11.27.11 - Jesus and Our Greatest Need

jesus and our deepest need

Daniel Patz, Lead Pastor

Grace Church, Sunday Worship

Mark 2:1-12

November 27th, 2011

Mark 2:1-12 ESV And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. (2) 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. (3) And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. (4) 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. (5) And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (6) Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, (7) "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (8) 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? (9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? (10) But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the paralytic-- (11) "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home." (12) And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

INTRODUCTION

Surface Needs and our Deepest Needs

Nobody has articulated the damage caused by that discontent better than Cynthia Heimel, who used to write for the Village Voice. She wrote an article that I’ve never forgotten. Over the years she had known a number of people who were struggling actors and actresses, working in restaurants and punching tickets at theaters to pay their bills, and then they became famous. When they were struggling like all of us, they said, “If only I could make it in the business, if only I had this or that, I’d be happy.” They were like so many other people: stressed, driven, easily upset. But when they actually got the fame they had been longing for, Heimel said, they became insufferable: unstable, angry, and manic. Not just arrogant, as you might expect—worse than that. They were now unhappier than they used to be. She said, I pity [celebrities]. No, I do. [Celebrities] were once perfectly pleasant human beings . . . but now ... their wrath is awful.... More than any of us, they wanted fame. They worked, they pushed.... The morning after . . . each of them became famous, they wanted to take an overdose . . . because that giant thing they were striving for, that fame thing that was going to make everything okay, that was going to make their lives bearable, that was going to provide them with personal fulfillment and . . . happiness, had happened. And nothing changed. They were still them. The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable.

She writes: “I think when God wants to play a really rotten practical joke on you, he grants your deepest wish.”

You know what Jesus is saying to the paralyzed man? I’m not going to play that rotten joke on you. I’m not going to just heal your body and let you think you’ve gotten your deepest wish.

Keller, Timothy (2011-02-22). King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (pp. 26-27). DUTTON ADULT. Kindle Edition.

OBSERVATIONS and INTERPRETATIONS – What does the text say and mean?

I want to look at this text by observe four things in this story of the healing of the paralytic.

1. The desperate faith of the four

Mark 2:3-5 ESV And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. (4) 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. (5) And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

The four who bring the lame man to Jesus is commended for their faith. It is said that they had faith in Jesus.

They are absolutely desperate and they will not let the crowd stop them. They will not let the house stop them. They will not let the roof stop them. They will not let what people think and say stop them. They desperately go to Jesus for help.

2. The divine authority of Jesus

Mark 2:5-10 ESV And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (6) Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, (7) "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (8) 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? (9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? (10) But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the paralytic—

Here Jesus declares that they are forgiven. This is offensive to the scribes. Only God has authority to forgive sins. Sin is an offense against God. Only the offended can forgive. Who does he think he is – God? Yes.

Syllogism: Mp—Only God can forgive sin; mp—Jesus forgives sin; c—Jesus is God.

3. The skeptical hearts of the scribes

Mark 2:6-8 ESV Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, (7) "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (8) 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?

The scribes do not accept his authority. This is the beginning of Jesus opposition of the Jewish religious leaders. Here he knows what is in their hearts…he knows there thoughts and He brings it right up.

They think He is being a blasphemous man when he forgives sins. They are blind to his glory.

4. The holistic healing of the paralytic

Mark 2:5 ESV And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Jesus forgives of sin and heals. He deals with the root and the symptoms.

He is the great physician. No doctor can get to the deepest root of sickness and disease. Sin came into the world and the world is subject to futility. Although we can’t blame every sickness on a specific sin in our life, sickness is a reality because of sin.

APPLICATIONS – What does this text mean for me today and what should I do?

2 Questions:

Q1: What was the paralytic and our deepest need?

If we were to read this for the first time with our American glasses on we would interrupt the story and laughing say – “ha, that is not why the man was brought to Jesus – to get forgiven of sin.” Or “how offensive to be so judgmental.”

But Jesus was and is not a Healer and Physician who gives you a quick fix and leaves you to greater pain later on.

The deepest need of the paralytic and our deepest need I the forgiveness of sin.

You see, the paralytic did not primarily need a Miracle worker, he needed a Savior.

This is probably not what he thought he needed. He though, like we, that if only I could be healed. If only I could walk every thing would be better. Jesus knows that is not true.

We often come to Jesus with our prayers saying – if only you would do this. He is concerned that we get the deepest need addressed.

Aslan and Eustace in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

"I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.

"I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.

"But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

"Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.

"Then the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke - "You will have to let me undress you." I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."

"I know exactly what you mean," said Edmund.

"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phony if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.

"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me -"

Q2: How is it possible for that need to be met?

Jesus asks the question – “what is easier?”

We might think of that question and say – “it is surely easier to say that someone’s sins are forgiven than to heal a paralyzed man.” Yet to his audience (the scribes), they know that forgiving sin is actually harder.

What is harder? What is easier? Healing a body is next to impossible. Forgiving sin is impossible apart from God.

Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is the one who will truly know how hard it is to forgive sins. He will go to the cross and lay down His life so that the word – “your sins are forgiven” would be able to be true.

Conclusion – Refer to the opening illustration.