Absolute authority

Good morning, One Hope. How are you guys doing? Good. Yeah, it's a beautiful morning. Beautiful day. Like Stephen said, spring has sprung. Uh so yeah, my name for you uh uh that are new, my name is Ronnie and I'm one of the elders here at One Hope Community Church. So I'm not not up here often, but every once in a while I'll jump in and help Pastor Stephen preach. So, I'm thankful that I can bring the word of God to us today.

So, I often hear uh when we come to church uh to leave your anxieties and worries and fears at the door. Uh and I understand what people are saying, but for me, I always thought like, do you pick those up as you go back out the door and go home? I don't want that. So we we I would suggest and encourage you to bring those in with you and to offer not for distraction but to offer them up to Jesus, the one person who has absolute authority over our lives and over our world. And so bring those in and offer them up to him.

And we'll talk about that a little bit in our passage today. Uh but before that, I'd like to back up and to remind us of our context in which we find chapters and 8 in Matthew. It's an outworking of chapters 5, 6, and 7. And this is Jesus's famous sermon on the mount. And so this is where Jesus is ushering in his kingdom. He's talking about this new kingdom that is coming, that is breaking through, that is breaking in into our lives and on earth. that this new kingdom has new values, countercultural values to the culture of that day and even to our day. Uh kingdom values that reflect who Jesus is and who uh he wants us to be. And so you see Jesus is establishing his and revealing his authority, his absolute authority over our world and over our lives, his rule and reign through his words and teachings in chapters 5, six, and 7.

So you see if you read through the sermon on the mount you'll see you have heard it said in the old testament but now I say and he defines the truth and the value for the people of that day. So he this kingdom is being ushered in this new kingdom and he's doing it by showing his absolute authority through his words and teachings through chapters five six and seven. And then we get to chapters 8 and nine and he is beginning to reveal his authority not only in his words and teachings but his works in ministry. How that's fleshed out in our lives on a daily basis that he has absolute authority over the physical our bodies our our broken bodies. Uh he has absolute authority over the spiritual, the forgiveness of sins, as we'll see in our passage today. He has absolute authority over the natural, the winds and the waves and turning water into wine and the supernatural. I think Stephen talked about this last week, the demons even know who he is and his absolute authority.

Uh Heather and I weren't here last week. Uh we miss we were celebrating our 30-y year anniversary of marriage. Uh so we had a good time. Yeah. 30 years, man. I am getting old. She's not. I'm just I'm getting old. She's a thing. That's for sure. Uh so anyway, we see in these chapters 8 and nine and even following that Jesus is beginning to not only establish his absolute authority in his words and teachings, but his works and ministry. Uh, and these stories as we read them and preach them and meditate on them, they're not just for the people of Jesus's day. They're for us as well as we engage and meditate.

And for me, uh, you know, probably like many of you, I've had a couple of fears in my life. Uh, and one of those fears is the fear of flying. And so you think about that, God called us. Many of you know we were missionaries. Not just missionaries, missionaries to Thailand. And Thailand, if you know the location of Thailand, it's on the other side of the world. Uh and so we spent, you know, uh at least 19 to 20, sometimes longer hours just in the air on an airplane. So I don't know why I it was an irrational fear. I don't know why I had it. Maybe it was because I didn't have control up there. I didn't know what was going on. Uh I didn't know how the, you know, aerodynamics works worked. So every movement of air and every creek, I was thinking what's going wrong? Uh but I had that fear and it it controlled me not only on the flight with anxiety and just sweating and just thinking of all the things that could go wrong even the week preceding my flight you know I had this tension and anxiety and it wasn't until about 10 or 12 years ago actually we were about to come off the field so it was a long time for me uh but I began to ask these questions why do I have this irrational fear what what is that and what does that mean about my faith in God? Like, yeah, what is my faith weak? Is it great? And why do I have this irrational fear?

And as I began to see in these stories, Jesus's absolute authority over all things, and began to meditate on them, it wasn't a quick fix, but it was plain ride after plane ride, and time after time. I allowed these stories to seep into my heart, into my mind. Uh until this day, slowly but surely, I can enjoy a plane flight across the ocean. I just came back from Cairo, Egypt with my daughter in January. Enjoyed that time. About to go to Spain to visit some of our missionaries over there in Europe. But but by God's grace, because I continue to meditate and I understand that Jesus has absolute authority over all things, uh he's beginning to help me live that out in my faith. And we'll see a group of people today in our passage do the same thing that because of their understanding of Jesus's absolute authority over all things, not only did it impact their lives, but it impacted the lives around them as well.

