The Injured Party

But I've got a story to share with you today. Hope you're ready for a story. Everybody always loves to hear a story. And this is the story of one man who had a great quest. He'd been on the road for a long time, he and his buddies. They'd put a lot of mileage behind them because they had a goal and they had a quest. They had to be there because they had heard of this man, this rabbi, who did wonderful and great things and even healed people.

They, as all trips are, seemingly took longer than they had expected and they would hope that he would still be there when they got there. Because all along the way, this one man and his companions had wanted to be there for this one gentleman that I'd like to talk to you a little bit about. This little, this, not this little, but this gentleman was lame.

He was not able to walk. And then to hear that there was a rabbi, a good man, someone that could offer him legs again, offer him healing, was just dominating his thinking. He heard that others had been healed and so then he began to think about it himself. To hear those incredible words, Rise up and walk. Rise up and walk.

Now, most of us are able to do that in this church setting. But imagine an individual that was not able to rise, much less walk. Well, finally they got there. You know what? They weren't late. In fact, as they came up to the house where the rabbi was, it was just jam-packed. There was a really big crowd there. They'd heard that before, oftentimes he would speak on top of a mount or he'd be out in the field or down by his stream. But now he's in a house and as his companions brought him up on his litter, they came to the door and they looked on in and guess what?

There was no room. Seems like everybody that was anybody was there. They'd come from Judea, they'd come from Galilee, they'd even come up from Jerusalem. And this was kind of a hottie-pottie crowd. These were Pharisees and these were teachers and these were men of religious degrees. And they were all in that room and it was like standing room only and those that were sitting weren't going to budge, especially for this gentleman. Because this gentleman was lame. This gentleman had legs that seemingly were broken. And in that day and in that age, people that had physical maladies were considered to be wearing and bearing a curse that had come from God.

There was a reason why they were lame. There was a reason why they were blind. There was a reason why they had their particular malady. If it was not for themselves, then it must have been from their parents and or from their grandparents. So even as they tried to budge into that room, the religious folk that looked behind said, What's he doing here?

What's he about? He doesn't belong here. And some of his companions looked over everybody and they couldn't believe it. The rabbi was in the middle of the room. There was no way of getting to them. But I've got some good news for you. That's not the end of the story, because this man and his companions were not going to be stopped. You know what this demanded? Some creative thinking. Some creative thinking. In other words, thinking outside of the box.

So they thought outside of the house, outside of the home. And in that day and age, in the area of Jerusalem and those environs, the houses would always have outside steps that would go up to the roof. And so they did that. They began. They took the man by his litter and they carried him up the steps. And then they were on that flat portion of the roof. It was a flat roof with very narrow wooden beams. And then normally the culture there, they'd kind of mix straw and thatch and twigs and kind of put it with a mortar.

And it'd be kind of flat. Kind of be a little tilted, just so you know you'd have some rain run off.

You know, so did. And what did they do? These gentlemen would not be denied, because their friend had a great hope.

He could not rise. He could not walk. And his hope was in this rabbi. Well, the rabbi is in the middle of the room.

And he's surrounded by all of these church folk that know the law and know the prophets and know the writings. And he's going on just like I am. And all of a sudden there's a flick of dust. And all of a sudden a little straw comes down. And then all of a sudden little pieces of tile start coming down. And pretty soon it becomes so pervasive that he's looking up and he's beginning to see that there's a hole emerging in the roof above him.

And then, let's all look up for a second. And let's look up. Could you imagine the ceiling slowly being disintegrated? And all of a sudden there's eight or ten pairs of eyes looking down on you. And all of a sudden a litter with a man in it begins to come down. Now, if I can make a comment, the rabbi knew all of this was going on because God never wastes a miracle.

The Father and Jesus Christ never just simply operate in the moment of now. They know what's going on.

But Jesus had to have the biggest smile in his mind and in his heart. And it began to emerge on his face to see the eagerness, to see the desire of this man to connect. And this man was probably in his mind, even as he was coming down, was rehearsing those words just like you and I. We heard sheep going over a fence at night when we can't sleep.

He's going to tell me, rise up and walk. I can't wait. He's going to tell me to rise up and walk.

