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Hi, Pastor Mark
here in Capernaum.

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This was hometown to Peter,
as well as some

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of Jesus' other disciples.

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As you read the Scriptures,
you realize that they were fishermen,

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and you can see just behind me
the Sea of Galilee where they,

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in fact, enjoyed their
trade of fishing

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and providing
for their families.

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And the Bible tells us that
though Jesus grew up

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in Nazareth, when he began his
public ministry, he essentially

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relocated to Capernaum,
that's the city

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that we are standing
in presently.

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In the days of Jesus, it was
actually a very small town,

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perhaps 50, no more than
100 people, and you can see

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just behind me, some of the
ancient ruins of the city.

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These would have been the
homes where people lived,

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they're quite small, 500, 600, 700,
800 square feet per family,

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roads between them.

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And this is actually the entire city
of Capernaum and its ancient ruins.

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Just behind me is a meeting
place that has some seats

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for people
to gather and discuss.

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And that in total
is the entirety

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of the town of Capernaum.

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So for scope and size, sometimes
we hear of these cities

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and we think of large cities.

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We're talking very small
villages, simple way of life,

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everyone dependent on the sea
for their income and well-being.

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And just off to my left there
was a Catholic church

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that was built and underneath it
is actually Peter's home, the home

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that Peter resided in when Jesus
called him into ministry,

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as this was his hometown.

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And something very interesting
happened here that Luke records

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in chapter 5 in the town
of Capernaum that

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I'll read for you.

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"On one of those days, as he was
teaching, Pharisees and teachers

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"of the law were sitting there,
who had come from every village

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of Galilee and Judea
and from Jerusalem."

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Many days' walk
to come here,

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this man Jesus
in this small town.

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"And the power of the Lord
was with him to heal.

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"And behold, some men were bringing
on a bed a man who was paralyzed,

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and they were seeking to bring him in
and lay him before Jesus."

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In one of these homes,
we know not exactly which,

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but that's where Jesus
was brought this man.

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"But finding no way to bring him in,
because of the crowd,

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"they went up on the roof and let him
down with his bed through

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the tiles into the midst
before Jesus."

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So you can imagine the
rooftops of the homes,

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perhaps about the same height that we
are standing, and they allow the man

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to be lifted down into the home
through an opening in the roof

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that they created so he
could get before Jesus.

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"And when he saw their faith, he said,
'Man, your sins are forgiven you.'

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"And the scribes and the Pharisees
began to question, saying,

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"'Who is this who
speaks blasphemies?

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"Who can forgive sins
but God alone?'

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When Jesus perceived their
thoughts," he knew their minds,

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"he answered them, 'Why do you
question in your hearts?

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"Which is easier, to say, 'Your
sins are forgiven you,' or to say,

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"'Rise and walk'? But that you
may know that the Son of Man

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"has authority on earth
to forgive sins'—

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"he said to the man
who was paralyzed—

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"'I say to you, rise, pick up
your bed and go home.'

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"And immediately he rose up
before them and picked up what

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"he had been lying on and
went home, glorifying God.

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"And amazement seized them all,
and they glorified God and were

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filled with awe, saying, 'We have
seen extraordinary things today.'"

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[music]

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All right, Mars Hill,
Jesus changes lives,

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that's what we are so excited
about as a church.

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You're going to see two examples
of Jesus changing lives

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in Luke 5:12-26.

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If you've got a Bible,
feel free to go there.

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You're gonna meet
a leper and a paralytic,

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and we'll start with the leper.

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Before we get into
this man's story,

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let me introduce you,
a little bit, to leprosy.

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In that day, people were
well aware of lepers.

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There were quite a few of them,
and many people witnessed

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and/or knew lepers.

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In our day, it is a condition
that sadly does still befall

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some on the earth,
but most of us, in our context,

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probably haven't seen it.

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Leprosy was a horrendously
debilitating,

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painful skin condition.

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I'll show you a few photos so
you can get an appreciation of it.

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It starts with red open
sores that become porous.

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This causes great
discomfort and pain.

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You don't want to bathe
because the open sores

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and wounds are
so incredibly painful.

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Over time, this also can
cause serious nerve damage.

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And the result being that if
you burn yourself while cooking

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or injure yourself while working,
you don't feel it.

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And so people could
live many years.

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There are some ancient records
of people lasting upwards

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of 20 years suffering
continually with leprosy,

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but because you would hit your hand
or your foot, things of that nature,

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eventually you'd start losing
appendages and limbs,

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because you were numb
and desensitized.

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And so these are some
additional modern-day photos

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of lepers on the earth.

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This is what happens when the
body loses its sensitivity

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and its ability to touch and
the nerve endings are damaged.

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Imagine living in this
condition for years.

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One more example.

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I show that to you so you have an
appreciation of the depth of suffering.

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Imagine the horrific
suffering that comes

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with this condition of leprosy.

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And if that was not bad enough,
to make matters worse,

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some people thought, wrongly,
that all lepers were cursed

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of God for sin in their life.

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So oftentimes, when they needed
compassion, they didn't receive it.

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And the truth is, there are
some people in the Bible,

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like Uzziah, as one example,
who was stricken with leprosy

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as judgment from God for sin.

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But not every leper was
suffering because of God's

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judgment for a particular
sin in their life.

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Yet, some religious people
who were rather cruel

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and judgmental and unloving,
they would proclaim the lepers to,

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in essence, be cursed of God and
beyond any mercy or kindness

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or hope, which made their
life all the more lonely.

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Imagine this is you.

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This is your spouse, you get
married and they get leprosy.

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These are your children, you
have children, they're healthy

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and then one day you
see a rash on their arm

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and then it begins to spread.

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Those who had leprosy were
quarantined for health purposes.

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They weren't allowed to live
in the city and be in community.

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They couldn't enjoy the things
that we take for granted,

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going to the store,
worshiping with God's people,

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having a meal with friends,
traveling freely.

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They were ostracized
from the community.

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They lived outside of the camps
is what the Bible says,

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they were in exile.

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They couldn't hold a job

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because they couldn't be
around other people.

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This was such a horrendous
condition that you could catch it

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if a leper sneezed around you,

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so you wanted
to be nowhere near a leper,

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and you weren't certainly going
to work in proximity to a leper,

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and so the lepers
would live in exile.

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They couldn't obtain a job,
they would beg for a living.

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Oftentimes they depended on
family and friends to select

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for them a third place,
somewhere neutral.

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The family and friends would go there,
they would leave money

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and leave food and
leave supplies

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and then sometime later,
the leper would come alone.

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They were always alone or
they were with other lepers,

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filled with stench, not bathing,
suffering people,

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horrendous condition.

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The Bible speaks of this
as well in Leviticus 13:45-46.

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"The person with such an infectious
disease must wear torn clothes,

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"let his hair be unkempt,

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"cover the lower part of his face
and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!'

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"As long as he has the infection,
he remains unclean.

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He must live alone."

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Imagine that, total isolation.

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"He must live outside the camp."

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Commentator Godet called
this the living death.

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This is the AIDS, Ebola,
West Nile virus, bubonic plague,

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black death of its day.

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And it consumed your identity.

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If you were anywhere near other
people, as you approached them,

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you would have to cry out
your identity,

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"Unclean, unclean, unclean."

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And the women and children
would scream and everyone would run.

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Some ancient reports that I read
in researching for the sermon

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said that certain religious
people would actually carry

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rocks in their pocket just in
case they were anywhere near

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a leper, they'd throw rocks at
the leper to drive them away.

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Emotionally, I want you to feel
devastated for these people.

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This is horrendous.

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Their life is destroyed.

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They're without any hope
and there is no cure for them.

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Now, knowing that, it's
amazing what Jesus does.

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We pick up the story in Luke 5:12-14,
"While he," Jesus,

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"Was in the one of cities—"
So he's in one of these areas,

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a gathering point in the hill country
around the Sea of Galilee

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and the region of Galilee, and a leper's
going to come to him in a city.

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And this is unusual because
a leper isn't supposed

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to come into the city.

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So this leper wants
to get to Jesus,

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is desperate
to get to Jesus.

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So they go into the city,
"Unclean, unclean."

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People are running from them,
cursing them out, commanding

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them to leave the city,
fleeing their presence.

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These people are unkempt.

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They haven't showered
sometimes in maybe years,

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because you can't clean skin that is
that destroyed and open with sores,

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seeping wounds. May have already
had stones thrown at him.

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This man desperately
wants to get to Jesus,

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so he goes into
the city looking for Jesus.

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"There came a man
full of leprosy."

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That is a clinical medical
diagnosis from the physician,

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Luke, who pens the book.

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This isn't a man who simply
recently obtained this infection.

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He is quote, "full of leprosy."

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He has open sores on his ears
and his nose and his eyelids

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and his lips and his fingers,
his face is covered in open sores.

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Some ancient reports say
that it could actually attack

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the mucus membranes so that even
your eyes would fall out of your head.

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He's at that state.

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"And when he saw Jesus,
he fell on his face."

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This is utter humility,
total desperation,

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complete reverence for Jesus.

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Do you think it was difficult
for him to get down on his face?

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If his condition was as
advanced as Luke indicates,

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he may not have had all
his fingers and toes,

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his joints would
have infected and affected.

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This is very painful for this
man to get down on the ground.

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And so rather than doing so
graciously and gracefully,

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he simply falls face down in
the dirt at the feet of Jesus.

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To do what?

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To worship him.

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To worship him.

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He is worshiping Jesus
before Jesus heals him.

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Some would come
to Jesus and say,

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"If you will heal me,
then I will worship you."

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This man says, "Whether or not
you heal me, I will worship you

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because you are worthy."

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That should be our
attitude toward Jesus.

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And he "begged him,"
the Bible says.

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This man is desperate.

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There's some of you who do
not pray either because you're

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self-sufficient and/or your
life doesn't have any immediately

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visible crisis.

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Some of you pray on occasion
as a need arises,

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and some of you
are desperate prayers.

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You beg God, because you
absolutely know beyond a shadow

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of a doubt that apart
from his grace, you are doomed,

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that your life is
in a hopeless condition.

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That was this man's condition.

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He was a hopeless man,
apart from the grace of God,

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and he is a desperate prayer, not
just asking Jesus, but begging him.

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You can hear the quiver in his
voice, you can see the tears

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in his eyes, this man
is desperate.

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And here's what
he said, "Lord."

237
00:13:20,017 --> 00:13:21,079
I love that.

238
00:13:21,088 --> 00:13:25,067
He recognizes that
Jesus Christ is Lord.

239
00:13:25,075 --> 00:13:29,038
You're going to see in a bit
that the religious leaders do not,

240
00:13:29,046 --> 00:13:30,054
but the leper does.

241
00:13:30,062 --> 00:13:33,012
He sees that Jesus
Christ is Lord.

242
00:13:33,021 --> 00:13:36,000
"If you will, you
can make me clean."

243
00:13:36,008 --> 00:13:41,000
There's humility here in that
he's saying, "I worship you,

244
00:13:41,008 --> 00:13:42,062
"you're my Lord.

245
00:13:42,071 --> 00:13:44,096
"You have the power to heal.

246
00:13:45,004 --> 00:13:48,038
You don't have to, but
I'm asking that you would."

247
00:13:48,046 --> 00:13:50,058
That's a humble prayer of faith.

248
00:13:50,067 --> 00:13:52,038
That's a good way to pray.

249
00:13:52,046 --> 00:13:54,079
"I worship you, you are Lord.

250
00:13:54,088 --> 00:13:58,017
"You can do whatever you want,
but because you're loving,

251
00:13:58,025 --> 00:14:01,025
I'm making my request
known to you."

252
00:14:02,042 --> 00:14:06,038
"And Jesus stretched
out his hand," and what?

253
00:14:06,046 --> 00:14:08,038
What did he do Mars Hill?

254
00:14:08,046 --> 00:14:10,058
He touched him.

255
00:14:11,054 --> 00:14:14,004
That's amazing.

256
00:14:14,012 --> 00:14:16,042
How long do you think
it had been since

257
00:14:16,050 --> 00:14:18,088
anyone had touched this man?

258
00:14:18,096 --> 00:14:22,033
It may have been years,
it may have been decades.

259
00:14:22,042 --> 00:14:25,021
To be full of leprosy,
his condition was advanced.

260
00:14:25,029 --> 00:14:29,083
He had been in this
state for a long time.

261
00:14:31,058 --> 00:14:35,000
He was used to people
running from him,

262
00:14:35,008 --> 00:14:37,054
not walking toward him.

263
00:14:37,062 --> 00:14:42,079
The greatest fear that
others had was touching him,

264
00:14:42,088 --> 00:14:44,004
and what does Jesus do?

265
00:14:44,012 --> 00:14:47,025
Touches him.

266
00:14:47,033 --> 00:14:51,004
See, God comes to earth,

267
00:14:51,012 --> 00:14:53,062
and what he doesn't do is simply
look at this man and say,

268
00:14:53,071 --> 00:14:54,079
"Be clean."

269
00:14:54,088 --> 00:14:56,062
He could have done that.

270
00:14:56,071 --> 00:14:58,083
Instead, Mars Hill,
you've gotta see it.

271
00:14:58,092 --> 00:15:02,000
He touches him in the middle
of the crowd and the religious

272
00:15:02,008 --> 00:15:07,021
leaders and all of the fans,
Jesus stops his teaching, stops

273
00:15:07,029 --> 00:15:10,046
answering questions and
for a moment, devotes all

274
00:15:10,054 --> 00:15:13,046
of his attention
to this desperate man.

275
00:15:13,054 --> 00:15:20,004
He steps forward, and you almost
get the picture, at least I do,

276
00:15:20,012 --> 00:15:24,071
that this man's face is on
the ground, that this man is

277
00:15:24,079 --> 00:15:28,083
absolutely destroyed
and devastated.

278
00:15:28,092 --> 00:15:31,000
He's probably worried at this
point that he's put himself

279
00:15:31,008 --> 00:15:35,050
in a vulnerable position where
the mob would come and kick him,

280
00:15:35,058 --> 00:15:37,075
literally to kill him or
to drive him out of town.

281
00:15:37,083 --> 00:15:39,079
I mean, he is in a
vulnerable place.

282
00:15:39,088 --> 00:15:43,092
Here's a broken, desperate,
leprous man face down in

283
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:50,046
the dirt, and he's begging
Jesus, "Please heal me."

284
00:15:50,054 --> 00:15:52,088
Now, what he's expecting
is a word from Jesus,

285
00:15:52,096 --> 00:15:56,083
and what he gets is
a touch from Jesus.

286
00:15:56,092 --> 00:16:00,075
Jesus touches this man.

287
00:16:01,050 --> 00:16:05,088
He feels Jesus touch him.

288
00:16:08,029 --> 00:16:11,029
Friends, this is one of the
reasons, there are so many,

289
00:16:11,038 --> 00:16:14,079
why we love Jesus.

290
00:16:15,062 --> 00:16:21,017
Jesus touches those
who are unclean.

