Jesus, Creator, Savior, Lord, King #21 Jesus, the Paralyzed Man and His Friends Text: Mark 2:1-12
Jesus, Creator, Savior, Lord, King #21
Jesus, the Paralyzed Man and His Friends
Text: Mark 2:1-12
Introduction:
Preacher with a drug problem. “When I was a kid I had a drug problem. Every time the church doors were open, every time there was a revival, every time there was any activity my parents drug me to church. I am what I am today because of my drug problem.”
This morning we are going to look at a drug problem in the Bible, in Mark 2 where four friends grab their sick companion and drag him to see Jesus.
Mark 2:1-2 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
In the small coastal town of Capernaum excitement was as thick as the mist of the Sea of Galilea. Whispers and shouts all carried the same news, the man Jesus had returned and was staying at the house of the fisherman, Simon. There had never been anything or anyone like this Jesus in their little village. To some He was a teacher, others believed a prophet, like Elijah and Elisha in the scriptures they read on the Sabbath in synagogue. Some believed him to be false but all wanted to see and heard Him.
In the marketplace that day, one man heard the news on everyone’s lips. He dropped the bread back into the sellers basket, and interrupted someone who was spreading the news.
"What did you say? What did you say? I couldn't hear you."
"The Nazarene Rabbi is back; He is at Simon's house."
The questioning man ran from the market, any thoughts of shopping driven from his mind by the news. He had already turned and run some distance from the market and did not hear what else the man said, “You will not be able to see him, the crowd has filled the house and flows into the street."
The man ran. He ran as he had not run since he was a young boy, but he did not run in the direction of Simon's house. Instead, he ran to his friend’s house near the center of town. He drew near and slowed to a walk, as his body reminded him that he was not a young boy anymore. He tried to catch his breath as he worked the latch on the gate and entered the courtyard.
It was exactly the same as when he had left it only a few short minutes ago, when he left for the market. Under the shade of a tree which grew in the middle of the courtyard, three men, three friends sat around a pallet where lay their sick friend. These five had grown up together, they had attended rabbinical school, memorized scripture and played in the streets of Capernaum and skipped rocks on the sea since before he could remember. But now as the looked at their expressions even a stranger could tell something was wrong. The first friend knew exactly what was wrong, their friend, laying on the pallet, was dying. Dying in a terrible way, not able to move or even speak, paralyzed, He lay there like a statue. He could not move anything but his eyes and only the slow rising of his chest told you he still lived.
"Friends, I have such news!" the first friend exclaimed as he flung open the gate. The sound of his voice echoing from the walls of the courtyard.
"What is wrong with you? Have you lost your senses?” One of the men closest to the gate loudly hissed.
"I know, but I cannot be quiet now. He is back. The teacher, the prophet, Jesus. He is at Simon's house now."
This time his words echoed not from the courtyard walls but from the chambers of their now hopeful hearts.
"Are you sure. How long has he been there? How long will he stay? This Jesus is the only hope for our friend." All three of the men began asking questions at the same time. Then they looked down at their friend to see if he had the news. He lay in the shade on a thickly woven mat on top of a pile of straw. No doctor could tell them what was wrong or had any cure to offer, he was ready to lay there in the company of his friends and family and die, but as he heard the news, there came a look into his eyes. A look, yes of hope, but also something more, something deep in his soul even more terrible than his paralysis.
"We must hurry." The friend from the market exclaimed. The four friends each grabbed a corner of the bed and as gently as their need would allow, they lifted their burden and began to walk toward Simon’s house. But before they could even see the house, they could hear and sense the crowd that surrounded it. Even more people rushed by them as they slowly and carefully walked with their precious cargo. As they got closer the noise of the rushing crowd gave way to hushed whispers and then as they sighted Peter's house, to a silence strained only by the breathing of a huge crowd of people spilling out the door and crowding the windows of Simon’s home. The street was filled, they could go no closer, they could not get inside the house, where was their only hope.
"Look at all the people," one of the friends said what they all were thinking. Pouring out the door, overflowing every window were villagers trying to listen to the Jesus’ voice coming from within the courtyard. The press of people formed a barrier ten and twelve deep before they could even touch the door frame, inside, the courtyard would be even more crowded. As they looked at the impenetrable obstacle before them, their once bright hope dimmed.
Then the friend who held the back left corner of the bed, turned his eyes upward, as if lifting a prayer and looking to heaven for help. His eyes stopped on the roof of Simon’s house.
"Look, they are not on the roof. They have forgotten the roof." The crowd had left the roof empty even though it must surround the courtyard in which Jesus now taught. In this hot dry country most houses were built around an open courtyard. Simon's courtyard might be open to the sky and also open to their friend.
