Text: Luke 5:12-26 | Listen to Message
Just Get To Jesus
Luke 5 tells the story of two men united by a peculiar faith.
The first man was a leper. Physically, his body was being eaten by a disease that infected every part of him and made it so he couldn’t feel properly. Socially, he was an outcast, an untouchable. Spiritually, he was unclean.
The second man was lame. Physically, his body was paralyzed. Socially, he was stigmatized, yet dependent on others. Spiritually, he too was unclean.
These men are pictures of what sin does to all of us. Sin is inside us, relentlessly infecting every part of us from head to toe. It’s destroying our ability to feel properly. And it’s destroying our ability to walk in the way we ought to go. Sin is leaving us weak, disfigured, and alone. Sin is killing us.
It would be a serious mistake to look at these two men and think, “What they need is the Law!” Actually, the Law was probably a source of deep frustration for both of these men, as it constantly reminded them just how bad off they were. See, the Law essentially told them, “You’re not only sick, you are unclean. You are unworthy. You don’t belong in the community of God’s people. And you certainly don’t belong anywhere near the presence of a holy God!”
The Law could condemn them but it could not cleanse them.
So get this: one day, their frustration bubbling over, both men broke the Law in order to get to Jesus.
You see, the leper belonged outside the camp – Leviticus 13:46. But in defiance, and in faith, he entered the city and threw himself at Jesus’ feet: “Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean.” He knew Jesus was his only hope. He had nothing to lose. What were people going to do? Hate him? He was already hated. Stone him? He was already a walking dead man. So he put himself at Jesus’ mercy because Jesus was all he had.
And the lame man? Since when is it okay to willfully destroy someone else’s property? But that’s what his friends did: in defiance, and in faith, they tore the roof off somebody else’s house to get the paralytic to Jesus. They knew Jesus was his only hope. He had nothing to lose. Damaged roofs can be replaced; damaged lives cannot. So he put himself at Jesus’ mercy because Jesus was all he had.
Don’t you see this in your own life? We all have needs – lots and lots of them – that only Jesus can fix. Maybe it’s sin. Or sickness. Or shame. Or stress. Or sorrow that completely encompasses and grips our lies. But are we desperate to get to Jesus, no matter the cost, believing that he is all we need? This is gutsy faith.
Sermon Notes & Application Questions