Sermons

Introduction

Well, I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the gospel of Luke, you knew I was going to say that, to Luke chapter 5, you knew I was going to say that, and we're going to look at verses 21-26 today, but I'm going to begin my reading in verse 17. We looked last time at verses 17-20, and I intentionally stopped in the middle of this scene. And so for the second half to make sense to us, I need to reread the first part of this. 

So beginning in verse 17, "One day He" – referring to Jesus – "was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord" – I hear it right now; yes, Lord, yes – "the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven you.' 

"The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, 'Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?' But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, 'Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, "Your sins have been forgiven you," or to say, "Get up and walk"? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,' – He said to the paralytic – 'I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.' Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, 'We have seen remarkable things today.'" 

This is the reading of God's word. May this astonishment still fill and flood our hearts concerning what Christ can do in a person's life. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 

[Prayer] Father, we humble ourselves beneath Your mighty right hand. You have all the answers to all of our issues. I pray today as we look at this passage that You would address us and provide the insight that we need as we live our lives. So, Father, I ask now that Your Holy Spirit would work in me and work in everyone here today, that the truth of this text would have its full effect within us. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. [End]

The title of this message is "Blasphemy Meets Divine Authority." And in these verses, we see the very beginning of the ongoing clash between the religious leaders of Israel and Jesus. This was the first skirmish in what will become an escalating spiritual warfare between the scribes and the Pharisees and Jesus. This is the intent confrontation that will only increase between these two parties that will lead ultimately to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be the scribes and the Pharisees who will be pulling the levers and to bring about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is only now the beginning of what will build. 

This conflict between these two parties in reality is intense spiritual warfare. It is between good and evil. It is between truth and lies. It is between light and darkness. It is, in reality, between heaven and hell. So this is, in essence, the first shot to be fired. 

Now last time we began looking at verses 17 through 20, which I just read, and it doesn't need much review. Jesus is in a home in Capernaum, in Galilee, and the house is packed, and He's in the room teaching. And there are so many people in there, you could not squeeze another person in. Among those are scribes and Pharisees who have traveled from all over Israel to be there. They've come from north, they've come from south, they have journeyed from Jerusalem; and it's not to be taught. It is so that they can, really, find something by which they can indict the Lord Jesus Christ because He now is on their turf, and His popularity is a threat to them. 

So as you recall, four men bring a paralytic on a stretcher. They cannot get into the meeting. The Pharisees and scribes are seated immediately in front of Jesus. And so they go up to the roof. They take the stretcher with them. They peel back the tiles, they lower him down, and Jesus says right in front of the scribes and the Pharisees who are probably on the front row seated, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." And so Jesus bypasses the man's physical need at the moment and goes immediately to his greatest need, which is his soul, for the forgiveness of sin. And so Jesus now will pick up this account as He will respond to the Pharisees and the scribes. So here we are. You ready? 

Jesus' Adversaries

So beginning in verse 21, I want you to see "Jesus' adversaries." Verse 21, there they are, "The scribes and the Pharisees." This is the first time the Pharisees have been mentioned in the gospel of Luke. And they are powerful religious leaders who hold great sway over the people. The scribes, as I told you last time, were the lawyers. They were the professional scholars of the law of Moses. They were experts in interpreting the law, especially in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy. 

And the Pharisees, they were the strictest archconservative sect in all of Israel. You could not be any further to the right than the Pharisees were. They were Bible-believing. I mean, we applaud that. They believed in many of the essential doctrines that we believe in. They believed in the sovereignty of God. They believed in predestination. They believed in angels and Satan and demons. They believed in a coming Messiah and the coming kingdom of God upon the earth. 

But here's where they were off. They believed that through your own works and your own morality, you could work your way to God and find acceptance with God. They were legalists. They believed in a works-based salvation. They believed in a salvation of self-righteousness. And so they're unconverted. And they're outside the kingdom of God. 

