Some Things Never Change

Some Things Never Change 2020 11 08

Luke 6:6 – 11

We have just witnessed another election take place in our southern neighbour. But never in history have we seen such division and anger. It’s crazy! It makes no sense! A very large part of the population, somewhere around 50%, seems bent on tearing apart their country and giving up their freedom, and it’s far from over! It’s madness! But is this really anything new? Let’s see…

Luke 6:6 – 11

What could be a more kind and loving act than healing someone who was crippled? What a wonderful way to demonstrate the love of God than for the Son of God to heal a man with a withered hand?

But even more than that – what could be more powerful evidence of the power of God at work than the power to fully restore a withered up hand? We know there is even more powerful evidence: Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, as the prophets and as He said he would, three days later.

But at the time of this incidence, no one had ever witnessed a man whose hand was all dried up suddenly healed.

I Jesus Taught

  1. Imagine being in that synagogue on that sabbath day, being taught the word of God by the incarnate Word of God, Himself. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1 – 4

    1. Here was Jesus, the true Light (John 1:9), the One who made the world (John 1:10), the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14), teaching and expounding the truth of God in person!

    2. How amazing! What a privilege to be one of the ones sitting in that congregation!

II A Crippled Man

  1. Sitting in that synagogue was a man who was crippled. He had a hand that was withered, or dried up in appearance. It is generally believed to refer to a limb that has been paralyzed for some reason. Such a condition was generally incurable.

III Hypocrites

      1. Also in the crowd were the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees.

        1. Instead of paying attention to the message Jesus taught, they were watching to see what he would do.

        2. They knew all about the man with the withered hand. They watched Jesus, not out of any interest in His message, but to see if He would heal the man on the sabbath day.

        3. They were looking for something they could accuse Him of, something they could declare to be sin.

        4. These religious leaders made a habit of accusing Jesus’ great miracles done on the sabbath of being acts of sin.

        5. Look at John 1:19, when Jesus gave a blind man his sight on the sabbath: “Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.”

      2. These men, who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders, were more interested in keeping their own power and prestige than in the word of God!

        1. Rather than listening to His words to learn, they watched His actions to see if they could accuse Him of something.

IV He Knew their Thoughts

      1. Jesus knew the thoughts of those that hated Him. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

        1. Nothing is hidden from God

        2. Jesus IS God the Son. He is Jehovah of the Old Testament (John 8:58 and many others, for example).

V He Called the Man

  1. Jesus called the man with the withered hand to stand forth in their midst, to stand up where everyone could see him.

  2. Then Jesus asked a question of the scribes and Pharisees (identified specifically in Luke 14:3 as those He was speaking to), “Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life or to destroy it?”

    1. Mark fills us in in Mark 3:4 – they held their peace. They had no answer, because they were hypocrites! If they answered in the negative, they would show themselves to be heretics and even blasphemers. But if they answered in the positive, they would be giving their enemy license to do another miracle on the sabbath! Such is the madness of the devil, the father of lies. He simply cannot tell the truth, nor can his children.

VI He Healed the Man

  1. There is no indication in this narrative, nor in any of the other gospels, that this man even had any faith in God. Some speculate that he may even have been planted by the scribes and Pharisees.

    1. But Jesus healed the man unconditionally. Such is the love and power of God.

    2. He restored the man’s hand as “whole as the other.”

VII Madness

  1. The religious leaders were filled with madness, we are told. Rather than accept with awe the power of God on display before their very eyes, they communed, or took counsel with one another, to figure out what they could do to Jesus.

    1. Mark tells us in Mark 3:6 that they “took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”

    2. This was in spite of the fact that their own scriptures said Messiah would do this.

    3. These men, who were supposed to be teaching and expounding the truth of God themselves, whose own scriptures recorded prophecy after prophecy of these very signs, didn’t even recognize it when they witnessed their fulfillment before their very eyes!

VIII Some Things Never Change

  1. This is madness! Denying the overwhelming evidence that something is true is madness. It’s crazy!

  2. But some things never change. We mentioned some of the madness we’re seeing in our world, today. It’s easy at the moment to point to our southern neighbour, but it’s all around us.

    1. People are denying reality, calling good evil and evil good, just as they did when they tried to destroy Jesus as evil, when He was only always good.

    2. We see madness going on in politics, not only at election time, but all the time. What appears obvious to us as children of God is not obvious to the rest of the world.

    3. But are we paying attention to why it’s happening, or are we guilty, ourselves, of being self-righteous and just as blind, ourselves?

  3. Jesus explained why this is going on, and what to do about it.

    1. Did He say they were all a bunch of fools and we were just so smart?

    2. No! He said that we were the same (1 Corinthians 6:11)!

    3. He said that the god of this world has blinded them (2 Corinthians 4:4).

    4. He said to preach the gospel to everyone: “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15 That is the business that all Christians, all of us, should be involved in and focused on.

Conclusion

  1. Some things never change. The world still hates Jesus Christ, the One who loves us most. The world still works together to find fault with Him. Evil is still being called good and good evil, just as it was in the first century and before. It is a great madness and blindness brought on by the god of this world, the devil.

  2. But Liberals, Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Marxists, and even Anarchists are not our enemies. All have inherited a sin nature from Adam and all have been duped by the devil. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

  3. So what are we to do about it? How do we stand against it? Should we spend all day on Facebook and Twitter arguing with those whose politics we disagree with? Should we live in constant anger against those who hate the truth? NO! “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 Believe God, trust Him, and do as He says. Some things never change, but the power of God IS able to change all who put their trust in Him. Repent, believe the gospel, and share its life-giving message with everyone!