291
00:16:21,038 --> 00:16:23,088
That's what he does.

292
00:16:23,096 --> 00:16:26,050
Jesus is being affectionate
to this man and he's blessing

293
00:16:26,058 --> 00:16:32,092
this man and he's encouraging
this man and he is publicly

294
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,000
dignifying this man.

295
00:16:35,008 --> 00:16:37,092
Isn't that amazing?

296
00:16:38,033 --> 00:16:41,046
See, the religious leaders in
that day, they actually had a rule:

297
00:16:41,054 --> 00:16:44,088
You cannot touch someone
who has leprosy, if you do,

298
00:16:44,096 --> 00:16:51,046
you will be ceremonially, ritually,
religiously unclean.

299
00:16:51,054 --> 00:16:53,054
That wasn't a rule in the
Bible, that was a rule

300
00:16:53,062 --> 00:16:59,029
that the religious people
made and Jesus says, "No.

301
00:16:59,058 --> 00:17:02,025
"I love him.

302
00:17:03,083 --> 00:17:07,000
"I'm identifying myself with him.

303
00:17:07,025 --> 00:17:10,025
He needs touch."

304
00:17:11,017 --> 00:17:13,038
Touch is such an amazing gift.

305
00:17:13,046 --> 00:17:16,012
Those who are child development
psychologists they will tell you

306
00:17:16,021 --> 00:17:19,050
that without touch, a human
being actually doesn't develop,

307
00:17:19,058 --> 00:17:21,067
mature or live.

308
00:17:21,075 --> 00:17:23,071
If you raise a child
in isolation, they die.

309
00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:26,054
Same with a human being, if they
live in isolation, they die.

310
00:17:26,062 --> 00:17:28,008
It's not good to be alone.

311
00:17:28,017 --> 00:17:31,067
This man's been alone for years
and his new life begins

312
00:17:31,075 --> 00:17:34,062
when Jesus touches him
as a friend.

313
00:17:34,071 --> 00:17:36,088
How amazing is that?

314
00:17:36,096 --> 00:17:39,071
And we, as the church, get to
be the proverbial body of Christ

315
00:17:39,079 --> 00:17:43,000
and that we get to reach out
and touch hurting, broken,

316
00:17:43,008 --> 00:17:49,042
desperate, needy, unclean
people with the love of Jesus.

317
00:17:49,050 --> 00:17:51,058
It's amazing.

318
00:17:51,067 --> 00:17:53,025
It's amazing.

319
00:17:53,033 --> 00:17:58,067
All week I've just been thinking
about Jesus embracing this man.

320
00:17:58,075 --> 00:18:04,050
I literally, I can't get over
it, how wonderful that is.

321
00:18:05,025 --> 00:18:09,050
The story continues.

322
00:18:10,071 --> 00:18:14,075
Jesus says, "I will; be clean."

323
00:18:14,083 --> 00:18:20,025
Touches him, he says,
"I will heal you; be clean."

324
00:18:20,075 --> 00:18:22,000
And what Mars Hill?

325
00:18:22,008 --> 00:18:24,088
"Immediately the
leprosy left him."

326
00:18:24,096 --> 00:18:28,021
His skin was immediately healed.

327
00:18:28,029 --> 00:18:30,004
I don't know if he got
fingers and toes back,

328
00:18:30,012 --> 00:18:35,092
I don't know what happened,
but immediately he was healed.

329
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,088
"And the leprosy left him. And
he charged him to tell no one."

330
00:18:39,096 --> 00:18:41,000
Isn't that amazing?

331
00:18:41,008 --> 00:18:43,012
Jesus is gonna tell this
guy, "Don't tell anyone."

332
00:18:43,021 --> 00:18:45,067
He tells everyone, all right.

333
00:18:45,075 --> 00:18:48,079
Jesus rises from death,
tells us, "Tell everyone."

334
00:18:48,088 --> 00:18:50,042
We don't tell anyone.

335
00:18:50,050 --> 00:18:53,029
It's amazing how
upside down it all is.

336
00:18:53,038 --> 00:18:55,079
"Jesus charged him to tell no
one, but 'go and show yourself

337
00:18:55,088 --> 00:18:59,038
to the priest, and make an offering
for your cleansing, as Moses

338
00:18:59,046 --> 00:19:01,067
commanded, for a proof to them.'"

339
00:19:01,075 --> 00:19:05,075
What he's referring to here, when he
mentions Moses, is the Old Testament.

340
00:19:05,083 --> 00:19:09,075
The first five books
were written by Moses.

341
00:19:09,083 --> 00:19:13,042
And here Jesus is going
back to Leviticus 14.

342
00:19:13,050 --> 00:19:17,067
Now, Jesus ignores, rightly,
all of the goofy religious rules

343
00:19:17,075 --> 00:19:19,050
that aren't in the Bible,
but he obeys everything

344
00:19:19,058 --> 00:19:21,079
that's in the Scriptures.

345
00:19:21,088 --> 00:19:25,004
And here he tells the man,
"You've been healed,

346
00:19:25,012 --> 00:19:27,079
now you need
to obey the Bible."

347
00:19:27,088 --> 00:19:29,062
So if you want to study
this on your own,

348
00:19:29,071 --> 00:19:31,029
it might be interesting for you.

349
00:19:31,038 --> 00:19:35,012
Leviticus 14 gives detailed
instructions for someone

350
00:19:35,021 --> 00:19:39,000
who has experienced an
alleged healing from leprosy.

351
00:19:39,008 --> 00:19:41,058
And here's how it would go,
I'll give the summary.

352
00:19:41,067 --> 00:19:44,050
The leper would schedule an
appointment with the priest—

353
00:19:44,058 --> 00:19:50,096
the leader and spiritual intercessor and
mediator between God and the people—

354
00:19:51,004 --> 00:19:53,042
and they would meet in
a third place outside of the city,

355
00:19:53,050 --> 00:19:56,054
outside of the camp,
and the priest would come

356
00:19:56,062 --> 00:19:59,075
to verify the healing
of the leper.

357
00:19:59,083 --> 00:20:01,092
And if the leper had,
in fact, been healed,

358
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,083
the priest would serve to function,
basically, as the medical doctor

359
00:20:06,092 --> 00:20:10,042
of that community in that capacity
and declare a healing.

360
00:20:10,050 --> 00:20:13,017
And then what would happen would
be, if someone was, in fact,

361
00:20:13,025 --> 00:20:16,004
healed from leprosy,
two birds would be taken,

362
00:20:16,012 --> 00:20:22,012
one would be sacrificed and
the other would be set free.

363
00:20:22,046 --> 00:20:24,071
All of this happened over a
bowl of clean water showing

364
00:20:24,079 --> 00:20:29,083
that it is God, by his
grace, that cleanses.

365
00:20:29,092 --> 00:20:34,067
And this is like what was called
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement

366
00:20:34,075 --> 00:20:38,075
or the Day, it was
the high holy day in the nation of Israel.

367
00:20:38,083 --> 00:20:40,092
And two goats would be brought
into the temple,

368
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,029
and the priest, again, serving as
the intercessor and the mediator

369
00:20:44,038 --> 00:20:47,042
and the advocate and representative
of the people,

370
00:20:47,050 --> 00:20:53,046
would name the sins over one goat
and then slaughter it as a substitute,

371
00:20:53,054 --> 00:20:56,042
and then name the sins over the
other goat and then send it away

372
00:20:56,050 --> 00:20:57,029
as the scapegoat.

373
00:20:57,038 --> 00:20:59,062
So there was the sacrificial goat
and the scapegoat,

374
00:20:59,071 --> 00:21:02,046
that you're forgiven
and your sins are taken away.

375
00:21:02,054 --> 00:21:05,054
And the same kind of thing would
happen here where, instead

376
00:21:05,062 --> 00:21:09,054
of two goats it was two lambs,
not lambs, it was, rather,

377
00:21:09,062 --> 00:21:12,088
two birds, and two birds would
be brought and one would be

378
00:21:12,096 --> 00:21:15,021
sacrificed and the other
would be set free, showing

379
00:21:15,029 --> 00:21:18,042
that through the shedding of blood—
ultimately foreshadowing the coming

380
00:21:18,050 --> 00:21:21,088
of Jesus and his death in our
place for our sins on the cross—

381
00:21:21,096 --> 00:21:24,062
our sins would be forgiven,
and the other dove's sent away,

382
00:21:24,071 --> 00:21:29,033
showing that Jesus
takes our sin away.

383
00:21:29,042 --> 00:21:31,033
And then what would happen is
that the person would have

384
00:21:31,042 --> 00:21:35,042
to bathe, 'cause they hadn't
had a bath in a long time.

385
00:21:35,050 --> 00:21:37,017
They would be shaved.

386
00:21:37,025 --> 00:21:41,000
Usually they had long,
scraggily hair, they were not kempt.

387
00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:43,029
And they would be shaved, and they
would shave their whole body,

388
00:21:43,038 --> 00:21:45,050
including their eyebrows.

389
00:21:45,058 --> 00:21:47,000
And what they would say
then is,

390
00:21:47,008 --> 00:21:49,092
"You're like a baby.
You've been born-again.

391
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,062
God has given you
a brand-new life."

392
00:21:52,071 --> 00:21:55,058
Sort of like when you
become a Christian.

393
00:21:55,067 --> 00:21:58,017
And then what would happen is
they would be allowed to meet

394
00:21:58,025 --> 00:22:01,067
with people again, so there
would be a week-long party.

395
00:22:01,075 --> 00:22:04,092
Could you imagine
that for this man?

396
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,050
If he was married when he got leprosy,
he hasn't seen his wife in years,

397
00:22:09,058 --> 00:22:14,017
hasn't held her hand,
hasn't snuggled with her.

398
00:22:14,025 --> 00:22:16,092
If he was a daddy
when he got leprosy,

399
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,096
he hasn't been able to see his
children grow up in years.

400
00:22:21,004 --> 00:22:24,021
He's not had dinner at anyone's home.
He's not hugged anyone.

401
00:22:24,029 --> 00:22:26,008
He's not been
invited to a party.

402
00:22:26,017 --> 00:22:28,029
He's not sat down to
eat a meal with anyone.

403
00:22:28,038 --> 00:22:32,067
It's been years, like
I said, maybe decades.

404
00:22:33,029 --> 00:22:36,000
And now word goes back to the people,

405
00:22:36,008 --> 00:22:38,062
"He's healed. God did a miracle.
His leprosy's gone.

406
00:22:38,071 --> 00:22:41,025
Praise God, let's
throw a huge party,"

407
00:22:41,033 --> 00:22:44,021
and it was
a one-week-long party.

408
00:22:44,029 --> 00:22:46,067
And they would celebrate and
he'd tell the story of God's

409
00:22:46,075 --> 00:22:49,075
grace and catch up with everyone
and "What's God been doing

410
00:22:49,083 --> 00:22:53,062
in your life and how are things
going and what have I missed?"

411
00:22:53,071 --> 00:22:57,000
This is like someone who's
been in a coma for years

412
00:22:57,008 --> 00:23:01,042
and comes out of it, they have
so much catching up to do.

413
00:23:02,008 --> 00:23:04,033
And then at the end of that
week-long celebration, they

414
00:23:04,042 --> 00:23:10,012
would bathe yet again, and they
would shave yet again, showing

415
00:23:10,021 --> 00:23:15,046
full and total healing and
cleansing and forgiveness.

416
00:23:15,054 --> 00:23:19,058
And then the priest
would take three lambs

417
00:23:19,067 --> 00:23:22,029
and offer three lambs
for sacrifice.

418
00:23:22,038 --> 00:23:24,046
And these are lambs
without spot or blemish.

419
00:23:24,054 --> 00:23:27,042
All of this is foreshadowing
the coming of Jesus.

420
00:23:27,050 --> 00:23:31,033
When Jesus begins his ministry,
it's John the Baptizer, his cousin, who says,

421
00:23:31,042 --> 00:23:34,071
"Behold, the lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world."

422
00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:37,004
In 1 Peter 1 we are told
that Jesus is quote,

423
00:23:37,012 --> 00:23:39,050
"A lamb without spot
or blemish."

424
00:23:39,058 --> 00:23:42,000
And I'll double check to get
this right, one was for a guilt

425
00:23:42,008 --> 00:23:45,029
offering, one for a sin offering
and one for a burnt offering

426
00:23:45,038 --> 00:23:50,021
to make up for all the years of
missed worshipful sacrifices.

427
00:23:50,029 --> 00:23:53,000
And their sin was dealt with
through this offering of

428
00:23:53,008 --> 00:23:57,004
an unblemished lamb, showing
that ultimately Jesus is coming

429
00:23:57,012 --> 00:23:58,092
and he's going
to take care of us.

430
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,008
And then the priest would do
a most interesting thing, again,

431
00:24:02,017 --> 00:24:04,079
you can read all of
this in Leviticus 14.

432
00:24:04,088 --> 00:24:10,017
He would take some of the blood
and he'd place it on the man's ear

433
00:24:10,025 --> 00:24:14,000
and on his thumb
and on his big toe.

434
00:24:14,008 --> 00:24:16,042
Why?

435
00:24:16,050 --> 00:24:20,083
You belong to God now, listen
to him, you belong to God now,

436
00:24:20,092 --> 00:24:22,062
serve him.

437
00:24:22,071 --> 00:24:24,067
You belong to God now.

438
00:24:24,075 --> 00:24:26,033
Walk in his ways.

439
00:24:26,042 --> 00:24:28,062
That's what it meant.

440
00:24:28,071 --> 00:24:31,025
That's exactly what
life is supposed to be.

441
00:24:31,033 --> 00:24:36,046
Jesus sheds his blood so that
we can be forgiven and cleansed,

442
00:24:36,054 --> 00:24:39,029
and now that we belong to him,
we should listen to him,

443
00:24:39,038 --> 00:24:42,088
serve him, follow him.

444
00:24:42,096 --> 00:24:46,012
Now, let me make this personal
for us, otherwise what we can do

445
00:24:46,021 --> 00:24:48,075
is simply read the story and
say, "That's amazing that Jesus

446
00:24:48,083 --> 00:24:53,038
did that for that man" and we
rejoice in that, but you could

447
00:24:53,046 --> 00:24:55,079
miss the fullness of what is
happening here, because sometimes

448
00:24:55,088 --> 00:25:00,017
God will use a physical healing
to teach a spiritual truth,

449
00:25:00,025 --> 00:25:01,075
and that's the case here.

450
00:25:01,083 --> 00:25:06,079
In Isaiah 1:4-6, written about
700 years before Jesus was born,

451
00:25:06,088 --> 00:25:12,004
God used leprosy as
an analogy for sin.

452
00:25:12,012 --> 00:25:13,042
What he says is:

453
00:25:13,050 --> 00:25:17,071
People are sinful and they're
unclean and filthy like lepers.

454
00:25:17,079 --> 00:25:19,067
It's a condition that is deep.