Now with renewed hope, they carried their burden to the back where they found the outside stairs. Their fingers were cramping from gripping the bedroll and their legs ached at the added strain of climbing the stairs, but pain and exhaustion would not stop them now. Finally, as the last man set his foot on the roof, they found another barrier, one even more formidable than the crowd in the street, Simon's courtyard had been overlaid with a tiled roof.
"This is why they did not come on the roof, they would not see Jesus from here," Once again, their hope began to fade. Climbing the stairs seemed foolish and their sick friend was worse than if they had stayed under the shade of the tree.
"What can we do now? He is weaker, than when we left. I do not think he will make it back home."
"Listen", hushed another friend, "I can hear him teaching." They all bent forward on hands and knees and pressed their ears to the roof.
"He must be right underneath us."
"Yes, and the roof must be very thin if we can hard him this well." The one who spoke pulled at a corner of a tile, it lifted easily, underneath was a lattice work of crossed branches, long grass and tar holding it all together, Beneath them the voice of Jesus could be heard louder now that the tile was lifted. They looked at each other, they looked at their dying friend and then without a word, they began to tear away the tiles, branches, grass and tar, making a hole large enough to lower their companion into the presence of the prophet Jesus.
Friendship, Family and Faith
Take a break from the story and lets consider some things.
First, we must realize that it is our responsibility as friends and family to bring our friends and family to where Jesus is. It is our task, because they are lost and like the paralyzed man, they are dying and unless we show them the way, tell them the way or bring them on the way, they will die in their sin. They need us come to Jesus. Often the task may be hard and like the men in Mark 2, there will be obstacles in our way, but we know that their only hope is Jesus. Just as these friends knew.
We might think that we don’t know enough. Or that they are too deep in sin, or that they didn’t grow up in a Christian home but whatever the obstacle, we need to bring them to where Jesus is. There are many other barriers like personal pain, bitterness, ruined lives, broken marriages or broken relationships. And sometime the greatest barrier is our own fear or worse our own apathy.
But just like the barriers in Mark 2, you must keep looking for a way past them. We must bring people to where Jesus is because on the other side of the obstacles is their only hope.
The four friends knew three things. First, that their friend was going to die. Second, that Jesus could save their friend. And third they had to bring their friend to Jesus.
God’s Word tells us the same three things.
Our friends and family members are going to die and face judgment. Hebrews 9:27 “… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”
Jesus can save them 1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
Therefore, we must bring them to Christ. Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Mark 2:4-5 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Below the roof, in the courtyard of Simon, the crowd strained to catch every word spoken by Jesus, then in the middle of His teaching, The roof begins to come apart, dirt, grass, sticks fall down and light begins to pour in from the ceiling. Jesus stops teaching and moves over to where a hole was rapidly expanding, replacing branches with the sky. Now the crowd can see faces peering down and then hand gripping four corners of a thick blanket and on the blanket the men lowered down a dying man.
"Help them with their friend," The voice of the teacher called out to those nearest the opening. Other hands reached up and slowly brought the paralyzed man to the floor. The crowd made way as Jesus walked the few feet to the sick man. He looked up at the faces of the friends who having come this far, and would not leave their friend behind to die. Then He looked into the eyes of the paralyzed, dying man. Jesus saw something in his eyes, in his heart. Yes there was hope but there was also a need. This man was afraid, afraid that his sin, his faults might prevent his being healed, that he was not good enough for Jesus to care about him. He was afraid that his guilt was greater than Jesus’ compassion.
And so, it was no surprise to the man or to Jesus when He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Doesn’t it make you wonder why, Jesus forgave the man before he healed him? There are many healings in the Bible, even a few where the person healed doesn’t even seem to have faith in Jesus at all. Doesn’t even know who Jesus is. Sometimes Jesus forgave without healing, but this miracle seems unique. Jesus forgives the paralyzed man before he even says anything about healing him.
Don’t you think that the reason is that Jesus knew that forgiveness was this man’s greatest need. Not the healing of his physical body, but the healing of his soul.
When you think about it, this is probably the most important lesson of this story. What is the greatest need? What is our greatest need or the greatest need of our friends and families? The greatest need of all the lost all around us?
In the story this man needs strength, he needs to hear the teachings of a great man, he needs comfort and yes he needs to be healed. And yes, Jesus gives all these things and much more, but he that day and we in this day need more than those things. More than anything else in the world what is needed is forgiveness.
Nor is it just the forgiveness of our acts of sin alone that we need, things like lying, stealing, impure thoughts or anger. Those are forgiven by the Lord but most of all and first of all must be for forgiveness of the sin that is me, the sin that is my nature, the sin that makes me a rebel from the Lord who is my creator and died to be my Savior.
Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Before anything else in my life can be dealt with I must understand and accept the reality that I am a sinner by birth and that my acts of sin are only the proof of my nature, the outward evidence of who I am on the inside. I need forgiveness of who I am as well as from what I have done. That forgiveness can only come from Jesus Christ, the one who took my sin and my sins upon Himself and paid the price with His own life that I might find forgiveness.
This is what Paul said to the church in Corinth about Jesus and our responsibility to bring the lost to Christ and why only He can forgive and save. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Let go back and finish the story of Jesus, the Paralyzed man and His friends. For not everyone there was happy with what Jesus had just said and done.
Mark 2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Jesus, God The Son, Very God of Very God Heals and Forgives
Like a wave breaking over a beach, the whispers of the crowd washed over Jesus’ consciousness, and loudest of the whispers and thoughts were those of the scribes, the so-called experts of all that scripture said and meant.
"This man speaks blasphemy, who can forgive sins but God?" they whispered among their selves. But Jesus heard the whispers and even read the thoughts of their minds.
"Why do you question such things in your hearts?" Jesus asked aloud what they only dared to whisper. "Which is easier to say to this paralyzed one, 'Your sins are forgiven or rise up, take up your bed and walk?'
Jesus pauses a moment to make sure each scribe has understood his words and then He answers their question as only the Son of Man, who is the Son of God, can. “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," He then turns to the sick man and says, "Arise, pick up your bed and go your way home."
The look in the man's eyes had changed while Jesus was talking to the scribes, now there was no doubt and no fear only peace and joy could be seen. Even if he was not healed it was not important, for now he knew his sin was gone. He did not understand everything that was happening, but he did know one thing beyond a doubt, at the word of Jesus, he was a new man with a new heart. It was like being born again. He felt the newness, the freedom, the release from guilt, now there was only peace, the peace of God’s forgiveness.
His attention turned back to Jesus for now, the teacher, the prophet, his savior was talking to him not the crowd. He clearly heard the command, "Arise, take up your bed and go your way home." Instantly, without fear, or without hesitation, he stood up. He had been carried here by friends, but now he in his own power, stood and gathered up what had once been his death bed. He looks upward to the gaping hole in the roof and sees the smiles and tears running down the faces of his faithful friends. Then he turns his face toward the gate of the courtyard and begins to walk home. The crowd falls aside and lets him pass and he can see the amazement on their faces. He hears them begin to praise and glorify God, and as he walks away, he hears them say, "We have never seen anything like this!"
We have never seen anything like this!
“Never seen anything like this!?”
What they saw that day was God in the flesh, doing what only God can do, forgive sin. The scribes were right, only God can forgive but they were wrong when they didn’t realize that the One who was the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, was also the Son of Man a phrase taken from the book of Daniel that identified God in the flesh. Only God can forgive sin and without a doubt Jesus proved it that day, Yes, He was and is God. Many prophets could heal sickness in a body, but only God could forgive the sickness of a soul.
When a person comes to Jesus and they are forgiven by the grace and mercy of God, there is a new, spiritual birth and each one of those births is a miracle, a miracle we can behold.
But you can only behold it if you look past the obstacles and toward your God given goal of bringing people, family and friends to Jesus Christ.
How many of us have aching hearts for our loved ones, praying for them to come to Christ? Do we believe that they will die in their sin without meeting Jesus? Do we known that they are dying spiritually just as the paralyzed man was dying physically? Do we know it is our calling, our God given task to bring them to Jesus?
Oh, don’t you want to hear it? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear, “We’ve never seen it like this!” We’ve never seen souls saved like this before! We’ve never seen people baptized. Like this before! We’ve never seen people grow spiritually like this before! We’ve never seen church members asking for and giving forgiveness like this before. We’ve never seen anything like this before!
Listen to me as we close, If you are here today and don't know Jesus, as Lord as Savior then you're just like that paralyzed man. You are without strength and unable to save yourself. You need hope but instead all you have is fear. Someone may have brought you here today, just like those four friends. Listen, they are praying for you as you stand in this place hearing the Gospel. Like the paralyzed man are here with Jesus. Are you hearing Him?
If you will but look and listen, then you will hear Jesus say, “Son, daughter, father, mother, your sins are forgiven.” Just like the paralyzed man that day. Also like him you must, “Take up your bed and walk.” I know you didn’t bring a pallet with you this morning, but faith brings forgiveness to your soul and forgiveness brings action to your feet.
Take up your old fears, worries, sin and guilt and in Jesus’ strength and forgiveness, begin walking according to His command. Your first step may be up this aisle, it may be to go home and tell others what has happened. Your step may be to follow Jesus in baptism, or to join a church that preaches the Gospel and lifts up Christ.
So as we leave this morning, let each of consider what Jesus is telling us to do, because our sins are forgiven by the only one who can forgive sin. If we listen then I think we will also say, “I’ve never seen it like this before.”
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