How Healing Begins

In Matthew 19:16-22 Jesus encounters a man who is described as rich, young, and with authority. We have come to call him the Rich Young Ruler (mostly because God doesn’t give us his name).

Then in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus encounters another rich man. His name is Zacchaeus.

The Rich Young Ruler is
Moral
Religious
Pious (devout and God-fearing)
Respected
Good Guy (the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry and your
son to hang out with)

Zacchaeus is
Immoral
Dishonest
Not Religious
Not Pious
Hated
Someone you could feel good about not liking

The men had different result from their encounters with Jesus.

The Rich Young Ruler went away sad because he didn’t get what he wanted - eternal life.
Zacchaeus went away joyful because he did get what he wanted - forgiveness and salvation.

Zacchaeus wanted a relationship and the Rich Young Ruler wanted a product.

Why did their encounters lead to such vastly different results?

The Rich Young Ruler was depending on his good works to earn eternal life. In Matthew 19:16 he asked Jesus what must “I do.”
Zacchaeus was depending on grace. In Luke 19:5, Jesus invites Himself to Zacchaeus for lunch. Jesus, not Zacchaeus, begins the relationship. Zacchaeus simply accepted Jesus and gave his life to Him.

The difference was GRACE!

Grace is an awesome thing.
Grace is God’s undeserved and never-can-earn love for you.

Grace brings life.

Romans 5:17
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Grace allows us to stand.

Romans 5:2
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through Him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory.

Grace is greater than our sin.

Romans 5:20
The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God gift of undeserved grace was more powerful.

Grace is a gift from God.

Ephesians 3:7
I was made a servant of this [gospel] by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.

Grace is our means of salvation.

Ephesians 2:5
That even though you were dead because of sins. He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Ephesians 2:8
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

Grace comes through surrendering our lives to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 8:9
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you He became poor so that by His becoming poor you might become rich.

Grace is a healing agent in our lives.

In Exodus 15:26 God is called Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.

God also heals those who are brokenhearted.

He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds.

In Isaiah 53 we are given a beautiful picture of how Jesus’ suffering at the crucifixion brings us forgiveness and healing.

Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

We are healed through Jesus’ wounds!

Sin always hurts and damages us and, if not dealt with, will destroy us.

In James 5:16 James writes, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”

Confession and prayer bring healing.

Give Up! Surrender! Submit!
To Jesus

1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you; God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Let Jesus purify and heal you by His grace.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about grace.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about healing.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing the grace of God through Jesus and being healed and formed into His image.

In the Grace of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Wall
Joe