455
00:25:19,075 --> 00:25:21,083
It's a condition
that is incurable.

456
00:25:21,092 --> 00:25:24,096
It is a condition that
makes you insensitive.

457
00:25:25,004 --> 00:25:28,054
It is a condition that causes
you to live separated from God,

458
00:25:28,062 --> 00:25:30,071
outside of the proverbial camp.

459
00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:33,000
It is a condition that,
ultimately, will lead

460
00:25:33,008 --> 00:25:35,058
to your death.

461
00:25:35,067 --> 00:25:38,083
And God says that we're all
sinners by nature and choice,

462
00:25:38,092 --> 00:25:41,096
that because of our sin,
we're in the same position

463
00:25:42,004 --> 00:25:43,021
as the leper.

464
00:25:43,029 --> 00:25:45,004
Some of you say, "I don't
believe that, I don't think

465
00:25:45,012 --> 00:25:48,000
I'm as disgusting as a leper."

466
00:25:48,008 --> 00:25:50,096
And it's because the earth
is one big leper colony

467
00:25:51,004 --> 00:25:53,004
and since there's nothing
but lepers here,

468
00:25:53,012 --> 00:25:57,017
we don't get as disgusted
by it as God does.

469
00:25:57,025 --> 00:25:59,096
And so God comes to earth
as the man Jesus Christ,

470
00:26:00,004 --> 00:26:04,092
and in seeing sin, he has the same
repulsion and reaction as you

471
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:11,000
and I would to someone who
is a person full of leprosy.

472
00:26:11,008 --> 00:26:14,054
If you and I were to see someone
full of leprosy, we would recoil

473
00:26:14,062 --> 00:26:19,004
and say, "That is unfortunate,
and that is grotesque."

474
00:26:19,012 --> 00:26:23,083
And when Jesus looks at sin,
it is grotesque to him,

475
00:26:23,092 --> 00:26:26,042
as leprosy is to us.

476
00:26:26,050 --> 00:26:28,046
And what does he do?

477
00:26:28,054 --> 00:26:30,092
He touches us.

478
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,079
That's what he does.

479
00:26:33,088 --> 00:26:36,029
See, some of you would hear
this and you would say,

480
00:26:36,038 --> 00:26:38,062
"Unclean, that's me."

481
00:26:38,071 --> 00:26:41,062
Some of you, because of sin
you've committed, some of you

482
00:26:41,071 --> 00:26:46,004
have done some very filthy,
dirty, nasty, vile things,

483
00:26:46,012 --> 00:26:48,033
very gross.

484
00:26:48,042 --> 00:26:53,096
You should walk in saying,
"Unclean, unclean."

485
00:26:54,054 --> 00:26:58,017
Some of you have had very
disgusting, nasty, vile,

486
00:26:58,025 --> 00:27:00,046
grotesque things done you.

487
00:27:00,054 --> 00:27:04,046
You've been abused, raped,
molested, cheated on, lied to,

488
00:27:04,054 --> 00:27:11,012
betrayed, taken advantage of,
and you just feel dirty and filthy,

489
00:27:11,021 --> 00:27:17,071
and you feel as if your
identity is unclean, unclean.

490
00:27:17,079 --> 00:27:20,058
And the truth is that Jesus
cleanses and that he puts

491
00:27:20,067 --> 00:27:24,083
a hand on us too, just
like he did the leper.

492
00:27:24,092 --> 00:27:28,025
If you ask Jesus, "Would you
please heal me and cleanse me?"

493
00:27:28,033 --> 00:27:35,025
He would say, as he said to
this man, "I will, be clean.

494
00:27:35,033 --> 00:27:36,092
Be clean."

495
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,079
We call this the biblical
doctrine of expiation, that

496
00:27:39,088 --> 00:27:41,050
Jesus makes us clean.

497
00:27:41,058 --> 00:27:45,000
Mars Hill, in Christ
you are clean.

498
00:27:45,008 --> 00:27:47,054
You're clean.

499
00:27:47,062 --> 00:27:51,000
That's why the church always
gets to wear white in the Bible,

500
00:27:51,008 --> 00:27:53,017
you're clean.

501
00:27:53,025 --> 00:27:55,088
That's why if we confess our
sins, he will both forgive us

502
00:27:55,096 --> 00:27:58,075
and cleanse us of
our unrighteousness,

503
00:27:58,083 --> 00:28:02,038
that's what the Bible says.

504
00:28:03,033 --> 00:28:05,088
In Christ, you're clean.

505
00:28:05,096 --> 00:28:08,079
You're not an alcoholic,
you're not a drug addict.

506
00:28:08,088 --> 00:28:11,042
You're not a whore,
you're not a fornicator.

507
00:28:11,050 --> 00:28:12,092
You're not an adulterer.

508
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:19,050
Those are things you've done,
but in Christ you're made clean.

509
00:28:19,058 --> 00:28:24,092
By the power of the Holy Spirit,
you're cleansed.

510
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:26,042
To what?

511
00:28:26,050 --> 00:28:31,062
To commission your ear, your
thumb and your toe to God

512
00:28:31,071 --> 00:28:34,012
and say, "From now on, I
listen to him, I serve him,

513
00:28:34,021 --> 00:28:36,029
I walk with him."

514
00:28:36,038 --> 00:28:37,062
No longer unclean.

515
00:28:37,071 --> 00:28:39,012
Your identity's changed.

516
00:28:39,021 --> 00:28:42,096
Jesus, in touching this
man, does the same for us.

517
00:28:43,004 --> 00:28:47,067
He takes his filth away,
he gives his dignity back,

518
00:28:47,075 --> 00:28:51,062
and the man gets a brand-new
identity to go live a new life

519
00:28:51,071 --> 00:28:54,012
as if he was reborn.

520
00:28:54,021 --> 00:28:55,042
That's what Jesus gives.

521
00:28:55,050 --> 00:28:56,083
If you're here and
you're not a Christian,

522
00:28:56,092 --> 00:28:57,092
you have may not known this.

523
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,088
You may have thought that
all Christianity is, is guilt.

524
00:29:01,096 --> 00:29:05,079
We just remind you all the time
of all the things you do wrong.

525
00:29:05,088 --> 00:29:08,079
No, we remind you of all
the things you do wrong,

526
00:29:08,088 --> 00:29:10,096
then we remind you of all the
things that Jesus does right,

527
00:29:11,004 --> 00:29:14,079
and we remind you of the love of Jesus
that forgives sin and cleanses,

528
00:29:14,088 --> 00:29:18,017
so you can be happy
and go live a new life.

529
00:29:18,025 --> 00:29:21,079
It doesn't end with
guilt, it ends with joy.

530
00:29:21,088 --> 00:29:25,012
This man got to
party for a week.

531
00:29:25,021 --> 00:29:29,000
That's the result of
a right understanding

532
00:29:29,008 --> 00:29:31,004
of the work of Jesus.

533
00:29:31,012 --> 00:29:34,029
That's amazing
that Jesus would do that.

534
00:29:34,038 --> 00:29:38,079
A new identity as
a clean person.

535
00:29:39,008 --> 00:29:41,042
Now how is Jesus going
to respond to this?

536
00:29:41,050 --> 00:29:46,054
Luke 5:15-16, "But now
even more the report

537
00:29:46,062 --> 00:29:50,012
"about him went abroad, and great
crowds gathered to hear him

538
00:29:50,021 --> 00:29:51,088
and to be healed of their infirmities."

539
00:29:51,096 --> 00:29:55,071
As soon as word got out, "Hey,
this guy Jesus, he heals lepers

540
00:29:55,079 --> 00:29:59,058
with no co-pay, no deductible,
no two-day follow up."

541
00:29:59,067 --> 00:30:01,058
The line got really line.

542
00:30:01,067 --> 00:30:02,062
"Really?

543
00:30:02,071 --> 00:30:04,075
I'm in."

544
00:30:04,083 --> 00:30:06,096
So what is Jesus going to do?

545
00:30:07,004 --> 00:30:09,092
Is he going to pour himself out
24 hours a day, 7 days a week,

546
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,067
365 days a year?

547
00:30:12,075 --> 00:30:15,042
No, he does something
very unexpected.

548
00:30:15,050 --> 00:30:18,079
"He would withdraw to
desolate places and pray."

549
00:30:18,088 --> 00:30:20,075
The New International Version
of the Bible says,

550
00:30:20,083 --> 00:30:24,046
"Jesus often withdrew to lonely
places to pray or be alone

551
00:30:24,054 --> 00:30:27,004
with the Father."

552
00:30:27,033 --> 00:30:31,025
So the line gets long
and Jesus leaves town.

553
00:30:31,033 --> 00:30:34,017
Now, for those who were in line,
I'm sure this seemed cruel.

554
00:30:34,025 --> 00:30:37,088
"Why did he didn't get healed? How come
I get healed? He's no better than I am."

555
00:30:37,096 --> 00:30:39,021
"Hey, where did Jesus go?"

556
00:30:39,029 --> 00:30:42,079
It's not like there's a lot of
people who can heal lepers.

557
00:30:42,088 --> 00:30:46,079
"I've been waiting
in line for 2 days."

558
00:30:46,088 --> 00:30:49,046
It would appear, perhaps,
that Jesus is being unkind,

559
00:30:49,054 --> 00:30:50,075
unpleasant, uncaring.

560
00:30:50,083 --> 00:30:51,096
He's not.

561
00:30:52,004 --> 00:30:54,042
He's doing exactly what the
Father has called him to do,

562
00:30:54,050 --> 00:31:01,004
not everything that he could possibly do,
but everything that he is called to do.

563
00:31:01,012 --> 00:31:04,046
And see, when God became a man,

564
00:31:04,054 --> 00:31:08,033
he took upon himself
certain limitations.

565
00:31:08,042 --> 00:31:10,092
He did this to humbly
identify with us.

566
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,083
So Jesus needs to eat and
he needs to get some sleep

567
00:31:13,092 --> 00:31:16,067
and he needs to get a day off
and he needs to drink some water,

568
00:31:16,075 --> 00:31:18,029
otherwise he's gonna die.

569
00:31:18,038 --> 00:31:22,083
He can't just be healing people
24 hours a day, 7 days a week,

570
00:31:22,092 --> 00:31:26,046
so he has to manage, not
just his time, but his energy.

571
00:31:26,054 --> 00:31:28,079
You need to remember that.

572
00:31:28,088 --> 00:31:31,000
So much of our world is
about time management,

573
00:31:31,008 --> 00:31:36,012
it should be also primarily
about energy management.

574
00:31:36,021 --> 00:31:37,083
Jesus here has
poured himself out.

575
00:31:37,092 --> 00:31:40,008
He's been preaching and
teaching, healing people,

576
00:31:40,017 --> 00:31:42,092
casting out demons
and curing lepers.

577
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,079
That's what we've read
in the previous sections

578
00:31:45,088 --> 00:31:47,042
of Luke's Gospel.

579
00:31:47,050 --> 00:31:48,062
And you know what he is?

580
00:31:48,071 --> 00:31:50,054
He's tired.

581
00:31:50,062 --> 00:31:52,083
And it's not that there are
not people who need him,

582
00:31:52,092 --> 00:31:55,046
it's that he has nothing left to give.

583
00:31:55,054 --> 00:31:58,000
He's emptied his bucket,
and he's gotta go get with the Father

584
00:31:58,008 --> 00:32:00,021
to have it filled back up.

585
00:32:00,029 --> 00:32:04,000
Now, I'll tell you how this
works physiologically.

586
00:32:04,008 --> 00:32:06,050
When you're on, when you're
busy, when you're doing

587
00:32:06,058 --> 00:32:10,088
something, like I am, you
feel strong and powerful

588
00:32:10,096 --> 00:32:12,038
and alert and focused.

589
00:32:12,046 --> 00:32:13,054
Why?

590
00:32:13,062 --> 00:32:17,042
Because your body is producing
adrenaline and cortisol.

591
00:32:17,050 --> 00:32:20,092
You're strong and moving,
and so you ride that adrenaline

592
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,083
and cortisol until you crash.

593
00:32:23,092 --> 00:32:26,046
Now what happens then,
you have one of two options:

594
00:32:26,054 --> 00:32:30,083
You accept your limitations and you
do what Jesus did and you unplug

595
00:32:30,092 --> 00:32:33,025
and you go be with the Father
and get your day off and pray

596
00:32:33,033 --> 00:32:35,033
and rest and recover;

597
00:32:35,042 --> 00:32:38,004
or you do what I did for
a decade, and you drink

598
00:32:38,012 --> 00:32:42,025
energy drinks and caffeine
and carbohydrates and sugar

599
00:32:42,033 --> 00:32:46,008
and you combine that with
stubbornness and you keep going.

600
00:32:46,017 --> 00:32:47,071
I'm not saying you
should do that,

601
00:32:47,079 --> 00:32:50,000
I'm saying that's what I did.

602
00:32:50,008 --> 00:32:53,067
And I did that until I
fried out my adrenal glands

603
00:32:53,075 --> 00:32:57,000
and really put myself in a very
precarious position, health-wise,

604
00:32:57,008 --> 00:32:58,058
a few years ago.

605
00:32:58,067 --> 00:33:01,021
And what happens is,
some of you are workaholics

606
00:33:01,029 --> 00:33:05,042
and you're not addicted to the work,
you're addicted to the high,

607
00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:11,042
'cause it feels good to be going,
and then there's always a reaction.

608
00:33:11,050 --> 00:33:14,012
So if you push hard,
you crash hard.

609
00:33:14,021 --> 00:33:17,079
You get depressed, easily
tempted, grumpy, low energy,

610
00:33:17,088 --> 00:33:20,075
mental fogginess,
you don't like that.

611
00:33:20,083 --> 00:33:24,008
So you push again to turn the
adrenal glands back on, kick up

612
00:33:24,017 --> 00:33:28,092
the cortisol production and push
through to keep going,

613
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,096
until eventually you
break all at once.

614
00:33:31,004 --> 00:33:34,008
This is where you have panic attack,
heart attack, some sort

615
00:33:34,017 --> 00:33:37,004
of physical breaking point at
the weak spot in your particular

616
00:33:37,012 --> 00:33:41,096
anatomy, major depression,
self-medicating with drugs,

617
00:33:42,004 --> 00:33:47,012
alcohol, sex,
pornography, shopping.

618
00:33:47,021 --> 00:33:48,071
Jesus doesn't do
any of those things.

619
00:33:48,079 --> 00:33:52,046
Today the psychologists, the
psychiatrists, the sociologists,

620
00:33:52,054 --> 00:33:56,058
the medical doctors, they will say
that if you pour yourself out,

621
00:33:56,067 --> 00:33:59,071
expect to be depleted
and the best thing to do

622
00:33:59,079 --> 00:34:01,075
is to get silence and solitude.

623
00:34:01,083 --> 00:34:02,096
Really?

624
00:34:03,004 --> 00:34:04,079
I know a guy who did that.