So before we jump in, let's pray and then we'll read Matthew 9 1-8. Father, thank you for your word that reveals to us who you are, that you have absolute authority over all the things in our life and all the things in our world, that we can trust you. So we pray God that you would take these words this morning, this story, and help us to understand and to see more clearly who you are. And I pray God that your Holy Spirit would use these truths in this story to impact our lives but not not only our lives but those around us. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

So Matthew 9 1-8 let's read uh not together I'll read you guys follow along. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheing." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiving, or to say, rise and walk? But that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. That there's that authority word. He then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your bed, and go home." And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

And so, as I studied this passage and preparing the sermon, there were two things that stood out in this passage. And I think the author uh Matthew had that highlighted for us. And you'll see the Greek word uh translated here in the English as be and behold. And it means to perceive to pay attention to. And so the author I believe is highlighting what I'm about to say. I want you to see. So in verse two it says, "And behold some people." And then in verse three, you have, "And behold, some of the scribes." So, we're going to compare and contrast two groups today in our in our passage. These some people uh that uh the author is referring to and then some scribes that the author is referring to.

So, we'll start out with our first group, some people. So, verse two says, "And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven." So, who are these some people? Uh, and there are parallel accounts in the other gospels as well that gives a little bit more detail uh to the Matthew account. So, we'll read those. So Mark 2 1-5 says, "And when he returned to Capernaum, Jesus after some days it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there were no more room. There was no more room, not even at the door." So it gives a little bit more detail that there were a lot of people there and they couldn't even get to Jesus. And he was preaching the word to them and they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. some more detail, not just some people, but four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. So again, they couldn't get to Jesus. There was an obstacle in the way. They figured out a solution to get through the roof. And I think of the roof in those days were made of mud. So they could cut through the roof and lay him lay this paralytic before Jesus. So that's Mark 2. It gives us a little bit more clarity on what those some who those some people are. Four men.

Uh Luke 5:17-19. On one of those days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed. uh and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in. Again, very similar to uh the passage in Mark because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. So, in all these three passages, uh it talked about some people and it specifically said four men. So, I'll call them the faithful four, this community of faith.

Uh and so the what I want to highlight and I think what the author is highlighting here is it wasn't just an individual that helped this paralytic. It was a community of people. It was a the group of four men. Uh and so this community when you think about community it's common unity. So what did they have in common? What did this community have in common? Uh so as we saw this they brought this paralytic to Jesus. So I would say their first thing they have in common is common participation. They all decided not to just pass this man by not to be indifferent to his condition but they all wanted to participate. They all got involved. They all literally carried their share of the weight of this guy. Uh so they didn't just uh not see who he was and his condition but they participated. So they had a common participation and I think that's important.

How did that participation work itself out? They had a common purpose. So this community had this common purpose to help. They saw this guy who was helpless probably hopeless and broken and they wanted to help. Think about his uh social condition like his relationships. uh probably had none. Think about his economic condition uh being paralyzed and then also his uh uh spiritual condition where he couldn't get up and go to the temple and practice the spiritual rhythms of the Jewish people. So these guys had a they saw him and they wanted to help. They wanted to serve uh this helpless person. So they had a common purpose but they also had a common person. So somewhere along the way they were impacted by the absolute authority of Jesus to the point they saw this man and together they wanted to help. They they said we have to bring him they were compelled to bring him to Jesus. So somewhere along the way, Jesus impacted their lives and they saw this man now and they wanted to help. So a common participation, a common purpose and a common person that they brought this paralytic to.

So this was this community and what happened? What did Jesus see? It says Jesus saw their faith. And again uh sometimes when we talk about faith, we think faith is invisible. But here we see Jesus saw it. It's evident by their actions, by their participation, by the purpose, by the person they brought him to. They said there was only one person that could help this paralytic. And Jesus saw their faith. And so when I say that, you know, when we talk about faith, it's it's hard hard to define sometimes. But when you talk about faith, faith hasn't always has an object. And so it's not that our faith is anything impressive in and of itself. So these guy, everybody has faith in something, but it's the object of our faith that makes it great. And so they their object of their faith was was Jesus, the one who had absolute authority over all things. And they knew that. And it compelled them to help and to pres part participate and to bring this guy to Jesus, this paralytic, this helpless person as a group.

