Demonstrating Divine Authority (Matthew 9:1-17; Mark 2:1-22; Luke 5:17-39)

A paralyzed man drops through a roof, religious experts hold their breath, and Jesus does the one thing they cannot tolerate: he forgives sins. That moment in Capernaum forces a question that still cuts through religious noise today. Are we more comfortable with rules we can measure, or with grace we can’t control? We walk through Luke 5 step by step, from the rise of the Pharisees and their man-made regulations to Jesus’ bold claim that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, then backs it up with undeniable healing.

From there, the story gets even more personal. Jesus calls Levi, better known as Matthew, a tax collector viewed as a greedy traitor who profits off his own people. Jesus doesn’t negotiate or shame him. He simply says, “Follow me,” and Matthew leaves everything. We talk about why no unbeliever is beyond redemption, and why no believer is beyond responsibility, especially when it comes to inviting friends to meet Jesus even before we feel “ready.”

Finally, we tackle the clash between religious tradition and the gospel of grace through the fasting debate in Mark 2. Jesus calls himself the bridegroom, then uses vivid images like unshrunk cloth and new wine in old wineskins to show why the good news cannot be patched onto human performance. If you’ve felt worn down by legalism, this conversation resets the center: faith alone in Christ alone, with nothing added.

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Transcript

Arrival In Capernaum

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As we set sail today on our wisdom journey, Jesus is arriving back home in Capernaum. Word of his presence is spreading like wildfire. In fact, this will be the first time recorded that religious leaders show up to listen to what Jesus has to say. Luke chapter 5 picks up the narrative as we study this chronologically. The next event now is recorded for us, beginning here at verse 17. It tells us that the Pharisees were there, the scribes, they were the experts in the Mosaic law. They're probably there to write down, you know, whatever Jesus says in order to find some kind of legal error in his teaching. By the way, the name Pharisee means separated one. You see, during the four hundred years between Malachi and Matthew, those silent years when God had not spoken, this group had grown in prominence as men very committed to the law of Moses. The problem was they had added to the

How The Pharisees Built Extra Rules

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law thousands of rules and regulations. Let me give you an illustration. The law required that no work could be done on the Sabbath day. But the question arose as to what exactly was considered work. So the Pharisees defined work into thirty nine categories, and each category was subdivided into thousands of man-made rules. For instance, carrying a burden, of course, would have been work, but you gotta define what makes something a burden. So they debated, was it carrying a child? Was it picking up and moving a chair? And by the way, how much food would be a burden? So they decided, if you can imagine, that you could lift to your mouth enough milk for one swallow, and it wouldn't be a burden. Or you could lift food in your spoon weighing less than one dried fig. Well, let me tell you, one dried fig probably weighed a lot less than one chocolate covered donut, so I wouldn't have made a very good Pharisee on the Sabbath, especially. Well, here are all these Pharisees and scribes are sitting in this house, they're waiting to catch Jesus and some, you know, small infraction of the law. Well, Jesus is about to give them their money's worth. Verse eighteen records some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. Now, according to the Pharisees, physical infirmity was a sign of God's displeasure. So as

Forgiven First Then Healed

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this paralyzed man is lowered and he reaches the floor, the Pharisees and scribes, well, frankly, they they couldn't care less about him. But Jesus is going to focus on his faith and the faith of his friends. And he says here in verse 20, Man, your sins are forgiven you. Well, with that, the Pharisees and scribes probably just fell out of their seats. They said to themselves here in verse 21, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins? But God alone. Now they don't say this out loud. They said it inwardly. So imagine the shock when Jesus proves that he can also read their minds. Verse 22. Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you, or to say rise and walk. Well, obviously, it's easier to tell somebody their sins are forgiven. I mean, who can prove if they are or not? So Jesus goes on here in verse twenty-four. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he says to the man who is paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. Well, what do you say to that? I mean, how do you answer that? Jesus obviously has the divine authority to forgive sin. And this physical healing here is proof of the spiritual claim that he can forgive sins. Well, the next incident that takes place, recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, demonstrates Jesus' authority to change people's lives. See, after Jesus heals this paralyzed man, he starts walking out by the Sea of Galilee, and he's going to see a man by the name of Levi, who's also called Matthew. Now Matthew's a tax collector. He's basically sold his soul to work for Rome so he can turn around and tax his own Jewish people. The Roman government would determine the amount of tax revenue to be collected in a district.

