. 182 00:10:24,660 --> 00:10:30,410 And he's recognising here really my only hope for my situation 183 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:36,260 stands at the feet of this man. You'd assume he had heard of the 184 00:10:36,270 --> 00:10:38,760 miracles that had happened already in Jesus ministry where 185 00:10:38,770 --> 00:10:41,940 he had exercised a demon and it healed many people of their 186 00:10:41,950 --> 00:10:43,620 diseases. And so he comes and he says, if 187 00:10:43,630 --> 00:10:48,720 you will, you can make me clean. But notice here he comes with a 188 00:10:48,730 --> 00:10:52,720 full faith, meaning the only factor here he's not saying, 189 00:10:52,730 --> 00:10:55,510 Lord, if you can, maybe you can make me clean. 190 00:10:55,580 --> 00:11:00,270 The only factor here is if Jesus is willing, if you will, you can 191 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,870 make me clean. But this leaper is bringing 192 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,830 nothing to the table. He's only bringing faith that 193 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,780 Jesus alone can heal him of his leprosy. 194 00:11:14,470 --> 00:11:20,060 And so how does Jesus respond? How does Jesus respond to this 195 00:11:20,070 --> 00:11:23,100 leaper, this outcast, this unclean man who's now thrown 196 00:11:23,110 --> 00:11:29,100 himself down in his feet? In many other places in the 197 00:11:29,110 --> 00:11:34,280 Gospels, we see Jesus heal with a word very simply, and we're 198 00:11:34,290 --> 00:11:36,290 actually going to see it in the healing of the paralytic. 199 00:11:36,300 --> 00:11:39,680 He heals with the word is an account. 200 00:11:39,690 --> 00:11:42,810 We he heal someone who's not even in the same area as him, as 201 00:11:42,910 --> 00:11:46,000 a servant who was very ill. Jesus heals with the word. 202 00:11:46,010 --> 00:11:48,620 Yet in this moment, here, with this leaper down before him, 203 00:11:48,660 --> 00:11:52,460 Jesus leans down and touches him. 204 00:11:55,350 --> 00:12:01,740 He says I will be clean. You can almost hear his new 205 00:12:01,750 --> 00:12:04,230 disciples in the background as Jesus is reaching out, being 206 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,290 like, ohh, no, don't do that. You're gonna become unclean. 207 00:12:09,020 --> 00:12:12,680 You can't touch this letter. Even more than that, you're 208 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:14,940 Jesus you. You shouldn't be touching this 209 00:12:15,010 --> 00:12:19,770 lowly leaper. And if you think about this, 210 00:12:19,780 --> 00:12:22,490 this is likely the first physical contact that this 211 00:12:22,500 --> 00:12:24,980 leaper had felt since they contracted this disease. 212 00:12:26,630 --> 00:12:28,840 And as humans, you know, we're we're we're physical beings. 213 00:12:28,850 --> 00:12:30,870 You know, we walk in the door, we see people, we know, we give 214 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,140 them a handshake, we give them a hug. 215 00:12:33,250 --> 00:12:36,640 You know, that's how we express and feel love amongst one 216 00:12:36,650 --> 00:12:39,180 another as a community. This slip ahead had none of 217 00:12:39,190 --> 00:12:41,400 that. And and so the first touch that 218 00:12:41,410 --> 00:12:44,710 he feels, since he contracts this disease as the loving touch 219 00:12:44,830 --> 00:12:47,940 of Jesus Christ, who reaches out, crossing all of the 220 00:12:47,950 --> 00:12:52,370 boundaries, crossing all of the rules in touching this leaper. 221 00:12:52,380 --> 00:12:55,730 And in that moment, Jesus doesn't become unclean. 222 00:12:55,740 --> 00:13:02,340 The slipper becomes clean. It's a complete reversal and I 223 00:13:02,350 --> 00:13:04,970 think we need to understand what Jesus is showing here, what 224 00:13:04,980 --> 00:13:07,700 Jesus is trying to show us in this moment when he reaches down 225 00:13:07,770 --> 00:13:12,140 to completely unnecessarily touch the slipper and heal him. 226 00:13:12,180 --> 00:13:14,460 What does this telling us about the healing of Christ? 227 00:13:14,650 --> 00:13:22,160 It's telling us it is not reserved for the elite Jesus 228 00:13:22,170 --> 00:13:25,100 Christ. He's got a deep love, a deep 229 00:13:25,110 --> 00:13:31,100 care for the outcast. His touch here communicates it 230 00:13:31,190 --> 00:13:33,270 to those who come to Jesus Christ. 231 00:13:33,350 --> 00:13:38,420 Jesus offers healing. It is not reserved for those who 232 00:13:38,430 --> 00:13:40,770 have it altogether. It's not reserved for those who 233 00:13:40,780 --> 00:13:42,920 fit the bill. It's not reserved for those who 234 00:13:42,970 --> 00:13:46,560 seem to look on the outside as appearing to be religious. 