Working Against Christ • Luke 5:12-26

Notes

Paul had to remind a church once of what the gospel is because they were getting it wrong. If you get the gospel wrong you are still in your sins.

And to another church Paul said if even I or an angel preach a gospel contrary to what we preached to you, let him be cursed, and he says it twice.

When you get the gospel wrong it’s no longer the good news. Whatever you preach can’t save anyone because they are still in their sins.

Getting the gospel wrong means working against Jesus.

I’m reading in Luke 5 from verse 12 to 16.

1. A sufferer of leprosy asks Jesus to heal him.

A. Leprosy is nowadays called Hansen’s Disease because the name is so prejudicial.

1. It was incurable until 1960. Therefore it was a death sentence.

2. It destroyed your life before you died. The law of Moses said if you have this or similar skin diseases you have to live apart from everyone else. You lose your livelihood, fellowship with others, you can’t go to synagogue. You have to tear your garments, cover your mustache, and call out, “Unclean, unclean!” You live very uncertainly, you’re at the mercy of others.

3. The disease causes you to lose your sense of touch. You cut yourself or burn yourself, you don’t feel it. You can lose body parts because you don’t feel that it’s happening. That makes for disfigurement. The skin can develop infections. This man is full of leprosy. He’s a goner.

B. Jesus is his only hope.

1. You know he’s desperate because he’s in a city, and he’s not supposed to be there, but he’s looking for Jesus.

2. Undoubtedly he has heard Jesus’ name, that he heals any kind of disease, He casts out demons. Jesus has authority and He has power.

3. In the Bible, only God has the power to heal leprosy. He healed Moses, Miriam, and Naaman the Syrian. God has the authority because He is the Creator. There is nothing God can’t do.

4. He prostrates himself before Jesus. He begs Him, “If You are willing, You can cleanse me.” You have the authority and the power, the only issue is do You care? Are You willing to heal me? Do You have compassion?

2. Jesus indeed has the authority, the power, and the willingness.

A. He says be cleansed, and instantly the incurable man is cured. His skin is restored.

B. His life is restored. He can be with people, he can eat with them. He can go to synagogue and worship with people.

C. You have to marvel that Jesus does care for people who are sick, who are isolated, cut off from others. Jesus came to show the Father. He said, if you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father. Jesus is showing what God is like to the poor and afflicted.

D. That first touch comes from God Himself. The sufferer hasn’t felt anyone touch him in who knows how long? That first touch is God. God really does care for people.

3. Jesus strictly commands the healed man.

A. He says: do not tell anyone.

1. You’ll see in the gospels that Jesus does this constantly because He did not draw attention to Himself.

2. Matthew 12:15-21 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, and a smouldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” Work with Me on this, don’t tell anyone.

B. Then Jesus commands the man to go to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded. It’s for a testimony to them.

1. Moses commands a procedure for when you are cleansed from leprosy. But no Israelite that we know of was ever healed from that.

2. Imagine the priest’s reaction when a healthy man comes to him and requests the offerings for being cleansed of leprosy. Really?! That’s impossible! After roughly 1400 years since Moses those offerings are carried out for the first time. It’s a testimony that Jesus has done something only God can do. This man is proving it with his body. I was suffering from leprosy, but this Man healed me with power and authority and compassion from God.

4. The man actually worked against Jesus because he disobeyed Him.

A. If God has done great things for you, you respond by presenting yourself to worship Him and serve Him. That’s Romans 12:1-2. God has shown you mercy upon mercy, grace upon grace, you respond by presenting yourself a living and holy sacrifice. That’s your rational service of worship.

B. This man doesn’t listen to Jesus, doesn’t obey Him. He does just what Jesus told him not to do.

C. Some people excuse this disobedience by saying, “Well, if only we could get our people to talk about Jesus the way this man did. We could use a little getting the message out.” But that’s absurd. Disobedience is still disobedience.

D. When he disobeyed Jesus the healed man worked against Jesus.

1. We don’t read that he went to the priest, so the priest never got the testimony that Jesus fulfils the law of Moses. This guy left the priest in the dark.

2. This healed man told everybody what happened to him. He healed me! He can heal anybody! Great multitudes were gathering to hear and to be healed of their sicknesses. That’s understandable. If you hear this guy can heal anyone and He’s full of compassion, get everyone all the sick together and let’s get them healed! It’s a no-brainer.

3. That made life much more difficult for Jesus Mark 1:45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

4. Jesus healed that man in a city. That man made it impossible for others to encounter Jesus like he did. Now everywhere Jesus goes He has people mobbing Him, crushing Him and His disciples. Now He often slips away from the crowds to pray and be with the Father. He avoids people.

5. The worst problem is that people are hearing the wrong message: Jesus will heal your diseases. They show up in droves expecting Him to heal their diseases. Physical healing is not the gospel. Jesus came to save sinners from their sins.

