Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Can you imagine the love of these four men, the friends of this man that was crippled? To come for a long distance, carrying their friend and bringing him to Jesus, and now Jesus is taking care of their problem. What about you? How persistent are you for your friends and family?

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We’re glad to have you along today for our continuing focus on the life-changing power of forgiveness.

Today, Raul will assure you that Jesus’ compassion is greater than any sin or obstacle in your life. Considering Jesus’ mighty work in freeing a man from demons and healing a man paralyzed by his transgression, you’ll see that you can bring every weakness to Christ, fully confident of His redemption. Here is Raul Ries with our study, "Jesus Forgives Sin." Join us in Matthew chapter nine, verse one.

Raul Ries: One of the things about the story here is that Mark and Luke give you a better perspective. Matthew gives you a short story without enough detail, but it’s cool. In the Gospel of Mark, you have Jesus just leaving Gadara, where he has been praying for two people that were demon-possessed. These demon-possessed persons were becoming a great problem to the town of Gadara and the citizens of Gadara. As people would try to walk through the highway, these men would attack them and the demons would overtake them.

Everyone was afraid to walk in the city of Gadara. When Jesus went from Capernaum over to Gadara with his disciples, he actually saw that these men that were demon-possessed were hanging out at the cemetery. At the cemetery, they were having these problems with these demons, not only possessing them, but they would go out and harass other people. If we remember the story, the Lord went ahead and prayed for them and they were delivered.

The demons began to share with Christ, "Our time is not yet. We know who you are. Can you allow us to go into the pigs that are out there feeding so that we can actually possess the body of pigs?" When a demon is going to come out of another person's body, the demon needs another body, human or animal, it doesn't really matter.

When these Jews saw that Jesus spoke to the demons and he gave permission to them to run out of the bodies and to go into the pigs, these Jews were doing something that was very unlawful against the Bible, the law of God. They were not supposed to be feeding or buying swine because Jews, according to the law, were forbidden to eat any kind of pork. It was an unlawful business they had under the table, making money.

When Jesus came and allowed these demons to speak out, walk out, and actually possess the pigs and make them run wild into the Sea of Galilee and drown, the people became very upset. They ran into the city, got ahold of all the people, and they came out to meet Jesus. Instead of praising the Lord and thanking him, they despised him and actually told him to leave town. They didn't care who he was. So Jesus left and never came back to that town ever again.

Think of all the people today in the world that have denied the Lord in their lives. The Lord will forgive people that deny him a hundred times, a thousand times, but the Bible does tell us there is a line that you can get close to: the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Once you pass that line, not even God himself can help you. You're a done deal. I don't think that anyone here today is in that situation, or you wouldn't be here.

The Holy Spirit is able to minister and convict people of sin. When these guys were delivered from demonology, they were set free. Now Jesus is going over from Gadara and he’s going back to Capernaum. In the Gospel of Mark, Peter gives the story to Mark that when he left there, he came back home to his house.

When Jesus came back to his headquarters, Capernaum, after delivering these demons, he went to the house of Peter. When they got to the house of Peter, all these people heard that Jesus was in town, so they came from everywhere, including the scribes, who were the liberals of that time. They did not believe in the word of God. They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in the actual word of God. They did not believe in life after death. They were very radical.

They came to the house of Peter because they heard that Jesus was there. Many other people came, so when they came, they filled up the house of Peter. Whenever we’ve gone to Israel, we always like to go over to the Sea of Galilee and we go to Capernaum. There's a synagogue in Capernaum where we do our services that has been dug out to the time of Christ.

The Catholic Church has built this church next to the water. It looks like a black flying saucer. We know that Peter lived there in Capernaum, but we really don't know where. Nobody really knows. It’s amazing when you go there because as you're sitting there in the synagogue, you get the picture of the stories.

When Jesus came to the house of Peter and the people heard, they came from everywhere. They came inside of the house and outside of the house; it was jammed packed. The Bible tells us that there were four men that came from a long distance that had a friend that was very ill and he was paralyzed. Let's read the story that Matthew gives us, and then we'll develop it.

Beginning with chapter nine, verse one, we only see Christ Jesus as the only mediator and sin-bearer for our sins. He got into a boat and crossed over, leaving Gadara and coming to Capernaum, to his own city. Then behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

At once, some of the scribes said within themselves, "This man blasphemes." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven, or to say: get up and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," then he said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed and go to your house." And he got up and he departed for his house. When the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Here we see the Lord showing himself powerfully over sicknesses and storms, but now he’s going to be dealing with sin. Palsy was a gradual paralysis, medically speaking, that would actually make you crippled. Isn't that true of sin? What does sin do? Sin cripples you. It stops you right where you are. You can't do anything, just like palsy.

This man had four good friends that really loved him and really cared for him. They had love, they had faith, and they had hope. They brought their friend that was very sick to Jesus. They permitted nothing to stand in their way because of their belief and the faith that they had in their lives concerning their friend and how they wanted to see him be healed.