235 00:13:47,070 --> 00:13:49,200 It's not reserved to those who look like us. 236 00:13:49,270 --> 00:13:53,180 It's reserved to all who come to Him in faith. 237 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,720 So imagine right now is while I'm speaking through the 238 00:13:59,730 --> 00:14:05,510 auditorium doors walks a man. As clothes are, they're old and 239 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,430 and they're dirty and they're bit torn. 240 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:12,890 They're baggy is here is kind of coming over his face. 241 00:14:12,940 --> 00:14:17,600 You can already smell he, he, he smells horrible of, of Bo and, 242 00:14:17,610 --> 00:14:23,100 and and cigarettes and he's got beer feet and he's hacking away. 243 00:14:23,110 --> 00:14:27,800 He's got this big heavy flemy cough and he's walking in and 244 00:14:27,810 --> 00:14:30,740 he's looking around and he's just finding somewhere to sit to 245 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:35,880 listen, but there's only one seat left in the whole 246 00:14:35,890 --> 00:14:43,150 auditorium and it's next to you. What's your gut reaction in that 247 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,970 moment? Is it like, just don't make eye 248 00:14:46,980 --> 00:14:51,090 contact if I look the other way? Hope he doesn't look over to me. 249 00:14:51,460 --> 00:14:54,250 Or or maybe, you know, you'd shuffle your Bible onto the seat 250 00:14:54,260 --> 00:14:55,980 next to you. Maybe he'll think that someone's 251 00:14:55,990 --> 00:14:59,430 just in the toilet and the seats taken. 252 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,240 Maybe there's a part of you. Maybe there's a part of you that 253 00:15:06,250 --> 00:15:08,570 thinks, well, what's he done to get himself in this position? 254 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,590 What bad choices has he made? Surely if you made some better 255 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,180 decisions, he he wouldn't be looking like that. 256 00:15:16,190 --> 00:15:17,270 He wouldn't be smelling like that. 257 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,200 He he wouldn't be in that sort of position. 258 00:15:21,750 --> 00:15:26,740 Does our attitude towards the outcast line up with Christs? 259 00:15:28,350 --> 00:15:31,800 That does our attitude towards the outsider and our community 260 00:15:31,810 --> 00:15:34,500 and our workplaces and our neighborhoods and our 261 00:15:34,510 --> 00:15:38,230 supermarkets when we're doing the shopping, does our attitude 262 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,130 toward the people that we see who are not like us, who are 263 00:15:41,180 --> 00:15:45,270 social outsiders, does that line up with the attitude that Jesus 264 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:49,250 Christ had toward this complete outcast who came to him? 265 00:15:50,370 --> 00:15:53,190 How would Jesus have responded to to to this man who walks 266 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,660 through our doors? And I have to think when I when 267 00:15:56,670 --> 00:16:00,450 I look at this example and all through the Gospels, every 268 00:16:00,460 --> 00:16:05,220 interaction Jesus Christ has with someone in the Gospels, his 269 00:16:05,790 --> 00:16:09,010 initial reaction, his heart response is that of love. 270 00:16:10,860 --> 00:16:16,400 Now this doesn't mean that Jesus excuses all bad behaviour, but 271 00:16:16,410 --> 00:16:20,120 what it does mean is that his offer of healing, his offer of 272 00:16:20,190 --> 00:16:24,880 forgiveness, his offer of salvation is equally legitimate 273 00:16:24,950 --> 00:16:29,050 towards the social outcast as it is towards a social insider. 274 00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:35,840 It's equally available to the Uchiha, the mouldy, the Asian, 275 00:16:35,930 --> 00:16:41,130 the African, the American, to to to the rich, the middle class 276 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,840 and the poor. Does our heart towards other 277 00:16:45,850 --> 00:16:48,950 people made in the image of God? Does it reflect the heart of 278 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:55,300 Jesus Christ? Maybe this morning you came in 279 00:16:55,310 --> 00:16:56,740 feeling a little bit like that lipper. 280 00:16:58,590 --> 00:17:00,760 Maybe it looks like it on the outside, maybe it didn't. 281 00:17:00,770 --> 00:17:05,339 I don't know, maybe even in your heart you, you know that there 282 00:17:05,349 --> 00:17:07,480 is a secret sin, there's a secret struggle. 