Citizens of the Kingdom

Today's passage and scripture reading will be from Luke chapter 5, verses 17 to 39.

Luke 5:17–39

To encourage you, if you don't have one, to grab one of the blue Bibles that's on the white table in the center of the room.

The scripture reading is from page 861, so Luke 5, 17.

If I could pray for us before we start.

Dear Heavenly Father, we magnify you, Father.

We ask that you quiet our hearts to receive from you.

We praise you for the newness of your promises every morning.

In Jesus' name.

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,

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.

And when he saw their faith, he said,

Man, your sins are forgiven you.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying,

Who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them,

Why do you question in your hearts?

Which is easier to say,

Your sins are forgiven you?

Or to say, Rise and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

He said to the man who was 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 laying on and went home, glorifying God.

And amazement seized them all.

And they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying,

We have seen extraordinary things today.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth.

And he said to him, Follow me.

And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house.

And there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying,

Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

And Jesus answered them,

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

And they said to him,

The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers.

And so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.

And Jesus said to them,

Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them.

And then they will fast in those days.

He also told them a parable.

No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment.

If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.

If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

And no one after drinking old wine desires new.

For he says,

The old is good.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks.

Good morning.

It's good to have everybody back from traveling and other things.

And for those of you who don't know me, I'm Sean for those who are visiting.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

The mic is on, on my side.

Can you guys hear me?

I'll just keep going.

Yeah.

Oh, there you go.

Yeah.

And in the 1800s, there was a Scottish pastor named John Duncan.

And he formulated what is now known as the trilemma.

Instead of a dilemma, it's a trilemma.

Three things.

And he wrote this.

He says,

Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud,

or he was himself deluded and self-deceived,

or he was divine.

There's no getting out of this trilemma.

It is inexorable.

So this is later taken up by C.S.

Lewis and given them even more memorable phrasing.

But this highlights kind of the difficulty of coming to terms with who Jesus claimed to be.

But it's something that we have to do.

And Luke 5, 17 to 39 helps us to come to terms with who Jesus is by telling us how some of his contemporaries wrestled with the identity of Jesus.

And in this passage, we see kind of the beginning of the growing tension and conflict between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities.

And it teaches us this main point that Jesus brings a new age where sinners who repent can be forgiven and admitted to the wedding supper of God.

That's the main point of this passage.

And we see Jesus' true identity and mission through the accusations of the religious leaders.

They charge him with these three things.

They accuse him of doing these three things.

First is blaspheming God.

Second is befriending sinners.

And third, breaking tradition.

These are the three things that these Jewish leaders accuse Jesus of doing.

And through that, we learn Jesus' true identity.

As Jesus' popularity increases, his audience grows.

So if you look at verse 17, the beginning of our passage, it tells us that on one of those days when Jesus was teaching,

even the Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.

So the Pharisees were one of the four major Jewish religious groups in the first century.

They were Jews who sought to reform and purify Jewish society.

And the teachers of the law, later called the scribes in verse 21,

they were the religious academics who kind of lended academic legal credibility, scholarly support for the teachings of the Pharisees.

So if you want to think of modern day equivalents, you can think of the Pharisees as the pastors

and the scribes and the teachers of the law as the seminary professors.

And so Jesus has become so popular that he's no longer merely attracting the attention of the masses.

He's also attracting the notice of the religious authorities.

And they're coming from the country and from the city.

So they've all gathered here to hear and to see what Jesus is all about.

And it says at the end of verse 17 that the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

So all of this at the gathering of the Pharisees and the scribes and also the fact that the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal

is kind of raising our expectations for what's about to happen.

Something strange and spectacular actually happens.

Read verses 18 to 19 with me.

It says,

There's so many people hearing,

You're looking to hear,

You listen to Jesus talk,

That it's the standing room only and people can't get in.

And so they tear open the roof and lower the paralytic through it.

So the roofs in these days were flat

and they had stairs going up to a stage.