625
00:34:04,088 --> 00:34:06,012
Oh, his name's Jesus.

626
00:34:06,021 --> 00:34:08,075
We should probably
do what he did.

627
00:34:08,083 --> 00:34:11,004
Isn't that amazing that 2,000
years later the doctors

628
00:34:11,012 --> 00:34:14,058
are basically saying,
"Ah, do what Jesus did."

629
00:34:14,067 --> 00:34:17,021
See, 'cause Jesus knew what
he was doing, he had wisdom

630
00:34:17,029 --> 00:34:19,038
from the Holy Spirit.

631
00:34:19,046 --> 00:34:22,012
So he poured himself out,
and when the bucket was empty,

632
00:34:22,021 --> 00:34:24,058
he went to get it refilled
with the Father.

633
00:34:24,067 --> 00:34:26,017
And I'm sure everybody
was asking,

634
00:34:26,025 --> 00:34:28,050
"Hey Jesus, what about
your 2 o'clock appointment?

635
00:34:28,058 --> 00:34:30,079
People are stacked up here."

636
00:34:30,088 --> 00:34:32,033
Jesus says, "I'll
be back later."

637
00:34:32,042 --> 00:34:33,046
When?

638
00:34:33,054 --> 00:34:36,075
"When the bucket's full, and
I'll give you what I got."

639
00:34:36,083 --> 00:34:39,079
But this was Jesus' habitual
practice to get alone

640
00:34:39,088 --> 00:34:41,021
with the Father.

641
00:34:41,029 --> 00:34:46,008
Now, let me say this: All of
you need to be aware of this;

642
00:34:46,017 --> 00:34:50,012
all of you need to be aware of this,
that if you don't pay attention

643
00:34:50,021 --> 00:34:53,012
to your body and you're not
willing to live within

644
00:34:53,021 --> 00:34:56,079
the limitations that God gave you,
you will not have the prolonged

645
00:34:56,088 --> 00:34:59,012
productivity that Jesus did.

646
00:34:59,021 --> 00:35:01,096
So that's true for all of us, but
especially four kinds of people,

647
00:35:02,004 --> 00:35:03,021
in my pastoral experience.

648
00:35:03,029 --> 00:35:06,054
Number one: Those people
who are intense.

649
00:35:06,062 --> 00:35:07,096
Any of you intense?

650
00:35:08,004 --> 00:35:11,050
I don't have a graduated
spectrum, I have on and off,

651
00:35:11,058 --> 00:35:12,075
right, that's it.

652
00:35:12,083 --> 00:35:15,025
Some of you, you're like,
"I'm going out at 25%."

653
00:35:15,033 --> 00:35:17,033
God bless you, help me.

654
00:35:17,042 --> 00:35:19,017
I don't even know how do that.

655
00:35:19,025 --> 00:35:21,021
To me, it was like,
"I'm gonna write a book,"

656
00:35:21,029 --> 00:35:23,067
so I wrote six in a year, all right?

657
00:35:23,075 --> 00:35:27,088
It's like, "Hey, everything fell down
in Haiti, I'm gonna go there."

658
00:35:27,096 --> 00:35:30,092
You know, some of us
are a little intense.

659
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,071
We can't do something,
we have to do it all.

660
00:35:34,079 --> 00:35:37,083
So people like that, you gotta be
very careful, if you're like me,

661
00:35:37,092 --> 00:35:41,058
what you actually commit yourself to,
'cause it's all or nothing,

662
00:35:41,067 --> 00:35:43,079
which means when you go hard
for something, you're gonna

663
00:35:43,088 --> 00:35:46,029
be done at the end 'cause you're
gonna leave it all on the field,

664
00:35:46,038 --> 00:35:47,088
you're not gonna
leave anything back.

665
00:35:47,096 --> 00:35:50,067
Number two: You need to be
careful if you're a caretaker,

666
00:35:50,075 --> 00:35:56,071
you're a counselor, you're
a caseworker, you're a foster parent,

667
00:35:56,079 --> 00:35:59,075
you work in hospice,
you're a nurse, you're a doctor,

668
00:35:59,083 --> 00:36:04,058
you're a drug treatment
counselor, right, you're an EMT.

669
00:36:04,067 --> 00:36:05,083
You're a caregiver.

670
00:36:05,092 --> 00:36:09,046
Your job is to pour yourself
out to help hurting people.

671
00:36:09,054 --> 00:36:12,046
Your bucket's gonna
get empty all the time.

672
00:36:12,054 --> 00:36:15,088
Number three: Those of you who are
high-capacity leaders like Jesus,

673
00:36:15,096 --> 00:36:18,075
the needs are never ending, you
could work 24 hours a day,

674
00:36:18,083 --> 00:36:22,079
and that wouldn't even begin to
take care of all the needs.

675
00:36:22,088 --> 00:36:25,050
And number four:
Those of you who are just people

676
00:36:25,058 --> 00:36:29,083
with small emotional buckets,
you don't have a big bucket.

677
00:36:29,092 --> 00:36:32,083
It doesn't take a
lot to empty it out.

678
00:36:32,092 --> 00:36:37,042
Those kinds of people are particularly
susceptible to burn out

679
00:36:37,050 --> 00:36:41,004
and to depression,
and to physically, emotionally,

680
00:36:41,012 --> 00:36:45,004
mentally, spiritually breaking,
and the younger you are,

681
00:36:45,012 --> 00:36:46,083
the less you believe it.

682
00:36:46,092 --> 00:36:49,017
You just feel like, "I got this
red cape and this 'S'

683
00:36:49,025 --> 00:36:51,029
on my chest, I feel great."

684
00:36:51,038 --> 00:36:58,075
That's the adrenaline, all right,
you're temporarily insane, okay?

685
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:05,042
And so, I love this about Jesus, he takes
care not only of the leper, but himself.

686
00:37:05,050 --> 00:37:07,054
You notice that?

687
00:37:07,062 --> 00:37:09,075
He takes care of
the leper and himself.

688
00:37:09,083 --> 00:37:13,033
That was very convicting for me
this week studying this,

689
00:37:13,042 --> 00:37:18,021
'cause most of the pastors I know,
myself included, not in the best shape,

690
00:37:18,029 --> 00:37:19,092
push it too hard,
work too many hours,

691
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,042
skip the day off, why?

692
00:37:21,050 --> 00:37:28,042
"I'm helping hurting people,"
and you're hurting yourself.

693
00:37:28,050 --> 00:37:34,058
Many ministry leaders are the least
healthy of all, and Jesus has this—

694
00:37:34,067 --> 00:37:36,088
and I would give this
to our community group leaders,

695
00:37:36,096 --> 00:37:40,038
our service team leads, our deacons,
our elders, the givers

696
00:37:40,046 --> 00:37:44,033
in this church, those who pour
themselves out like Jesus.

697
00:37:44,042 --> 00:37:47,033
He took care of the
lepers and himself,

698
00:37:47,042 --> 00:37:48,079
and he didn't feel
guilty about that.

699
00:37:48,088 --> 00:37:50,067
That amazes me.

700
00:37:50,075 --> 00:37:52,071
He worked from
conviction, not guilt.

701
00:37:52,079 --> 00:37:56,071
Guilt comes from people,
conviction comes from the Lord.

702
00:37:56,079 --> 00:37:59,042
So I want to give you permission
to pour yourself out

703
00:37:59,050 --> 00:38:04,054
for people and take care of
yourself, Jesus does both.

704
00:38:04,062 --> 00:38:07,029
So he transforms
the leper's life.

705
00:38:07,038 --> 00:38:10,042
He also takes care of himself,
and then he's going to have

706
00:38:10,050 --> 00:38:13,038
a little more energy
left to pour himself out

707
00:38:13,046 --> 00:38:14,096
to serve the paralytic.

708
00:38:15,004 --> 00:38:18,046
He's not done, all right, he's
unplugging from work to plug

709
00:38:18,054 --> 00:38:20,017
back into the Father

710
00:38:20,025 --> 00:38:22,054
and then he's gonna plug
back into ministry.

711
00:38:22,062 --> 00:38:27,000
So we pick up the story of
the paralytic in Luke 5:17-19.

712
00:38:27,008 --> 00:38:28,058
"On one of those days,
he was teaching."

713
00:38:28,067 --> 00:38:31,029
So we see that Jesus' ministry
is teaching, preaching,

714
00:38:31,038 --> 00:38:35,004
casting out demons,
healing the sick.

715
00:38:35,012 --> 00:38:38,042
The "Pharisees and teachers of
the law were sitting there."

716
00:38:38,050 --> 00:38:40,050
Okay, we're gonna
talk about these guys.

717
00:38:40,058 --> 00:38:43,054
You'll see a little further
down, it's probably the scribes.

718
00:38:43,062 --> 00:38:46,008
So it's the Pharisees
and the scribes.

719
00:38:46,017 --> 00:38:47,088
They're gonna appear
a lot in Luke's Gospel.

720
00:38:47,096 --> 00:38:50,046
They're predominant
in the Gospel.

721
00:38:50,054 --> 00:38:53,008
The most stinging
renunciation of these people

722
00:38:53,017 --> 00:38:55,008
is in Matthew 23.

723
00:38:55,017 --> 00:38:58,062
In the next section of Luke,
we're going to deal at length

724
00:38:58,071 --> 00:39:01,012
with the Pharisees and the
scribes, but let me introduce

725
00:39:01,021 --> 00:39:04,046
you to them today since they
figure prominently here,

726
00:39:04,054 --> 00:39:09,079
and they make reappearing cameos
throughout the course of the book.

727
00:39:09,088 --> 00:39:15,021
Now, they started with
a good idea, that is:

728
00:39:15,029 --> 00:39:17,079
"We want people to obey the Bible."

729
00:39:17,088 --> 00:39:18,088
That's a good idea.

730
00:39:18,096 --> 00:39:20,038
Like if we were gonna vote
for that, I would hope

731
00:39:20,046 --> 00:39:22,012
that you would vote yes.

732
00:39:22,021 --> 00:39:25,021
If I came to you and said, "How many
of you want people to obey the Bible?"

733
00:39:25,029 --> 00:39:26,021
"Yes."

734
00:39:26,029 --> 00:39:27,004
"Okay, you're a Pharisee."

735
00:39:27,012 --> 00:39:29,033
Now, wait a minute,
not exactly, right?

736
00:39:29,042 --> 00:39:32,000
How did they get from a
good thing to a Pharisee?

737
00:39:32,008 --> 00:39:35,004
And if you don't know,
Pharisee's a bad thing.

738
00:39:35,012 --> 00:39:37,046
These are the religious guys.

739
00:39:37,054 --> 00:39:40,079
They actually are complicit
in the murder of Jesus.

740
00:39:40,088 --> 00:39:45,079
They are his archenemies,
that's the Pharisees.

741
00:39:45,088 --> 00:39:47,062
Well, they started
with a good idea,

742
00:39:47,071 --> 00:39:52,075
but they had
the wrong answer.

743
00:39:52,083 --> 00:39:55,017
They made it about what we
do, not about what Jesus does.

744
00:39:55,025 --> 00:39:58,083
They made it about their perfect
life, not Jesus' perfect life.

745
00:39:58,092 --> 00:40:01,042
They made it about our
works, not God's grace.

746
00:40:01,050 --> 00:40:03,050
They got it all wrong.

747
00:40:03,058 --> 00:40:05,033
They became religious.

748
00:40:05,042 --> 00:40:08,025
Now, the scribes were
the professional,

749
00:40:08,033 --> 00:40:10,029
formerly trained theologians.

750
00:40:10,038 --> 00:40:12,046
So these are guys that went
to Bible college and seminary.

751
00:40:12,054 --> 00:40:15,025
They have degrees after
their name, big libraries,

752
00:40:15,033 --> 00:40:17,017
they publish books.

753
00:40:17,025 --> 00:40:19,025
You know, they're respected
because these

754
00:40:19,033 --> 00:40:21,058
are the highly trained
professionals.

755
00:40:21,067 --> 00:40:24,092
And the Pharisees were the
middle class, not formerly

756
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,029
educated group of people that
would collect themselves

757
00:40:28,038 --> 00:40:30,096
into closed communities,
and one group of Pharisees

758
00:40:31,004 --> 00:40:36,071
would be under one scribe, sort
of their resident expert theologian.

759
00:40:36,079 --> 00:40:40,071
So, you know, think, guy with
a beard and a couple degrees

760
00:40:40,079 --> 00:40:42,075
and all his Facebook
friends, all right,

761
00:40:42,083 --> 00:40:45,050
that's what we're looking at.

762
00:40:45,058 --> 00:40:49,000
And the Pharisees then would try
and enforce all the rules

763
00:40:49,008 --> 00:40:54,008
and laws that their scribe made,
but being working class and not

764
00:40:54,017 --> 00:40:57,071
having a great education,
they were obedient

765
00:40:57,079 --> 00:41:02,046
to the point of blindness.

766
00:41:03,004 --> 00:41:05,075
And the result was they
became very powerful,

767
00:41:05,083 --> 00:41:09,029
particularly after the
temple's destroyed in 70 A.D.

768
00:41:09,038 --> 00:41:15,004
They became one of the, if not
the strongest voices in all

769
00:41:15,012 --> 00:41:19,046
of Judaism, very powerful.

770
00:41:19,096 --> 00:41:24,050
"And they came from every village of
Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem,"

771
00:41:24,058 --> 00:41:27,008
the big city where
all the big scholars live.

772
00:41:27,017 --> 00:41:31,012
So Jesus now has gotten famous,
his teaching has gotten out,

773
00:41:31,021 --> 00:41:34,050
and everybody's coming to listen,
and now the scribes and the

774
00:41:34,058 --> 00:41:37,017
Pharisees are there, and
Jesus is going to teach,

775
00:41:37,025 --> 00:41:40,088
and they're all sitting in the front row,
laptops open, looking

776
00:41:40,096 --> 00:41:45,012
for free Wi-Fi, ready to live blog
and Twitter this thing and figure

777
00:41:45,021 --> 00:41:50,025
out what Jesus thinks and give
their opinion to the world.

778
00:41:50,038 --> 00:41:53,046
"And the power of the Lord was
with him," that's Jesus, "to heal."

779
00:41:53,054 --> 00:41:55,079
The other guys had a
theology of healing,

780
00:41:55,088 --> 00:41:57,092
Jesus had people he healed.

781
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,021
He had a totally different
level of authority and power.

782
00:42:00,029 --> 00:42:02,046
"And behold, some men were
bringing on a bed a man who

783
00:42:02,054 --> 00:42:05,004
"was paralyzed, and they were seeking
to bring him in and lay him

784
00:42:05,012 --> 00:42:07,058
"before Jesus, but finding
no way to bring him in,

785
00:42:07,067 --> 00:42:10,021
"because of the crowd, they went
up on the roof and let him down

786
00:42:10,029 --> 00:42:13,021
with his bed through the tiles
into their midst before Jesus."