283 00:17:07,790 --> 00:17:10,780 You go, God can't exit me. Or, or if if the people in my 284 00:17:10,790 --> 00:17:13,880 community actually knew the kind of stuff I was wrestling with, 285 00:17:14,010 --> 00:17:19,520 they would reject me. And I just want you to see from 286 00:17:19,530 --> 00:17:23,040 this the radical love of Christ, the healing of Christ that is 287 00:17:23,050 --> 00:17:26,930 offered not to those who have it altogether, but as an offer to 288 00:17:26,940 --> 00:17:30,360 those who would come to Him by faith. 289 00:17:32,970 --> 00:17:39,660 The healing of Christ is not reserved for the elite, and 290 00:17:39,670 --> 00:17:43,370 that's the first surprise that we see in this passage. 291 00:17:43,420 --> 00:17:46,530 It is really about the the breadth of Christ's healing. 292 00:17:46,540 --> 00:17:49,290 It's available to more than we might think. 293 00:17:51,050 --> 00:17:53,230 And now we're going to see a surprise as we turn to this 294 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,380 account of the paralytic. And this is about really the 295 00:17:56,390 --> 00:18:00,920 nature of Christ's healing. It's about what Christ has come 296 00:18:00,990 --> 00:18:05,640 to heal, and that is this, that the healing of Christ is not 297 00:18:05,690 --> 00:18:12,640 merely physical. It is not merely physical we see 298 00:18:12,650 --> 00:18:16,600 after Jesus heals the sleeper in verse 15, the crowds are now 299 00:18:16,610 --> 00:18:20,010 beginning to grow, and it's understandable why these crowds 300 00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:22,580 are beginning to grow. If you had some sort of physical 301 00:18:22,590 --> 00:18:25,460 problem at your sickness or someone you know had a sickness 302 00:18:25,470 --> 00:18:29,480 or an injury, and you hear of what this man Jesus is doing, 303 00:18:29,590 --> 00:18:31,770 you're going to flock to be where He is. 304 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,370 You want to get close to him. You want the opportunity to be 305 00:18:35,420 --> 00:18:39,480 healed, but there's also another kind of crowd that's been 306 00:18:39,490 --> 00:18:41,970 growing. You see in verse 17, we've got 307 00:18:41,980 --> 00:18:46,020 the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who are sitting there 308 00:18:46,070 --> 00:18:49,400 on this day while Jesus is teaching. 309 00:18:49,610 --> 00:18:52,220 These are the religious elites of Israel. 310 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,050 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they were 311 00:18:55,060 --> 00:18:57,770 the ones who they held tightly to the Old Testament law. 312 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,650 And and what they wanted to see was that an Israel people held 313 00:19:01,660 --> 00:19:03,970 to the law. They want to make sure it was 314 00:19:04,100 --> 00:19:08,050 upheld. And so these teachers, the 315 00:19:08,060 --> 00:19:12,050 Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they were very suss of 316 00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:15,750 Jesus. And, and so I would imagine that 317 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,380 as Jesus is teaching, they're kind of, they're not necessarily 318 00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:21,270 like in the front row, Bible's open, like right, what have we 319 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:22,710 got? They're probably more like 320 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:28,470 sitting in the corner, arms folded, just going like, I'm not 321 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,190 too happy about what I'm hearing coming from Jesus. 322 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,700 And spoiler alert, they're about to get a little bit more upset. 323 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,990 And so Jesus is teaching and he's got this crowd, a mixed of 324 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,030 people who want to be healed and these religious leaders and 325 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:48,610 income and verse 18, some men who were bringing on a beard, a 326 00:19:48,620 --> 00:19:52,860 man who was paralysed and there was seeking to bring him in and 327 00:19:52,870 --> 00:19:58,000 lay him before Jesus. And so I mean, the reason that 328 00:19:58,010 --> 00:20:00,540 they're bringing him before Jesus is relatively, relatively 329 00:20:00,550 --> 00:20:02,680 obvious. They've heard of what's going on 330 00:20:02,690 --> 00:20:04,200 with Jesus. They've heard of these healings 331 00:20:04,210 --> 00:20:06,660 and they want their friends to be healed. 