E. Healing and salvation are two different things, and salvation is greater than healing. This comes out clearly in the next section. (verses 17-26)

5. Jesus is teaching, He has authority and power to heal, and is under great scrutiny.

A. Pharisees are the dominant religious group in Judea, they have been the interpreters of the law for the last hundred years. Teachers of the law are elsewhere called scribes. They are also experts in the word of God. They have come from all over Galilee, Judea, and even Jerusalem. There are some big guns here watching Jesus.

B. These men are connected with the men who came from Jerusalem to check out John the Baptist. Who are you? Who do you say that you are? What do we say to those who sent us? You’re not the Prophet, you’re not Elijah. Who are you? Remember also, these guys didn’t believe John was from God. I don’t think they’re favourable of open. I think they’re slightly hostile and critical of Jesus, to begin with.

C. And Jesus is teaching away, to guys who already know it all. They are teachers themselves. What are You going to teach us that we don’t already know? Whaddya got?

6. Then men bring their suffering friend to Jesus.

A. These guys have a friend who is paralysed and they have heard the news: there’s a guy named Jesus and He can heal anyone. So they bring their friend, they can’t get to Jesus so they go through the roof and let their friend in on his stretcher, right in front of Jesus.

B. It takes time to dig through a roof enough to let a guy down. The Chosen found this out when they filmed this incident. They decided we don’t have time for this. Let’s say there’s a winch on the roof so we can quickly let this guy down. There was no winch on the roof. It took 15 minutes, half an hour, to do this.

C. What do you do in the meantime? I can imagine a lot of talking. What do you think you’re doing? We want Jesus to heal our friend. You can’t do this. It’s okay, Jesus can do this, can’t you, Jesus? All these teachers are looking at Jesus and thinking this is crazy. What is He going to do?

7. Jesus takes this opportunity to proclaim the gospel, that He is God With Us.

A. He certainly doesn’t do what the paralysed man or his friends expect Him to do. They think He’s going to say, “I am willing, be cleansed,” and boom, they get what they came for, their friend is healed. Jesus doesn’t do that.

B. He says, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

1. All the teachers and Pharisees start thinking, “What?!! This guy thinks He’s God! He’s blaspheming! Nobody can forgive sins but God. He thinks He’s God!”

2. It doesn’t say here, but if I were one of the friends I’d think, “What?!! Didn’t You hear us? Heal! Not metaphysical mumbo jumbo! You didn’t heal him.”

C. Notice also that Jesus is aware of their reasoning. He knows their thoughts, and He tells them what’s in their hearts. You think I’m blaspheming.

D. “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier to say, “Your sins have been forgiven you,” or, “Rise up and walk?”

1. It’s easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you” because no one can check up and see if it is true. It’s invisible. If I’m a fake then I am making claims that can’t be proven.

2. It’s harder to say rise up and walk because either he does or he doesn’t. You can see it right now. That can’t be faked.

E. That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—I say to you, rise, and take up your stretcher, and go home.”

1. Remember, Jesus is teaching these guys who know everything. One thing they don’t know, and that is, who is Jesus? He’s teaching them: I am the Son of Man.

2. All these teachers would know the reference, Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

3. By speaking the word, He exercises His authority to instantly heal the paralysed man, who obeys Jesus. He picks up his stretcher and walks home glorifying God. They are all seized with astonishment. They have seen remarkable, miraculous things.

F. Jesus has taught with power that He is the Son of Man, equal in stature and authority to the Ancient of days.

8. So what?

A. You have to get the gospel right or you’re working against Jesus.

B. Physical healing is not the same as salvation. They are two different things, and salvation is by far greater. Jesus proves this.

1. Jesus chose not to heal crowds when He had the opportunity. That’s not why He came from heaven.

2. He dealt directly with the root cause of all our problems. He told the paralysed man, “Your sins are forgiven you.” Sin is the cause of disease and ruined lives and eternal death. Disease only kills physically. Sin kills forever.

3. That forgiveness meant the paralytic was made right with the Father and had eternal life even though he was not yet physically healed.

4. That man eventually died. His healing was in this life and it was temporary. Where is he now? He’s alive now because his sins were forgiven him, and he is healed forever.

5. So we conclude, salvation is far greater than healing.

B. Salvation is Jesus Himself. He Himself is the gospel.

1. The man who was healed of leprosy preached the wrong message. People who heard came to Jesus for the wrong reasons. They wanted to be healed, they weren’t thinking I need salvation.

2. Jesus fed five thousand people with a little bit of bread. That multitude was filled, Jesus left, and they went looking for Jesus until they found Him. John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”

3. Jesus is greater than a healer. He is the Son of Man, the One who will reign forever because He is salvation. He died for the sin of the world and rose again from the dead.

C. You know you really know Him when you present yourself to Him and obey Him.

1. He’s not your Saviour until He’s your Lord. Otherwise you are than healed man who worked against Jesus and made life harder for Him.

2. Luke 11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters. Do you gather with Jesus or do you scatter against Him?

3. Every morning present yourself to Him as a living and holy sacrifice, which is your spiritual service of worship. Then you know you have the gospel right.

Let’s pray.