It was kind of like roof decks of our day.

And they were made typically of a layer of straw,

reeds,

palm leaves,

and then a layer of clay tiles.

And then on top of that,

they would put a layer of thick mud to make it rainproof.

So this is quite,

if you imagine this scenario,

it's quite a dramatic interruption.

So here's Jesus teaching,

preaching the good news of his arrival of the king.

And then you start to notice these drops of clay tiles,

mud start to drop,

and people are starting to duck for cover

and making way for this

and pushing each other off.

And then,

and lo and behold,

a mat comes down through it,

through the giant hole that's been just poured through the roof.

And a man is lying there.

And it's obvious to onlookers that he's a paralytic.

So it's a very dramatic scene.

It's set for Jesus to do some wonder working.

Here's Jesus the healer,

Jesus the wonder worker.

Let's see what he does.

And in verse 20,

it says,

And when he saw their faith,

he said,

Man,

your sins are forgiven.

A little bit anticlimactic, right?

What are you talking about?

Do you see what this man is here for?

He's not here for forgiveness of sins.

You need to heal his body.

What are you talking about, Jesus?

It's amazing.

Jesus doesn't build any hype

like some

so-called healers of our day.

Ladies and gentlemen,

do you see this man lying here?

He has been a paralytic all his life.

There is no cure for his ailment.

How many of you think,

I can make him walk again?

Shall I do it?

No, none of that.

No showmanship.

No fanfare.

Instead,

Jesus,

the great physician,

looks straight through the heart of this man

and recognizes what his greatest disease,

his greatest need is,

and it's the disease of sin.

It's not unlike a woman

who visits a doctor

because of her hoarse throat

discovering that she actually has thyroid cancer.

The doctor diagnoses

a much more serious condition,

and even though this man's paralysis

is greatly debilitating,

even though he's in desperate need

for physical healing,

Jesus nonetheless determines

that the forgiveness of sins

is still this man's greater need.

Because even more than health,

we need God.

So Jesus says,

man,

your sins are forgiven you.

And that's the greatest need

of all of our unbelieving neighbors

and friends also.

When our neighbors give birth,

we should cook meals for them.

When our neighbors are elderly,

we should shovel snow for them

off their streets.

When our neighbor is getting attacked,

we should call for help

and intervene.

That's what it means

to love our neighbor as ourselves,

and we should do them.

But we have to do more than that

because their greatest problem

is sin.

And their greatest need

is for the forgiveness of sins

offered by Jesus Christ.

So if your neighbor had cancer

and you had the cure for it,

would you not offer it?

Why not then?

Would we not offer

the goodness of Jesus

for the forgiveness of sins

to people who are in desperate need

of cure of their souls?

So the priority of our spiritual need

needs to be recognized.

And this needs to be applied

to Christians as well

as we relate to one another

as believers.

Because we, as the family of God,

of course, have material needs.

We have physical needs.

And we should strive to meet

each other's needs.

And we should ask for prayer

for illnesses and jobs

and finances and more.

That's part of being

in the body of Christ.

But our sharing of our lives together

also must not stop there.

We have to go beyond that

because do we also share

our spiritual need?

Do we confess our sins

to one another?

Every Christian is a sinner

saved by God.

We have no pretensions

of self-righteousness.

So within the family of God,

we shouldn't fear

each other's judgments.

To be a Christian

is to acknowledge

our sinfulness

and the need

for Christ's righteousness.

So we should freely confess

our sins to one another

and pray for one another

as James 5.16 tells us

so that we may be healed.

I'm so grateful to God

that many people,

many members in our church

are very quick

to confess sins

to one another.

And if you come to

one of the Wednesday

prayer services,

it's very apparent.

We confess our sins.

We pray for one another.

We're concerned

for our eternal well-being

and for our souls.

I'm encouraged by this.