Join me, if you would, in Luke 5. And let's come to verse 17 and really see that the story does have biblical legs. It truly is a very real story. And it did occur with somebody that you and I are going to meet one day, that we can learn to emulate now his eagerness and his desire to be at the spot and to hear from the great rabbi. Now it happened on a certain day. And Luke often uses that term in a G, now, because it's as if God is bringing on the next wave of his revelation.

And God always operates with his people in the moment of now, this manifestation of what he wanted to do.

And it happened on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. This is Luke's comment. Then, behold, men brought on a bed, a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd.

And that could either be the mass of persons that were inside, or their attitude, friends, their attitude of looking over their shoulder and seeing somebody paralyzed, singing somebody lame, and thinking in their culture and in their time, what's he doing here?

Doesn't he know his place? So they weren't about to budge. And then they went up to the house top.

They were not going to be denied. And let him down with his bed, through the tiling, into the midst before Jesus. Notice verse 20 then. And when he saw their faith, he said to him, man, other translations say, friend, your sins are forgiven you.

You know, when I was reading this this morning, let's look at verse 20 for a moment.

I'd like to make a comment. It says when he saw their faith.

In any study of the Bible, it's always very important to look at the pronouns and allow the power of the pronoun to come to you. It was not simply simply the singular man's faith alone. But he validated that there was a collective faith that was happening and going on there. He said, here is a family of friends that have faith. It was not just a paralyzed man. You know, recently I wrote an article entitled, How Long, O Lord? Maybe you've read it by now. Maybe you haven't. And one thing I mentioned in that article is simply this. As Christians, it's not enough to choose the right mountain to climb.

A lot of people in their lifetime, whether actually or figuratively, have chosen the right mountain to center their life's devotions on. But what's next in importance after choosing the right mountain is choosing the right companions to hike with, to back you up, to have people that are spiritual in nature, that have faith, that know where they're going, that recognize that the kingdom of God is not just simply a destination, but it's a way of traveling. And so he validates their faith. Remember the story, and you might just want to jot this down in passing Matthew 13, verse 54 through 58, where he was in the seaside town of Capernaum on the Galilee.

And it says that when he was in Capernaum, he couldn't do many miracles there. He couldn't, he was stymied, which is interesting as the Son of God, he was stymied because of the lack of belief, of unbelief.

But here we have a different story. And he says, man, your sins have forgiven you. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins? But God alone. This was a question as you begin to study the Gospels, and I actually entice you to do so. It's wonderful when you go through the Gospels and you see some of the themes and you see some of these thoughts that keep on coming out. And if you want to jot this down as students of the Word, here's one theme that comes again and again in the story of Christ as manifesting the Gospels. The crowd, the people, the dinner company he would keep with always came back with this question. Who is this guy? Who is this man?

What's it with this rabbi? Because here he says, your sins are forgiven you.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

In other words, who is this?

And we begin to understand something.

C.S. Lewis, the British theologian back in the 1940s and 1950s, made comments on this story and other stories regarding Jesus being the Son of God and being able to forgive sin. C.S. Lewis brought it out this way that it is an incredible thought because if somebody stubs my toe, I can say, that's all right, I forgive you. Because the injury was done to me. It's up close and personal. There's a connection. And or C.S. Lewis continued with the thought of if somebody takes your wallet and robs from you and then has a measure of thought and comes back and says, you know, I didn't really mean to do that. I don't know what got into me. And they give back your wallet. You can say, you know what? I'm not going to call the police. It's all right. You are forgiven. Why is that? As the injured party, it is yours to forgive. The connection is between you and those that trespass against you. But with all the rabbis listening to all of this, all of a sudden they say, well, but wait a minute. How is this man getting involved? And then we begin to understand that we're not only just dealing with one more good Jewish rabbi with a good story that goes to a point, but Christ is manifesting himself as that, as Christ, that he's not just Yeshua.

He's just not named after Joseph, just not named after Joshua as a savior of the people, as a physical deliverer, but that he has taken upon himself the auspice of God and that he is able to forgive sins. And thus he takes it upon himself that, as Lewis brings out, that he alone takes the trump of being the injured party. He says, well, how does that work? Join me if you would in Psalm 51 and verse 12. In Psalm 51 and verse 12, which is a oftentimes we call it David's famous Psalm of repentance, we notice that ultimately when we have done something against either ourselves, done it to others, it is not left there alone. Psalm 51 and verse 12.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit.

