Jesus and Sinners Luke 5:17-32

Jesus and sinners, discussed in this post, shows His interaction with two sinners.

Jesus and sinners interacted in His teaching. He attracted great crowds from everywhere to listen and to see Him cure the afflicted. As He spoke, Pharisees and teachers of the Law assembled with the crowds.

During a teaching session, some men brought a paralytic on his bed for possible healing by Jesus. But they could not enter the house to get close to Jesus because of the crowd. So, they ascended to the rooftop. There they removed enough of the rooftiles to lower the man to Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “your sins are forgiven you.”

The assembled Pharisees and teachers labeled this language as blasphemy. They probably expected Jesus to heal the man by just speaking. Instead, Jesus forgave the man’s sins, something they knew only God could do. In this way, they rejected Jesus’ previous miracles as proof of His Deity.

Jesus knew their thoughts and asked about the difficulty of curing paralysis or forgiving sins. Then He healed the paralytic.

This miracle, a powerful argument that proved Jesus’ Deity, caused amazement and glorification of God.

After this, Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax booth. The public considered tax collectors to be noted sinners. Yet, Jesus called him by saying “follow me.”

Note that Levi—like Peter—left everything to follow Jesus. The next day Levi arranged for his friends to meet Jesus in a big reception. When Jesus attended, the scribes and Pharisees grumbled and disapproved of eating with sinners.

Jesus’ answer to them revealed much about His mission, Luke 5:31-32:

“And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

That reply explained why Jesus ate with and talked to sinners. The scribes and Pharisees imagined themselves as righteous, not needing repentance or teaching by Jesus.

What we learn in these verses:

1.Jesus as Deity could forgive sin.

2.Jesus came to call the sinful to repentance.

For more on the Bible click https://berksblog.net or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

  1. #JesusHealedForgaveSinsParalyzedMan #JesusCalledTaxCollector #JesusDeity

Heaven as an Inheritance Matthew 25:34

This post discusses the meaning of heaven as an inheritance.

When Jesus discussed the judgment day, he described heaven as a kingdom, an inheritance, Matthew 25:34: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Thus, as members of the family of God, heaven remains an unearned gift of God. Jesus said the children of God will receive heaven as an inheritance in eternity as a gift of grace from God.

Unfortunately, some children imagine that they deserve the inheritance due to their position as a member of the family. Parental grace does not enter their thinking. Likewise, Christians may have this warped view and imagine they deserve heaven. Instead, we should view this eternal abode in heaven as a gift of undeserved grace.

John the Baptist dealt forcefully with this erroneous view in the minds of his Jewish listeners, Luke 3:8: “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”

Obviously, the children of Abraham imagined that they didn’t need to bear fruits showing repentance. John the Baptist pointed out that God valued the present state of their heritage as no better than stones. Today, we must also view any heritage in God’s kingdom as a gift, not something we deserve. Instead, once we enter the kingdom of God—the church— heaven becomes a gift as part of our heritage.

The Apostle Paul made clear that salvation is by grace and not works, Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Note that the Apostle does not mention an earned salvation because of being in the family.

 What do we learn about heaven as a heritage?

1.We receive heaven as a gift as part of our heritage.

2.Belonging to the church by itself does not earn us a place in heaven.

3.As a member of the family of God, heaven remains a gift of God not something earned.

See earlier posts by this author? Click  https://tdroberts.org

For more on the Bible click https://berksblog.net or https://justchristian.com or https://podcastjustchristian.com

#heritageByGrace #graceSavedThroughFaith