And so as they're sitting there this day in verse 21, "The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason." And this word "reason" means to calculate, to calculate within their own minds what He has just said. And in their minds, the calculation, it just does not add up. "And so they began saying," – speaking to one another, mumbling to one another, and speaking to one another – 'Who is this man? Who does He think He is who speaks blasphemies?'"

What does the word "blasphemy" mean? It's a word we rarely use. It means to speak evil of God. It means to bring a railing slander against God that mocks the character of God, and one way that is done is to usurp the rights of God. For you to assume the place of God, that is blasphemy. 

And so they say, "Who is this man who assumes the place of God, who speaks forgiveness of sin? Who could forgive sin, but God alone?" And the answer to that is no one. They couldn't forgive anyone's sin. The Sadducees could not. No priest could forgive anyone's sin. Only God can forgive sin. And in this sense, they are theologically orthodox. That is a true statement: "Only God can forgive sin." And we know that even a clock that doesn't run is right twice a day. And so they are right at this point: "Only God can forgive sin." 

Now, this charge of blasphemy, that's a serious indictment that deserves the death penalty. And they would love to hang this on Jesus and stone Him to death right now. 

Now, a somewhat unfamiliar passage to us probably is in Leviticus 24. So if you care to make this journey with me, turn back to Leviticus 24 and let's remind ourselves of what the Pharisees and what the scribes actually believed, Leviticus 24:10, because again, blasphemy is a capital crime demanding the death penalty. 

So Leviticus 24:10, "Now the son of an Israelite woman," – that's the son of a Jewish woman – "whose father was an Egyptian," – so it's a Jewish mom married to a non-Jewish father – "went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel struggled" – that means they fought with each other, they got in a scrap – "with each other in the camp." And it raised their emotions, and it put them in a state of rage and fury. And when someone is like that, they can begin to say things that are out of control, that cross the line, right? 

And so, verse 11, "The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name" – well, the name is the name of God – "and cursed." Now cursed does not mean cuss, curse means to utter a curse against God and is a synonym for blasphemy. "So they brought him to Moses." And in verse 13, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying," – verse 15 – 'You shall speak to the sons of Israel. You need to speak to the entire nation about this, saying, "If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin."'" In other words, "This sin will be wrapped around your neck and it will remain on you, and whenever the just penalty for this heinous, horrific sin, you will bear it." 

So, verse 16, "Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord" – here it is – "shall surely be put to death." He will suffer the death penalty, and it will be a public execution – after the semicolon – "and all the congregation" – the whole nation – "shall certainly stone him," – hundreds, thousands of people picking up stones and will just literally take his life in a bloody massacre of an effect. "The alien" – that's the non-Jew – "as well as the native" – that's the Jew – "when he blasphemes the name, shall be put to death." This is the Pharisees' opportunity: "We can just derail this train before it pulls out of the station. We can just have Him put to death before He gains any more of a foothold in our nation." 

Look at verse 23, "Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp." That's where the bloody execution would take place, just like they took Jesus outside the city. It's a sign of utter rejection and utter, just, disassociation. "They took him outside the camp and stoned him with stones." 

So, the scribes, they study the law all day, every day. They know Leviticus a lot better than probably most of us know the book of Leviticus. And they understand, no, this is a serious breach of the law of God. And the Pharisees, they're Bible-believing to a point. And so they act together and they begin talking with each other almost like a ball in a tennis match, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, while Jesus is standing there. 

So this is the charge that the scribes and the Pharisees are bringing against Jesus. It is the charge of blasphemy that He claimed, He claimed to forgive sin. But only God can forgive sin. Therefore, Jesus is usurping the role that belongs to God alone. He is claiming the right that belongs only to God. 

This certainly underscores for us a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith, in many ways, the cardinal truth. It is the deity of Jesus Christ. It is the full and perfect deity of Christ that is really the linchpin of Christianity, that Jesus was truly, perfectly God, while He was yet truly, perfectly man. He was the God-man. And this will ultimately be the charge that they will bring against Jesus, that He has claimed to be God and He must be put to death, as in that kangaroo court, they try to speed rail His execution that night. That's the first thing I want us to see is Jesus's adversaries. 

