No. The God of the Bible will not be dictated to or pressured into things. He tells us what we need. He tells us to follow him. And in tonight’s passage we’ll see exactly that.
Last week we saw that Jesus is the King of God’s Kingdom, the Universe, because: only he can represent us as our champion, only he has power to teach the truth, power over evil spirits, over sickness – and tonight over God’s Law, and even over sin!
The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel! (1:15)
The King is here. The question is: Are you ready for him?
1. Jesus has power over the Law of God (v40-44)
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
Leprosy was an unattractive skin disease for which the Bible had prescribed quarantine from the rest of society. In the law given to the Israelites by God it says this: Leviticus 13:45–46 (ESV) “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”
A leper was an outcast. He was on the periphery of the people of God. He could not participate in the corporate worship of God, could not offer sacrifices – he was cut off even, it seemed, from God. Even worse, anyone who touched a leper became themselves unclean, and had to present themselves to the priests in order to be allowed back into normal society. Many Jewish teachers took this at face value and went beyond what the Bible says, teaching that leprosy was as a result of sin, and that it was a direct punishment from God. (Religious people love this kind of reasoning, because they’re not sick, therefore they are more holy or righteous than you. This is rampant in the church, and indeed in our own hearts – beware!).
Think about what it must have been like to be a leper in the 1st century. Alone, excluded. Forever on the outside looking in. Instead of here seated in the lounge you’d be outside, nose pressed against the window, looking in. Alone, lost, outside, other. With no hope of ever being rescued. No kind words, people avoiding you wherever you go, as you shout “unclean, unclean”.
But the Bible gives us a shocking, horrible revelation: we are all lepers. Spiritually, we are lepers, excluded, other, alone, outside of Gods favour, shouting, with every unkind word, with every selfish action “unclean, unclean”. Sin consumes us like leprosy, and puts us out of relationship with God.
Who can save us?
Not religion. The priest can offer no cure – merely pronounce “yes, this man (or woman) has been cured”.
Not even the Law. It just condemns us. The Law is good and perfect, but because of our sin, cannot save us but instead proclaims exclusion, judgement, death. We cannot keep it, and so are judged.
But Jesus. Jesus can cure us. “If you will, you can make me clean.”
“I will;” says Jesus, “be clean.” And he stretched out his hand and touched him.
Moses, the great giver of the Law, could not cure leprosy. He could merely cry out to God for help. Elijah the great Prophet, would not touch Naaman, when he healed him. The priesthood could only say “why, yes, you have been healed”. But Jesus! Jesus does what only God could do. Jesus touches the man, and instead of Jesus becoming unclean, as the Law states, the man becomes clean! Jesus is greater than the Law, greater than Moses, greater than Elijah, greater than the priesthood. He is a better Great Leader of the Exodus, the Great Prophet (Mohammed could never do this!), the Great High Priest.
(Note: Jesus does not just ignore the Law – pretending he’s not unclean. He knows and respects the Law – he commands the leper to follow the Law – but also transcends the Law.)
Jesus has power even over the Law of God.
So what about us? What do we trust in? What do I trust in? Being good? The law condemns us. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul”. None of us have done that! We need One greater than the Law to rescue us, to pardon us, to mend the broken relationship. And that person is only Jesus. Only Jesus can touch the unclean and make them clean, the broken whole, the spiritually dead, spiritually alive!
Each of us needs to recognise that we are like that leper. Unclean. And we need to cry out to Jesus “Please, make me clean”.
2. Jesus has the power to forgive sins (2v4-11)
[W]hen they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Try and picture the scene in your mind. Imagine the crowd pressing in, straining to hear Jesus. The religious leaders, in the front row, self-important, coming to assess this new sensation, Jesus. And then, suddenly, there’s a scratching and tearing in the ceiling above, and in a shower of dirt and debris, a man is lowered through the ceiling to Jesus’ feet. Jesus would’ve stood there covered in dust, looking around at the anticipation of the crowd, the quiet desperation of the man on the stretcher, and the hope in the eyes of his friends. He would have looked at the man as he lay, looking up at him, his body shrivelled and worthless, desperately in need of healing.
Can you imagine? The anticipation would’ve been immense! What would Jesus do? Thick clouds of dust swirling around, everyone waiting for the miracle – or maybe Jesus couldn’t do it?
