Hard to Believe?

Steve Bowyer

The Words and Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

Mark 2:1–12

Luke 5:17–26

Matthew 9:1–8

Crowd at a Paralytic’s Healing

0 ratings

· 1 view

Notes

Transcript

Has Beens & Never Wases

It may be hard to believe, but I was an athlete once.

I recently had a great phone convo w/ my old high school baseball coach.

Small world. My coach, Jim Deckinger, his daughter was a few years behind me in school. I never met her. I had graduated high school before she got there.

She married a guy, Doug McKinnon, who ended up working for Dallas Seminary in development. He is a fund-raiser and one of his contacts was Sara’s parents, who made regular donations to the Seminary where I got my Masters’ degree.

I ended up reconnecting w/ my coach thru Sara’s parents and their connection to DTS.

My senior year, 1978, high school baseball team was pretty good.

First of all, I was one of the “other guys” on the team. This is not me reliving my glory days. My days were only glorious b/c of who I got to play with.

Our best pitcher went to KU on a scholarship and started his freshmen year at QB and pitcher on the baseball team. He played a few years of professional baseball in the minor leagues.

Our 2nd starter went to K-State on scholarship played on the offensive line for their football team. He played professional football in the old USFL in the 80s.

Our SS played baseball for Wichita St, played in the college world series Nat’l championship game. Then played a few years in the minor leagues, he made it to AAA.

One of our outfielders went to U of TX on scholarship, he also played in the college world series and played in the minors for the Dodgers for a few years.

Several other guys played D-1 college ball on scholarship. Our catcher was accepted into the Air Force Academy.

I was offered a couple of juco scholarships. But I didn’t want a juco education so I went to a small college in TX and got to play college baseball but I knew that’s where my playing career would end.

But in high school, we were pretty good.

This whole story may be hard for you to believe. I played 2nd base. Hit leadoff. I was the smallest guy on the team w/ the weakest arm so they gave me the shortest throw to 1st base. Maybe some of that isn’t so hard to believe.

We won the Kansas high school state championship that year. We were undefeated. And there was a magazine that ranked high school teams before the USA today started doing and they ranked us as National Champions that year. The best team in the country.

Again, this may be hard to believe that I was part of a team like that.

The point of reconnecting w/ my coach. They didn’t have my address out here to invite me to the ceremony. But in January, this team was inducted into the Kansas Sports HOF. Years ago we were inducted into the Wichita sports HOF.

To help you get the picture, this was Southeast HS, 1978 in Wichita, KS. 45 years ago, 915 miles away, at least 30lbs less.

Picture of the Team

These are the guys who were able to make it to the HOF ceremony a few weeks ago.

Picture

I kind of figured out who a couple of the guys are. I used to be able to tell by their hair color and size. Here, if they have hair, it’s now all the same color and no one is the same size.

A couple of weeks ago I received a box in the mail that included my old jersey. They gave all the players their uniform jersey from that year.

Picture of me in my jersey.

A little tighter than it was back then. I didn’t split any seams. But it was a trick to peal it off after this.

Do you believe this? Do you believe me? I showed you what I can show you.

An old team photo. A new, partial team photo and nobody looks like they did 45 years ago. A couple of programs. So much arthritis in my elbows and wrists I can’t bowl any more b/c I threw so many baseballs.

I don’t have any video proof. ESPN didn’t exist back then. No TV coverage or tapes. I’m not in the picture at the state ceremony. And, could you have picked me out of the team photo in front of the school back in ‘78.

Is that enough proof for you to give me the benefit of any doubt that I was part of a team like this?

I am somewhere between a has been, and never was. I was part of a team of guys who were a lot better than me. But the team accomplished a lot.

A long long time ago, in a far far away land. I showed you the stuff that’s easy to see but hard to confirm, just so you can laugh at how much hair I used to have.

It’s really not that important to believe me on this. Except, since I’m your pastor you need to believe what I say on Sundays.

As hard as this may be for you to believe about me, it is much harder, and much more important to believe that there is a heaven and only one Man has the ability to get us there and we have only one requirement to meet to get to go.

It was a long, long, long time ago; far, far, far away. And what Jesus taught was about a time way, way, way in the future.

Can we believe Him? Did He give us enough evidence to believe? He can’t show us everything, but did He show us enough?

There is one event in the bible where this is the point.

Jesus said the harder thing thing to say but easier thing to do, to prove He could do the harder thing to do, but the easier thing to say; so that we could believe He can do it for us.

Jesus is not a has been. He is not a never was. Many claimed for themselves what He claimed for Himself. But He is the only One to deliver and prove that He can do it.

He did all this when he healed the paralytic that was lowered down thru the ceiling by his friends.

The story is recorded in 3 places; Mt. 9:1-8; Mk. 2:1-12; and Lk. 5:17-26.