787
00:42:13,029 --> 00:42:15,012
This is a great story.

788
00:42:15,021 --> 00:42:16,046
Jesus is teaching in a home.

789
00:42:16,054 --> 00:42:18,042
It's like a community group,

790
00:42:18,050 --> 00:42:20,054
but Jesus shows up
to your community group.

791
00:42:20,062 --> 00:42:22,092
That's a great day.

792
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,046
And all of a sudden, your community
group's really big; it really grew.

793
00:42:26,054 --> 00:42:30,088
House is full and, of course,
who takes all the front-row seats?

794
00:42:30,096 --> 00:42:34,004
All the religious people, all
the Bible college and seminary guys.

795
00:42:34,012 --> 00:42:36,017
They take all the first row.

796
00:42:36,025 --> 00:42:38,000
They're not even in your group,
they just showed up

797
00:42:38,008 --> 00:42:40,017
and made it their own.

798
00:42:40,025 --> 00:42:42,021
And then there's everybody else,
and then there's a bunch

799
00:42:42,029 --> 00:42:43,042
of people who can't
even get in the house,

800
00:42:43,050 --> 00:42:46,017
so they're outside listening.

801
00:42:46,025 --> 00:42:48,046
And there's this guy
who's a paralytic.

802
00:42:48,054 --> 00:42:52,058
He's totally paralyzed and his
friends get a cot and they carry him

803
00:42:52,067 --> 00:42:53,067
and they get to the house
and they're like,

804
00:42:53,075 --> 00:42:56,004
"We can't get
our friend to Jesus."

805
00:42:56,012 --> 00:42:57,004
Why?

806
00:42:57,012 --> 00:42:59,025
Because people are in the way,
especially the religious people.

807
00:42:59,033 --> 00:43:01,088
I think it's amazing that you
want to get a hurting person

808
00:43:01,096 --> 00:43:04,071
to Jesus and it's religious
people who are in the way.

809
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:07,062
Some things never change.

810
00:43:07,071 --> 00:43:10,000
And so these guys are so
determined to get their buddy

811
00:43:10,008 --> 00:43:13,096
to Jesus, they go up on the roof
and they start dismantling it.

812
00:43:14,004 --> 00:43:15,083
Don't do this to your
community group leader.

813
00:43:15,092 --> 00:43:18,033
They start dismantling
the roof,

814
00:43:18,042 --> 00:43:19,050
and they've got it
all figured out.

815
00:43:19,058 --> 00:43:21,038
"All right, we got some ropes
and we're gonna put it on

816
00:43:21,046 --> 00:43:24,092
"the cot and we're gonna bring
this guy down and we're drop him

817
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:26,054
right in front of Jesus."

818
00:43:26,062 --> 00:43:29,042
And they drop him right in front
of Jesus, which is like, there's

819
00:43:29,050 --> 00:43:33,083
no way he can ignore
this request, all right?

820
00:43:33,092 --> 00:43:38,079
And there he is the paralytic
guy, "Hi Jesus, I'm paralyzed."

821
00:43:38,088 --> 00:43:41,075
It's a pretty funny
moment, I think.

822
00:43:41,083 --> 00:43:46,054
It's like "Cirque du Jesus"
here he comes, you know like—

823
00:43:46,062 --> 00:43:52,008
And here's my question,
what are you willing to do

824
00:43:52,017 --> 00:43:54,058
to bring your friend to Jesus?

825
00:43:54,067 --> 00:43:57,071
These guys so want their friend
to get to Jesus,

826
00:43:57,079 --> 00:43:58,088
they go out of their way.

827
00:43:58,096 --> 00:44:01,054
They get a cot, they carry him.

828
00:44:01,062 --> 00:44:04,029
They climb up on the roof,
they dismantle the roof,

829
00:44:04,038 --> 00:44:06,000
and they lower him down.

830
00:44:06,008 --> 00:44:09,038
These are guys who really want
to get their friend to Jesus.

831
00:44:09,046 --> 00:44:12,025
Statistically, at things like
evangelistic rallies and crusades,

832
00:44:12,033 --> 00:44:15,058
Billy Graham type stuff, about
three-fourths of the people

833
00:44:15,067 --> 00:44:17,042
who actually give
their lives to Jesus

834
00:44:17,050 --> 00:44:20,071
were brought by a Christian.

835
00:44:20,079 --> 00:44:21,083
You know what it is?

836
00:44:21,092 --> 00:44:24,079
It's Christians bringing
their non-Christian friends,

837
00:44:24,088 --> 00:44:28,000
family, coworkers, neighbors.

838
00:44:28,008 --> 00:44:31,004
And some of you, you know people
who don't know Jesus

839
00:44:31,012 --> 00:44:33,042
and you need to bring them to
Jesus and the question is,

840
00:44:33,050 --> 00:44:36,092
what are you willing to
do to make that happen?

841
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,092
Have you even invited them
to church, community group,

842
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:41,025
have you bought them a Bible,
have you bought them a book,

843
00:44:41,033 --> 00:44:42,079
have you brought them a meal?

844
00:44:42,088 --> 00:44:44,071
Some of you say, "I've invited
them, but they never come."

845
00:44:44,079 --> 00:44:50,058
Go pick them up, 'cause non-Christians
will make excuses like, "Well, I forgot."

846
00:44:50,067 --> 00:44:52,050
Honk, honk.

847
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:55,012
"Well, I didn't
know where it was."

848
00:44:55,021 --> 00:44:59,054
"I know where it is, I'll come get you.
I'll bring a muffin and coffee, I'll smile.

849
00:44:59,062 --> 00:45:01,046
"I'm not gonna do
this in a mean way.

850
00:45:01,054 --> 00:45:03,033
"After we're done,
I'll buy you something to eat.

851
00:45:03,042 --> 00:45:07,062
Oh, here's a Bible with your name
on it, you know, I love you."

852
00:45:07,071 --> 00:45:11,062
What are you willing to do
to bring your friends to Jesus?

853
00:45:11,071 --> 00:45:15,046
Friends, that's what
God is asking of us all.

854
00:45:15,054 --> 00:45:19,029
People need Jesus and it is
our great privilege to bring them

855
00:45:19,038 --> 00:45:23,017
to him, and there's always
going to be an obstacle.

856
00:45:23,025 --> 00:45:26,004
The question is are you gonna be
creative and resilient enough

857
00:45:26,012 --> 00:45:30,042
to get around that obstacle and to
find a way to get them to Jesus.

858
00:45:30,050 --> 00:45:33,046
And his friends do this,
these are great friends,

859
00:45:33,054 --> 00:45:34,071
these are great friends.

860
00:45:34,079 --> 00:45:36,042
They get him to Jesus.

861
00:45:36,050 --> 00:45:40,029
Now, let me say this, what's
going to happen now is Jesus is

862
00:45:40,038 --> 00:45:42,050
going to heal him, and we'll
get into that in a moment,

863
00:45:42,058 --> 00:45:45,000
and the Pharisees and the scribes,
rather than rejoicing,

864
00:45:45,008 --> 00:45:46,050
they start criticizing.

865
00:45:46,058 --> 00:45:49,046
So let me explain
their mindset to you,

866
00:45:49,054 --> 00:45:51,033
and then we'll get back
into the story.

867
00:45:51,042 --> 00:45:54,067
Pharisee literally
means separated one,

868
00:45:54,075 --> 00:45:55,083
one who's separated.

869
00:45:55,092 --> 00:46:01,050
And their ideology was that
sin is caught like leprosy.

870
00:46:01,058 --> 00:46:05,079
They don't understand that
sin is in us, not out there.

871
00:46:05,088 --> 00:46:09,092
Sin is out there, but the real
problem with sin is in me,

872
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:13,062
and so what they would think is
"Oh, we're clean, they're unclean.

873
00:46:13,071 --> 00:46:16,088
"We're the holy guys,
they're the unholy guys,

874
00:46:16,096 --> 00:46:21,038
so we can't be near them,
'cause we'll catch their sin."

875
00:46:22,062 --> 00:46:23,083
That's what they thought.

876
00:46:23,092 --> 00:46:25,021
That's what religious
people always think.

877
00:46:25,029 --> 00:46:28,042
So then what they did is they
took the Bible and they made

878
00:46:28,050 --> 00:46:32,088
additional rules alongside
of the Bible, so they said,

879
00:46:32,096 --> 00:46:35,021
"Well, if you don't want to get
near sinners and their sin,

880
00:46:35,029 --> 00:46:38,029
"obey the rules in the Bible
and all these additional rules

881
00:46:38,038 --> 00:46:41,004
that we have made."

882
00:46:41,012 --> 00:46:43,004
And religious people
love their rules.

883
00:46:43,012 --> 00:46:48,088
They have rules about the
rules, that's religious people.

884
00:46:48,096 --> 00:46:52,046
And what I find very
interesting here as well is

885
00:46:52,054 --> 00:46:56,046
that these religious people don't
do anything to help this man.

886
00:46:56,054 --> 00:46:57,083
He gets lowered down.

887
00:46:57,092 --> 00:47:00,075
They don't jump up—first they
don't say, "Hey, you know what?

888
00:47:00,083 --> 00:47:04,079
We should step aside so that the
paralytic man could get to Jesus."

889
00:47:04,088 --> 00:47:07,046
No, they don't.

890
00:47:07,054 --> 00:47:10,054
They're so worried about finding
anything Jesus would say

891
00:47:10,062 --> 00:47:13,075
that they would disagree with so
that they could criticize him

892
00:47:13,083 --> 00:47:16,071
that they're completely oblivious
to the fact that they're surrounded

893
00:47:16,079 --> 00:47:17,096
with hurting and needy people.

894
00:47:18,004 --> 00:47:20,012
That's the way
religious people are.

895
00:47:20,021 --> 00:47:22,067
They come not to learn,
they come to argue.

896
00:47:22,075 --> 00:47:25,021
I would ask you that;
do you come to learn

897
00:47:25,029 --> 00:47:27,075
or do you come to argue?

898
00:47:27,083 --> 00:47:30,058
Some people just have that
critical disposition, that

899
00:47:30,067 --> 00:47:34,046
pharisaical attitude which
is, "I'm always right,

900
00:47:34,054 --> 00:47:35,075
"there's always something wrong

901
00:47:35,083 --> 00:47:37,096
"and it's my job to find it
and criticize it.

902
00:47:38,004 --> 00:47:41,071
I'm not here to learn,
I'm here to critique."

903
00:47:41,079 --> 00:47:44,008
They're completely
oblivious to the hurting

904
00:47:44,017 --> 00:47:46,058
and needy people around them.

905
00:47:46,067 --> 00:47:48,042
Furthermore, Jesus is
going to help this man.

906
00:47:48,050 --> 00:47:49,046
They don't do anything.

907
00:47:49,054 --> 00:47:50,058
They don't pray for him,
they don't help him,

908
00:47:50,067 --> 00:47:52,025
they don't do anything.

909
00:47:52,033 --> 00:47:56,075
Religious people tend to
criticize those who are helping

910
00:47:56,083 --> 00:48:01,067
rather than helping, and they do the
same thing tragically with Jesus.

911
00:48:01,096 --> 00:48:05,025
Now, as I unpack the Pharisees,
let me say this,

912
00:48:05,033 --> 00:48:09,000
there's a little Pharisee in us all.

913
00:48:09,046 --> 00:48:13,000
There is a bit of
religion in each of us.

914
00:48:13,008 --> 00:48:16,054
Martin Luther says, rightly, that
religion is the default mode

915
00:48:16,062 --> 00:48:18,021
of the human heart.

916
00:48:18,029 --> 00:48:21,092
And at Mars Hill, our
religion is being irreligious.

917
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:23,050
That's our religion.

918
00:48:23,058 --> 00:48:25,075
We're like,
"Oh, well we don't—

919
00:48:25,083 --> 00:48:28,092
"you know, tattoos,
we got a punk rock band.

920
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:30,096
"Half our church
has a smoke break.

921
00:48:31,004 --> 00:48:33,067
"Alcohol's fine.

922
00:48:33,075 --> 00:48:35,046
Praise God, we're
not religious."

923
00:48:35,054 --> 00:48:39,054
No, we are, we're just
tattooed, chain smoking,

924
00:48:39,062 --> 00:48:41,067
beer-drinking religious people.

925
00:48:41,075 --> 00:48:42,096
That's all we are.

926
00:48:43,004 --> 00:48:45,088
We're just our own happier
version, to be sure,

927
00:48:45,096 --> 00:48:48,075
but our own version nonetheless.

928
00:48:50,017 --> 00:48:53,042
And so we've always gotta be
careful to say, you know what?

929
00:48:53,050 --> 00:48:56,046
It's not like there's religious people
and irreligious people.

930
00:48:56,054 --> 00:48:59,017
We're all religious people,
we just have different rules

931
00:48:59,025 --> 00:49:04,012
on our list, so you gotta be very
careful, 'cause we're all religious.

932
00:49:04,021 --> 00:49:07,042
That's the default mode
of the human heart.

933
00:49:07,050 --> 00:49:10,058
And where this religion,
I think, is most clearly seen

934
00:49:10,067 --> 00:49:14,012
in our day is in
Christian Fundamentalism.

935
00:49:14,021 --> 00:49:15,062
And the whole point
is separation.

936
00:49:15,071 --> 00:49:17,096
"Don't watch TV." "Why?"

937
00:49:18,004 --> 00:49:20,079
"It's got sin on it." "Yeah, it does.

938
00:49:20,088 --> 00:49:25,021
The Bible's got sin in it too,
so I don't know what to do with that."

939
00:49:25,029 --> 00:49:27,025
"Don't read it, people
do nasty things."

940
00:49:27,033 --> 00:49:30,062
"Yeah, okay, all right."

941
00:49:30,071 --> 00:49:32,008
"Don't listen to the radio." "Why?"

942
00:49:32,017 --> 00:49:35,042
"People say things on
there that are not nice."

943
00:49:35,050 --> 00:49:36,083
"Okay."

944
00:49:36,092 --> 00:49:42,075
"Don't have any non-Christian friends, don't
let your kids have any non-Christian friends.

945
00:49:42,083 --> 00:49:44,071
"Don't listen to any
non-Christian music,

946
00:49:44,079 --> 00:49:46,038
"don't watch
any non-Christian shows.

947
00:49:46,046 --> 00:49:47,075
Don't read any
non-Christian books."

948
00:49:47,083 --> 00:49:50,012
"Why?" "Because they're the bad
guys, we're the good guys,

949
00:49:50,021 --> 00:49:51,092
we don't want
to get all dirty."

950
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,004
Religion, separatism.

951
00:49:54,012 --> 00:49:55,062
Fundamentalists actually create
something called

952
00:49:55,071 --> 00:49:58,050
three degrees of separation, okay?

953
00:49:58,058 --> 00:50:00,033
You're gonna see this
in the coming weeks.

954
00:50:00,042 --> 00:50:03,062
The religious people, in that day,
they practice separation too.

