“Friends”
Luke 5:17-26
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe
December 6, 2009
I. Introduction
A. The essence of being a friend
1. The chorus (by the Remingtons)
But, I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I’ll be there for you, like I’ve been there before.
I’ll be there for you, cause you’re there for me too
2. Who are you there for?
B. The importance of friends
1. Parents concern over kids’ friends
a. The fear of not having any friends
1. Moving to a new school
b. The fear of having the wrong kind of friends
1. Can make or break a child
2. What’s a parent to do?
2. The value of one true friend
a. Can shatter the loneliness
1. Encourage each other
2. “I’ll be there for you”
b. Charles Kingsley
“A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults. “
C. Today….four of the best friends imaginable
II. Review
A. The word is out on Jesus!
1. Around the Sea of Galilee
a. Up north
2. Thousands following him
B. Meanwhile back in Jerusalem…
1. Home of religious big shots
a. Down south
2. “Better check into this guy”
a. A threat to their system
3. They decide to go and see for themselves
a. They hear His teaching
1. Claims to be the Messiah
b. They witness His power to heal
4. And they come to absolutely the wrong conclusion
III. The Text
1. The Arrival (v. 17-19)
(17) One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
a. Mark supplies the location
(Mark 2:1) A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.
b. Jesus had “come home”
1. Not Nazareth
a. Where He was born and raised
b. Luke 4—They tried to kill Him
c. They were filled with wrath
2. Moved to Capernaum
a. Matt. 4:13
b. North shore of Sea of Galilee
c. Followed by huge crowds
1. The curious
2. Incredible miracles
d. Crowd included the religious leaders (Luke 5)
(17) … Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
e. Jesus was teaching in a house
1. Possibly Peter’s
2. Two stories tall
3. Commonly had large upper rooms
4. It was packed!
f. Another group arrives
(18) Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
1. Four men carrying a 5th on his small portable bed (stretcher)
a. Four of the best friends a guy could ask for
2. Tried to bring him to Jesus
a. One problem:
(19) When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd,
3. Mark 2:2-4 adds:
(2) So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. (3) Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. (4) Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd…
g. But they didn’t quit!
1. Would have been easy to rationalize—
a. “Well, we tried”
b. “He probably couldn’t have done anything any way”
c. “Don’t want to disturb Him”
2. No; they found a way to bring their friend to Jesus
(19) …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.
a. (Mark. 2:4)
(4) since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
b. May have removed one of the 3-foot long roof tiles
c. Used ropes as belts
h. The surprise of the crowd
(Luke 5:19) … 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.
1. What next?!
2. Plaster beginning to fall
3. Light shines through
4. Slowly a man and a bed descend
5. Deposited at the feet of Jesus
2. The Absolution (v. 20)
a. The crowd is hushed
b. The paralytic lay at feet of Jesus
(20) When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
c. “When Jesus saw their faith”
d. Two questions…
1. Whose faith?
a. “Their faith is plural”
b. All five of them
2. And how can you “see” faith?
a. Their actions proved their faith
e. “Friend”
1. What a tender term
2. The song “I am a friend of God…I am a friend of God…he calls me friend”
f. “Your sins are forgiven”
1. “You sins are absolved”
a. Buried
2. God no longer sees my sins
3. He sees the blood of His son
g. The Eskimos
1. Missionary had a problem
2. No word for “forgiveness”
3. Heard a phrase one day –
a. “Isuma gee gou jun ie neir muk”
b. “not being able to think about it anymore”
4. God doesn’t think about my sins anymore
What we can learn from the four friends
1. Their faith was made apparent by their actions
a. Jesus “saw” their faith by their actions
b. James 2:14-18
(14) What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (15) Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. (16) If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (17) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (18) But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
b. More than talk
2. They brought their friend closer to Jesus
a. Encouraging friends who are believers
1. Growing together
2. The sin of leading friends away from Christ
b. Befriending the unsaved
1. “Friendship evangelism”