But if there's any of you

who are hesitant

to confess your sins,

I want to exhort you

to do so more and more

so that you might find

healing with each other.

If you're not,

it says sometimes,

you know,

we talk to people

and it doesn't seem

like they have any sin

to confess in their lives.

And if you're not sweating

when you're exercising,

it doesn't mean

that you're in amazing shape.

You guys know that, right?

Yeah.

It means that you're not

exercising hard enough.

It's everybody sweats,

even the Olympic athletes, right?

If you're,

if every Christian

that is seeking

to obey the Father

and their training

in righteousness,

they're trying to become

more like Christ

and they're trying

to keep in step

with the Spirit,

they will face resistance

and they will face temptations

and there will be consequences.

There will be sweat and blood.

That's the nature

of the perseverance

of the Christian life.

There will be battle scars.

So church is not

for putting on

our best clothes

and smiles

and pretending

like we're perfect.

Church is made up

of people

who humble themselves,

confess their sins

and find that God's grace

toward them in Christ

is sufficient.

That's who we are.

Some of you

are not yet followers

of Christ

and I want to ask you,

do you recognize

right now

that your greatest need

is for the forgiveness

of sins?

Your greatest need

is not for physical healing

from your illness.

It's not your career advancement.

It's not your next vacation

or what you're going to do

next year

or over the next 10 years.

Your greatest need

right now

for eternity

is your forgiveness

of sins.

And only Jesus

can offer you

that forgiveness

of sins.

But to receive

his healing

you need faith.

Look at verse 20 again.

It says,

Jesus saw their faith.

Faith always precedes

the healing.

When a sick person

refuses to go to

the doctor

there's usually

one of two reasons,

right?

One,

first reason

he does not feel

that he is sick.

Either he doesn't think

that it's severe enough

to warrant attention

or he doesn't believe

that he's sick at all.

That's the first

usual reason.

The second usual reason

is that he knows

that he is sick

but he does not believe

that his doctor

can heal him.

If you're not yet

a follower of Christ

you need healing

from the disease

of sin

but in order

to receive healing

you must have faith.

That's what faith is.

First,

you step out

into repentance

recognizing,

acknowledging

that you are

indeed sick

and then second

you believe

that Jesus

has what it takes

to heal you

and forgive you

of your sins.

That's repentance

and faith.

That's conversion.

That's how you become

part of the family

of God.

You need faith.

So Jesus saw

their faith

and he said,

man,

your sins are forgiven.

Jesus' remarkable answer

stirs up the crowd

and the professional

theologians

understand right away

the implications

of Jesus' statement.

So they start murmuring

among themselves

in verse 21

saying,

who is this

who speaks

blasphemy?

Who can forgive

sins

but God alone?

to blaspheme

is to defile

or abuse

God's name

and the punishment

in the Old Testament

for blasphemy

was the death penalty

by stoning

and the Pharisees

and scribes

are essentially

correct in their assessment

because according

to scripture

no one but God

can forgive sins

and therefore

to claim

to forgive sins

was equivalent

of claiming

to be God.

So for them

it was considered

blasphemy.

what they're missing

of course

is that Jesus

is as we have seen

over the previous chapters

he is in fact

the son of God

and therefore

it's not blasphemous

for him

to claim

to offer forgiveness

of sins.

And just as Jesus

saw through the paralytic

and diagnosed

his greatest need

he sees right

through the Pharisees

and perceives

their lack of faith.

It says in verse 22

that Jesus

perceived their thoughts

and Jesus said

to them

in verses 23

to 25

which is easier

to say

your sins

are forgiven you

or to say

rise and walk

but that you may know

that the son of man

has authority

on earth

to forgive sins.

He said to the man

who was 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.

Jesus' logic

is pretty straightforward

easy to follow

it's easy

to be able

to tell somebody

hey your sins

are forgiven

because that's

an unverifiable

and therefore

unfalsifiable claim.

