Luke 5:17-26 (Mark 2:1-12) Matthew 18:21-35
Well I'm back from a two week trip to Israel. (View pictures here: Israel Pictures.) It was an awesome trip (my 7th) with some neat new experiences, like snow in Jerusalem. But now I'm back to preaching. While I was off, my colleagues, Jim Carson and Kim Ream, started our Lenten series for 2012. We are calling the series, Jesus, Friend of Sinners, from the reference in Matthew 11:13 and Luke 7:34. What a great title for Jesus. In the biblical account, it was meant in a derogatory way, but we see it differently.
The idea is that during Lent, as we study The Relationship Principles of Jesus in our classes and groups, our sermons will look at the times Jesus referred to people as friends. The first two sermons were Jesus, Friend of Sinners from 7:18-35 and Luke 15:1-31 (preached by Jim Carson) and You are my friends if... from John 15:1-17 and Matthew 21:28-32 (preached by Kim Ream). You can listen to these sermons by following the sermon link to the right of this column.
My sermon today is the third in this series that looks at the times Jesus called someone, friend. Jesus uses the word friend rather frequently. Most often, it occurs in his teaching material, especially in parables. However, there are a handful of times when Jesus addresses someone by calling the person "friend." Here they are: Matthew 26:50 (Judas); Luke 5:20 (friends of the the paralytic who is let down through the roof--today's sermon); Luke 12:4 (disciples); John 15:13-15 (multiple references to his disciples as friends); John 21:5 (his disciples) and John 11:11 (Lazarus).
Today's sermon considers the theme of forgiveness, as Jesus grants it to the paralytic and also heals him.
For further reading, here is a good article from the Mayo Clinic and another one, with multiple questions to explore, from a Christian source.
Thanks for digging deeper.
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