332 00:20:06,670 --> 00:20:09,760 But there's no way in the crowd is so big, they can't get the 333 00:20:09,770 --> 00:20:13,080 stretcher in and around that that this mass of people. 334 00:20:13,150 --> 00:20:18,550 And so they go up to the roof. And if you thinking in terms of 335 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,850 the houses we live in, you go, man, that's quite the feet. 336 00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:24,070 This is probably roughly what a house would have looked like in 337 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,890 this time, more or less. It's not a real photo, but you'd 338 00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:31,170 have two stories and steers on the side, which there was 339 00:20:31,180 --> 00:20:34,040 relatively easy access to the roof. 340 00:20:34,050 --> 00:20:35,590 And so they they want to find a way. 341 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:41,000 So they climb up onto the roof of this house and it says that 342 00:20:41,010 --> 00:20:44,480 they broke apart the tiles and, and probably the mud that was 343 00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:48,560 holding it together on the roof to to lower this man down before 344 00:20:48,570 --> 00:20:52,520 Jesus. We're not told how the homeowner 345 00:20:52,530 --> 00:20:55,780 responds. I'm sure he was on the phone 346 00:20:55,790 --> 00:21:00,120 with tower insurance. He was insured, but we do see 347 00:21:00,130 --> 00:21:03,480 how Jesus responds. Season 4 is 20 years. 348 00:21:03,490 --> 00:21:06,320 This man is lowered down that you know, he he's he's teaching 349 00:21:06,330 --> 00:21:09,160 and you're hearing this, this rumbling and things falling down 350 00:21:09,170 --> 00:21:12,150 and now this man has lowered down before Jesus. 351 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,700 How's he going to respond? Season verse 20 as he is when he 352 00:21:17,710 --> 00:21:23,150 saw via faith. This is Speaking of both the 353 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,650 paralytic and his friends. Jesus firstly saw through the 354 00:21:27,660 --> 00:21:30,530 actions, the drastic actions they took to get this man before 355 00:21:30,540 --> 00:21:34,440 Jesus. They were an act of genuine 356 00:21:34,490 --> 00:21:38,740 faith that he could heal them. This was faith that showed 357 00:21:38,750 --> 00:21:43,460 itself in action, and in a sense, that's where I guess this 358 00:21:43,470 --> 00:21:46,550 account of the paralytic is very similar to the account of the 359 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,510 leper. You see the pattern here. 360 00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:52,600 You've got someone in a dire condition, they see that Jesus 361 00:21:52,610 --> 00:21:55,470 is the one who could heal him, and they take a step of action 362 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,770 to come before him to be healed. There's a recognition of Jesus 363 00:21:59,780 --> 00:22:02,730 and then is an act of faith to come before Jesus. 364 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,170 So okay, we've seen this before, right? 365 00:22:06,180 --> 00:22:09,230 So Jesus says to him, rise, pick up your mat and go home. 366 00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:16,140 Not yet. What does Jesus say to him? 367 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:21,970 He looks down at this paralytic lying on the ground in front of 368 00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:22,660 her. Man He sees. 369 00:22:22,670 --> 00:22:29,560 Man, your sins are forgiven. Both. 370 00:22:32,770 --> 00:22:36,220 He's a paralytic in front of him and he says your sins are 371 00:22:36,270 --> 00:22:39,500 forgiven. Why would Jesus say to this man 372 00:22:39,570 --> 00:22:42,100 your sins are forgiven? That's pretty clear. 373 00:22:42,110 --> 00:22:47,040 That's not what he came to hear. Why would Jesus say this? 374 00:22:47,110 --> 00:22:51,650 Two reasons. Firstly, and saying man, your 375 00:22:51,660 --> 00:22:56,040 sins are forgiven, Jesus is showing us that physical healing 376 00:22:56,330 --> 00:23:02,210 is not our deepest need. Physical healing is not our 377 00:23:02,220 --> 00:23:08,310 deepest need because Jesus has before him a a paralytic. 378 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,070 I think that this is one of the greatest, most obvious examples 379 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,830 we could have of a physical ailment. 380 00:23:15,690 --> 00:23:17,540 He's not gonna be asking this paralytic. 381 00:23:17,550 --> 00:23:20,500 OK, So what did you want? You know, you go to the doctor's 382 00:23:20,510 --> 00:23:22,500 office and they go, you know. OK, so what's the problem today? 