And it's not a bad thing to have adversaries. A man is known not only by who his friends are, but by who his enemies are. Jesus said, "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you." It can be a badge of honor to have certain people be your enemy, as they would stand against you holding to the truth of the word of God. 

And Jesus said that "a slave is not greater than his master," right? He said that several times. And in John 15, "If they hate Me, they're going to hate you." And so there are even adversaries that we will have in this world. Second Timothy 3:12 says, "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 

Jesus' Awareness

Now let's move on from Jesus' adversaries to, now, "Jesus' awareness, Jesus' awareness," beginning in verse 22, because this does not escape the notice of Jesus. 

So, verse 22 says, "But Jesus, aware of their reasonings" The word "aware" here means that He is able to perceive deeply their thinking. Now there's a sense if He was just hearing what they're saying; any other person could hear what they're saying, and others probably did hear what they were mumbling back and forth to one another. But this says, not that Jesus heard their words, it says, "Jesus was aware of their reasonings." That means their internal thoughts, their inward questioning. 

As they are thinking silently, as the wheels are turning inside of them, Jesus saw into their hearts and into their minds and saw what no one else could see that day. He saw them better than they could even see themselves. Jesus read them like an open book. And there are no secrets hidden from Jesus. 

In Revelation 1:14, the vision of the glorified Christ that was given to John on the island of Patmos, it says, "His eyes are like a flame of fire," just laser beams coming out of sockets of His face as He is presented to John that day. "Eyes of fire" means he can burn through the exterior and pierce all the way down into the inner recesses of the mind and of the heart. 

Of course, Jesus was aware of their reasonings because He's God. First Samuel 16:7, "Man sees not as God sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon" – what? – "the heart." In 1 Kings 8:39, "You, God, alone know the hearts of all the sons of men." First Chronicles 28:9, The Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts." Jeremiah 17:10, God says, "I, the Lord ,search the heart, I test the mind." And Hebrews 4:13 says, "There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. "It's been well said, secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. 

And in John 1:47, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said, "Behold, an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit." He didn't just see Nathanael, He saw Nathanael's heart and his inner soul, his inner life, and He says, "There is a man." Well, anyone else could see that was a man. No, "There is a man with no deceit." And Nathanael said to Him in verse 48, "How do You know me? And Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, I saw you." He doesn't just see us, He sees into us. He doesn't just see into us, He sees through us. 

I don't have time to read Psalm 139, but just to remind you, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all of my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all." I said it wasn't going to read it and I just read it. And then verse 6, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it." 

You know, if you think about it, this is both comforting and convicting. It's very comforting that He knows us perfectly. And when others misunderstand us, and when others have a wrong take on us, and when others speak poorly of us wrongly, He knows. He knows the truth. 

Great English evangelist George Whitefield was assailed and slandered constantly, and he would always say this: "The last day will bear me out." There's coming a last day, and the Judge will decide between us. 

Jonathan Edwards, the greatest preacher ever born on American soil, 1703, was the leader of the Great Awakening, was run out of his church after 22 years of being their pastor by a 90 percent vote, Jonathan Edwards. His farewell sermon is an incredible sermon, and his text was from 2 Corinthians 1, somewhere around verse 22, and he says, "On the last day, we will all gather before the throne of Christ together as a congregation, and He will decide among us who was in the right and who was in the wrong." 

It's very comforting to know that the Lord knows, and it's also very convicting, because He knows the whole story about each one of us. He knows what we do not know about one another. It's very convicting to know He sees down into the very depth of our motives, of our attitudes, of our priorities long before anything is spoken or done. That's Jesus' awareness, and He is perfectly aware of your reasonings today. That's very comforting, and that's very challenging. 

Jesus' Answer

Third, I want you to see "Jesus' answer." Having read their minds, Jesus now addresses them with this answer, stunningly brilliant answer. No one can match swords with the Lord Jesus. 