955
00:50:03,071 --> 00:50:07,042
So they look at Jesus, they're like,
"What are you doing eating with those guys?"

956
00:50:07,050 --> 00:50:10,004
Jesus is like, "Well,
they're sinners."

957
00:50:10,012 --> 00:50:12,083
They're like, "Yeah, we know.
You're gonna catch it."

958
00:50:12,092 --> 00:50:17,092
He's like, "Uh, no, I'm gonna
fix it. That's what I do."

959
00:50:18,067 --> 00:50:21,017
And so, you'll see that they
freak out on Jesus all the time,

960
00:50:21,025 --> 00:50:24,058
because he's friends with people
who are not the good guys.

961
00:50:24,067 --> 00:50:28,008
And the truth is the Bible's all
bad guys, Jesus is the good guy.

962
00:50:28,017 --> 00:50:32,012
There's not a team of good
guys, there's one good guy.

963
00:50:32,021 --> 00:50:36,075
And what happens is religious people,
not only don't want "holy people,"

964
00:50:36,083 --> 00:50:40,029
and I use that word in quotes
very loosely with a sense of irony.

965
00:50:40,038 --> 00:50:42,092
Holy people, what they don't want,
they don't want holy people

966
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:44,071
to hang out with unholy people.

967
00:50:44,079 --> 00:50:47,038
And so Christian Fundamentalists
even go a step further and say,

968
00:50:47,046 --> 00:50:50,062
"We have three degrees of separation
which means holy people can't

969
00:50:50,071 --> 00:50:55,046
hang out with holy people that
hang out with unholy people."

970
00:50:55,054 --> 00:50:57,025
Which means you can't
even have a friend who's

971
00:50:57,033 --> 00:51:00,050
a friend of an unholy person.

972
00:51:00,058 --> 00:51:04,012
Yet Jesus obliterates all this,
God becomes a man and he goes

973
00:51:04,021 --> 00:51:09,029
down and touches lepers and
has dinner with sinners.

974
00:51:09,038 --> 00:51:12,096
Does he sin? No.

975
00:51:13,004 --> 00:51:16,054
But he breaks
all the religious rules.

976
00:51:16,062 --> 00:51:19,017
Does he break any
of the Bible rules?

977
00:51:19,025 --> 00:51:24,017
None of them, none of them,
but he breaks a lot

978
00:51:24,025 --> 00:51:25,054
of the religious rules.

979
00:51:25,062 --> 00:51:29,042
And so Jesus is always calling
sinners to repent of sin

980
00:51:29,050 --> 00:51:33,008
and religious people
to repent of religion.

981
00:51:33,017 --> 00:51:35,004
And ultimately, a lot of the
sinners want to have dinner

982
00:51:35,012 --> 00:51:41,042
with him and the religious
people shout "Crucify him."

983
00:51:41,050 --> 00:51:45,046
We need to be very careful that if
we're zealous and we love the Bible

984
00:51:45,054 --> 00:51:47,083
and we're passionate
and we're devoted

985
00:51:47,092 --> 00:51:51,008
that we don't end up being
pharisaical and religious,

986
00:51:51,017 --> 00:51:53,062
'cause they started
with a good idea:

987
00:51:53,071 --> 00:51:56,050
We want to be serious
about the Bible.

988
00:51:56,058 --> 00:51:58,029
And there are some ways
that they got off track.

989
00:51:58,038 --> 00:52:01,012
I'll share them with you,
and then we'll close the story.

990
00:52:01,021 --> 00:52:04,042
Number one:
They were proud.

991
00:52:05,062 --> 00:52:06,083
They were proud.

992
00:52:06,092 --> 00:52:08,042
"We're the good guys,
you're the bad guys.

993
00:52:08,050 --> 00:52:10,033
"We have the answers,
you have the questions.

994
00:52:10,042 --> 00:52:13,008
We have the solutions,
you have the problems."

995
00:52:13,017 --> 00:52:17,017
And here is where their
error got them of pride:

996
00:52:17,025 --> 00:52:21,071
"The Bible is perfect and
so is my interpretation."

997
00:52:21,079 --> 00:52:25,079
"The Bible is perfect
and so is my teacher."

998
00:52:25,088 --> 00:52:30,046
Just so you know this, the Bible
is perfect, your pastor's not.

999
00:52:30,054 --> 00:52:34,067
Inerrancy doesn't extend
to Bible teachers,

1000
00:52:34,075 --> 00:52:37,021
and what invariably happens,
people will put somebody in a position

1001
00:52:37,029 --> 00:52:40,004
of a scribe saying, "Look, you're
the authority, you study it,

1002
00:52:40,012 --> 00:52:41,096
"you walk with God,
you get stuff done.

1003
00:52:42,004 --> 00:52:45,083
Whatever you say,
that must be true."

1004
00:52:45,092 --> 00:52:49,058
No, the Bible's true and we who
are gifted and graced of God

1005
00:52:49,067 --> 00:52:52,088
to be Bible teachers, we do
our best but we're not perfect,

1006
00:52:52,096 --> 00:52:57,046
not because we don't love God,
but because we're not God.

1007
00:52:57,054 --> 00:53:00,021
So be very careful if there's
any author you read,

1008
00:53:00,029 --> 00:53:03,033
any publisher you love, any
confession of faith that

1009
00:53:03,042 --> 00:53:07,021
you adore, any systematic
theology that you embrace

1010
00:53:07,029 --> 00:53:11,025
that you don't see anything
in it that you disagree with.

1011
00:53:11,033 --> 00:53:14,054
You're in trouble, 'cause now
you've extended inerrancy

1012
00:53:14,062 --> 00:53:17,088
outside of Scripture and
you've extended inerrancy

1013
00:53:17,096 --> 00:53:21,033
to fallible human teachers.

1014
00:53:21,042 --> 00:53:22,092
It's pride.

1015
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:24,096
I asked one guy recently,
he was arguing with me about

1016
00:53:25,004 --> 00:53:29,008
a more fundamental religious kind of
teacher and he kept quoting this guy.

1017
00:53:29,017 --> 00:53:31,012
I didn't hear a lot of verses,
I heard a lot of quotes.

1018
00:53:31,021 --> 00:53:33,075
"Well, you know, scholar
such and such says, blank."

1019
00:53:33,083 --> 00:53:35,046
I finally looked at him I say,
"Is there anything

1020
00:53:35,054 --> 00:53:37,033
this guy's ever taught
that you disagree with?"

1021
00:53:37,042 --> 00:53:39,092
He says, "No, he
teaches the Bible."

1022
00:53:40,058 --> 00:53:42,012
"I'm sure he got
something wrong.

1023
00:53:42,021 --> 00:53:45,046
It's a huge book.
There's a lot in there."

1024
00:53:45,054 --> 00:53:48,033
And it doesn't mean that you
gotta come with an attitude

1025
00:53:48,042 --> 00:53:51,017
of critic, but you come
saying, "That's not Jesus,

1026
00:53:51,025 --> 00:53:54,054
"that's one of his servants and
those messages are not Bible,

1027
00:53:54,062 --> 00:53:57,004
they're commentary on it."

1028
00:53:57,012 --> 00:53:59,033
Number two: Cessationists.

1029
00:53:59,042 --> 00:54:01,075
Now, we believe that
the Holy Spirit is alive and active

1030
00:54:01,083 --> 00:54:04,042
today, that God's the same
yesterday, today, and forever.

1031
00:54:04,050 --> 00:54:06,062
We believe that the Holy Spirit
will convict you of sin,

1032
00:54:06,071 --> 00:54:10,054
reveal to you Jesus, lead you
and guide you, work through

1033
00:54:10,062 --> 00:54:15,079
your conscience and God's people
to help course correct your life.

1034
00:54:15,088 --> 00:54:18,008
And what religious
like to do is assume

1035
00:54:18,017 --> 00:54:22,017
that the Holy Spirit
has ceased his work.

1036
00:54:22,025 --> 00:54:24,004
"You don't need the Holy Spirit
to convict you of sin,

1037
00:54:24,012 --> 00:54:26,004
"we'll take care of that.

1038
00:54:26,012 --> 00:54:28,000
"You don't need the Holy Spirit
to teach you,

1039
00:54:28,008 --> 00:54:29,067
"we'll take care of that.

1040
00:54:29,075 --> 00:54:31,088
"You don't need the Holy Spirit
to lead you and guide you,

1041
00:54:31,096 --> 00:54:34,004
"we'll just tell you what to do.

1042
00:54:34,012 --> 00:54:37,071
"You don't need the Holy Spirit
really for anything,

1043
00:54:37,079 --> 00:54:41,021
just obey the spiritual leader."

1044
00:54:41,029 --> 00:54:42,079
It's horrendous.

1045
00:54:42,088 --> 00:54:47,062
It replaces the Holy Spirit's
ministry in your life

1046
00:54:47,071 --> 00:54:49,042
with a religious spiritual leader.

1047
00:54:49,050 --> 00:54:52,008
It's very ungodly.

1048
00:54:52,017 --> 00:54:54,004
That's why those who are the
most religious are sometimes

1049
00:54:54,012 --> 00:54:58,067
the most opposed to the personal
ministry of the Holy Spirit

1050
00:54:58,075 --> 00:55:01,042
in the life of a believer.

1051
00:55:01,050 --> 00:55:03,067
"We can't trust the Holy Spirit,
trust the teacher,"

1052
00:55:03,075 --> 00:55:07,033
and so then the teacher will sometimes
even cause you to doubt the power

1053
00:55:07,042 --> 00:55:11,029
and presence and person
of the Holy Spirit.

1054
00:55:11,038 --> 00:55:12,038
It's horrible.

1055
00:55:12,046 --> 00:55:14,033
Number three: It ends
up being unloving.

1056
00:55:14,042 --> 00:55:16,058
Jesus rebukes these guys
for it all the time.

1057
00:55:16,067 --> 00:55:20,029
"You're not loving," and then they
want to argue what loves means,

1058
00:55:20,038 --> 00:55:23,000
"Well, what does love--?"
And they go off into theology land

1059
00:55:23,008 --> 00:55:27,071
and live in their head rather
than saying, "I'm a jerk.

1060
00:55:27,079 --> 00:55:29,000
"I'm a jerk.

1061
00:55:29,008 --> 00:55:30,054
"I'm mean.

1062
00:55:30,062 --> 00:55:32,050
"I judge people,
I criticize people.

1063
00:55:32,058 --> 00:55:34,042
"I don't love people,
I don't serve people.

1064
00:55:34,050 --> 00:55:35,083
"I live in my head.

1065
00:55:35,092 --> 00:55:40,038
I turn everything into
a theological argument."

1066
00:55:41,046 --> 00:55:43,042
Unloving.

1067
00:55:43,050 --> 00:55:45,062
Did you know that people
flocked to Jesus in a way

1068
00:55:45,071 --> 00:55:47,096
that they didn't flock to Pharisees?

1069
00:55:48,004 --> 00:55:50,004
Did you know that people wanted to
have dinner with Jesus in a way

1070
00:55:50,012 --> 00:55:52,029
that they didn't want to have
dinner with the Pharisees?

1071
00:55:52,038 --> 00:55:54,042
It's 'cause Jesus was loving.

1072
00:55:54,050 --> 00:55:57,092
He actually cared about people.

1073
00:55:58,000 --> 00:55:58,083
They were hypocritical.

1074
00:55:58,092 --> 00:56:00,071
Jesus is clear on this
repeatedly, again,

1075
00:56:00,079 --> 00:56:03,012
Matthew 23 is
a great place to read.

1076
00:56:03,021 --> 00:56:06,033
What he'd say is, "You guys have
a list of rules that you enforce

1077
00:56:06,042 --> 00:56:07,088
"on everyone like the sheriff,

1078
00:56:07,096 --> 00:56:09,092
you don't even obey
your own rules."

1079
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,042
This is what
religious people do.

1080
00:56:12,050 --> 00:56:15,025
I mean, how many of you
have wanted to vomit

1081
00:56:15,033 --> 00:56:17,038
when some hard-core Bible thumper,
it's like,

1082
00:56:17,046 --> 00:56:20,004
and he had an adulteress affair
or he's a drug addict.

1083
00:56:20,012 --> 00:56:26,058
You're like, "Come on.
Seriously? Again? Come on."

1084
00:56:26,067 --> 00:56:28,042
Do we need any more hypocrisy?

1085
00:56:28,050 --> 00:56:31,054
Come on, you preach
one thing, do another,

1086
00:56:31,062 --> 00:56:34,021
that doesn't help the cause.

1087
00:56:34,029 --> 00:56:36,042
It's hypocrisy.

1088
00:56:36,050 --> 00:56:39,079
It's because they think
they're the hero, not Jesus,

1089
00:56:39,088 --> 00:56:46,050
and they start acting as if they are
beyond the law, and they're not.

1090
00:56:46,058 --> 00:56:50,058
And that hypocrisy, it really
turns off non-Christians,

1091
00:56:50,067 --> 00:56:54,033
becomes disdainful.

1092
00:56:54,042 --> 00:56:56,071
Jesus rebukes them for this.

1093
00:56:56,079 --> 00:56:59,088
"You guys are hypocrites,
man, a bunch of hypocrites."

1094
00:56:59,096 --> 00:57:01,058
You know, I was recently
dealing with a pastor.

1095
00:57:01,067 --> 00:57:04,004
He and his elder board were
disciplining another pastor

1096
00:57:04,012 --> 00:57:06,042
in the church, this is a friend
or mine, for committing adultery

1097
00:57:06,050 --> 00:57:08,046
and the whole time they were
disciplining that pastor

1098
00:57:08,054 --> 00:57:11,012
for committing adultery,
another pastor who was part

1099
00:57:11,021 --> 00:57:15,042
of the discipline process was
also having adultery and sitting

1100
00:57:15,050 --> 00:57:17,046
in on the meeting and saying,
"I can't believe you did that,

1101
00:57:17,054 --> 00:57:20,096
man, that's gross,"
and then he's doing it.

1102
00:57:21,004 --> 00:57:24,054
That's as religious as it gets.

1103
00:57:25,071 --> 00:57:27,067
It's joyless, it's not fun.

1104
00:57:27,075 --> 00:57:31,079
Fundamentalism is not fun,
it's mental, but not fun.

1105
00:57:31,088 --> 00:57:33,067
It's not fun.

1106
00:57:33,075 --> 00:57:35,075
How many religious people,
you're like,

1107
00:57:35,083 --> 00:57:37,054
"Man, those are some happy people?"

1108
00:57:37,062 --> 00:57:42,008
No, furrowed brow, loaded gun,
these are not happy people.

1109
00:57:42,033 --> 00:57:43,088
They're defined by
what they're against.

1110
00:57:43,096 --> 00:57:45,033
They're always railing
against something.

1111
00:57:45,042 --> 00:57:47,054
They're always
upset at somebody.

1112
00:57:47,062 --> 00:57:49,021
They're not fun at all.

