Second Presbyterian Church

"Is Jesus an Imposter?
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
March 21, 2004

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for March 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#14 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Psalm 32: 1-7
• Luke 5: 12-26

As we continue through the Gospel of Luke we will cover, for today, two sections: First, the healing of a leper; Second, the healing of the paralytic. The two sections are similar in that they are stories about Jesus healing someone. One of the interesting similarities of the two stories is that both are described as being in typical settings. Luke was not being specific. In the first one we read, "While he was in one of the cities." In the second story we read, "On one of those days…" Both introductory settings are general. They give no specific data.

And the two stories have differences. The main difference is that we clearly begin to see questioning and opposition to Jesus in the second story. Hence the title of the sermon is, "Is Jesus An Imposter?"

Quickly, the first healing of the leper has some interesting aspects to it. First of all, Jesus was in a city somewhere in Galilee and a leper comes up to him. The first thing we note is that lepers are not allowed into cities. Either the leper broke the law, or Luke was not that savvy on Jewish law. (See Leviticus 13:46) The latter is possible, because Luke in the second healing story refers to removing tiles from the roof to let the paralytic through. And the houses in Palestine, at that time, did not have tiles; they were made differently.

A second interesting aspect to this story is that the leper does not presume that Jesus is willing to heal him. Leprosy was a terrible social disease. The victims were unclean. They had to go around in torn clothing, with their hair down. They had to cover their upper lip and call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" They had to do this wherever they went so that the population would be duly warned. It was a lonely disease. It isolated people from their families and friends. So, the leper was not going to assume that Jesus would pay much attention to him.

A third interesting aspect is that the leper had great faith. He was not sure Jesus was willing to heal him, but he was sure that Jesus was able heal him! "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

A fourth interesting aspect of this story is that Jesus was not only willing to heal this man of his leprosy, but he did it by reaching out and TOUCHING him! Sometimes it is hard for us to comprehend this, but in that day, YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH A LEPER! It was a huge no-no. Because of this and all the taboos about leprosy to be a leper was to live a horribly isolated life.

The point is this: Jesus was not deterred by cultural taboos or fears. He, as the Son of God, reached out in love and compassion to whoever came to him in humility and faith. Lepers were no exception, thank God! This is still true, regardless of your disease: AIDS/HIV, cancer, dementia, or just plain ordinary sin!

The last interesting point is that Jesus tried his best to keep the word of his miracles from spreading too fast. He told the healed leper to go through the Jewish ritual of being pronounced clean by the priests. This would then make the situation look more commonplace. Jesus also told the leper to tell no one, but the word of Jesus' healings spread and he was besieged by the crowds of hurting people.

As a transition to the next story, the healing of the paralytic, Luke noted that Jesus would regularly withdraw to isolated places to pray. Even Jesus needed to spiritually refresh and recharge. Even Jesus would need to go to His Father in prayer. Perhaps with all the signs and wonders he was performing for the people, he had to remember that his office of Messiah meant service and eventually the cross, not popularity and glory. The prayer retreats gave him perspective.

People in our culture find it very difficult to take retreats. If we are not busy doing what we are supposed to be doing, then we feel guilty and we feel like we are wasting our time. The result has been tragic. We lose touch with our God. We lose touch with our families. We lose with ourselves. We are paying the price of not allowing our live to receive spiritual refreshment! Perhaps the commandment to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20: 8-11) is more important than we think!

Now we come to the healing of the paralytic. Jesus was preaching and healing in a house. There was such a crowd closed in around him that four (According to Mark, Luke does not say how many men.) men carrying a paralytic could not get him to Jesus. Fortunately they were not deterred; they took him upon the roof, opened a place on the roof and lowered him down to Jesus.

And interesting point is that the Jewish leadership and scholars were curious and coming out to listen to him. This was only natural. They considered themselves the spiritual leaders of the region and it was only proper that they check out those who seem to claim to be something special. They needed to see if this new preacher in Galilee was some crazy guy, or someone that was compatible to what the Jewish religion held to be appropriate. One can assume that their attitude was one of suspicion, not of trying to embrace something new.

It seems to almost always be the case that established religion resists change. If something new comes upon the horizon, then it is usually critiqued and discounted. And there needs to be some of this. We would be remiss if we did not listen and discern what is going on around us and wonder whether it was genuine or deceitful. The apostle Paul warns us that we have to be clear in what we believe, so that we do not get tossed around by every wind of doctrine like a ship tossed around without a rudder! (Ephesians 4:13-14) So, we need to be able to discern the new and to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Unfortunately, we tend to become either too rigid in our beliefs, and not let that which is new refresh us, or we tend to become so "open" that anything goes. Both extremes have the tendency to confuse the good with the bad.

Jesus was not to be deterred. He looked at the man; he marveled at the faith of the men who carried the paralytic to him; and he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."

This set off a buzz, especially among the Scribes, Pharisees, and the teachers of the law. You see, because illness was often very closely tied to sin, these leaders were already suspicious that Jesus was claiming to be a god. And to claim to be a god was blasphemous; it was not good. Now, they did not have to be suspicious; they were sure that they had Jesus pegged: Jesus was an imposter!

The scribes and Pharisees were correct; no one can forgive sins, but God alone. This meant one of two things. Either Jesus was a fake, some one who was trying to be a god. Or Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.

Remember, the demons that Jesus exorcised were already acknowledging that Jesus was the Son of God. Remember, we have already heard, over the past several months that Jesus was the Son of God.

But this was too much for the religious leaders present. They could not accept that Jesus was the Messiah. They had to conclude that he was an imposter and from this time on we will witness the hostility toward Jesus grow until he was nailed to the cross.

Jesus went on to show that his healing was from God and that his divine ability to heal demonstrated that he had God's authority to forgive sins. He healed the paralytic and commanded him to go home. The paralytic went home praising God all the way.

Today there is a lot of discussion among Christians about Jesus. There are some in the Christian community who believe that Jesus is a Messiah, a son of God, but that all the other legitimate religions are just as valid as Christianity. As I have said before, our society is much more religiously pluralistic and we have to find ways to lovingly relate to our neighbors who practice other religions. But that does not mean we have to give up what we believe. We, in order to be valid Christians, need to affirm our belief that Jesus of Nazareth is THE Messiah; there is no other! And while we publicly affirm our belief, we need to relate to our non-Christian neighbors with the love that Christ had for us, even before we became Christians. How else are they going to experience the love of God that comes through Jesus Christ? Neither arrogant behavior (such as, "I know the REAL way to heaven, you don't!) nor isolating ourselves for others is going to work.

Is Jesus an Imposter? I don't believe so. Jesus is the Son of God, the Second person of the Divine, Holy, Triune God. He is to be worshiped and praised, forever and forever.

Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.