This story is a classic Sunday School favourite and it’s easy to see why. You’ve got friendship, bold faith, and a powerful moment where Jesus not only says He can forgive sins, but proves it.
For anyone listening who hasn’t made the decision to follow Jesus yet, this is such a great moment to introduce them to who He really is— yes, He’s someone who sees and cares about our practical needs, but He also sees our deepest need: the need to be forgiven. Jesus doesn’t just fix what’s broken on the outside. He goes deeper. He has the authority to heal hearts and make lives whole.
And for those of us who already know what Jesus can do, this story is a challenge. It’s a reminder that we’ve got people in our lives who haven’t met Jesus yet—and we’ve got a role to play. The paralyzed man’s friends didn’t just hope for healing—they believed Jesus could do it, and they did whatever it took to get their friend in front of Him. That kind of faith and determination made all the difference. So, the question for us is: who needs us to carry them Jesus so He can heal and forgive them?
Jesus isn’t just able to heal us and make us clean—he actually wants to. That can be a tough truth to hold onto sometimes. Some of us doubt his power, others doubt his desire to step in and help—and let’s be honest, some days we struggle with both.
In the story of the leper who comes to Jesus, the man clearly believes Jesus has the power to heal. What he’s not so sure about is whether Jesus actually wants to. But Jesus doesn’t hesitate. He says, “I’m willing,” and then backs it up by healing him on the spot.
If you’re preaching today, don’t miss the chance to remind people of that. Jesus can heal, absolutely—but more than that, he wants to. He’s willing. He’s not distant or reluctant. He sees us, and he cares. And here’s the cool part: when Jesus heals someone, they become a walking advertisement to the world of who he is—proof of both his power and his heart.
As we pick back up in Luke, we’re introduced to some new characters: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John (although only Peter is mentioned by name in Luke’s account). Jesus jumps onto Peter’s boat so He can better teach the crowds, and after finishing His teaching, Peter complies even though he had just gone through a long, hard, frustrating night of work. Once Jesus is done teaching, He does something bolder: He tells a group of tired, worn-out fishermen who are ready to head home to toss the nets they’ve just finished cleaning out into the sea. What fisherman would ever take instruction from the son of a carpenter and an itinerant teacher on how to catch fish? It’s safe to say Peter wasn’t thrilled with Jesus’ request, BUT, thrilled or not, he obeyed! The decision to do what Jesus said didn’t just lead to a once-in-a-lifetime haul of fish; it led to lives and ultimately a world that would be changed because of their willingness to say yes to Jesus. At the end of the day, what changes everything isn’t whether we like what Jesus is calling us to do; it isn’t how enthusiastic about what He asks of us; it’s whether we, like Peter, will respond to His instruction with obedience “because He says so.” At the end of the day, this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to following Jesus.
If we have trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. If Jesus has paid the price for us, then Paul tells us our promise from God is as follows:
1. We can walk in newness of life (vs.4)
2. We will be resurrected. (vs.8-9)
3. We are no longer slaves to sin (6-7)
4. We are not subject to the law but recipients of grace (vs.14)
On Good Friday, Jesus paid the price to secure all these promises for anyone who believes in him. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate that through the price Jesus paid, we who believe in him, are recipients of these incredible promises.
Paul then tells us that the only reasonable response to receiving the new life Jesus gives us is to live like new people:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.”
On Easter Sunday, we celebrate all that God has promised us through Christ, and we are reminded that the resurrection life we have been given through Jesus should cause us to live our lives differently here and now.
In order for us to live, Christ had to die. On Good Friday, we reflect on the price it cost to free us from our sin. We can only live because our sin was nailed to the cross with Christ. In order for us to have the certain hope of resurrection, we first need to be certain that we have trusted in Jesus’s death for our salvation. In order for us to be freed from the bondage of sin, God had to take on flesh and be nailed to a cross. In order for us to be freed from the law, the LORD had to subject himself to the curse of death. In order for us to be freed from death, Jesus had to be buried in a tomb.
News of Jesus has gotten out. The crowds are swelling, wanting to see this man who has the power to heal and cast out demons, this Jesus who speaks with an authority none of them had ever experienced before. And then something truly incredible happens: Jesus withdraws from the crowds who are clamoring for Him and heads elsewhere. Often our greatest moments of testing come, not in moments of failure but in moments of perceived “success.” What allows Jesus to resist the temptation to be drawn into the adulation of the crowds? What allows Him to resist getting comfortable where He is? What allows Him to make a decision that cuts against the grain? It’s that He knows His purpose. As Christians, as a church, the temptation to achieve worldly success and adulation will lead us into a failure to live out God’s real purpose for us if we don’t have clarity on what God’s mission and purpose for us truly is.
Luke tells us that as Jesus ministered in Capernaum, people “were astonished because his message had authority.” In this story, Luke gives us a glimpse of the power of Jesus. There is no power or authority greater than Him. As vs.36 tells us, “he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out.” If we are in Christ, his power and authority are available to us today. In John 14:14, Jesus tells His disciples, “if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” To ask in His name is to ask according to His character and will. What confidence it should give us to know that our God and Saviour rules and reigns, that His message and words still have the power today to set people free.
When the gospel is preached, and the Holy Spirit is at work, it causes people to respond. Sometimes that response is positive, as we see in vs. 14 and 15. Sometimes that response is negative, as we see when Jesus returns to Nazareth. This is especially true when it comes to how people respond to who Jesus actually is. It’s one thing to be curious about Jesus, to be attracted to the blessing you think Jesus may be able to offer. It’s another thing to acknowledge Jesus as king and be willing to offer yourself to Him. As the end of this story shows, though, we can boldly declare the reality of who Jesus is without worrying about how people will respond because at the end of the day, God is in control and sovereign over all, and nothing will happen apart from His good plan.
When the gospel is preached, and the Holy Spirit is at work, it causes people to respond. Sometimes that response is positive, as we see in vs. 14 and 15. Sometimes that response is negative, as we see when Jesus returns to Nazareth. This is especially true when it comes to how people respond to who Jesus actually is. It’s one thing to be curious about Jesus, to be attracted to the blessing you think Jesus may be able to offer. It’s another thing to acknowledge Jesus as king and be willing to offer yourself to Him. As the end of this story shows, though, we can boldly declare the reality of who Jesus is without worrying about how people will respond because at the end of the day, God is in control and sovereign over all, and nothing will happen apart from His good plan.
After his baptism, Jesus heads into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days. Upon completion of 40 days of fasting, the devil appears to tempt Him. This passage provides us with an opportunity to show our church both how the devil tempts us and how, like Jesus, we can resist that temptation. Knowing how the devil tempts us is important, so we are prepared when temptation comes our way. First, it may be helpful to note that as human beings, we will be tempted. We should especially expect temptation when God is most active and at work (this story happens right after Jesus’ baptism and the Father’s public pronouncement of Jesus as the Son) and when we are at our weakest (Jesus has been without food for 40 days in the wilderness). It’s also the case that the weapons of the devil in our temptation are lies, which he often disguises in partial truths. Both in the garden of Eden and here in the wilderness, the Devil uses God’s own words taken out of their fulness and context to tempt. In order to resist temptation, we need to follow the example of Jesus by fighting Satan’s lies with God’s truth and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.