383 00:23:22,510 --> 00:23:24,990 What would you like done? A paralytic comes before you. 384 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,410 You don't need to ask that. It's pretty clear what you want. 385 00:23:27,610 --> 00:23:31,880 I want to be able to walk this man's life. 386 00:23:31,890 --> 00:23:34,060 He was lying on a bed. He's only able to move at the 387 00:23:34,070 --> 00:23:36,360 mercy of others. He couldn't walk, he couldn't 388 00:23:36,370 --> 00:23:38,720 run, he couldn't kick a ball. He couldn't do any of those 389 00:23:38,730 --> 00:23:44,330 things and yet Jesus sees this paralytic laying before him and 390 00:23:44,340 --> 00:23:47,810 he recognises that his paralysis is not his biggest problem. 391 00:23:49,490 --> 00:23:51,860 That's not the biggest problem he has going on. 392 00:23:53,710 --> 00:23:59,600 It's His sin. Our deepest need is not our 393 00:23:59,610 --> 00:24:03,460 physical healing, no matter how great our physical problems are. 394 00:24:03,870 --> 00:24:07,700 Our deepest need is that our relationship with our Creator 395 00:24:07,710 --> 00:24:13,760 would be restored. We were made by God to live 396 00:24:13,770 --> 00:24:18,330 under His rule, to live with him as King, and to serve him. 397 00:24:18,390 --> 00:24:22,380 And yet each of us in our sin, we have chosen to willingly 398 00:24:22,390 --> 00:24:24,380 reject God's rule. We've said no, no, no. 399 00:24:24,390 --> 00:24:27,280 I don't want to live with God as King. 400 00:24:27,980 --> 00:24:31,530 I wanna be my own king. I want to run my life the way I 401 00:24:31,540 --> 00:24:34,250 see fit. And in doing that, we've we've 402 00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:36,450 severed our relationship with God. 403 00:24:36,460 --> 00:24:39,900 We've rejected God's rule. And our problem is that we were 404 00:24:39,910 --> 00:24:42,750 designed and our very being, we were designed to be in 405 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,930 relationship with the one who created us. 406 00:24:45,460 --> 00:24:47,930 And we have rejected that. We have severed that 407 00:24:47,940 --> 00:24:50,390 relationship. Our sin has broken it. 408 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,960 So we need our sins to be forgiven. 409 00:24:54,680 --> 00:25:01,310 That's our greatest need. You imagine if your car broke 410 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,980 down in the middle of the country and it's a 5 kilometre 411 00:25:05,990 --> 00:25:09,040 walk to the nearest gas station. It's a hot summer's day and so 412 00:25:09,050 --> 00:25:12,840 you you have a Jerry can and you find $15.00 cash in your car and 413 00:25:12,850 --> 00:25:17,620 you make the 5K walk down to the nearest BP and you're hot, 414 00:25:17,630 --> 00:25:19,880 you're sweaty, you're hungry, you're exhausted. 415 00:25:19,950 --> 00:25:23,420 And as you walk in, you decide at that moment, my greatest need 416 00:25:23,930 --> 00:25:28,950 is a cold Coke. Bought a chicken pie and a 417 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:33,030 lasagna Topper. Good man I'm I'm hungry, I'm 418 00:25:33,100 --> 00:25:35,630 hot. Was that your greatest need? 419 00:25:36,140 --> 00:25:39,790 It probably felt like it that was the, it was the biggest 420 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:41,330 demand on your body at that point. 421 00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:43,830 This is what I'm saying. I, I need this. 422 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,570 But if we spent our $15 on that, there would be a far greater 423 00:25:47,580 --> 00:25:52,970 need that we would be rejecting. The greatest healing we need is 424 00:25:52,980 --> 00:25:58,980 not physical, it is spiritual. The second reason why Jesus said 425 00:25:58,990 --> 00:26:03,520 to this man, Man, your sins are forgiven is because Jesus is 426 00:26:03,530 --> 00:26:08,120 showing us that He has authority to forgive sin. 427 00:26:09,530 --> 00:26:13,730 He has authority to forgive sin. Because when Jesus sees this, 428 00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:17,150 the people are shocked, right? These Pharisees start to say 429 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,750 amongst themselves, who is this speaks blasphemies? 