No one can

dispute that

you can't see it

you can't observe it

it's easy to tell

someone your sins

are forgiven

but it's hard

to tell someone

a paralytic

rise and walk

because anyone

around you

who's watching

can verify that

they can observe that

and see

whether or not

you're actually

doing it

whether or not

they're actually

being healed

and so Jesus

is by doing

saying this

he's saying that

by doing something

that is more difficult

to prove

more difficult

to demonstrate

he wants to prove

that he actually

has the authority

to forgive sins

on earth

and Jesus

here addresses

himself as

the son of man

in Aramaic

which is the language

that Jesus spoke

the phrase

son of man

can simply refer

to some human being

but later

in Luke 21

27

Jesus says

that in the end times

we will see

the son of man

coming

in a cloud

with power

and great

glory

so he mentions

the son of man

and so there

he's alluding

to actually

Daniel 7

13 to 14

where prophet

Daniel sees

the vision

of one

like a son

of man

and he

came with the

clouds of heaven

to the ancient

of days

which is God

and to him

to this son

of man

was given

dominion

and glory

and a kingdom

that all people's

nations and languages

should serve him

his dominion

is an everlasting

dominion

which shall not

pass away

and his kingdom

one that shall

not be destroyed

so this is what

Jesus is alluding to

as we find out later

when he says

he's the son of man

when he says

I am the son of man

he's not being

you know

meek or demure here

he's saying

I am the son of man

the divine representative

with the authority

of God

and the power of God

to come

to come to his people

and so that's what

Jesus is claiming to be

and so they don't

really quite grasp

what Jesus is claiming

here as the son of man

but they do appreciate

what happens next

because Jesus gave

the paralytic

three commands

in verse 24

look at the three commands

he says

rise

pick up your bed

and go home

and then look at

verse 25

it tells us that

each of these three commands

was fulfilled exactly

and immediately

he rose up

before them

and picked up

what he had been lying on

and went home

glorifying God

so this is

what you call

a command fulfillment

formula

and it's

there in scripture

to show

reveal the authority

of the person

who gives the command

when Jesus speaks

it happens

when he commands

something

it's obeyed

and that's what

has happened here

so the paralytic

goes home

glorifying God

and it says

amazement sees them all

and they glorify God

and were filled with awe

saying we have seen

extraordinary things

today

so quite far from

blaspheming God

Jesus brings glory

to God

he has the power

to forgive sins

because he has the power

to make a paralytic

rise and walk

he is the son of man

who represents God

so that's the first charge

blaspheming God

we see his true identity

through that charge

the second charge

is that he befriends

sinners

and look at verse 27

it tells us that

after this

Jesus went out

and saw a tax collector

named Levi

sitting at the tax booth

and he said to him

follow me

people in this culture

usually had multiple names

like most people

in the US as well

they have first name

and middle name

and last name

and so Levi

is the same disciple

of Jesus

who is called

Matthew

in Matthew chapter 9

Matthew 9:9

verse 9

he was a tax collector

which was one of the most

despised professions

among the Jews

I mean

I guess it's kind of

people don't like

the profession nowadays either

because it seems like

they're taking your money

but the people

who work for the IRS

are actually

very responsible people

and it's a reputable profession

it was not the case

with tax collectors

in Jesus' day

the tax collectors

in Jesus' day

were people

who had paid

the Roman Empire

to lease the right

to collect taxes

from the people

from the citizens

and they

had total control

over how much

they could charge

so usually

what happened

was they would

charge enough

to make up

for the money

that they pay

the Roman Empire

and to make

a handsome fee

on top of that

so they were

kind of extortionists

they were not

morally upright people

and on top of this

so because of this

Jews actually

excommunicated

all tax collectors

from the synagogues

because they considered

them to be thieves

and in this case

for Levi

it's actually

even worse than that

because Levi

is not a Roman

he's not a Greek

he is a Jew

so for a Jew

to sell out

to the Roman government

and to collect taxes

and be an extortionist

among their own people

is to show

that he's to be a traitor

so Levi

is not only

a thief

he's a traitor

to his own people

and so he's

the kind of person

that Jesus

he says went out

he saw a tax collector

sitting in the tax booth

he said to him

follow me

the same way

he called Peter

earlier in chapter 5

and in the same way

Peter responded

by leaving everything

behind

to follow Jesus

here

once again Levi

says he left

everything

to follow him

leaving everything

he rose

and followed him

as I mentioned

last week

that is the pattern

of Christian discipleship

there is no such thing

as a halfway disciple