So in the middle of verse 22, we just read the word "answer." "He answered and said to them, 'Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Why are you calculating what I just said?'" In Matthew's account of this passage – and you should know that this miracle is performed in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, what we call the synoptic gospels. It's not in John's gospel who has a different presentation of Christ to make for us. 

But in Matthew 9:4, Matthew gives us this added insight as he records this scene. Matthew records the words of Jesus: "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?" Jesus understood that these are evil leaders of the establishment and they are protecting their own turf, and their hearts are filled and flooded with malice. 

So in verse 23, Jesus brilliantly says, "Which is easier to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" I mean, this is obvious. It's so much easier for Jesus to say, "Your sins are forgiven you." Who would know? But if He says, "Get up and walk," and you're a paralytic, it's going to be obvious. Either you can deliver, or you cannot deliver. Either you have authority, or you do not have authority. "So which is easier to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" It's obvious. It's easier just to say the words, "Your sins are forgiven you," than to say, "Get up and walk," because the evidence would be right here in front of us. 

Verse 24, "But so that you may know" – and He has, really, the Pharisees and the scribes in His crosshairs – "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Now let's just stop right there. 

There's some important words in verse 24. The first are those three words, "Son of Man." This was Jesus' favorite self-description of Himself. He referred to Himself as the Son of Man more than by any other title. You read John's gospel, it's the Son of God. You read Luke here, and you can see it in Mark, and at times in Matthew, He's referring to Himself as the Son of Man, in fact, 80 times. So not just a few times tossed in. No, 80 times that the Son of God has become the Son of Man indicates His descent down into this world to enter the human race, to become one of us, to get into our skin, to be born of a woman, to live in a human body, to be confronted with all the pressures and temptations that confront us, that in this coming down from heaven to the earth, for the Son of God to become the Son of Man emphasizes His mission to rescue lost sinners. 

And He loves to identify Himself with us. That's what, Son of Man; He is identifying Himself with fallen humanity. He's not above it all, though He is above it all. But Son of God, Son of God. No, He is portraying Himself as the Son of Man to become one of us, so that when He goes to the cross, He can die in our place, so He can bear our sins, so He can suffer the wrath of the Father that should fall upon us throughout eternity and hell. It fell; the full weight of it fell upon Christ as the Son of Man. 

So I want us to note that, "so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth." The Son of Man comes to earth, leaves heaven comes to earth. The next word is "authority," "that you may know that the Son of Man has authority." Greek word exousia, means out of self, that Jesus is dependent upon nothing outside of Himself to carry out His work and task. He is dependent upon no one outside of Himself to do what He must do. Even when He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He said, "Even the stones would cry out." 

Jesus has all authority. It's a synonym for sovereignty, dominion, the right and the power to do whatever He pleases. Do you hear that? This authority is absolute. It's unconditional. It's unilateral. It's universal. It is comprehensive. It is complete. He will say in Matthew 28:18, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given unto Me." 

There is no authority, but the authority of Jesus Christ. He has all the authority. And the only authority that a government official has is a delegated authority that has been given to Him by Jesus for a very temporal amount of time. And the only authority even that a parent has is authority; and parents do have authority, not the government, and not the school. The parents are given by Christ authority over their children. But even their authority is a delegated authority. 

Jesus has all sovereignty, and it is an irresistible authority. And He never has to have the circumstances just right in order for Him to work. "He has authority to forgive sins." Those two words, forgive sins." I talked about it last week. But "forgive" means to send away so that it is no longer upon a person. Your sins have been lifted off of you and sent away from you, never to be on you in a condemning way because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the word "sins" means to miss the mark. It means to fall short of the glory of God. And we've all been weighed in the balances and found wanting. 

"So He said to the paralytic," – this is where it gets good – "He says to the paralytic, 'I say to you.'" Now that is as direct and emphatic and dogmatic of words that He could – "I say to you," – commanding words, authoritative words – "get up." It's the one thing he can't do. "Are You making fun of the paralytic? Are You mocking the paralytic: 'Get up'? He can't get up." This is either cruel or it's loving. 