430 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,300 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 431 00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:27,510 And, and, and you can understand why they say this in the Old 432 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,410 Testament. The authority to forgive sins, 433 00:26:31,460 --> 00:26:34,480 that's an authority that's reserved for God. 434 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,320 And the logic of this, the rationale of this is tight 435 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,950 because if our sin is ultimately against God, if it's a rejection 436 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:48,980 of God, God is the only one who can forgive us of our sins 437 00:26:49,050 --> 00:26:52,460 because he is the one who has been sinned against. 438 00:26:53,730 --> 00:26:59,000 And so for Jesus, he had to come and say your sins are forgiven. 439 00:27:01,060 --> 00:27:05,580 He is claiming an authority that's reserved for God alone 440 00:27:07,230 --> 00:27:09,300 and what he's doing here. And this is important when we 441 00:27:09,310 --> 00:27:10,440 think about the next few chapters. 442 00:27:10,450 --> 00:27:14,320 And Luke, Jesus is turning up the temperature here because 443 00:27:14,330 --> 00:27:16,910 what we're going to see over the next few chapters is, is the 444 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,890 Pharisees and the religious leaders really coming at Jesus. 445 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:23,750 That conflict is beginning to start, and it's starting because 446 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,560 of this statement Jesus made. Because when Jesus sees this, 447 00:27:27,570 --> 00:27:33,840 he's not saying I'm a healer, he's not saying I'm a good man, 448 00:27:33,850 --> 00:27:36,000 he's not saying I'm I'm an example. 449 00:27:36,050 --> 00:27:43,240 He's saying I am God in flesh. I am the true Messiah sent from 450 00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:45,560 God with the authority to forgive sins. 451 00:27:47,530 --> 00:27:51,470 The temperature is turning U but it's one thing to say it. 452 00:27:51,530 --> 00:27:53,080 Jesus says it's one thing to say it. 453 00:27:53,140 --> 00:27:56,090 I could go to say to everyone of you this morning, your sins are 454 00:27:56,100 --> 00:28:00,800 forgiven and you're not going to see any tangible evidence 455 00:28:00,810 --> 00:28:04,470 whether I'm right or I'm wrong. And so Jesus addresses that 456 00:28:05,090 --> 00:28:08,830 because he says to them, What do you question in your hearts? 457 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,290 There's 23, which is easier to say your sins are forgiven. 458 00:28:13,420 --> 00:28:20,950 It's a pretty easy thing to say or to say rise and walk, That's 459 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,260 a bit harder. The reason for this but that you 460 00:28:25,270 --> 00:28:30,230 may know that the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has authority on 461 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,660 earth to forgive sins. So I've told you I can forgive 462 00:28:34,670 --> 00:28:36,980 sins. Now let me show you that I've 463 00:28:36,990 --> 00:28:41,220 got the authority from God to do this by telling this man who was 464 00:28:41,230 --> 00:28:45,180 paralysed to stand up, pick up his mat and go home. 465 00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:54,850 And so Jesus says to the man, Rise, pick up your man, and go 466 00:28:54,860 --> 00:28:58,010 home. And he did. 467 00:29:00,370 --> 00:29:03,130 This man who was a paralytic stood up. 468 00:29:04,350 --> 00:29:05,630 I mean, these people would have known him. 469 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:06,930 They would have known him as a paralytic. 470 00:29:06,940 --> 00:29:11,210 And they watch him rise up, pick up his mat, and go home. 471 00:29:11,220 --> 00:29:14,790 And in this Jesus shows he has the power of God to forgive 472 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,650 sins. No power of man can do that. 473 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,590 And we know, you know, people saw that this was a power from 474 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,590 God. This man went home glorifying 475 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,190 God. And it's in verse 26 amazement 476 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,700 sees them all and they glorified God. 477 00:29:29,710 --> 00:29:35,690 They recognise that this was an act of God and ultimately Jesus 478 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:38,670 can do this. Jesus can forgive sins because 479 00:29:38,780 --> 00:29:44,660 he went to the cross where he suffered, paying the price for 480 00:29:44,670 --> 00:29:48,480 sin, offering healing, spiritual healing to all those who had 481 00:29:48,490 --> 00:29:53,100 come to Him in faith, turning from Assen and turning to Jesus 482 00:29:53,110 --> 00:29:59,820 Christ. The healing of Christ is not 483 00:29:59,870 --> 00:30:02,320 