Matthew The Outcast Gets Called

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The tax collector would hike up the rates, make a profit by charging more than Rome required. He'd skim it off the top and live an affluent life. So a tax collector in these days was considered a greedy thieving traitor who had forsaken his people and obviously abandoned his nation's God. All three gospels record Jesus simply saying to him, Follow me. That's it. Now Jesus certainly knew everything about Matthew, and he still invited him to follow him. Verse twenty eight in Luke's Gospel at chapter five puts it this way and leaving everything, Matthew rose and followed him. Imagine. Jesus effectively said, Matthew, I know who you are, I know what you've done, but I also know what you can become if you'll follow me. And Matthew does just that. You know the gospel is the same invitation today. Jesus, he knows who you are, he knows what you've done, but he also knows what you can become if you'll follow him. Well, now here in verse 29, what Matthew does next is he throws a big party, he throws a great feast for Jesus. And we're told here that he invites a large company of tax collectors to come to dinner. Now the Pharisees can't believe this. In fact, one author put it this way they're thinking if Jesus were what he claimed to be, he would have sought their company rather than the company of tax collectors. This is like inviting the drug cartel. This is like inviting the mafia over for dinner. He's eaten with the wrong people. Well, Jesus hears their complaint.

A Table Full Of Sinners

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He answers here in verse 31. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now the salvation of Matthew has at least two lessons to teach us. First, no unbeliever is beyond redemption. Matthew was essentially a hard hearted criminal. He would, as I've mentioned, would have been considered a mob member today, extorting money from his own people. But he wasn't beyond the reach of the gospel of Christ. So don't take that person off your prayer list just yet. No unbeliever is beyond redemption. Secondly, here's another lesson. No believer is beyond responsibility. You know it's our responsibility to invite lost friends to meet Jesus. Here's Matthew with a house full of curious unbelievers. Shouldn't he, you know, maybe go through some evangelism training first? Does he know all of the answers? Is he skilled now in apologetics? No, he just he just knows that Jesus saved him. That's a great place to start. In fact, that may be all you need. Well, the next event, chronologically, in the ministry of Jesus, which is how you know we're studying the gospels again in our wisdom journey, we find it now over in Mark and chapter two. This is where Jesus is about to demonstrate his authority over religious traditions. In verse eighteen, some people ask him, Why do John the Baptist's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? Now, according to the Mosaic Law, fasting was required by God only one day a year, and that

Fasting Tradition Meets The Bridegroom

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was on the Day of Atonement. Now voluntary fast could be practiced as people focused on praying, spending time with the Lord. But by Jesus' time the Pharisees were now fasting twice a week. Jesus answers them here in verse nineteen. Can the wedding guest fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. In other words, Jesus is saying, I'm the bridegroom, and as long as I'm here, we're celebrating. We're celebrating a wedding, so to speak. We're not fasting. And Jesus clarifies this point with an illustration here in verse twenty one. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. In other words, any attempt to sew something new onto something old is going to create a tear once the new material shrinks. So here's the point. Trying to attach the new gospel to the old cloth of religious tradition. Oh, that ain't gonna work. Jesus illustrates the same principle here in verse 22,

New Cloth New Wine Gospel Grace

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saying that you don't put new wine into an old wineskin, because as that new wine expands as it ferments, it's gonna tear holes in that old wineskin. So Jesus is saying, look, I'm bringing this fresh gospel of grace. It can't be mixed with your old man-made religious regulations. He's not talking about the Mosaic Law. He's talking about their man-made rules. Jesus didn't come to dress up all of their human traditions and man-made rules. Beloved Jesus is introducing a new dispensation of grace. We don't come to God through sacrifices and ceremonies anymore, do we? We now come to God by faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone. Don't add anything at all to Christ alone. Well, until we set sail again on our wisdom journey, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.