Healing of Forgiveness
Download MP3If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to Mark chapter 2 as we are working our way through the gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 2. This morning we are going to look at the familiar story of of Jesus healing the paralytic man and his friends lowering him through the roof. And I love this story because it it has a little bit of everything in it. You've got Jesus surprising everyone by doing the miracle and surprising people by the things that he says.
Joel Brooks:You've got the the drama of the 4 friends tearing through the roof and lowering their friend down to Jesus. You've got classic Riddler Jesus, you know, giving the question out, putting a question out there that no one's quite sure how to answer. And then you have Jesus kinda dropping a truth bomb in there, this, when He calls Himself the Son of Man, which was this explosive title there. There's so much in this one story, we are actually going to take 2 weeks to unpack it. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that, although Jesus does very little teaching in the gospel of Mark, he he says very little when compared to the other gospels.
Joel Brooks:He's actually referred to as teacher. That's the the the most common title of Jesus in the gospel of Mark, is teacher. But for Mark, he teaches primarily through his actions, through his miracles. And I'm not sure of any other miracle in the gospel of Mark, in which Jesus teaches us as much as he does, as in the story that we have before us. So today, we're gonna look at the actual miracle itself.
Joel Brooks:And then next week, we're gonna look at the title that Jesus calls himself, the title of the son of man, which is the reference to Daniel chapter 7. So we'll be looking at Daniel 7. We're gonna go all prophetic. I mean, Daniel 7 has got, you know, your beast, your horns, your parting clouds, all of that. We're gonna go straight up Pentecostal Church of Prophecy, so bring your tambourines.
Joel Brooks:We're gonna have fun. There you go. I would love it. Actually, I wouldn't. Take that back.
Joel Brooks:So I didn't know who I was looking at, Nathan. So Mark chapter 2 this morning. Jesus or sorry. I was reading the wrong thing here. And when Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
Joel Brooks:And many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by 4 men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
Joel Brooks:And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately, Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, why do you question these things in your hearts?
Joel Brooks:Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all.
Joel Brooks:So that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this. This is the word of the Lord. It is to be our prayer. You would pray with me. Father, I pray that this morning you would amaze us, and the result will be that we would glorify you.
Joel Brooks:I pray that you would amaze us with your word, that you would amaze us with your spirit writing those words on our hearts. Lord, I pray that you would amaze us with your transformative power that could turn even sinners like us and to make us look like Jesus. So, father, I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen. So Jesus here, he is returning back to Capernaum, which if we remember a a few weeks ago, we saw that that's where Jesus had gone, where he had started his ministry or his reign. That's where he had cast out demons. He had healed much of the city of their sicknesses. So, of course, as he is returning back to that city, word would have spread.
Joel Brooks:Everybody would have come out of the woodwork to come and hear him. He's at a house and the house is now so packed with people wanting to to be near him that they're literally spilling out the doorway into the street. People just want to get a glimpse of Jesus, or or maybe be close enough where they could at least hear him even if they can't see him. In Luke chapter 4, I love his account of this story. He describes the scene this way, it's of course the room is packed, everything I just described to you, but then he adds this detail.
Joel Brooks:The power of the Lord with with was with Jesus to heal. The power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal. And so the atmosphere was electric, or as my kids like to say, it was fire. I just decided to use that to forever run the word for them. We we then read that 4 men, maybe they were there, and they they felt the same thing.
Joel Brooks:And and so they got up, and they ran, and they got a friend of theirs who was paralyzed, and they tried to bring their friend to Jesus. They just knew if they could somehow get their friend before Jesus, Jesus would heal them. The problem was that there were too many people there, and so they couldn't even get through the doorway. Actually, the problem was not that there were too many people. The problem was that these dang people wouldn't let a hurting paralytic man through to go see Jesus.
Joel Brooks:They were the barrier. We'll find later, the roof wasn't a barrier. But but the people there were the barrier keeping this paralytic to come and to see Jesus. Which is a shame because these were likely, in that room, people who had already been healed by Jesus weeks earlier. And yet, they weren't making room for others to come and to encounter him.
Joel Brooks:These friends here, they would not be deterred. They were doing exactly what Jesus had called his disciples to do weeks earlier. When he said, I want you I'm calling you to make you fishers of men. I'm calling you in order for you to call others to me. They understood that that's what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, was to bring hurting people to Jesus.