"Get up," – as he's laying on the stretcher – "and pick up your stretcher and go home." If he is to do this, something's going to have to happen. If he is to do this, he will have to be enabled to do what he cannot do. And if he is enabled to do it, it will be indisputable proof that Jesus has the authority to forgive sin. If He has the authority to heal a paralytic, then He has the authority to forgive sin. 

This is Jesus' answer, okay? He always has the right answer, whatever the issue is, whatever is confronting Him. And I thought about putting in my notes just walking through the gospels and the different pressures that were put upon Him where it seems like they've painted Him into a corner and there's no way out, and He always has the right answer. 

I would just simply, instead of reading all those, tell you – you can look those up on your own – He always has the right answer for you. When you come to Him in prayer and when you look into His word, there's only one Mighty Counselor, Isaiah 9:6-7, "Unto you a child is born, unto us a son is given; His name shall be called Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace." He is a wonderful counselor, and He has all the answers that you need. 

Jesus' Authority

So this leads now to, number four, "Jesus' authority," in verse 25. Jesus has issued this command to the paralytic to get up and go home. Jesus also now, at the same time, He exercises His sovereign prerogatives and His divine rights and His authority as the Son of God and as the Son of Man to heal this man's paralysis. 

So we read in verse 25, "Immediately he got up." I mean, there was no gradual getting up. I mean, there was no rehab. There's no clinical therapy. He immediately got up. Strength surged immediately into his withered legs. His muscles were immediately reactivated. Movement returned to the lower part of his body, and immediately he sprang to his feet with full ability and mobility and full balance as if he had never been paralyzed in the first place. 

And then the next two words, "before them." Who's the "them." The antecedent is the scribes and the Pharisees. Of course, before everybody else in the house, but before them, the religious leaders of this realm who were trying to put the hangman's noose around his neck, who were probably thinking about gathering stones for the crowd so that they could stone Jesus to death right here in Capernaum. "He got up before them." Their eyes must have popped out of their sockets. They never dreamed this would happen. They thought they had caught Him on blasphemy. 

And he did more than just get up, "he picked up what he had been lying on." I mean, he gathered up his pallet. The text doesn't say it, but he probably just rolled it up and tucked it under his arm and walked out. 

Now think about this. They couldn't get him into the meeting, but he was able to walk out. That means there was such a gasp that the crowd parted like the Red Sea. And he's got his stretcher rolled up under his arm and with pep in his step and glide in his stride. I haven't said that in a long time. I remember one time a deacon years ago said that to me. He goes, "Pastor, it looks like you've got pep in your step and glide in your stride." 

He bounced out of there. Jesus never does anything in a halfway fashion, right? He does all things well. And it says, "and went home" – he went home and changed man, did he not – "glorifying God." Now, pause and meditate on that. 

"Glorifying" comes from the word that we say, "doxology," praising God, God. He knew exactly who had healed him. Jesus said, "Get up and walk," and it was God who did it. The paralytic has better theology than the scribes and the Pharisees. They understand this was God in human flesh who did this, God among us, Emmanuel, God among us. 

This is an extraordinary miracle. In fact, this is a double miracle. I don't want you to miss this. This is a back-to-back miracle. This man was both forgiven spiritually and healed physically. Both were a miracle. 

A miracle is a divine intervention of God in an extraordinary fashion. Every conversion is a miracle as God radically realters who and what a person is from the inside out. That's the greater miracle than the physical miracle is the spiritual miracle. 

Spiritually he was converted to Christ. His sins were forgiven. That's what happens when you're converted to Christ. That's what happens when you're born again, okay? This is not just a pat on the head and go home, this was, "You're in the kingdom now. Your sins are forgiven you. You will go to heaven. You'll be just like the thief on the cross. Today you will be with Me in paradise." 

So the greater miracle occurred first, which was the forgiveness of sins. The lesser miracle then happened immediately after that, the physical healing of the paralytic. And so this begs the question: Have you become a miracle? Has Christ said to you, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you"? And I want to say it again, not in an audible voice, but through the truths of Scripture written in this book that you have believed. It's the message of the gospel of Christ. 