And then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to you. Actually, I was looking for another thought here. Let me go Psalm 51 and verse 4. Against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. David came to a great reality that his trespass was not just simply against Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba that he sent into war and in that sense murdered and or the adultery that he had committed with Bathsheba.

There was somebody else involved. Thus, the sin was not only against Uriah, it was not only his lack of responsibility towards the nation of Israel that God had anointed him over, but that it went directly to God. When we consider Psalm 51 and verse 4 in relationship to what Jesus is saying here is that Jesus as the Son of God had every privilege to forgive because he was God in the flesh. And we see him taking that prerogative. Allow me to take it a step further and thoughts that you can think about as we're moving towards Passover next week. Matthew 25 and verse 40. Matthew 25 and verse 40 again to show how this works.

And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me. This is in the story of, well, where were you when I was naked? Where were you when I was hungry? Where were you when I needed you? And there'll be people that, even good religious folk, that will miss that opportunity. Don't think it's a part of what God wants them to do. They miss it. And to recognize that when it's all said and done, that the ultimate target is not towards any individual on this earth, but what we do rises and falls before God Almighty. So we recognize then that in this story, Jesus literally moves in the middle of everybody's story now. And he takes upon himself, he as the Son of God, along with his Father in heaven, are the injured parties. And it is theirs then to forgive. Back to Luke 5.

Let's pick up the thought. But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered and said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Rise up and walk? What's easier? I can do both, but what is easier? But that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins.

He said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.

And immediately that man rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. Now this is an amazing story. May I share something with you for a moment? That's when you're supposed to nod. Okay, just make sure I can share with you.

This is a very, very personal touch. Let's appreciate that the cultural burdens that were on this paralyzed individual, he had been told all of his life that he had done something. Do you know what you did? And even if he didn't know what you did, you kept on having this burdened year in and year out. You're no good. You go over here. No, we're not able to allow you. You're not good enough. You're not good enough. You're not good enough. You must have done something. You can only imagine the burden. But that's not just simply the burden on that man. That's a burden that's on all of us at times. It has been, unfortunately, visited upon us by our conscience, by the society around us, by a father, by a mother.

Do I dare say, a mean old ant? And it begins to layer in and layer in and layer in and layer in so much so that, ultimately, you think, you know, what's the use? What's the use?

And so Jesus is that good shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. And it says how he goes ahead of the flock and he lays down sweet pasture. He knows exactly what the sheep need that are going to follow him.

And this is what the man needed. He needed to know that his sins were forgiven even before he could rise up and walk. He had to have that heavy stone lifted off of him, lifted off of him.

Because if that had not been lifted off of him before that, then he would not think that he was worthy to be healed. Do you see the spiritual genius of the divine heart set and mindset of how God operates? He knows how to put the spokes in the wheel to make it travel in our lives. And that's not only the story of this man, but for each and every one of us, that God knows where we've been. He knows the incoming fire that we've taken sometimes over this lifetime. He knows somehow, sometimes just how we've taken figuratively the pistol to ourselves and shot ourselves full of holes. And yet he wants to fill us up. Can I take this up further in this story? Consider this. The Pharisees said this man can't come in because he sinned. And because he has sinned, therefore he's paralyzed and he can't walk.

Now Christ comes on board and says, your sins are forgiven you. Thus, if the sins are then removed and there is no sin, the verification that he is God in the flesh on earth with sins removed is then that man will be able to walk and there is no reason why not to walk. And so, basically, what we have are the finest minds out of Judea and out of Samaria tongue-tied. And they simply don't know what to do with it. But let me take you to another story. Join me over in Luke 7 because there's another time and another story in which the same story comes up. It won't go away. Who is this man? And we find that mentioned over in Luke 9. In Luke 9, it is the story of Jesus at supper time. In Luke 9 and verse 18. And as it happened, I look, Luke always throws this out, and as it happened, let's understand as we come up to Passover 2008, it is a festival of faith.