And then Jesus speaks.
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
“What? What did he say? Your sins are... but what about healing him? How can he say that....?” Imagine how the mutterings and murmurings filled the room and beyond! The scribes whispering angrily among themselves about Jesus’ blatant blasphemy: only God can forgive sins. Who does this man think he is?
Who indeed?
For some of us here that phrase is relatively meaningless. Your sins are forgiven. Oh that’s nice. Or for others it’s so familiar, a comfort. But for a first century Jew, it was a terrifying thing to say.
You see, sin is not naughtiness. Sin is not doing bad things or being immoral or rude or not a gentleman. Sin might lead to those things, but sin is a relational problem. Sin is rebellion against God. Sin is throwing God’s loving care and kindness back in his face. Sin is breaking God’s Law.
Sin is a problem first between us and God before it ever becomes a problem between us.
Therefore Jesus’ words “your sins are forgiven” are audacious, ridiculous, blasphemous! The scribes are right! Only God can forgive sins.
And Jesus knew this. He was a Jew, raised as a Jew, knew the Scriptures, knew the Law, knew all about God – yet claimed a right only God has. Now either he is completely mad (“Look at me, I’m God!”), completely bad (his power is demonic – Jesus addresses this charge in chapter 3), or … he is who he says he is. God Almighty, the King, in human form, able to forgive sins.
Mad, bad – or King.
That you may know that the Son of Man (Jesus) has authority on earth to forgive sins… Get up.
Son of Man? It’s a slightly obscure title found in Daniel 7 where one like a son of man is given all authority and power over the earth. Jesus demonstrates his power to forgive sins with his visible demonstration of power over sickness.
When I was at University in Cape Town a group of us went climbing up Signal Hill. At night. By moonlight. Only moonlight. Everyone was walking up the path, but my friend Mark and I decided that we could climb up a shortcut. Climbing gear? Ropes? Pfft! We didn’t need that. We could do it alone.
Until we got stuck about 10 metres up – couldn’t go up, couldn’t go down.
Oh, how we longed for ropes and harnesses then!
We were wrong in our assessment of what we needed.
The Jackpot God. What we need is forgiveness of sins. Not money or things or fame or health or good times or relationships. We need to be made right with God. We need spiritual healing – and only Jesus has the power, the authority to do this. And that is the greatest miracle in the Bible. That he can proclaim: you are forgiven.
3. Jesus has the power to restore the sinner. (v14-17)
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”… (16b) “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
I don’t think tax collectors have ever been popular! But in 1st century Israel, they were despised as traitors. They were Jews who worked for the Roman Empire, gathering money from their own people. They were unclean, because they mixed with non-Jews continually (in fact, worked for them). They were often dishonest and greedy, hated, excluded, shunned. And scandal, scandal, read all about it! JESUS calls this man. And then, not only that, goes to DINNER with him, him and his friends. From being an outcast, Levi was eating with the King. Relationship restored. Here is a true son of Israel.
The religious elite were shocked. Why is Jesus eating with them and not us? We are certainly more deserving.
And it’s the same with us today. We are constantly surprised that God would want to be associated with tax collectors and sinners, and not with us, the righteous. The nice people. The good people, decent people. Who have you written off as beyond salvation? Who do you not want to be in this church? Is it blacks? Whites? Gays? “Råner”? Racists? Criminals? Foreigners? Norwegians? Slackers? And, here’s the kicker, if you are thinking that you’re one of the good guys, sitting in judgement over the “sinners” – then you have no part in Christ. V17. If I am righteous in my own eyes, not needing Jesus’ help but merely his stamp of approval – then I am standing with the Pharisees.
All of us are lepers, cast out of God’s presence – and there is only one way back in: to humble ourselves and to say “Lord Jesus, help” and to follow him.
And that’s just as important for those of us who have been Christians for a long time - we are not saved by grace but then continue in our own strength! No, the path of the Pharisee is perilously close. So quickly we fall into pride and self-justification. We are in Christ because of his sovereign mercy, his irresistible grace, not because we are better than others! We are all sinners and tax collectors here – and yet here is Jesus, sitting amongst us. We really have hit the jackpot! The real jackpot.
Let us listen to him, and follow him. Praise God for his mercy! Praise God!!
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