If you have, He has pronounced forgiveness of all of your sins. That's far greater than even a paralytic being made well. Forgiveness of sin is eternal, healing from a paralysis is temporal. Forgiveness of sin is in the soul, healing of paralysis is simply in the legs, wonderful as it is. This man became a double miracle in this moment. 

Jesus' Affect

So this leads, finally, in verse 26 to "Jesus' affect." How did the people respond to this? Verse 26, "They" – and the "they" here refers to the common people there, not to the scribes and the Pharisees – "They were all struck with amazement." 

Now the word "amazement" needs to be put out of your mind. We would say today in the vernacular this blew their mind, they don't have a category for this. It can be almost translated "to put them into a trance." They were stunned. They were shocked. They didn't know what to do. They didn't know what to say. They didn't know, "Do we still sit here?" 

"They were struck with astonishment" – The word "struck" means to be laid hold of, to be in the grip of. They were in the grip of mind-boggling astonishment and it would not let them go. This was not a passing emotion for a few seconds. They were held in the palm of astonishment – "and began glorifying God." 

That's why I'm saying, the "they" does not refer to the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and the Pharisees were not glorifying God. I can assure you, they've just had their pride crushed only to make them madder, like swatting at a hornet. Oh, they'll be back.

The people, they began glorifying God, praising God. They probably know this man who was the paralytic. He probably is living in the same town of Capernaum. We don't know that. But I mean, how far can you carry a man on a stretcher? "We all know him. We see him about town having to be carried around. We see him seated on the side of the road," maybe begging for alms, who knows? And now this same man got up and walked out. 

"They began glorifying God," – they knew only God could do this, you can't fake this – "and they were filled with fear." The word "fear" here, phobos, comes into the English language as "phobia." This so shook them up that they were filled with dread and terror. The word literally means to be put to flight. Like, you want to run away from this it's so over and above and beyond me, that I can't handle being in the presence of this. I've got to withdraw to safety. And so they fell back with fear, which is probably how he walked out, because they fell back staggered by what they had seen. 

At the end of verse 26, "They said out loud to one another, 'We have seen' – we have observed – 'remarkable things today.'" The word "remarkable," paradoxos, comes into the English language as "paradoxical," which means things out of the ordinary, things perceived to be a contradiction. "There's no comparison to what we have just seen." 

Never has there been anyone like the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God became the Son of Man and walked among us and lived the life that you and I could have never lived. He lived in our place. He kept with perfect obedience the law of God, and that is what is charged to our account when we put our faith in Him. He's the great teacher of that law, the great prophet sent from God. But He's more than a carpenter and more than a prophet; He is the one who is truly God, yet truly man. 

Conclusion

There is no other life any one of us should ever want to live than to live for Him. If you live for anything else, anyone else, you've just hitched yourself up to a sinking ship. To live for Christ and to follow Him is the greatest life that you will ever live. Jesus said in John 10:10, "I've come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly." The word "abundantly" means His supply far exceeds your need. Whatever it is you need, His supply far exceeds it. 

So the greatest life that any one of us could ever live is to live for Jesus Christ, to live the Christian life, because we have put our faith in Christ. Either your faith is in yourself; that's a real bad bet. Either your faith is in the government; that's even worse. Either your faith is in the things of this world; this world is perishing. There's only one place to put your faith, and that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

There is so much more that we will learn about Christ as we go through Luke's gospel. And I just trust as we follow Him through these pages that it will leave an imprint upon our life for decades to come. If you've never believed upon Christ, I urge you to do so today. Don't put it off. If you put it off, your heart will just be harder. You'll just have more sin to confess. You will just have strayed even further away from God. Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart. Let us pray. 

[Prayer] Father, in heaven, how we, too, are astonished and amazed at our Savior. We could have never concocted these episodes. These are surely the infallible word that has been written for us. It puts us in a state of astonishment to just briefly have the veil pulled back and for us to peer back 2,000 years ago the life of Christ. Father, just make us so close to Christ. And may we follow His every step through this world. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. [End]