1. In The Footsteps Of The Master: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ
Jesus Heals a Paralytic in Capernaum
Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

2. Luke 5:17-26
“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 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.

3. Luke 5:17-26
And when he saw their faith, he said, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you. (New territory) “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, ‘Who is his who speaks blasphemies? 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’”?

4. Luke Continued
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 lying 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.’”

5. Friends Shows the difference friends can make for an afflicted person
A paralyzed man who had to rely on others for food, bathing, and daily living, now needed assistance with acting on his faith
Jesus didn’t mind the interruption but seemed to enjoy their outstanding faith

6. Let’s point out one thing
Historically, for a man to forgive or for a man to get forgiveness from God for his sins, he would’ve had to work the system. What system?
Answer: The law.
There would have been penance, there would have been repayment, there would have been action.
This man has done nothing but be lowered into a room, and what does Jesus do?
Forgives his sins.
The man did nothing but get lowered into a room, and Jesus forgives his sins.
There's starting to be a shift

7. Matthew’s Account Turn to Matthew 9:1-8 Roll the Video!!!!!
What is the main difference in the accounts?
No rooftop action
Why did Matthew leave that detail out?

8. Mark’s Account
Mark 2:1-12
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
-He had been out preaching and teaching in the Synagogues in the little towns around Capernaum for a few weeks, but now he is back.
Could be Peter’s mother-in-laws house again (He stayed there last time)

9. Another Mob Scene Last time Jesus stayed there the crowds came!
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
It just got over whelming, receiving people, finding them seats, etc, became impossible.
There was just this crush of people who wanted to see and hear Jesus.

10. Proclaiming Q: What was Jesus doing? A: “He preached the Word to them”
This was not a healing service, or a counseling seminar, Jesus was teaching them the Word of God.
Maybe Jesus was just walking them through different Old Testament scriptures or stories and they were responding to that.
Perhaps He was teaching them in Parables.
What the Kingdom meant to them, He was talking about repentance and forgiveness.
Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what Jesus said

11. Importance
What this shows us once again is the importance that Jesus placed on the Word of God
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
Latecomers who are bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus
The place is packed. There is no way that they are going to even get close to Jesus
No one would let them through

12. Plan B Plan B was a roof assault. 1st Century roofing 101
In this day the roof was made up of cross beams, spaced about three feet across, then cross wise, over the beams, they would place round sticks laid very close to each other. On top of this they would put reeds and tree branches and thistles. Then on top of that they would put about a foot of dirt which they would pack down with water.
So all told the roof was about two feet thick. It was cheap, easily repairable, and relatively easy to dig up.

13. Making a Scene
Now it wasn’t long before what was happening on the outside began to effect what was happening on the inside.
There were weird noises coming from the roof, dirt was starting to fall down
Pretty soon there was an actual hole in the roof and the whole was getting bigger.
Plus, the debris that was coming down was getting bigger, now there were pieces of wood and sticks

14. Mission Accomplished
But finally, there he is laid out in front of Jesus.
Their mission was accomplished, they had gotten their friend to Jesus
Isn’t this what it’s all about?
Isn’t this the main mission of our lives, to get our friends and loved ones and neighbor’s to Jesus?
And we can learn some great lessons from these four guys that will help us to do just that.

15. Lessons from the Friends
1) There is love for their friend
It was their love for this man that motivated them to get him to Jesus.
Evangelism is fueled by love
2) They understood this man’s need
The needs of the people around us might not be quite as obvious
they can disguise them really well

16. The Power to Heal 3) They knew that only Jesus could meet that need
They were convinced that Jesus had the power to heal him
Are we convinced that Jesus will heal people or solve their problems?
Jesus is always willing and able to meet the deepest need that people have

17. Gotta Have Faith
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
It was their faith that caught His attention
What does the book of James tell us?
Faith without works is?
Dead

18. Jumping out of their robes
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? –Mark 2:6-8

19. Only God….. The Scribes were half right in their assessment,
Only God can forgive sins because He alone was willing to pay the price that allowed Him to do that
Their problem was, they didn’t believe that Jesus was God.

20. Never seen this
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

21. Amazement
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
I bet they were amazed
Probably jumped off the roof full of joy
This is the joy that comes when we bring people to Jesus
It’s the greatest thing that we can do.

22. Which is Easier?
To say “Your sins are forgiven, or “Get up, take you mat and walk” ?
Physical healing seems easy. Jesus never met a disease or birth defect He couldn’t cure.
But He did meet skeptics he could not convince and sinners he could not convert
Forgiveness of sins requires and act of will on our part

23. Every Healed person
Every person Jesus healed still dies a physical death
He came to heal the world’s SOULS and not CELLS.
Jesus knew that spiritual disease has a more devastating effect than any physical ailment

24. Application
But more often then not, there will be joy on earth and joy in heaven because a soul has been saved.
The paralytic’s soul was saved, because it was a soul that was brought.
Let’s bring some souls to Jesus this week!!!!!!

25. Next Week
Sir Bob McClanahan
Questions?