1113
00:57:49,029 --> 00:57:51,092
That's why their kids, as soon
as they can, they leave

1114
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:56,050
and they rebel and they go sin,
'cause at least that looks fun.

1115
00:57:56,058 --> 00:57:57,079
They're joyless.

1116
00:57:57,088 --> 00:58:01,071
See, Jesus was—he had sorrow,
but he was also joyful.

1117
00:58:01,079 --> 00:58:03,042
And they have
what I call methodolatry.

1118
00:58:03,050 --> 00:58:06,033
I make words up,
that's one of them.

1119
00:58:06,042 --> 00:58:10,046
The Bible gives us principles
and methods and the principles

1120
00:58:10,054 --> 00:58:15,096
are unchanging and the methods
are changing and idolatry

1121
00:58:16,004 --> 00:58:17,058
happens when you
take your method

1122
00:58:17,067 --> 00:58:19,038
and you turn it into an idol.

1123
00:58:19,046 --> 00:58:23,004
It's methodolatry, which is:
The Bible says to do something

1124
00:58:23,012 --> 00:58:26,025
and "There's only way do it
and that's our way."

1125
00:58:26,033 --> 00:58:28,062
So the Bible says to worship
God, religious people say,

1126
00:58:28,071 --> 00:58:33,012
"Like this, sing these songs with
these instruments in this order."

1127
00:58:33,021 --> 00:58:36,008
The Bible says Ephesians 6,
raise your kids, train them.

1128
00:58:36,017 --> 00:58:37,083
"Well, you gotta school
them in this way,

1129
00:58:37,092 --> 00:58:39,075
this kind of education."

1130
00:58:39,083 --> 00:58:42,058
The Bible says to preach, study,
memorize the word and they say,

1131
00:58:42,067 --> 00:58:44,083
"But there's only
one translation."

1132
00:58:44,092 --> 00:58:47,017
All right, it's
always something.

1133
00:58:47,025 --> 00:58:49,000
It's methodolatry.

1134
00:58:49,008 --> 00:58:51,017
Have deep, passionate
convictions.

1135
00:58:51,025 --> 00:58:54,042
Have methods but
hold the principle tightly,

1136
00:58:54,050 --> 00:58:56,021
hold the method loosely.

1137
00:58:56,029 --> 00:58:58,008
Don't commit methodolatry.

1138
00:58:58,017 --> 00:59:00,029
"It's my way or
you're not biblical."

1139
00:59:00,038 --> 00:59:04,012
Some people love God and
they believe the Bible.

1140
00:59:04,021 --> 00:59:06,029
They're from different
denominations and traditions.

1141
00:59:06,038 --> 00:59:11,025
They're not from our or your
sect or team or tribe or style,

1142
00:59:11,033 --> 00:59:14,021
but if they love Jesus, believe
the Bible and they're acting out

1143
00:59:14,029 --> 00:59:16,033
the principles, we shouldn't
be like the Pharisees saying,

1144
00:59:16,042 --> 00:59:19,038
"I don't know about them,
let's be separated."

1145
00:59:19,046 --> 00:59:21,008
They're family.

1146
00:59:21,017 --> 00:59:23,083
Praise God for the diversity.

1147
00:59:23,092 --> 00:59:27,004
Praise God for the diversity,
and avoid the methodolatry.

1148
00:59:27,012 --> 00:59:29,083
And number seven, these
people are very powerful, why?

1149
00:59:29,092 --> 00:59:31,071
They're bold, they're confident.

1150
00:59:31,079 --> 00:59:35,038
They just rattle off
verses like "Jeopardy."

1151
00:59:35,046 --> 00:59:37,029
All right, they've memorized
a lot of verses.

1152
00:59:37,038 --> 00:59:39,012
You're like, "I don't
know, they sound biblical.

1153
00:59:39,021 --> 00:59:41,058
"They're serious, they're confident,
they seem to be bold.

1154
00:59:41,067 --> 00:59:43,083
"It seems like they're
willing to die on every hill.

1155
00:59:43,092 --> 00:59:46,054
"There's a lot them and
they swarm you like bees,

1156
00:59:46,062 --> 00:59:48,075
maybe they're right."

1157
00:59:48,083 --> 00:59:53,017
No, you can be
zealous and wrong.

1158
00:59:53,025 --> 00:59:56,062
You can be biblical and
unbiblical, meaning you quote

1159
00:59:56,071 --> 01:00:00,004
verses but you're not
using them like God intends,

1160
01:00:00,012 --> 01:00:02,083
and that's religious people.

1161
01:00:02,092 --> 01:00:06,038
So here's what's gonna happen,
Jesus is gonna have a showdown,

1162
01:00:06,046 --> 01:00:08,075
the first of many,
with the religious people.

1163
01:00:08,083 --> 01:00:10,083
Again, back to the story,

1164
01:00:10,092 --> 01:00:13,054
the friends bring this
paralytic guy to Jesus.

1165
01:00:13,062 --> 01:00:15,050
He's dropped in front of Jesus.

1166
01:00:15,058 --> 01:00:20,071
Luke 5:20-22, we read this,
"And when he saw their faith,

1167
01:00:20,079 --> 01:00:24,021
he said, 'Man, your sins
are forgiven you.'"

1168
01:00:24,029 --> 01:00:25,079
That's a big statement.

1169
01:00:25,088 --> 01:00:29,079
No other religious leader says this;
Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha.

1170
01:00:29,088 --> 01:00:32,004
They don't say,
"Your sins are forgiven."

1171
01:00:32,012 --> 01:00:34,079
They say, "We've uncovered
this process by which

1172
01:00:34,088 --> 01:00:37,092
"you can go through these rituals and
routines and sufferings

1173
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:41,000
"and potential reincarnations
and pay God back,

1174
01:00:41,008 --> 01:00:44,071
and maybe someday he will
forgive you if you earn it."

1175
01:00:44,079 --> 01:00:46,017
It's a big process.

1176
01:00:46,025 --> 01:00:49,096
Here Jesus says, "Forgiven.
I could just forgive."

1177
01:00:50,004 --> 01:00:53,046
Now, somehow this man's injury
and his sin are connected.

1178
01:00:53,054 --> 01:00:56,017
I don't know how, but I'll give
you one potential example

1179
01:00:56,025 --> 01:00:59,004
of what this might look like.

1180
01:00:59,012 --> 01:01:01,058
He's a paralytic who's sinned.

1181
01:01:01,067 --> 01:01:04,050
There was a guy early on
in Mars Hill, he walked in

1182
01:01:04,058 --> 01:01:08,012
and this guy didn't really have
use of most of his fingers.

1183
01:01:08,021 --> 01:01:09,083
He had previously
been a locksmith.

1184
01:01:09,092 --> 01:01:13,058
His arms were all contorted
and he had nerve damage.

1185
01:01:13,067 --> 01:01:18,042
He walked with permanent
crutches and his knees would

1186
01:01:18,050 --> 01:01:22,079
buckle and he walked on one
ankle and he shook a lot

1187
01:01:22,088 --> 01:01:25,092
and he often fell over.

1188
01:01:26,000 --> 01:01:30,029
He was in bad shape, physically destroyed,
and I would visit him at his house,

1189
01:01:30,038 --> 01:01:32,083
pretty much every week, pick
him up, take him to church,

1190
01:01:32,092 --> 01:01:34,004
got to know him.

1191
01:01:34,012 --> 01:01:36,029
He met Jesus, got
saved, got baptized.

1192
01:01:36,038 --> 01:01:38,029
He's moved out of
state since then,

1193
01:01:38,038 --> 01:01:40,012
he's sent me a letter recently.

1194
01:01:40,021 --> 01:01:42,050
Still loves Jesus, walking
faithfully as a Christian,

1195
01:01:42,058 --> 01:01:44,050
but one day I finally asked
him, what happened?

1196
01:01:44,058 --> 01:01:47,008
Were you born like this
or did something happen?

1197
01:01:47,017 --> 01:01:49,075
And he said, "Before I met
Jesus, I'm drinking and partying

1198
01:01:49,083 --> 01:01:51,096
"and messin' around and
livin' a reckless life.

1199
01:01:52,004 --> 01:01:55,046
"I'm going like a hundred miles
an hour on a motorcycle,

1200
01:01:55,054 --> 01:02:00,079
"and I miss a turn in the road
and I fly into a telephone pole.

1201
01:02:00,088 --> 01:02:03,029
"And I broke almost every bone
in my body and I was

1202
01:02:03,038 --> 01:02:09,042
in the hospital for months and
nothing's worked right since."

1203
01:02:09,050 --> 01:02:12,042
He's a man whose
body is destroyed,

1204
01:02:12,050 --> 01:02:14,092
but it's because of his sin.

1205
01:02:15,000 --> 01:02:17,029
He's not a victim,
he can't sue anyone.

1206
01:02:17,038 --> 01:02:18,079
He wasn't born like that.

1207
01:02:18,088 --> 01:02:20,012
He did it to himself.

1208
01:02:20,021 --> 01:02:21,025
Some of you are here
like that,

1209
01:02:21,033 --> 01:02:22,054
you've just wrecked
your whole life.

1210
01:02:22,062 --> 01:02:25,038
You just ran it right
into a telephone pole.

1211
01:02:25,046 --> 01:02:28,012
You say, "Yeah, everything
about me is just broken,

1212
01:02:28,021 --> 01:02:30,062
but it's my fault, I did it."

1213
01:02:30,071 --> 01:02:33,054
That's this guy.

1214
01:02:33,083 --> 01:02:35,017
"And the scribes and
the Pharisees began

1215
01:02:35,025 --> 01:02:38,038
to question saying, 'Who is
this who speaks blasphemies?

1216
01:02:38,046 --> 01:02:42,092
Who can forgive
sins by God alone?'"

1217
01:02:43,000 --> 01:02:46,075
Here's their deal, what they
don't say is, "He was healed.

1218
01:02:46,083 --> 01:02:52,004
Wow, that was cool.
He's gonna be healed. Yes!"

1219
01:02:52,012 --> 01:02:57,004
Instead they're like, "What's the theological
presupposition behind this healing?"

1220
01:02:57,012 --> 01:03:01,042
They just totally go Bible college,
first year, home schooled,

1221
01:03:01,050 --> 01:03:06,079
neatnik, weird kid on Jesus,
that's how they go.

1222
01:03:07,088 --> 01:03:11,029
And here's the
thing, when we sin,

1223
01:03:11,038 --> 01:03:15,088
we sin against people and God, so we
gotta apologize to people and God.

1224
01:03:15,096 --> 01:03:18,033
That's what repentance is.

1225
01:03:18,042 --> 01:03:21,050
And Jesus says,
"I'm gonna forgive this guy."

1226
01:03:21,058 --> 01:03:25,025
And they say, "Blasphemy,
you're saying you're God."

1227
01:03:25,033 --> 01:03:28,092
And the point is "Yeah, I know.

1228
01:03:29,000 --> 01:03:33,088
That's the big 'E' on the eye chart
I'm trying to communicate. I'm God."

1229
01:03:33,096 --> 01:03:37,021
Now, some of you have been told
Jesus never said he was God.

1230
01:03:37,029 --> 01:03:40,075
He repeatedly says he's God
in a lot of different ways,

1231
01:03:40,083 --> 01:03:43,004
this is one of them.

1232
01:03:43,012 --> 01:03:46,033
Psalm 51:4, "Against you
only, Lord, have I sinned."

1233
01:03:46,042 --> 01:03:48,071
We sin against God,
so who has to forgive us? God.

1234
01:03:48,079 --> 01:03:53,096
Jesus says, "I'll forgive you."
What's he saying? "I'm God."

1235
01:03:55,033 --> 01:03:57,021
"When Jesus perceived their
thoughts," you'd think

1236
01:03:57,029 --> 01:04:00,079
at that point they'd start
to rethink their position.

1237
01:04:00,088 --> 01:04:03,017
"You're not God!"
"I know what you're thinking."

1238
01:04:03,025 --> 01:04:05,008
"Really?

1239
01:04:05,017 --> 01:04:09,062
"That's a real point in
your column, all right,

1240
01:04:09,071 --> 01:04:13,008
like, you know my thoughts."

1241
01:04:13,029 --> 01:04:15,042
Seriously?

1242
01:04:15,054 --> 01:04:17,058
"When Jesus perceived their
thoughts, he answered them,

1243
01:04:17,067 --> 01:04:19,088
"'Why do you question
in your hearts?

1244
01:04:19,096 --> 01:04:22,042
"Which is easier, to say, 'Your
sins are forgiven you,' or to say,

1245
01:04:22,050 --> 01:04:23,062
'Rise and walk'?"

1246
01:04:23,071 --> 01:04:24,092
Here's what he's saying.

1247
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:28,025
"If I just tell this guy his sins
are forgiven, you won't know,

1248
01:04:28,033 --> 01:04:30,058
"'cause that's an invisible
spiritual transaction.

1249
01:04:30,067 --> 01:04:35,004
"But if I also tell him your
sins are forgiven, walk.

1250
01:04:35,012 --> 01:04:39,038
"I forgive your sin and I heal
the paralyzation that's come

1251
01:04:39,046 --> 01:04:42,079
upon you as a result of your sin,
then that's evidence that I'm God."

1252
01:04:42,088 --> 01:04:43,096
And you know what?

1253
01:04:44,004 --> 01:04:46,025
He does it.

1254
01:04:46,033 --> 01:04:49,054
He does it.

1255
01:04:49,071 --> 01:04:55,008
Jesus, let me tell ya
this, Jesus forgives sin.

1256
01:04:55,017 --> 01:04:56,083
You're not gonna find
another religion

1257
01:04:56,092 --> 01:04:58,038
that will forgive your sin.

1258
01:04:58,046 --> 01:05:02,071
Every other religion is about
you obeying somebody's stupid

1259
01:05:02,079 --> 01:05:08,075
list of ridiculous rules in an
effort to make God love you.

1260
01:05:08,083 --> 01:05:12,088
Jesus loves you
unconditionally by grace

1261
01:05:12,096 --> 01:05:15,071
and he just forgives you.

1262
01:05:15,079 --> 01:05:18,029
That's why we're so into Jesus.

1263
01:05:18,038 --> 01:05:21,042
Jesus is so much
better than religion.

1264
01:05:21,050 --> 01:05:23,017
Some of you would come
here and you'd say,

1265
01:05:23,025 --> 01:05:28,021
"I feel unclean like the leper and
I feel guilty like the paralytic.

1266
01:05:28,029 --> 01:05:29,054
What should I do?"

1267
01:05:29,062 --> 01:05:34,042
Answer, Jesus touches to
cleanse and he forgives.

1268
01:05:34,050 --> 01:05:36,075
He does the work of salvation.

1269
01:05:36,083 --> 01:05:38,046
This is our Jesus.

1270
01:05:38,054 --> 01:05:42,071
This is why we're so excited
about him, at least, I am.

1271
01:05:42,079 --> 01:05:49,029
Now, the story continues
then, Luke 5:24-26.