Joel Brooks:So that's exactly what they were doing. If you remember when we looked at Jesus in Capernaum last time, remember how it said that all the people that came to the streets and they all came to Jesus at night to be healed by him? Actually, if you go back and you read that story again, there's one little detail I didn't pull out. They didn't just come on their own. It said, the disciples went and brought them.
Joel Brooks:So Jesus, He told the disciples, I'm gonna make you fishers of men, and then you actually have immediately afterwards, they went out into the city and they got all the hurting people and they brought the hurting people to Jesus. That's how we follow Him, is we call others to follow Him. And so that's exactly what these 4 friends were doing here. Bringing one of their hurting friends to Jesus. And this man was hurting.
Joel Brooks:I would have a hard time imagining at all what life would be like to be paralyzed. But to be paralyzed in the 1st century, I can't imagine. This man would have been dependent upon others for everything. He would need others to, of course, feed him, to bathe him, to clothe him, to pick him up and carry him out to the street each day and lay him down to where he could beg all day. At the end of the day, he would need people to pick him up, carry him back to his house where they would likely have to change him.
Joel Brooks:It'd be hard to imagine a worse life, but at least this guy had these 4 friends. And they decided this was gonna be the day. This is gonna be the day that they were not just gonna carry their friend to the street in order I mean nothing was gonna stop them. Nothing was gonna deter them. I mean sure they can't get through the door, so they're like, well, what can we do?
Joel Brooks:Well, there's a roof. Let's just climb up on the roof. Let's just start digging down until we get we get to Jesus. I mean, you gotta wonder who was the first person who came up with that idea, and then who was the guy who's second at it? They're like, that's a great ally idea.
Joel Brooks:It was obviously 4 dudes. I mean, 4 guys together. This was a plan they would come up with. And so when somebody runs and gets a shovel, and if they got the shovel, like if it was me, I could have gotten through the door, but, for some reason they decide, we'll use the shovel to climb up on the roof, and we're gonna dig down. That was a lot of work.
Joel Brooks:A roof in that day was about 2 feet thick, packed hardened mud mixed with branches. That would have taken a long time to dig through that. If I were to hand a shovel to a few of you and tell you to go outside right now, dig down into that Alabama red kinda soft clay, dig a hole 2 feet deep, it would take a while. I know, I've shaken some of your hands. It would take a long time.
Joel Brooks:I mean, it might take a week for some of you. I mean, it's hard work, but that I mean, they're they're just they're not deterred. They're they're resilient here. Which begs the question, what stops you from bringing people to Jesus? What are the barriers?
Joel Brooks:I mean, they gotta be huge. I mean, is it is it a an huge mob, a huge crowd of people keeping you away? Is that it? Or is it you're just still waiting for the right moment? And if so, how long have you been waiting?
Joel Brooks:Let me ask you. What would the right moment have looked like for these 4 friends? We just gotta find the right moment to kinda bring you to Jesus. Maybe, you know, they could find Jesus alone at a coffee shop and be like, hey, it's not too much trouble. Maybe after you're done with your email, like, could you just possibly swing by if it's convenient and we just have a friend who needs healing?
Joel Brooks:What are the barriers that we have in front of us that we just think, oh, it's too great? These 4 men and what they did, it reminds me of the Apostle Paul and what he wrote about in 1st Corinthians 16, when he said that a wide door for effective ministry has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. Do you love that? There's a wide door for effective ministry before me, and there are many who oppose me. Opposition was not a closed door to Paul.
Joel Brooks:And for these 4 men here, they literally had the door blocked, but they didn't see it as a closed door. Yeah. The door is blocked, but it's not a closed door. We just gotta think outside the box. We can find a way to bring people to Jesus.
Joel Brooks:They just had to persevere, not give up, think creatively. I also think it's so important that they had one another in this because bringing people to Jesus needs to be a group effort. If you're personally struggling sharing your faith, you know it's something you need to be doing, you should be doing more of, but you just you're you're just not doing it. Everything just seems to be a barrier too high for you to cross. I want to encourage you to bring others in.
Joel Brooks:To make evangelism a group effort. Perhaps share it with your home group. Hey, can I bring you in? There's somebody in my life I know I need to share my faith with. Can we pray for Him?