2. A genuine interest in them
3. Building a relationship
4. Get them here!
3. They didn’t quit when they faced obstacles
a. Easy to rationalize
b. At least they tried
c. Maybe another time
4. They refused to leave a fallen comrade behind
a. “The Warrior’s Ethos”
I will always place the mission first
I will never accept defeat
I will never quit
I will never leave a fallen comrade
The secret to making good friends is giving not taking
1. Being interested in others
a. Asking them questions about themselves
b. You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. (Dale Carnegie)
c. The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage (Dale Carnegie)
d. The desire to be important is the deepest urge in human nature (John Dewey)
e. The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. (William James)
***back to the story***
3. The Anger (v. 21)
(21) 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?”
a. Pamphlet last week
1. “Jesus just a good teacher”
2. “He never claimed to be God”
3. Has been pushed by Satan for 2,000 years
b. Scribes and Pharisees admit that Jesus claimed to be God
c. It would be blasphemy for an ordinary man to claim to be God
1. That’s why Jesus poured out an unprecedented display of miracles
a. To verify His claims
b. And no one could question His power
d. Pharisees had to come up with an explanation for his power
(Mt. 9:33-34)
(33) And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” (34) But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”
e. Can’t argue a person into Heaven
1. If a man starts out with a belief that Jesus is a fraud – (not God)
2. Won’t be convinced by
a. Discovery of Noah’s Ark
b. Miracles
c. Rapture
3. Let them see your love
a. Faith in action
f. Jesus gives them some more proof
4. The Answer (v. 22-23)
a. Jesus responds
(22) Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? (23) Which is easer; to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
b. “You guys don’t think I really did anything”
1. Anybody can say “Your sins are forgiven”
2. No way to check
c. A lot easier to say that, than to say ”Get up and walk”
d. Actually it is much harder to forgive sins than to heal
1. Only God can forgive sins
e. Jesus gives them what they want
5. The Arising (v. 24-25)
(24) “But that you may know that the son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins… “He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
a. The four friends peering through the hole in the roof in silence
1. Started a fight between Jesus and the Pharisees
b. All eyes on the floor
1. Will he get up?
2. Muscles atrophied from disease
c. And then it happened…
(25) Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
1. A corridor opened
2. Went home like Jesus told him to
a. To share the good news
3. Meanwhile, four friends jumping up and down on the roof
a. More plaster falling
6. The Awe (v. 26)
(26) Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
a. “Awe”
1. The feeling you get when confronted with some one of obviously vast superiority
2. The sense of fear and awe of being in his presence
3. All they could do was marvel
b. “and gave praise to God”
1. Glorified God
2. In their presence
3. Had given such power
c. Everybody except the religious leaders
IV. Summary
A. The various reactions to Jesus
1. The multitudes marveled and glorified God
2. The Pharisees and Scribes
a. Searched for an explanation to tell the crowds
b. Decided He must be of Satan
3. The Paralytic
a. Ran to those of his house
b. To share Jesus
4. The four friends
a. Content that they had not left a fallen comrade behind
5. How to become “that” friend…
B. Some things I’ve learned about really good friends
1. A friend’s support is unconditional, especially when you’re going through difficult times
2. A friend has seen you at your worst and still loves you
3. A friend is someone with whom you can share secrets in confidence
4. A friend is someone you can phone for help in the middle of the night
5. A friend is honest with you, deflating your ego but inflating your self
6. A friend is drawn to you not for what you do…but who you are
7. A friend is someone who replies, “How can I help?” when you share your wildest dreams
8. A friend always gives you the benefit of the doubt
9. A friend doesn’t criticize or gossip about you
10. A friend is concerned about how much they can give…not how much they can get
11. A friend will tell you the truth, even if it’s not what you want to hear
12. A friend will give you some space and is not jealous of the other people in your life
13. A friend will patiently listen to you…and not talk at you
14. A friend will rejoice in your triumphs
15. A friend will draw you closer to God
C. I am a friend of God
(20) When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
“I am a friend of God….he calls me friend”