you're either

with Jesus

all the way

or you're against him

all the way

to be an agnostic

about Jesus

is to not believe in him

you're either all in

or all out

and is there anything

that's holding you back

then today

from pursuing Christ

wholeheartedly

is there anything

should God demand it

from your life

you would be hesitant

to give it up

for the sake

of following Christ

if so

then you have not

become a disciple

of Jesus Christ

leaving everything

behind

to follow him

Levi

chooses to go

all in on Jesus

and verse 29

tells us that

he made Jesus

a great feast

in his house

so this was a party

in Jesus' honor

Levi's not throwing

a going away party

for himself

and then since

Levi was a tax collector

his friends

not surprisingly

are tax collectors

they're not from

the morally respectable

segment of society

it says that

there was a large

company of tax collectors

and others

reclining at table

with them

Levi has met Jesus

and his life

has been changed

as a result

and he wants

as many of his friends

tax collectors

or not

to have

an opportunity

to meet Jesus

Luke

frequently

mentions

events

and conversations

that take place

over meals

he has

emphasized this

more than any

of the other

gospel writers

so dinner table

is a good context

for spiritual fellowship

and conversation

and it's a good reason

why we as Christians

should share meals

with one another

but also

hold other unbelievers

into those contexts

and we should be

thinking about

contexts

where we can

invite family

and friends

and neighbors

so that we can

have spiritual

conversations

with them

and so that

because disciple

of Jesus Christ

by very

its very vocation

is to become

a fisher of men

to share the gospel

to catch alive

people who need

to be saved

by God

and so sometimes

Christians

can fall into

the mindset

that

you know

evangelism

is only for people

who are gifted

in evangelism

how many times

have you guys

heard that

oh no

I'm not gifted

in evangelism

I can't do that

but that's just

not true

not all of us

have a great sense

of rhythm

or pitch either

right

but does that mean

only the musically

gifted members

sing

not at all

because Ephesians

5.19

commends all believers

to sing

in worship

to God

the musically

gifted members

lead

and help

other members

to sing

similarly

the gifted

evangelists

help

and lead

the other

church members

to evangelize

doesn't mean

that they're

the only ones

that are doing

evangelism

because all believers

are commanded

to share the gospel

with people

that's what it means

to be a disciple

of Christ

because it was

Christ's mission

to proclaim

the gospel

as we grow

in maturity

as believers

and as we become

more like Christ

we will also

grow naturally

in our sharing

of the gospel

with others

that's an essential

part of Christian

discipleship

and maturity

but verse 30

tells us that

there were some

unhappy bystanders

look at verse 30

with me

it says

and the Pharisees

and their scribes

grumbled at his

disciples

saying

why do you

eat and drink

with tax collectors

and sinners

these Pharisees

and scribes

obviously refused

to eat and drink

with tax collectors

and sinners

so they were

presumably

not at Levi's

party

but rather

they're kind of

spying them out

and watching

who's going

in the night

at the party

and they see

oh wait

this is just

the rabble

whole bunch

of tax collectors

and sinners

going in and out

and they grumble

at this fact

and they indirectly

express disapproval

of Jesus

by criticizing

his disciples

and so Jesus

answers them

in verses 31

to 32

those who are

those who are

well

have no need

of a physician

but those

who are sick

I have not

come to call

the righteous

but sinners

to repentance

the doctor

cannot heal

the sick

without first

getting in

contact

with the sick

as we talked

about last week

for this reason

Jesus risks

his reputation

to go minister

among sinners

Jesus hung

out with

religiously

and ethically

disreputable

people

do we do

that

do you have

non-Christian

friends

that you

regularly

spend time

with

even the ones

that get drunk

all the time

and swear

like a sailor

or sleep around

you do have

people

even the ones

that are morally

disreputable

do you have

people

that you

are spending

time

with

or have

we

retreated

to our

holy

huddles

forsaking

our mission

to seek

and save

the lost

have you

invited

unbelieving

neighbors

to your

house

have you

been

invited

to their

house

Christian

author

Rosaria

Butterfield

puts it

this way

in her

book

the gospel

comes

with the

house

key

Christians

are called

to live

in the

world

but not

live

like the

world

Christians

are called

to dine

with sinners

but not

sin

with

sinners

but either

way

when Christians

throw their

lot in

with Jesus

we lose

the right

to protect

our own

reputation

of course

when Jesus

says that

he has not

come to

call the

righteous

he's not

saying that

the Pharisees

are actually

righteous

they too

are sick

but the

difference

is that

they don't

recognize

their

sickness

and therefore

cut themselves

off from

Jesus'

