Luke 5:17-26
“(17) And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. (18) And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. (19) And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. (20) And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. (21) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? (22) But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? (23) Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? (24) But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. (25) And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. (26) And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.
“…and they glorified God, and were all filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.”
There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow, / There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow, / The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, / An’ it looks like its climbin’ clear up to the sky.
Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ / Oh, what a beautiful day
I’ve got a beautiful feeling / Everything’s going my way[1]
Some mornings, moments, and even days come to us sun kissed and complete with joy, calm, peace, contentment…
The atmosphere around us seems filled with favor and good will.
But, what do you do when your morning isn’t beautiful?
What about the day, or days, when the glory isn’t there?
I wish I’d stayed In bed today.
I’m ready for this day to end.
How many hours before I can come home and crawl into bed?
Is it always going to be like this?
When will this end?
Is this all there is to my life?
We sing, as a prayer, “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see…”
And really, we’re hoping it’ll be today because we just can’t take anymore.
I can’t handle one more bad doctor’s report
I can’t survive another fight with my spouse
I can’t afford bailing the kid out of trouble one more time
I can’t take one more day on this job
I can’t pay these bills
I don’t want to be lonely anymore
There are so many reasons why today might not seem all that glorious to you.
Psalm 30:5, “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Weeping may endure for a night – Margin: “in the evening.” So the Hebrew. The word here rendered “endure” means properly “to lodge, to sojourn,” as one does for a little time. The idea is, that weeping is like a stranger – a wayfaring person – who lodges for a night only. In other words, sorrow will soon pass away to be succeeded by joy.
But joy cometh in the morning – Margin: “singing.” The margin expresses the force of the original word. There will be singing, shouting, exultation. That is, if we have the friendship of God, sorrow will always be temporary, and will always be followed by joy. The morning will come; a morning without clouds; a morning when the sources of sorrow will disappear. This often occurs in the present life; it will always occur to the righteous in the life to come. The sorrows of this life are but for a moment, and they will be succeeded by the light and the joy of heaven. Then, if not before, all the sorrows of the present life, however long they may appear to be, will seem to have been but for a moment; weeping, though it may have made life here but one unbroken night, will be followed by one eternal day without a sigh or a tear.[2]
Revelation 22:5, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” – It will be one eternal day without a night.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
I know you might be thinking, “it is easy to say, but you’re not going through what I’m going through, preacher.”
I’m going to tell: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
You might be thinking, “I better not hear him say that one more time.”
But, really you need to hear it. It isn’t just some lofty platitude written by a psalmist wearing rose colored glasses, but a Messianic promise.
Psalms 118:19-26, “(19) Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: (20) This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. (21) I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. (22) The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. (23) This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. (24) This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (25) Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. (26) Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”
Today, we can boldly approach the throne of grace through the gates of righteousness and worship our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is altogether fitting and proper to praise and worship our God, especially in the midst of a dark day.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “(16) Rejoice evermore. (17) Pray without ceasing. (18) In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
We can rejoice, because no matter how dark the day, Jesus has provided a way through it. We can rejoice, pray, and give thanks.
Back to our text:
Tell the story again.
His power was present to heal them!
They brought in a man who illustrated physically what was wrong with them spiritually.
Spiritual paralysis: fear, intimidation, unpardoned sin, shame, feelings of worthlessness.
John Gill: “…we have seen strange things today; paradoxes, things wonderful, unthought of, unexpected, and incredible by carnal reason, and what were never seen, nor known before; as that a man, who was so enfeebled by the palsy, that he was obliged to be carried on a bed by four men, yet, on a sudden, by a word speaking, rose up, and carried his bed, on his back, home.”
[1] Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein. Oklahoma! Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.
[2] Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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