1272
01:05:49,038 --> 01:05:52,054
Jesus says, "But that you may
know that the Son of Man—"

1273
01:05:52,062 --> 01:05:55,071
This is Jesus' favorite
title for himself.

1274
01:05:55,079 --> 01:06:01,042
It's taken from Daniel 7:13-14;
it is that God the Father

1275
01:06:01,050 --> 01:06:05,071
and the Son of God, the Son of Man,
they are together in eternity past

1276
01:06:05,079 --> 01:06:12,046
and Jesus the Son of Man, the Son of God,
comes into human history to conquer sin,

1277
01:06:12,054 --> 01:06:15,092
to liberate people and to establish
his unending forever kingdom.

1278
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:19,038
This is a majestic
claim to deity.

1279
01:06:19,046 --> 01:06:23,008
Jesus is saying,
"I'm God become a man."

1280
01:06:23,025 --> 01:06:26,088
He says it 25 times in Luke, 83 times
in the Gospels,

1281
01:06:26,096 --> 01:06:29,021
his favorite authority title.

1282
01:06:29,029 --> 01:06:32,062
"And authority on earth to
forgive sins," he says.

1283
01:06:32,071 --> 01:06:35,021
"He said to the man who was
paralyzed, 'I say to you,'"

1284
01:06:35,029 --> 01:06:40,025
his own authority, "'Pick up
your bed and go home.'

1285
01:06:40,033 --> 01:06:43,033
"And immediately he rose up
before them and picked up

1286
01:06:43,042 --> 01:06:46,029
what he had been lying on and
he went home, glorifying God."

1287
01:06:46,038 --> 01:06:48,021
What a great day?

1288
01:06:48,029 --> 01:06:51,046
"I was carried here on a stretcher,
I'm carrying the stretcher home."

1289
01:06:51,054 --> 01:06:53,042
That's a good day.

1290
01:06:53,050 --> 01:06:56,004
"And amazement seized them all."

1291
01:06:56,012 --> 01:06:59,079
Never seen anything like this,
"And they glorified God

1292
01:06:59,088 --> 01:07:00,058
and were filled with awe."

1293
01:07:00,067 --> 01:07:02,004
That's worship.

1294
01:07:02,012 --> 01:07:05,050
They're shouting praises to
Jesus saying, "We have seen

1295
01:07:05,058 --> 01:07:09,038
extraordinary things today."

1296
01:07:09,054 --> 01:07:12,000
Some of you would come
here and you are unclean.

1297
01:07:12,008 --> 01:07:15,021
You are filthy, you are
dirty like the leper

1298
01:07:15,029 --> 01:07:17,088
and Jesus would reach out
and touch you and say,

1299
01:07:17,096 --> 01:07:20,025
"You're clean, in me, you're clean.

1300
01:07:20,033 --> 01:07:22,067
"I took all your sin, went to
the cross, suffered and died

1301
01:07:22,075 --> 01:07:25,083
"in your place for your sins
to give you my righteousness.

1302
01:07:25,092 --> 01:07:27,004
"You're clean.

1303
01:07:27,012 --> 01:07:28,042
New identity."

1304
01:07:28,050 --> 01:07:30,000
"Stop saying, I'm unclean.

1305
01:07:30,008 --> 01:07:31,079
"Stop saying, I'm unworthy.

1306
01:07:31,088 --> 01:07:34,008
Stop saying, I'm
filthy and defiled."

1307
01:07:34,017 --> 01:07:35,083
You're clean.

1308
01:07:35,092 --> 01:07:38,038
Go home take a shower.

1309
01:07:38,046 --> 01:07:40,033
Every time you take a
shower, remind yourself,

1310
01:07:40,042 --> 01:07:42,096
"In Christ, I'm clean."

1311
01:07:43,004 --> 01:07:47,042
Every time you wear white remind
yourself, "In Christ, I'm clean.

1312
01:07:47,050 --> 01:07:50,083
"I don't need to say,
'Unclean, unclean,'

1313
01:07:50,092 --> 01:07:52,079
in Christ I've been made clean."

1314
01:07:52,088 --> 01:07:56,012
And next time you do sin and
when you are sinned against

1315
01:07:56,021 --> 01:08:00,058
and you do feel filthy and dirty
and defiled, you go back to Jesus

1316
01:08:00,067 --> 01:08:04,008
and he'll touch you again
and he'll declare you clean.

1317
01:08:04,017 --> 01:08:05,075
And for those of
you who are coming

1318
01:08:05,083 --> 01:08:08,042
and you're not just filthy,
you're guilty.

1319
01:08:08,050 --> 01:08:10,012
You've done horrible things.

1320
01:08:10,021 --> 01:08:11,058
You're a total sinner.

1321
01:08:11,067 --> 01:08:14,038
You've wrapped your whole
life around the pole.

1322
01:08:14,046 --> 01:08:17,021
You have blown it yourself,
you have no one to sue,

1323
01:08:17,029 --> 01:08:20,021
no one to blame,
it's all on you.

1324
01:08:20,029 --> 01:08:21,046
You know what?

1325
01:08:21,054 --> 01:08:24,000
Jesus forgives.

1326
01:08:24,008 --> 01:08:26,042
He just does.

1327
01:08:26,050 --> 01:08:30,075
He's not like religious people
giving you a list to do.

1328
01:08:30,083 --> 01:08:34,042
He's a God who comes to
live and to die and to rise

1329
01:08:34,050 --> 01:08:36,054
and to give forgiveness.

1330
01:08:36,062 --> 01:08:38,075
That's what he does.

1331
01:08:38,083 --> 01:08:40,029
We haven't gotten over this.

1332
01:08:40,038 --> 01:08:43,042
Two thousand years, people
are still filled with awe,

1333
01:08:43,050 --> 01:08:44,083
glorifying God.

1334
01:08:44,092 --> 01:08:48,017
"You're serious, this is who God
is, this is how he works,

1335
01:08:48,025 --> 01:08:49,054
you have to be kidding me?"

1336
01:08:49,062 --> 01:08:52,033
And the default mode of the
religious heart is always to

1337
01:08:52,042 --> 01:08:56,012
find something wrong, something
to criticize, to come

1338
01:08:56,021 --> 01:09:00,067
with an attitude and a disposition
of a critic rather than, like

1339
01:09:00,075 --> 01:09:04,025
the leper, just say, "I'm gonna
throw myself at Jesus' feet.

1340
01:09:04,033 --> 01:09:06,088
"I'm gonna cry out for mercy
and I'm gonna let him

1341
01:09:06,096 --> 01:09:08,038
"touch me and heal me.

1342
01:09:08,046 --> 01:09:12,038
"I'm gonna let him forgive me,
and I'm gonna run home and be happy.

1343
01:09:12,046 --> 01:09:14,000
That's what I'm gonna do."

1344
01:09:14,008 --> 01:09:16,004
That's what I
want for y'all,

1345
01:09:16,012 --> 01:09:19,029
and that's exactly
what happens for this guy.

1346
01:09:20,071 --> 01:09:22,017
Now, the religious
people don't get it.

1347
01:09:22,025 --> 01:09:24,012
They're over in the corner.

1348
01:09:24,021 --> 01:09:27,038
"You know, what did you think
of his exegesis of the Hebrew?

1349
01:09:27,046 --> 01:09:29,004
"I wouldn't have
gone that direction.

1350
01:09:29,012 --> 01:09:31,000
"I don't know, he's not
dressed very nice,

1351
01:09:31,008 --> 01:09:32,096
"and I heard he's got a tattoo
that says King of kings

1352
01:09:33,004 --> 01:09:34,092
"and Lord of lords down his thigh.

1353
01:09:35,000 --> 01:09:37,000
"I don't know what our
position is on tattoos.

1354
01:09:37,008 --> 01:09:40,038
"Someone else said that
he eats with sinners.

1355
01:09:40,046 --> 01:09:42,058
"I heard maybe that he
slipped in a ham sandwich.

1356
01:09:42,067 --> 01:09:43,096
He also drinks."

1357
01:09:44,004 --> 01:09:45,004
Right?

1358
01:09:45,012 --> 01:09:47,088
They're having the
wrong conversation,

1359
01:09:47,096 --> 01:09:49,038
all right, they're twittering it.

1360
01:09:49,046 --> 01:09:52,008
You know, it's just everybody
else is getting involved.

1361
01:09:52,017 --> 01:09:54,050
The whole pajama hadin's on board.

1362
01:09:54,058 --> 01:09:56,062
All the bloggers are
giving their opinion,

1363
01:09:56,071 --> 01:09:58,062
meanwhile this guy's
like, "I'm healed!

1364
01:09:58,071 --> 01:10:01,021
"Anyone else want to come
to my house for a party?

1365
01:10:01,029 --> 01:10:03,067
My sins are forgiven."

1366
01:10:03,075 --> 01:10:04,029
And you know what?

1367
01:10:04,038 --> 01:10:05,050
I'm glad he was healed.

1368
01:10:05,058 --> 01:10:06,075
I praise God that he was healed.

1369
01:10:06,083 --> 01:10:08,012
I rejoice that he was healed.

1370
01:10:08,021 --> 01:10:10,012
But the big miracle,
the exciting part,

1371
01:10:10,021 --> 01:10:11,075
his sins were forgiven.

1372
01:10:11,083 --> 01:10:13,033
That's the great part.

1373
01:10:13,042 --> 01:10:16,004
Now healing, that's a
bonus, we're all for it.

1374
01:10:16,012 --> 01:10:19,000
Jesus can and does heal,
but if you had to choose

1375
01:10:19,008 --> 01:10:22,021
between healing and forgiveness,
forgiveness is what you want,

1376
01:10:22,029 --> 01:10:24,058
because if nothing else,
at the resurrection of the dead,

1377
01:10:24,067 --> 01:10:29,071
healing is a bonus that God throws
in for all of his children,

1378
01:10:29,079 --> 01:10:32,075
and the miracle here is that
sinners can be forgiven.

1379
01:10:32,083 --> 01:10:36,000
So I got good news, Mars Hill.
I'm actually really fired up today.

1380
01:10:36,008 --> 01:10:39,050
I love this, 'cause
it's the Bible going,

1381
01:10:39,058 --> 01:10:41,088
"If you're filthy,
Jesus cleanses.

1382
01:10:41,096 --> 01:10:43,092
"If you're guilty,
Jesus forgives.

1383
01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:46,038
And if you're religious,
knock it off."

1384
01:10:46,046 --> 01:10:48,062
I love that.

1385
01:10:49,021 --> 01:10:52,025
All right, that's everybody.

1386
01:10:52,050 --> 01:10:55,071
If you're breathing, you're
on one of these teams.

1387
01:10:55,079 --> 01:10:59,038
So we have to respond
as he did and as they did,

1388
01:10:59,046 --> 01:11:03,000
filled with awe, we're cleansed,
we're forgiven,

1389
01:11:03,008 --> 01:11:05,012
we don't want to get religious.

1390
01:11:05,021 --> 01:11:08,029
So we repent of our filth,
we repent of our sin,

1391
01:11:08,038 --> 01:11:11,050
we repent of our religion,
we're filled with awe.

1392
01:11:11,058 --> 01:11:15,054
We rejoice and glorify God,
really happy,

1393
01:11:15,062 --> 01:11:18,025
because Jesus
has touched us, Amen?

1394
01:11:18,033 --> 01:11:20,008
I'm gonna pray.
We gotta sing.

1395
01:11:20,017 --> 01:11:22,042
Father God, I thank
you for the Bible.

1396
01:11:22,050 --> 01:11:24,062
God, I love the Scriptures.

1397
01:11:24,071 --> 01:11:27,008
I pray that we would love the
Scriptures and that we would

1398
01:11:27,017 --> 01:11:32,054
not encumber them with so much
religion and God talk and rule making

1399
01:11:32,062 --> 01:11:37,042
and do-ism, but instead, Lord God,
we would see

1400
01:11:37,050 --> 01:11:39,079
that the Bible's about Jesus.

1401
01:11:39,088 --> 01:11:42,008
It's about what he
does, not what we do.

1402
01:11:42,017 --> 01:11:44,071
It's about the perfect life he
lived, not the perfect life

1403
01:11:44,079 --> 01:11:47,025
we should live.

1404
01:11:47,033 --> 01:11:49,008
It's about the grace
that he gives, it's not

1405
01:11:49,017 --> 01:11:52,000
about the works that we do.

1406
01:11:52,008 --> 01:11:56,000
I pray, Lord God, that like
the leper, we would accept

1407
01:11:56,008 --> 01:12:00,000
our identity as clean, go
live a new, clean life that,

1408
01:12:00,008 --> 01:12:05,021
because you've made us clean, may
we come clean, may we live clean.

1409
01:12:05,029 --> 01:12:08,050
God, like the paralytic, thank
you that you forgive sin.

1410
01:12:08,058 --> 01:12:11,025
May we take up our mat and walk.

1411
01:12:11,033 --> 01:12:14,096
May we walk in newness
of life with Jesus.

1412
01:12:15,004 --> 01:12:20,038
And God, as frustrated as I and
we get by religious people,

1413
01:12:20,046 --> 01:12:25,000
we confess and I confess,
we're religious people.

1414
01:12:25,008 --> 01:12:27,000
We have a different list
with different rules

1415
01:12:27,008 --> 01:12:29,062
that aren't in the Bible.

1416
01:12:29,071 --> 01:12:34,067
God, may we just accept what is
in the Bible and not add to it,

1417
01:12:34,075 --> 01:12:37,038
not become self-righteous,
not become proud.

1418
01:12:37,046 --> 01:12:41,050
God, we know that religion is the
default mode of the human heart,

1419
01:12:41,058 --> 01:12:43,025
but as we see from the story,

1420
01:12:43,033 --> 01:12:47,000
it's religion that keeps
hurting people from Jesus.

1421
01:12:47,008 --> 01:12:49,000
So God, I pray for those who
are hurting that they would

1422
01:12:49,008 --> 01:12:53,008
throw themselves at Jesus' feet,
that they would recognize him as

1423
01:12:53,017 --> 01:12:55,038
Lord, that they would worship
him and that they would beg

1424
01:12:55,046 --> 01:12:59,000
for mercy and that, Lord Jesus,
you would come and touch them.

1425
01:12:59,008 --> 01:13:01,046
I pray for those who would hear
this and they've been brought

1426
01:13:01,054 --> 01:13:04,038
by friends, that, Lord God,
you would forgive their sins

1427
01:13:04,046 --> 01:13:08,046
and call them to sin no more
and to walk home with joy.

1428
01:13:08,054 --> 01:13:11,025
And God for those of us who are
religious or have been religious

1429
01:13:11,033 --> 01:13:15,004
or will be religious, thank you
that you cleanse from filth,

1430
01:13:15,012 --> 01:13:17,079
that you forgive sin and
you save from religion.

1431
01:13:17,088 --> 01:13:19,088
Amen.