healing

power

only those

who acknowledge

their sinfulness

can repent

of their

sins

and Jesus

has come

as a

physician

to heal

them

and this

is bad

news

for the

self-righteous

but this

is good

news

for those

who acknowledge

their

sinfulness

you can

be a

murderer

a rapist

a thief

you can

be a

domestic

abuser

an adulterer

a liar

and be

safe

you can

be a

slave

trafficker

a fornicator

or a

gossip

and be

safe

if only

you would

acknowledge

your sins

and repent

of them

and come

to Jesus

but

the

self-righteous

cannot

be saved

because

if you're

self-righteous

by definition

you see

no need

for the

forgiveness

of sin

you do

not come

to Jesus

for forgiveness

do you

find it

offensive

that

sinners

all those

kinds of

people

that I

mentioned

can be

saved

because

that

should

be

offensive

how

can

such

people

be

forgiven

what

they

deserve

is

punishment

not

pardon

that's

the cry

of justice

they

deserve

punishment

not

forgiveness

and you're

right about

that

God's

perfect

holiness

demands

that they

be

punished

but

let's

not

think

that

they're

any

better

than

they

are

and

I'll

tell you

why

Jesus

is still

able to

save

these

people

in a

moment

one of

my

best

friends

from

college

is

a

chemist

we got

some

chemists

in the

room

as well

and

his

post

on

his

Facebook

from

a couple

weeks

ago

was

this

he's

got

quite

the

humor

he

says

you

have

not

lived

until

you

have

spent

a

week

getting

a

compound

from

99.84%

to

99.9%

purity

he's

joking

right

he's

humorously

commenting

commenting on

the fact

that

of the

tediousness

of the

work

right

that

this

and this

highlights

an important

insight

about

the level

of purity

perfection

and holiness

required

by God

because

for certain

chemical

reactions to

take place

a

hundredth

decimal

place

of

purity

matters

doesn't

matter

whether

you're

1%

pure

and

99%

defiled

or

you're

99.84%

pure

it's

still

not

pure

enough

just

a

little

bit

doesn't

matter

how big

your sins

are

small

your sins

are

it

doesn't

matter

you

have

you've

just

been

angry

once

in a

while

and

it's

in

an

excessive

way

and

you

have

a

murderer

sitting

next

to

you

before

God

it

doesn't

matter

it's

equally

disqualifying

you

cannot

make it

into

the

kingdom

of

God

that's

why

we need

Jesus

to make

God's

perfect

righteousness

available

to us

and that's

what he

does

in 2nd

Corinthians

5

21

it says

for our

sake

he made

him to

be

sin

who knew

no

sin

so that

in him

we might

become

the

righteousness

of God

Jesus

was

sinless

he

was

righteous

yet

he

died

on

the

cross

to

pay

for

our

sins

so that

we can

be

counted

as

righteous

pure

the

holy

God

takes

our

sins

upon

himself

so that

his

holiness

can rest

on

us

it's

not

fair

that's

why

it's

grace

Jesus

dies

with

the

name

of

murderers

rapists

thieves

adulterers

abusers

fornicators

on him

so they

can be

free

now this

does not

mean that

you can

keep

sinning

you can

come as

you are

to Jesus

but you

cannot

stay

where you

are

you

come to

the

physician

to find

healing

not to

stay

sick

to

repent

means to

turn from

your sins

and to

turn toward