Joel Brooks:Can you hold me accountable to reach Him? Or perhaps all of you as a group, you could think of someone you together know. And then you could begin thinking creatively, how can we together help bring this person to Jesus? You do that as a group. You're gonna have a much better chance of reaching that person.
Joel Brooks:You also get to celebrate so much more as you see what the Lord is doing and how He's using you. So evangelism is best done as a group effort. And I know that this paralytic man, he he was so thankful he had friends willing to do anything, even if it meant damaging somebody's house in order to bring him to Jesus. Notice just this little detail here, but that when they lowered this man down, it says Jesus saw their faith. That's what prompted him to actually saw their faith.
Joel Brooks:Anybody who tear through a roof like that, they these these people believe that they could just bring their friend to me. He will be healed. Now with that, let me just take a moment to address some of the home group leaders that are here or those who open up their homes each and every week, to a small group. Not only can you relate to these 4 men, but you can also relate to having your house destroyed every week, especially if your home group has a lot of children. I was in a home group once.
Joel Brooks:I had 23 kids in it. And let me tell you, the damage that does to your house, every week, thank you. Thank you for doing that. Lauren and I, we once had a group over. We hosted a group.
Joel Brooks:And, it probably cost us, I don't know, at least a1000, $2,000 for this home group. And it's because of the damage that was done to our house, we had someone's child upstairs. This this person is no longer with us. I kicked him out of the church. They've they've they've moved away.
Joel Brooks:They had a child that was upstairs and had clogged the toilet and just kept flushing and flushing and flushing and flushing. And so the sewage water is spilling out all into the floor. It goes down all into our ceiling. It fills up our light fixtures underneath. It goes all through our Like, Christians have had their houses destroyed for 2000 years to reach people for Jesus.
Joel Brooks:We're just it's just part of it. There's there's a cost to hospitality, but the rewards are immense, aren't they? Because we don't just get to have friends over. I mean, it's family. These are the bonds that endure for all of eternity.
Joel Brooks:And so we get to show people Jesus, and we get to receive the love of Jesus when we have people over. It is more than worth it. So these these men here, they dig this hole through the roof. Picture the scene. They're tying, you know, rope to the four corners of this guy's mattress.
Joel Brooks:They begin lowering him down to Jesus. This man never says a word in this story. At least, he never says a word that Mark is allowed to record for us. I'm imagining some words were said, as he's being lowered down. But, what a feeling.
Joel Brooks:I mean, you can't do that easily, smoothly down. I mean, they're just trying to for him not to spill over, trying to just safely get this man down. And then this man, he finds himself, like, finally lands, and he's looking at Jesus. And of course, they have all the people in the room. Jesus is teaching, and they're like, you hear a digging?
Joel Brooks:And then, you know, dust is starting to come down from the ceiling. Like, that's definitely digging. And then, a hole opens. And even at that point, nobody thought, hey, why don't we just let those guys in? They're like, let's see how this plays out.
Joel Brooks:I mean, they're they're like They're they're they're wanting to see this thing happen. I mean, it's a surreal moment as all of this is happening in this room. And so the opening happens there, and then this this paralytic man is finally lowered down right in front of Jesus. And then Jesus looks at this person and He says, son, your sins are forgiven. Now this was it was surprising, shocking.
Joel Brooks:I Actually, I think it was a little humorous. Humorous because this might have been Jesus' home. No. We don't know whose house it was, but, you read Mark chapter 1 or the verse 1, and it just says Jesus was at home. I know you're thinking, no foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
Joel Brooks:Maybe he became homeless because of this, people. I mean, he just got a lot of damage there. He this is probably a house he was renting. But that the reason I say this is humorous is because you could see Jesus like he's looking at the hole, and he's looking at him. He's like, it's okay, I forgive you.
Joel Brooks:But but then there's something about the way He says it. Because He doesn't say I forgive you of this sin. He says, son, your sins are forgiven. All of them. Your sins are forgiven.
Joel Brooks:Now this was a surprising thing for Jesus to say in this moment, because what would you expect Jesus to say at a time like this to this man? I mean, what do you think that man's most pressing need is in his life? What do you think is the reason all of his friends who went all the trouble they did to lower him down here, that that that person's laying there, and he's probably thinking, that's great. I mean, not knocking forgiveness, that's great, but can't you see I have kind of a bigger need before you? Many years ago when my oldest girl Caroline, she's 4 or 5 years old.
