Rev. David Holwick ZD Running Into Jesus series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 11, 2016
Luke 5:17-26
HIS FRIENDS HAD FAITH
I. Political debates.
A. Harsh audience, trying to see weakness.
1) Gary Johnson flubs Aleppo question.
2) Trump and Clinton will be trying to set up a kill...
B. Jesus faced audiences like this.
1) At this point in his ministry he was hugely popular.
a) Normally he would be preaching outside but the weather
must have been bad because he is in a house.
b) Many believe it would have been Peter's mother-in-law's
house where Jesus often hung around.
2) It is who is in the house with him that is interesting:
Pharisees.
a) They were a powerful movement of devout Jewish laymen.
1> In some ways they were similar to today's Taliban.
b) They were major enemies of Jesus, and this is the first
time Luke mentions them.
1> They are right at the feet of Jesus, assessing
his every word.
3) Other people are also there, so many that no one else can
get inside.
a) There is great excitement because they expect to see
miracles.
b) They didn't have TV feeds back then, so everyone is
pushing to get a peek.
C. When people are under pressure you see who they really are.
1) This house full of people is about to find out who Jesus is.
2) Do you think you agree with their assessment?
II. The story has plenty of humor.
A. Desperate friends carry a special burden.
1) They needed a miracle for their buddy.
a) He was paralyzed and needed a healing.
b) Jesus sounded like a great opportunity to them.
2) They couldn't get close enough, so they improvised.
a) They went up on the roof and pounded a hole through it,
then lowered their friend's stretcher down.
b) I have often re-enacted this for V.B.S.
I even have the stretcher in the basement of the
Ed building.
I used to hang it from our old play tower but now
I hang it from the church fire escape.
But I have never figured out how to punch a hole
in a roof first.
The kids have to use their imagination.
c) The house where Jesus was didn't need imagination -
dirt and branches would have been cascading down
on them.
And then the stretcher would have slowly lowered....
Very dramatic. You would remember that!
B. Notice how Jesus reacts.
1) Most of us would be concerned about the falling debris.
2) Peter would have been ticked that his mother-in-law's house
was being torn apart.
3) But Jesus noticed the man - and his friends' faith.
C. We can have faith for others.
1) Your faith can affect more than yourself.
a) God can use you as his instrument to reach others.
b) That is why we should pray for our family and friends
and even enemies.
c) Have you seen evidence that your faith has had an
impact on someone else?
2) Their are some things your faith cannot do for others.
a) Lutherans use this passage to justify infant baptism.
1> Baptism requires faith to be effective but parents
can be the ones with the faith, they say.
2> I would argue that the candidate is the one that
must have the faith.
A> Even in today's passage, "their" would probably
include the paralytic.
B> Otherwise he would not let them lower him
through the roof!
b) Our faith cannot override their own spiritual decision.
1> Your salvation cannot come from someone else.
2> You must decide to follow Jesus on your own.
III. This episode is controversial for us as well as them.
A. We struggle with the connection between sin and illness.
1) Are all illnesses due to bad choices we make?
a) Some biblical passages suggest this.
b) Other passages show they are not always linked:
1> In the famous passage in John 9 about the man born
blind, Jesus emphasized that the man was not
blind because of sin, his or anyone else's.
2> Sometimes bad things happen to us because God
has a higher purpose in it.
2) For this man, apparently it was.
a) Many illnesses can be affected or even produced by
your mental and spiritual state.
b) True health only comes after you have a clean slate.
B. The original audience had a different dilemma.
1) Before any healing took place, the Pharisees started to
mutter.
a) Their issue was the announcement of the forgiveness of
his sins.
b) Only God can forgive sins.
1> Jesus was committing blasphemy in their eyes.
2> The Jews handled blasphemy the way Muslims in the
Middle East do today - the death penalty.
2) Jesus makes a deeper point.
a) It might have been supernatural knowledge, or his own
common sense, but he knows what they are thinking.
b) He succinctly spells out the dilemma - what is easier,
announcing forgiveness or healing a paralytic?
1> As we say today, words are cheap.
2> So Jesus resorts to action - he heals the man, who
then gets up and walks away.