And so what I think is interesting is that this is what I want us to understand is that it was their faith together. Jesus saw their faith as a community. Their faith together and Jesus's absolute authority changed the course of this paralytic man's life. Think about it. After this day, Jesus is about to heal him and he goes off not only just heal him physically, but he heals them spiritually and he goes off and his life is changed and their faith in Christ not only impacted their lives. So, they were compelled because of what Jesus had done in their lives, but it impacted the lives around them. It's what I call the ripple effect. So, it's uh these four men were impacted by the authority of Jesus somewhere along the way. Maybe they saw a miracle. They heard his teaching. But somewhere along the way, they were impacted. And by faith, they were moved to participate and get involved. They didn't they weren't indifferent to the situations and the people around them. And the paralytic's life changed because of it. Uh and then the crowds, as we will see at the end of this passage, the crowds and the scribes also were affected by the faith of these four men, this community of faith.

And I it reminds me of our work in Thailand. It's you know at some point along the way me and Heather uh were impacted by the great commission Matthew at the end of this book it says all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me talking to Jesus. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. And so that impacted our lives. And so by faith we moved to Thailand. And we didn't do it alone. It was we joined arms with our brothers and sisters there in the church. Even though it was a few less than 1% Christian there, but we joined arms and one by one people came to see the absolute authority of Jesus as well. And even to this day as I go back and visit, I see families that have been changed because now they have a wife and they have kids and now they're in involved in a church plant or preaching and helping helping another church. So, it's this ripple effect that their faith together and Jesus's authority changed the course of this paralytic man's life.

So, how does Jesus respond to their faith? Jesus throws a little curveball here. So, verse two at the end it says, "Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven." That's not the way I thought it was going to go. I thought he was going to say, you know, you are healed physically. Uh but Jesus uh heals the paralytic man not physically but spiritually. He says your sins are forgiven forgiven. So why does Jesus do this? Why do you think he starts out with the the spiritual healing instead of the physical healing? Because sin ultimately is at the root of all of our brokenness. Both the physical and the spiritual, the emotional and intellectual. And so Jesus knew that and even this man knew that. And so when I think even when I look at this passage when it says their faith, I think he's talking not only to the faithful for but he's also talking to the paralytic man too. This paralytic man had faith in Jesus in his absolute authority. And so Jesus knew at the root of all of our brokenness uh it was uh sin. So he offered forgiveness in the spiritual realm. And Jesus also wanted to show that he had the authority and the compassion to heal this man spiritually. And he also knew thirdly that there was another group that was close by listening and judging.

So let's jump there. Uh verse three says, "And behold again, pay attention. Perceive. There's something I want to say here with this group. Some of the scribes, so comparing and contrasting this first group to the second group, there were some people in the first group and there were some scribes here in this second group. So again, so-called spiritual leaders of Israel, these scribes and again we have have a community of people here. So uh it's some scribes. So what did they have in common? As we remember the first group they had in common participation, purpose and a person here what did they have you and in the first group they brought the paralytic to Jesus. What does this group bring to Jesus in this passage and also the other accounts in Mark and Luke they bring their questions and skepticism and doubts to Jesus. It says, "And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming, but Jesus knowing their thoughts." In other verses, it says they questioned in their hearts who he was.

So, the first group said, "He can do it." And they brought the paralytic to Jesus. The second group says, "He can't do it. What is he doing? He's not God." Uh, so they didn't believe in his absolute authority. And what happened in the first group, what happened? He saw their faith. And this second group of these scribes, what did he see? He saw their evil hearts is what it says in the passage. And so in the contrast the first group, he saw their faith. And this one, he saw their faithlessness. Uh he saw that they didn't trust in his authority. And like faith, being faithless is also evident. So Jesus could see that.