Joel Brooks:I'm in the backyard and I am sawing off a branch that's way up high. So I got a ladder up on the branch there. I've heard some of you share this story later. And then, you have me with a chainsaw, like one hand, and an axe in the other. No.
Joel Brooks:I'm just it's just a little handsaw up there. But but I'm up there and I'm cutting off this branch. But when I cut it off, the the remaining branch where my ladder is resting up against, the limb goes up because it weighs less. And now my ladder's on nothing. So the ladder just falls.
Joel Brooks:I'm 15, 20 feet up in the air. And so I just grab hold of the the limb and I watch the ladder, it comes crashing down. I'm just dangling up there. And there's Caroline, she's below me. 4 or 5 years old.
Joel Brooks:And so I scream, Caroline, get help! And so she's like, you know, she's kinda scurrying, she just runs around, and I'm waiting seemingly forever. And then she runs back and she holds up a wrench. And, like, I mean, that's great, but I have a more pressing need here. And I wonder if that's kinda what this paralytic felt like.
Joel Brooks:I mean, forgiveness, Jesus says that's great, we all want forgiveness, don't get me wrong, But I'm kinda paralyzed. I have a greater need. And Jesus says, no. You don't. No.
Joel Brooks:You don't. Your greatest need is to be forgiven. That is greater than any physical need you have. I don't care how desperate of a physical need you have. Nothing is greater than your need for forgiveness.
Joel Brooks:And the reason that this is true is because no matter how great the physical healing, it's not gonna last. And Jeff talked about this last week when he looked at the story of Jesus healing the person with leprosy. Yes, Jesus healed that man. But you know what? That man's no longer with us.
Joel Brooks:He died. Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus would go and die. None of the healings that Jesus did throughout the New Testament, none of them lasted. These these people Sickness would set in, people would still die.
Joel Brooks:And Jesus is offering this man here the one healing that will last, forgiveness. The one healing he really needs. I don't know whatever Like, what you think your main problem is in life. Your your point of your most desperate need. Maybe it's loneliness.
Joel Brooks:You're just so lonely, you just need friends. Or perhaps it's you you need more money. You have insufficient funds to live whatever life style you want to live. Or perhaps it's a physical sickness that you just want Jesus to heal you from. You're like, this is the most pressing need I have.
Joel Brooks:Jesus says, no. It's not. That isn't. I mean, imagine if right now, if God could, you know, with a, you know, magic wand or, you know, snap of his fingers, give you what you needed there. Remove those needs.
Joel Brooks:And he could. Would it last? That would help you in this life a little, but it would not endure to the next. All of those things that you listed, your loneliness, your I need more money, my physical sickness, those things can certainly hurt you in this life, But unforgiven sin can hurt you in this life and in the next. There is a sickness in your soul that has to be dealt with, and some of you can feel that even right now.
Joel Brooks:You've been wondering what is going on with me? Why? What what is it? And it's it's something deep in here and it's called sin. There's a sickness in your soul.
Joel Brooks:It's sin and you need to be forgiven of it. This is what Jesus does right at the start. He says, your greatest need is not physical. Your greatest need is to be forgiven. He also saw this person needed to become part of the family of God.
Joel Brooks:Notice he doesn't just say, your sins are forgiven. He calls him, son. Son, your sins are forgiven. This is the language of adoption. Jesus not only forgives this man, He he makes him family.
Joel Brooks:Noticeably absent in this story is this man's father. I mean, later you're gonna read through these accounts of Jesus healing people and it's gonna be a father always bringing their child to Jesus. Not here. There's no father, there's no brothers, there's no sisters. This man seems to not have any family.
Joel Brooks:He's all alone, and Jesus says, you do have family. I am making you family. So now he has God as his father. He's been forgiven. He is a child of God.
Joel Brooks:What more does this person need? Now, when Jesus said, your sins are forgiven, this would have sent shock waves through that crowd there. Imagine if after this service, so the service ends and and as you're all standing up to leave, the person next to you just looks at you and then just punches you as hard as he can in your face. Just unexpectedly, for note, just punches you. I mean, your nose is all bloody.
Joel Brooks:I see it happen. I run over and I look at you, blood streaming down, and I look at your friend, or your former friend, who's next to you, and I just say, it's okay, I forgive you. What are you thinking in that moment? Like, you can't do that. You have no right to forgive that person.