And let's appreciate that nothing on God's calendar just happens. It's happening down here, but he knows exactly what he's doing. And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him and he asked them, saying, oh no, that's not what I want. Excuse me. Wrong story. Wrong story. Luke 7. We'll get to that one yet. Luke 7 verse 36. Pardon me. Then, here we go, one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner. Other translations say, an immoral woman, leading you to think that it was a prostitute. And when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet.

Now, allow me to share what's going on here. Most likely, the scenario is that Jesus has been invited into this home of this Pharisee. Most of the homes in that portion of the world had an interior courtyard, much like many Mediterranean houses do. And so, in summertime, they would actually eat out on the courtyard. But it would be like a spoke. It would be the table would be in the middle, like the hub. And then the spokes would go out and they would be eating out, reposing like, think of Romans, how they would repose at a banquet.

And they would lean on their left arm so that their right arm might be free to eat. And so, their feet would be out towards the wall. Now, Jesus was an invited guest, as were others. Others that were not invited were free to come in, be they man or woman, but they would have to be lined up against the wall.

And they could not enter the conversation. They dare not. They were not invited guests. But here now was this woman who had a reputation, and she's in the house, and figured then that she is out in the exterior of the room by the walls. She's not invited to talk, but then something overwhelms her. And she stood at his feet being out, and she began to wash his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and she kissed his feet, and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know what manner a woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. Now, a Pharisee simply means one that is set apart, the set apart ones. These were religious folk, and in their mind, they thought they were doing God a favor.

And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, now that you bring it up, can we talk? I have something to say to you. Simon was brave enough to say, say it. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? And Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And he said to them, you have judged rightly.

And then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, very interesting, very interactive. Let's all look up here a second to, I'm going to be kind of like a PowerPoint for a moment. He turned to the woman. I'm sure Jesus looked right into her eyes, knowing everything that she'd done, but not to lose the crowd, swept over to Simon.

So now we have two, three in this conversation. Jesus never missed a moment, knew exactly what he was doing. Isn't that why we worship him? Isn't that why the Father sent him? We are not a part of a hit and miss program, friends. That's what we're saying as we come to the Passover.

We are worshiping the God of all gods, God Almighty, the Heavenly Father, who sent his Son, God in the flesh, who knows exactly what we need. And he talks to Simon saying, do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the air of her head.

You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. And you did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Let's understand that when you had an invited guest, we know how those roads were in that area. Guess what? They didn't look like the one out here. There was no asphalt. They were dusty. They were crusty roads. And when people traveled afar, what you did to honor your guests is you did what? You washed their feet.

That was the first thing that you did as a sign of respect. And then what would happen is that the host, Simon, would have come over and he would have laid his hands on the shoulders of his guest and kissed him with the kiss of peace.

And then they would have brought some, especially after a sweaty journey, they would have brought out a little incense or a little rose petal juice, and they would have anointed the head as a sign of respect and to kind of get you up after a long trip. Simon did none of this.

It's hard to fully understand what Simon was doing and what his relationship was with Christ.

It wasn't that he was necessarily against him, but he certainly wasn't for him. And it might have been that just he was kind of a... Simon was kind of like a collector of celebrities, but it wasn't about truly knowing who he was. Notice then, you did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman is anointing my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

Then notice verse 48. Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven, and those at the table with him began to say to themselves, here it comes, Who is this? Who is this man? Who is this guy? Who is this who even forgives sins?

He speaks of Jesus, that is, speaking of this woman's great love. One thing that I think links this woman with the previous story that we talked about, about the man that would not be denied, that was lost in the moment that he was going to make connection with this rabbi who was a healer.

The great story of this is that when this woman went to wash the feet of our master, every Jewish woman had a little vial of incense around her neck. That was a cultural thing.

Very precious, very expensive, and she used it on him. But the power of the story is this.

It says that she wiped his feet with her hair.

She was either lost in the moment in the desire to be as close as possible to Christ as possible, or she knew every moment that she was moving towards.

In that time, in that age, when a woman was married, a woman would wear her hair long and flowing until she was married. Once she was married, her hair went up. It was bound. To have your hair down in public was a sign of immodesty, of not being culturally in. It was something that a respectable woman didn't do. The power of this story, friends, is simply this. She didn't worry about man. She didn't worry about others and even traditions.