How does Jesus respond to their unbelief? He asked them a question. Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or rise and walk? What do you guys think? Which is easier to say? Sins are forgiven. Yeah. I think both are just as equally easy for Jesus because he's he has absolute authority over all things. So for Jesus, it wasn't a matter of what was easy or not. It was a ma matter of allowing these this second group, the scribes to see that he had authority in the spiritual realm. And so here you get have again these scribes who are so-called spiritual leaders who are supposed to be leading the Jewish people towards God. And here you have them spiritually blind. They couldn't see Jesus's spiritual authority. They questioned it. They couldn't see it. So there here you have these blind leading the blind. Uh and so we see that uh Jesus uses this physical healing. He says, "Since you can't see spiritually my authority, I'll allow you to see physically my physical authority, my my authority over the physical so that you will know that I have authority over all things." And he heals the man.

Uh the scribes and and he does this for two reasons I think. One to allow the scribes to see that they were spiritually blind. they couldn't see his spiritual authority and also to prove that he has authority in the spiritual realm. uh that because of sin in our lives and it's at the root of all their brokenness that he is able to heal at the root and he allowed and and and the physical the paralytic uh the not walking part is just a fruit of our sin a fruit of our brokenness in our lives. So, uh, Jesus proves to them who he was through this physical healing. And there's also a third group in this passage. So, we're about to, uh, wrap it up, but a third group in this passage, and it says, uh, when the crowds saw it, they were afraid and they glorified God who had given such authority to men. So, not only did it impact the lives of the four men and the paralytic, not only did it impact the scribes who were listening, but also the crowds who saw it. And what did they say? How what was their response? Who had given such authority? They began to see the absolute authority of Jesus as well through his works.

Uh so what does this mean for us? Lost my voice. Uh, what does this mean for us? It's in here somewhere. It is. It ain't in here, but I got it. Oh, there it is. Right there. Sorry. So, what we can What can we learn from these two groups? What does it mean for us?

So it means that we can see ourselves in group one in the paralytic that apart from the gospel of grace, we also are helpless and hopeless and broken and that we need Jesus's touch and healing to forgive us of our sins. that that we are left to our addictions and our fears and our bondages but because of what Jesus has done as we uh will celebrate in the coming weeks the cross what Jesus has done for us on our behalf. So if you haven't putting your trust in Jesus and his forgiveness of your sins today, I would encourage you and urge you to look to him that he has complete authority, absolute authority over your life and over your sin.

What's another place we can see ourselves in group one as well? The faith of four. And this is why I titled this message community of faith because it speaks to us as a church as well as individuals as well to lock arms to be a community. A community who participates. We don't just walk by or indifferent but we participate. We want to be involved. We want to help. We want to have a purpose of service. And uh we we believe in Jesus's absolute authority over the the eternal suffering and the temporary suffering of people around us.

So here are some questions that we can ask as a church. Where are we as a a church community? We are called one hope community church. So where are we? Where are we getting involved? Who are we seeing along the way that needs help? Who are we serving? Who are we linking arms? Where are we linking arms together to bring people to Jesus? What family members, friends, neighbors, work colleagues is God leading us to find freedom and healing? Think about those in in our collective life as a church, but also our individual lives. And think about that ripple effect. in five to 10 years down the road what will be the ripple effect of one hope community church here in Fort Bill Rockill and in this region

and then also we can learn from group two as well the faithless leaders who were spiritually blind question Jesus' authority and his godness you know question his control over every aspect in Adam and the world the physical the spiritual the natural but where do we do this in our own lives where where are our our our blind spots? You know, we we don't have it all figured out as well, but where do our fears show up? Like my fear of flying, where do we need to deal with that? Fear of death, fear of disease, fear of sickness, and it goes on and on. and where do we need it to open our spiritual eyes for God to help us see the brokenness around us?

So I want to just spend a few minutes for us just to allow the Holy Spirit I don't know what he will say to you but a few moments of reflection on these questions uh yeah a few moments and then I will lead us to the next phase.

Jesus, we are thankful for your word. We're thankful, God, that these stories are real, that you are real. Your authority is true. And we ask in your name, God, for those others that need your touch and your healing. God, we pray in your name. Uh and in your authority to give healing and help where they need it, God. Uh again, we trust you. It's not about our faith, but it's about our faith in you. A God who is great. A God who is over all things. The God who cares. A God who hears. So meet us today God as a community as we bring each other to to you in Jesus name.