merely physical. But as I close I just want to 484 00:30:02,330 --> 00:30:06,660 make this point. Gonna say this yet? 485 00:30:07,860 --> 00:30:14,640 The healing of Christ is not merely physical, yet the reason 486 00:30:14,650 --> 00:30:18,980 I say that is, is this. Although the Bible is is clear 487 00:30:19,050 --> 00:30:22,330 that the healing that we need right now is our relationship 488 00:30:22,340 --> 00:30:26,820 with God to be restored and forgiveness of our sin, it does 489 00:30:26,830 --> 00:30:32,610 not disregard the reality of mental, physical, emotional pain 490 00:30:32,620 --> 00:30:34,100 that we suffer through right now. 491 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,190 Jesus is not aloof to that. He doesn't not care. 492 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,570 All of this, this physical and mental suffering that that we 493 00:30:41,580 --> 00:30:44,010 live in, it's the result of living in a world that is 494 00:30:44,020 --> 00:30:49,230 stained by sin. Our bodies are not as they ought 495 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:50,730 to be. They're not as they designed to 496 00:30:50,740 --> 00:30:52,590 be. And so our bodies decay, our 497 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,210 bodies get sick, our bodies breakdown, they get injured, our 498 00:30:56,220 --> 00:30:59,710 minds wrestle with anxiety and depression. 499 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,010 And so whilst they say the healing of Christ is not merely 500 00:31:03,020 --> 00:31:09,440 physical, it soon will be. It soon will be, because the 501 00:31:09,450 --> 00:31:13,960 promise of the Bible is that what God is doing through Jesus 502 00:31:13,970 --> 00:31:17,850 Christ is that He is making all things new. 503 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,900 When when Jesus returns for the second time, there will be a new 504 00:31:23,910 --> 00:31:25,580 heavens, there will be a new earth. 505 00:31:25,650 --> 00:31:29,040 The dead in Christ will be resurrected and we will reign 506 00:31:29,050 --> 00:31:32,650 with Him in this new reality in our physical bodies. 507 00:31:35,170 --> 00:31:37,460 Paul season Philippians chapter 3 verse 21. 508 00:31:37,530 --> 00:31:41,360 He says He will transform our lowly body to be like His 509 00:31:41,410 --> 00:31:46,170 glorious body, and so we will reign with Him in our physical 510 00:31:46,180 --> 00:31:49,950 bodies without pain, without sickness, without injury, 511 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,880 without aches, just as our bodies were designed to be. 512 00:31:55,460 --> 00:31:58,130 And so whilst the, the, the promise of Christ actually is 513 00:31:58,140 --> 00:32:00,900 ultimately physical healing, because that's, that's where 514 00:32:00,910 --> 00:32:04,550 things are going, but it is for all of those who by faith seek 515 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:09,000 out a restored relationship with God, the forgiveness of sins. 516 00:32:12,110 --> 00:32:17,610 And I'm sure in this room there is just everyone in some way is 517 00:32:17,620 --> 00:32:20,850 going. I'm sick of living in this body. 518 00:32:20,860 --> 00:32:24,150 I'm sick of living with this mind that is futile. 519 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,870 It's prone to anxious thoughts, my body which continues to get 520 00:32:27,940 --> 00:32:31,500 sick and injury and aching. And I mean, I'm only 24 and I'm 521 00:32:31,510 --> 00:32:34,930 saying this, I'm sure as I age, it's just going to get harder 522 00:32:34,940 --> 00:32:39,840 and harder. And we go, yeah, OK, the gospel, 523 00:32:40,230 --> 00:32:42,240 the good news of Jesus Christ. Yep, it's good news. 524 00:32:42,250 --> 00:32:45,320 But what does it have to do with the the suffering, the problems 525 00:32:45,410 --> 00:32:47,490 I'm going through now? And that's that's a sermon in 526 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:50,300 itself. But I want you to understand, 527 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,370 but God is making all things new. 528 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:59,090 We the promise of the gospel is ultimately physical healing and 529 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:02,390 we we will thrive as our bodies were designed to thrive. 