What was important to her in this very tangible, incredible means, Luke should be a storyteller of what she is, she wanted to connect with Christ in the moment, and she forgot everything else. She knew what she was.

Yes! She knew her past. Simon didn't. With all of his religiosity, with all of his head knowledge, he didn't understand what God through Jesus Christ wanted to do with him.

He didn't understand the power of Luke's message in Luke 19 and verse 10. Join me if you would there for a moment. Luke 19.10 has often been called the specific purpose scripture of the book of Luke. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Not that which thinks it's holy, not that which thinks it's good, not that which bases its life and its hard steps based on what humanity considers IQ, intelligence quotient, but what God considers as IQ, identity quotient, that we were all lost, we were all paralyzed in our own sins. We have all at one time or another missed the mark. And to recognize that God and Jesus Christ are not the private property of any man, any organization, any earthbound institution. The Father and the Son are not any man's personal private property.

As we come up to the Passover, as Mr. Helmut mentioned in his fine message about Jesus dying for us, at the foot of that cross is no private property. It is common ground for every individual to come before and to consider where we were before God the Father began to call us by His grace and to offer us the invitation of understanding what He had done through His son and then our acceptance. Who are we then? I want you to think about this as we go through this week towards who are we then to deny anybody? Who are we to think that we are anything other than the righteousness and the worthiness that God allots to us by His grace?

No, I've often thought, you know, our own church community here, friends, I've kind of got a new theme rolling in my head. Just simply this, that we are a congregation that has open doors, has an open Bible that leads to open hearts. Is that the kind of congregation, the kind of family that you want to be a part? Or do we look over our shoulder and we're not going to budge for somebody that's been spiritually or emotionally or physically paralyzed?

Maybe sometimes not even by their own actions?

What kind of an ambassador do you want to be for God the Father and Jesus Christ?

For all of us at one time or another, you know, as we come up to the Passover this year, friends, is to recognize that as we come up, we recognize that even though we don't want to sin, we're still going to stumble and there's enough grace for that. And Christ is bigger than our biggest sin.

But it's not always what we've done, it's what we haven't done. Let's remember as we come up to the Passover that we placed before God not only our sense of commission of what we've done knowingly, but the sense of omission of what we should have done, having known better. Remember what it says in Jeremiah 48 verse 10? It says, cursed is he who draws the sword deceitfully.

And it also says, cursed is he who doesn't draw the sword at all.

There is a sin of commission and there is a sin of omission. And isn't it wonderful and isn't it great that we have the same Savior that could look up in the ceiling as he flicked off that dust off his nose and pushed off a little bit of that tile, knowing exactly that we're coming to him on Passover evening, 2008, Friday evening, and that he's ready for us. And he knows just how to handle us. And he wants to deal with us. He wants to love us. He wants to care for us.

And he knows that all he knows is that he's eager. Remember what it says in Luke 22? With much desire, I have desired to have this evening with you. And in the same way, our eagerness, our desire should be just as much as that, that man and his companions. That's going to be a great group to meet one day. You know, the guys. Just thinking of going up that you got him, we're going up here. Get him up. And they're clawing. They want to get as close to that rabbi as possible. Not even fully knowing yet that he has gotten the flesh that can forgive sins. Much like the same story. Let's go through that. This in John 9. Please read it as we come up this week about that good man, that man that had been blind, but now he could see.

Remember, he first came to Jesus just thinking that he was going to be a good man. And then, in the course of the story, he says, no, I've come to understand he's a prophet. And then later on, he comes to, you know what? You are the Son of God. That's great. And you know when he comes to understand that? It's when all the religious folk kick him out of the house of the Lord.

They deny fellowship to the man that Jesus has just healed. The power of that story is in the Lord of the house. Jesus himself, as the good shepherd, goes out and seeks after that man. There's one last thought I'd like to share with you. Come with me now to Luke. Let's go to Matthew 16. I'll take you to Matthew 16, and we'll conclude. Matthew 16. That audience around the paralyzed man, and later on, the audience around the woman. The bad lady, the woman. That's always the woman. How about the men? Huh? Gals? Hmm. Yeah, understand.