Jesus

you have

to leave

your sins

behind

to follow

Jesus

that's what

it means

to be a

Christian

now

I don't

mean that

you become

perfect

overnight

when you

become a

Christian

but as

forgiven

people

the spirit

of God

empowers

us more

and more

to become

more and

more like

Jesus

so that

it's a

helpful

illustration

might be

helpful for

this

you guys

know I

have two

daughters

and my

younger

daughter

named

Inji

is often

seen

sporting

clothes

that are

too

large

for her

and why

is that

it's because

she's very

blessed to

have an

older sister

and she

has lots

of hand

me downs

right

and it's

her

clothes

it's too

small for

her older

sister

but it's

too big

for her

but every

day she

grows and

eventually she

will fit

snugly and

perfectly into

that hand

me down

clothes

the Bible

often uses the

metaphor of

clothing to

say that the

righteousness of

Christ that

Christians have

been clothed with

the righteousness

of Christ

you can think of

that like those

hand me down

clothes

it's ours

it's fully

ours that

righteousness is

ours but

every day

we're growing

into that

and one day

we will fit

snugly into

those clothes

the righteousness

of Christ

but we have to

work on that

progress in it

every day

toward Christ

the Pharisees

and the scribes

thought that

they were claiming

the moral

high ground

by accusing

Jesus of

befriending

sinners

but in

reality they

were alienating

God by

failing to

acknowledge

their own

sinfulness

so our

God is

one who

befriends

sinners

it's the only

reason why he

calls us his

friends

the final

charge that

the people

level against

Jesus is that

of breaking

tradition

it says in

verse 33

and they said

to him

the disciples

of John

fast often

and offer

prayers

and so do

the disciples

of the Pharisees

but yours

eat and drink

so early in

verse 30

the Pharisees

criticized Jesus

for drinking

with tax collectors

and sinners

so now

some people

are criticizing

the fact

that Jesus

and his

disciples

spent too

much time

eating and

drinking

so this

time

the criticism

is not about

the company

that they keep

but it's about

their religious

devotion

is he really

pious

holy

wise

then why

doesn't he

fast like

these religious

teachers

Pharisees

during this

time

developed

fasting

into regular

discipline

so they

fasted twice

a week

and as

Luke 18

12 tells

us

and John

the Baptist

and his

disciples

were also

known for

fasting

it says

Jesus says

in Luke

7

33

to 34

John

the Baptist

has come

eating

no bread

and drinking

no wine

and you say

he has a

demon

the son

of man

has come

eating

and drinking

and you say

look at him

a glutton

and a drunker

a friend

of tax

collectors

and sinners

so obviously

the fasting

itself

wasn't the

main issue

they just

were not

ready to

receive

God's

prophet

and his

son

and even

though the

criticism

is directed

at Jesus

disciples

it's addressed

to Jesus

because they

believe

Jesus

is responsible

for the

behavior

of his

disciples

so this

is an

attempt

again

to discredit

Jesus

and knowing

that Jesus

teaches them

an important

lesson about

his identity

in verses 34

to 35

look at it

and Jesus

said to them

can you make

wedding guests

fast while the

bridegroom is