530 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,890 And we are in this in between point, which some would describe 531 00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:08,970 as the already and, and the not yet the already that Jesus 532 00:33:08,980 --> 00:33:12,130 Christ has come. He has extended this offering of 533 00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:14,070 forgiveness and we've put our faith in him. 534 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,290 But but but then there's this not yet when when he comes back 535 00:33:17,300 --> 00:33:21,250 again and we are reigning with him in the new heavens and the 536 00:33:21,260 --> 00:33:25,010 new earth and all is made right and, and where and, and history 537 00:33:25,020 --> 00:33:26,530 of the world. We are in this in between 538 00:33:26,540 --> 00:33:30,700 period. We feel the ache where we heard, 539 00:33:30,710 --> 00:33:35,590 where we we suffer, but we look ahead because of our 540 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:37,950 forgiveness, because of our healing that we've had in Jesus 541 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:40,730 Christ. We have this promise of future 542 00:33:40,740 --> 00:33:44,790 physical healing and we see these pictures of these healings 543 00:33:45,140 --> 00:33:48,190 that Jesus performs in the Gospels and, and really these 544 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,450 are just tastes. This is just a a foretaste of 545 00:33:51,460 --> 00:33:54,640 the ultimate healing that is to come. 546 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:58,600 Do we have that hope? Do we? 547 00:33:58,610 --> 00:34:07,160 Do we cling to that hope in the midst of our sufferings, the 548 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:10,020 healing that Jesus offers? It's not reserved for the elite, 549 00:34:10,130 --> 00:34:16,040 and it's not merely physical. Yet, and so we all want healing. 550 00:34:16,050 --> 00:34:18,070 We feel that ache. We, we, we look at the world, 551 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,150 we, we know things need to be made right. 552 00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:23,290 And I will just ask you as I close this morning, have you 553 00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:26,510 experienced the healing that Jesus Christ offers? 554 00:34:29,020 --> 00:34:34,679 It is extended to all who come to Him by faith. 555 00:34:36,330 --> 00:34:38,239 You might go I I don't fit the bill. 556 00:34:38,290 --> 00:34:43,300 I'm not that guy and has extended to all who had come to 557 00:34:43,310 --> 00:34:46,270 him. The outsider, The insider. 558 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,290 And for those of us who who have received that healing, firstly, 559 00:34:51,380 --> 00:34:56,469 does that root us in hope? Do we, do we cling, hold to that 560 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,390 hope? Does that change the way we view 561 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,370 life? Does that change the way we view 562 00:35:00,420 --> 00:35:05,240 our sufferings, our fickle bodies, our fickle minds, this 563 00:35:05,250 --> 00:35:07,470 ultimate healing that's made available in Christ? 564 00:35:08,430 --> 00:35:11,700 And is this love of Christ something that we display every 565 00:35:11,750 --> 00:35:16,020 day and the interactions we have and the people we speak to, to 566 00:35:16,030 --> 00:35:19,400 those who are not like us? Do we display this love and this 567 00:35:19,410 --> 00:35:21,040 healing of Christ to those around us? 568 00:35:21,050 --> 00:35:24,280 What would it look like for us to live that out this week in 569 00:35:24,290 --> 00:35:27,910 our homes and our workplaces as we interact with people on the 570 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,780 street, in the supermarket, wherever we go? 571 00:35:30,530 --> 00:35:35,400 We have such a great Saviour and he's offered us such incredible 572 00:35:35,450 --> 00:35:39,060 healing. Let's go to him and prayer 573 00:35:39,350 --> 00:35:43,180 before we get U and celebrate this photo. 574 00:35:43,190 --> 00:35:48,780 Team Almighty God, we thank you and we praise you for Jesus 575 00:35:48,790 --> 00:35:52,800 Christ in what He has done for us on the cross. 576 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,590 We thank you that our hope springs eternal. 577 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:59,730 We thank you that we can know you, our relationship with you 578 00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:02,010 can be restored. And so I just pray, Lord, that 579 00:36:02,020 --> 00:36:06,020 we may route our hope and what Jesus Christ has done, and I 580 00:36:06,030 --> 00:36:08,340 pray for those who do not know that, but they may see the 581 00:36:08,350 --> 00:36:11,640 goodness and the sweetness of the healing that is available 582 00:36:12,010 --> 00:36:14,060 from Jesus to all who would come to him. 583 00:36:15,130 --> 00:36:18,040 Thank you Lord, we praise you in Jesus name, Amen.