We do not know, but we do know that Jesus dealt with the sin problem first, and then he dealt with the great issue of healing. Once he took care of the problem with sin, that's the way God works. Look at observation number one in verse one, where Jesus is returning back to his own headquarters. He got into a boat and crossed over and he came to his own city. He left Gadara and entered Capernaum. The Gadarenes had asked him to leave at once and they didn't really want anything to do with him. Here he comes to Capernaum and there’s a lot of issues and a lot of needs. People are waiting for him in Peter’s house.

Look at observation number two in verse two: the paralytic and his friends and their faith. They brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. The story in Mark is that they came there, the house was full, so they went on top of the roof and they began to dig and they lowered their friend down to Jesus. Now the friend is right by Jesus in the house. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

The guy probably thought, "Wait a minute, I didn't come for my sins. I came to walk." And here are all the leaders there that are atheistic. They don't even believe. Can you imagine the love of these four men, the friends of this man that was crippled? To come for a long distance carrying their friend and bringing him to Jesus, and now Jesus is taking care of their problem. The persistence of the coming of these men to Jesus. What about you? How persistent are you for your friends and family?

Do you really love your family? Do you really care for your friends? It’s real important that we must each one of us answer that question individually and recognize who Christ is and what Christ has done and what Christ intends to do in the life of every one of us as we get that burden in our hearts for people that are weak and sick and dying in sin, to be able to help them and to rescue them before it’s too late for them to be saved.

Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. To access our full range of faith-building resources, visit us anytime at SomebodyLovesYou.com. You can also join Raul for Straight Talk on the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel, Tuesdays at 10 a.m. West Coast time. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: There has to be three qualities as friends that we have to have if we're going to help anybody else. Number one, we must be obsessed with the mission of getting people to Jesus Christ. If you don't have the desire and the obsession, you'll never do it. You'll be a person that would always be with excuses why you haven't done it. Too busy, too many problems, too many things, and yet we're called by the Lord to be a person to be caring for other people, to be caring for their souls.

Secondly, we must acknowledge Christ’s power to help beyond any question any person that comes to Jesus Christ. If you come with the right attitude and you come to Jesus Christ, he will never neglect you. He will never send you away. He will touch your lives, but he has to see your heart and the desires of your heart.

Thirdly, we must persist and persevere until we get disabled people to Jesus Christ. Until we get that person there, we must never be discouraged. We cannot save our friends, but we can bring them to Jesus. We can introduce them to Jesus. He’ll take care of the saving by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the only one that can convict a person of their sins. Remember John the Baptist, what he did in John chapter one, verse 29? The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." John the Baptist was cousin to Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth were sisters. Imagine that was his cousin, and yet he respected Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

The Gospel is very straightforward. In the third observation, here in verse three, we see the attack of the enemy again against the one that had come to be forgiven and the one that gives forgiveness. At once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This man is blaspheming." They were talking to themselves; they didn't say one word, but Jesus discerned. As Jesus discerns in every one of us, we don't have to be boisterous out loud and speak to people. God knows what’s in our hearts.

They were standing back in a corner watching and they were in their minds talking to themselves, and they were not talking good things. Jesus perceived that and he rebuked them because Jesus had the power to forgive sins. He was the Son of God, and yet silently they were the accusers on the other side of the room blaspheming against Jesus. They did not believe that he was the sin-bearer.

We need to be careful because many think this even today when you talk to people. Many who disbelieve, however, they do accept Jesus Christ to be the greatest teacher who ever lived, but not as the Son of God. There are professors in colleges that say Jesus was a great man, but not God. You can't say that because Christ was the Son of God. He is God.

In second Corinthians, Paul the Apostle said that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation, which means he wants to save. He wants to forgive. When Jesus heard the heart beating of the scribes and their thoughts, then Jesus responds.

Notice the authority of Jesus in forgiving sin. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven, or to say: get up and walk?" But then he said this, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," then he said to the man that was paralyzed, "Arise, take up your bed and go home." And he got up, he picked up his bed, and went home.

The power of forgiveness that Jesus brings to every one of us. Jesus reveals something here: he knew the rejection of the religionist. The scribes were rejecting it. They were thinking that Jesus, the Son of God, was not God and that he had no power to forgive sins. Secondly, Jesus is suggesting a test. He proved his deity by acting on his word. "I am the word of God." Jesus acknowledged the profession only was inadequate evidence to proclaim action. He needed to see action. The action came when he got up out of his bed, already forgiven for his sins, and now he’s going to walk.

Christ did something here in amazement: he healed the man. He proved his deity and Messiahship. His miracles prove exactly what he was claiming: that he was the Messiah, the anointed one of God, and yet the scribes were so blind to that. Now he calls the servant to get up. Can you imagine how his friends must have felt when they saw the healing of Jesus? What caught my eye at the end of that story where he says, "And he got up and he departed to his house," he was sent home to do what? To tell his family about Jesus. That's what we're called to do. That's why we come here. We come to learn, we come to be exhorted, we come here to grow in God’s grace, God’s love, and God’s mercy.

Observation number five in verse eight is so beautiful. When the multitude saw it, everybody inside and outside, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. They recognized Jesus, "You are God," for God can only do this thing. The power to forgive sins brought the glory to God. Psalm 22:23 says, "You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him and fear him, all you offspring of Israel."