Smiling through that one. Matthew 16. 13. So, gentlemen, it's always good to have the ladies on your side because they make up about 58% of the congregation. Got those numbers?

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea, Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I am? Who do they say the Son of Man M? Because everybody was going around saying, Who is this guy? He heals the sick, he cures the lepers, he even forgives sins. What's going on here? Who do men say that I am the Son of Man M? And so they said, Well, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. That's a pretty good crowd to be in. Would everybody like to be in that audience? I would, other than you think of what happened to the prophets.

And then notice verse 15, please, in all seriousness. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? See, at the end of the day, friends, brethren, dear brethren, here in the United Church of God, it's not what is written about Jesus Christ that is important that you've studied and you may have those facts in your head.

It may not be the story that somebody else has or the thoughts that somebody else has.

This is a question that comes to each and every one of us. It is the pertinent question. It is the all-encompassing inquiry that comes from the divine. Who do you? That's what God wants to know. I don't care about anybody else, but Lance, who do you think I am? Chris, who do you think I am? Reuben, can you tell me who I am? Brenda, can you tell me who I am? That's what Christ wants to know.

This is being asked just before he is about to change gears. He's been going through the Galilean ministry and now he's about to make that progressive march towards Jerusalem. And he wants to know that his life's work has been for something. Will there not be at least one individual who understands what this has all been about, or at least begin to have the inquiry? Oh, he could go it alone and he would, but he knew what he was going to go through. He knew that the cross awaited him in Jerusalem on that mountain. And it would be nice to have somebody know. Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You're a Messiah. You're the anointed.

You're the King.

The kings of Israel oftentimes were before they went to battle or as they were coronated, they would have the oil placed on them as a sign of their sovereignty. And what Peter is saying is, you're that Messiah. You're that promised King. Now that was a starting point. It wouldn't be the ending point because the Jews at that time were looking forward to an earthly Messiah. They were looking forward to a conquering hero like David, but it would be a start. You know, sometimes we start by identifying who Jesus Christ is and God the Father works that miracle in us. And it's a start. It's not a finish. Just like the man who was repeating, rise up and walk, rise up and walk, rise up and walk. We kind of had figured out what God wants to do with us. Then our story is turned upside down. He says, your sins are forgiven. The man was going one way. He just wanted his legs.

God gave him a whole brand new existence in life.

Peter was looking forward to an earthly Messiah. He thought that he would follow that Messiah and conquer the Romans and maybe kill them. He didn't realize that that same Messiah that he had just identified would ask him first to give up his own life and by tradition, as you know and I know, upside down. Notice in what it says, Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. As we come, friends, to pass over evening, as we again bond with the terms of the new covenant of taking this bread and taking this wine, I want you to realize what you are doing.

You are joining in the line of many witnesses down through the ages that have followed Peter and said, you are the Christ. You're not just a good man. You're not just a prophet. You're not just a physical Messiah. You are none other than God in the flesh who can forgive sins, whose by stripes we are healed, and thus in his life as well as now, worthy of worship.

And he cannot only forgive sins, but it was the will of the Father and himself that he would voluntarily, by choice and by action, give himself for us to blot out our sins, to allow us to reroute away to God the Father, of whom we cut ourselves off from. How important it is for you, not only at the Passover, but for every day to say that. Join me in 2 Timothy as we conclude. 2 Timothy, and let's pick the thought up in verse 1. 2 Timothy 1.

See if I can find it here. I am in 2 Timothy, but that's not what I want.

One second, please.

Well, I can't find it right now, but let's go to Isaiah 53. I'll skip that verse. I'll go to another one. We'll make it the last verse.

Isaiah, clear back in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Remember how Jesus told Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father above. And then come down to verse 8.

He was taken from prison and from judgment.

And notice what it says. And who will declare his generation?

I'd like you to focus on Isaiah 53 this week and do some heart work there.

Look at Isaiah 53 and verse 1.

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the Lord been revealed?

When you come and partake of the bread and the wine that night, you are saying that you believe the report. That you accept the Gospel. That you believe in the words of God the Father and Jesus Christ. And that this is not out of a textbook, but has been revealed by God. And that you and I, then, by partaking of that, do declare that generation. The big question, then, is simply this.

Who is this man? Your actions next Friday evening will declare that.