C. Jesus can heal, and he can forgive.
1) I can forgive what you do to me, but I cannot forgive what
you do to God.
2) Jesus can, and that says a lot about his nature and his
authority.
a) He is a lot more than a nice teacher - he is God.
b) Jesus wants us to be forgiven, healed and reconciled
with his heavenly Father.
3) Has he forgiven you?
a) It is something we need to ask him for.
b) And when we ask, we have to be prepared to follow him
from that point on.
IV. The end of religion.
A. The Jews were expecting a strict process. [1]
1) Spiritual healings required confirmation from the religious
authorities.
2) A priest had to review it, and the person had to offer
sacrifices.
3) Jesus short-circuited all this.
a) In effect, he is saying that faith in him replaces
all the rest of that stuff.
b) We no longer need temples or priests or sacrifices -
we just need a genuine relationship with Jesus.
B. Religion doesn't like the competition.
1) Jesus' opponents were furious.
a) Many modern religious people share their concerns.
b) We want our buildings and procedures to be honored.
1> Note how Catholics went through a long process
before declaring Mother Teresa a saint.
2> Miracles had to be authenticated and then the
church hierarchy made its decision.
3> But Biblically, every genuine Christian is a saint.
A> They are identical terms.
B> The church doesn't make Christians, Jesus does.
2) Religion has a place.
a) Our places and traditions help us keep our focus on God.
b) But we have to be careful they don't get in the way of
God. (And all too often, they do.)
V. Everyone needs some friends with faith.
A. Two baseball players.
Have you ever heard of Bobby Richardson?
He played for the Yankees in the 1950s.
Most of you have probably never heard of him.
Perhaps you have heard of his good friend - Mickey Mantle.
Mantle, of course, was one of the greatest players of all time.
He once hit a home run measured at 565 feet.
Mantle was also famous for his wild ways, chasing women and
partying hard; along the way he became an alcoholic.
Bobby Richardson, on the other hand, was a clean-living homebody
and a committed Christian.
It was an unusual friendship but it gave Bobby many
opportunities to share the gospel with Mantle.
Mantle once told Bobby's son, "Your dad is always talking about
the decision I need to make."
Mantle's alcoholism worsened after he retired and he entered
the Betty Ford Clinic in 1994.
Sportscaster Bob Costas interviewed him that year, just two
weeks after Mantle's son Billy had passed away at age 36.
Mantle told Costas that he had not been a good role model and
there was something missing in his life.
He admitted he had often been cruel and hurtful to family,
friends, and fans because of his alcoholism.
One year later, Mantle was diagnosed with liver cancer.
There was a lot of controversy when he was given a transplant.
Even so, the liver cancer returned and he faded quickly.
Mantle called Bobby and asked him to pray for him.
Bobby prayed with him over the phone and read Philippians 4:4-7
in the Phillips' translation to him:
"Don't worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail
of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer,
and the peace of God which transcends human understanding,
will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as
they rest in Christ Jesus."
Mantle lasted a few more weeks.
Bobby Richardson and his wife flew out to Dallas and saw Mantle
in the hospital.
As they entered the room, Mantle said to him, "I can't wait to
tell you this: I have accepted Christ as my Savior."
Bobby was thrilled, but he wanted to be sure, so he went
through the plan of salvation with Mickey.
Bobby's wife then said, "Mickey, if you were to stand before a
holy God today and He asked you, 'Why should I let you into
my heaven?' what would you say?"
Mantle quoted John 3:16 to her - "For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Mickey Mantle passed away at age 63.
Bobby Richardson preached the funeral message, which was
televised worldwide.
Since then Bobby has been handing out a tract called "Mickey
Mantle: His Final Inning."
It tells the story of his friend's profession of faith in
Christ and how others can also believe and be saved.
#65277
B. Do you have what Mickey had?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
1. I developed this point after reading the opening note in Rev. Jeremy
Myers’ sermon “Salvation: From The Top Down” (Kerux Sermon #65305).
His sermon itself doesn’t actually make this point!
#65277 “Mickey Mantle's Conversion,” Rudy Gray of the Baptist Courier;
Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org, 1 Aug 2016.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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