Joel Brooks:He sinned against me. Only I can forgive him. And you'd be absolutely right. I can't forgive because I wasn't the one who wronged was wronged. You were.
Joel Brooks:That's exactly what Jesus is saying here. He's telling this paralytic, I can forgive you because every sin you have ever committed has ultimately been done against me. Jesus is claiming to be God here. And the scribes certainly picked it up. They're like, hey who could only God can do that.
Joel Brooks:You're saying, that's right. Every sin you've ever committed has been against me, but I forgive you. Now because Jesus was God, He could clearly see into the hearts of these people, these scribes, and He knew what they were thinking. And so He calls them out on it. And that should have been enough right there.
Joel Brooks:Like, he can read our hearts. Perhaps he is God. But it doesn't soften their hearts. Read verse 8. Says, and immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit, that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, why do you question these things in your hearts?
Joel Brooks:Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, rise, take up your bed, and walk? Gosh, I would've loved I would've loved to seen this. Loved to seen this moment. Somebody told me The Chosen did the scene.
Joel Brooks:I don't know or not. Maybe I need to go watch it. But, there's all these stories, of course, in the New Testament, you just, man, I'd love it if I could have just witnessed it. But this one right here. I mean, I just I imagine that the packed room, there's dust all in the air, there's debris all in the floor, Jesus probably has plaster in his hair, people straining their necks just to catch a glimpse of what's going on.
Joel Brooks:Of course, you have the man dangling down in the room before Jesus. You've got the tension there of Jesus and the scribes. I mean, the room is just electric. And it's right at this moment Jesus decides to drop a riddle. Says, which is easier to say?
Joel Brooks:Your sins are forgiven? Arise. Take up your bed and walk. Now imagine he pauses right there and just looks around. Everybody waiting.
Joel Brooks:No one no one dares try to answer that. Then he says, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Now, that was a bomb we'll look at next week when He calls Himself the Son of Man. But that you might know that the Son of Man on earth has authority to forgive sins, I say, rise, take up your mattress, and walk. And we read that this man, he rose and he immediately picked up his bed and he went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and they glorified God saying, we have never seen anything like this.
Joel Brooks:And I'm imagining that this newly forgiven, newly adopted, healed man did more than walk. He at least strutted. Probably skipped, jumped, danced, whatever it was. And and the the crowd that wouldn't let him in, apparently, they part and they let him just walk right out. And they're in absolute awe of what Jesus just did.
Joel Brooks:Jesus has authority to heal. Jesus has authority to forgive, and this means that Jesus has the authority to give us new life. Now I mentioned that Jesus' question here as to whether it was easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, pick up your mat and walk. Said it was a riddle. And the reason it's a riddle is because when you first hear it, like, well, it's it's actually a whole lot easier just to say your sins are forgiven because who knows whether they're being forgiven or not.
Joel Brooks:There's not like any external proof. You can't call the person a liar or not. You can't look in there into their heart and know if it really happened. And so, that's your first temptation, is to think, well, it's actually easier just to say your sins are forgiven. But you'd be wrong.
Joel Brooks:It's actually a lot harder to say your sins are forgiven and a person's sins actually be forgiven. Because Jesus knew what it would cost him to forgive sins. And it would cost him his very life. Jesus would have to go to the cross to pay for the penalty of this man's sin. It was much harder for Jesus.
Joel Brooks:The only way that that man could be raised up is if Jesus would be buried. The only way that he would have new life is if Jesus would give his life. Right now, at great cost to himself, Jesus freely, lovingly, joyfully offers you forgiveness, new life, and to be part of his family. And I don't know whatever barriers you think are in the way, but they're not barriers. You should do everything you can to run as fast as you can to Jesus who offers these things to you.
Joel Brooks:Let's go to him now in prayer. Jesus, I pray for those who are sick in soul, and they feel it in their bones. They've never gone to you for forgiveness or new life. They've made up excuses after excuse, barriers. Lord, expose those things right now to them.
Joel Brooks:Lord, and I pray that they would run to you. Irresistibly run to you, where you will forgive them and give them new life. Thank you, Jesus, for having the authority and the power to forgive and to heal. Thank you for being the son of God, Freely giving your life for us. And we pray this in your name, Jesus.
Joel Brooks:Amen.