We’re going to spend our time in the Mark passage today.

The Context for the Miracle

Mark 2:1–2 NIV

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

A few days later, after what?

Last week I taught passage where he cleansed the leper. Leprosy was seen as comparable to sin and its effects.

It was a nasty, horrible, fatal and offensive disease. Open wounds that oozed and reeked. The victim as as good as dead and the sight of him and smell of him repulsed everyone he came near.

What we need to get is, what ppl see and smell when we are near a leper is what God sees and smell when He is near a sinner. That’s us before Jesus cleans us up.

He cleansed the leper as evidence that He can cleanse a sinner.

Jesus is back in Capernaum. This is Jesus’s hometown as an adult. Not long before he had cast the demon out of the man in the syn then healed Peter’s MIL at Peter’s house.

If you remember the story, the next day a large crowd from the surrounding region gathered at Peter’s house hoping to hear Jesus and get healed from their maladies. But Jesus left them and went to another village to preach.

He said he came to preach, not heal. He came to be the Messiah, not just a miracle worker.

Imagine the emotions of the ppl who were left in Capernaum at Peter’s house who were suffering and expecting Jesus to relieve them but He left them.

Now, He’s back. Remember, too, He had told the leper not to tell anyone what He did for him b/c that would cause the crowds to swell to the point where it would limit Jesus’s ability preach to more ppl and have reach more ppl.

The cleansed leper blabbed and the crowds grew.

There He was, probably back at Peter’s house, and the crowd was so big, no one else could get in the house. And the doors and windows were so crowded no one else could hear what He was saying.

Luke, up front, v.17, wrote that Pharisees and teachers, Jewish leaders were sitting front and center. He wrote they had come from every village in Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem. They obviously got there early to get the good seats. There was a strong leadership presence for this event.

Just like in church, you have to get here early to get the good seats. We all know what seats those are in here! Back row. If you get here too late you have to sit in the front row where I will baptize you while I teach you b/c I spit when I talk.

But, in Peter’s house, it was the front row. Like concerts and ball games the front row was the best seat in the house.

Why was everybody there?

The leaders were there to evaluate Jesus. They had heard what He said about Himself and what others said about him. Maybe they’d seen a miracle or two. That was their job. Jesus wasn’t the first to make these claims. But He was the only One who proved them true.

They were there to evaluate the evidence. Is He the Messiah or just another imposter?

In the crowd would have been many who were left at Peter’s house the first time. PPL from all over the region and all over town. They were curious.

Some wanted to hear the word of God, how to get to heaven. Others just wanted a magic show.

Jesus did not disappoint any of them. He taught them the Word of God. We don’t know exactly what He said. The reason it’s not included in the story is his teaching isn’t the point here.

And, He gave them a show. The ppl who wanted a miracle were about to see one.

The leaders, not disappointed, saw plenty of evidence for them be able to accurately evaluate Jesus’s claims. Of course, being able t/b accurate is not the same things as actually being accurate.

Here’s what happened next.

The Cause of the Miracle

Mark 2:3–5 NIV

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

A paralyzed man. A quadriplegic. We don’t know why or for how long. We just know he was immobile and req’d help from his friends to get anywhere. He was lying on a poor-man’s bed. It would have been all he could afford.

He had 4 great friends. The 5 of them presented Jesus w/ the opp to prove Who He is and what He can do.

The crowd was so dense it was hard enough for 1 person to squeeze down the row. Impossible for 4 men carrying a quadriplegic on a mat to get in or anywhere near Jesus.

Except, the 4 friends were pretty smart and pretty persistent.

Houses in that day had stairways outside up to the roof. The roof was constructed to bear weight and they used it much like we use our decks. When the weather was nice, they would eat and entertain up there.

One of the Jewish feasts, Feast of Tabernacles or Tents, was commemoration of God providing for Israel as they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness between Egypt and the PL.

So, to celebrate God’s provision, annually, they would set up tents, temporary structures like when they were wandering, sleep and eat in them for a week. Like backyard camping, only they’d do it on their roof. Neighbors would see neighbors on their roof. The kids loved it. S’mores over the fire. Worship services. A weeklong party.

The roof was built to hold all this.

The 4 friends carry this guy up the stairs to the roof. They removed the tiles, like shingles. There was a layer of thatch as insulation. Then the ceiling beams that held the load.

The different gospel writers described the roof in different ways but all consistent w/ this type of construction.

They lowered their friend, thru the beams, down to the floor, right in front of Jesus.

Mark wrote, “Jesus saw their faith.” Everyone saw something.

James, Jesus’s half-brother, wrote a book in your NT. And one of the main themes of his letter is, “You say you are saved b/c you work. I work b/c I’m saved.”

Jesus doesn’t save us b/c we go to church, feed the poor, volunteer in the Red Cross warming shelter, help victims of domestic abuse, clear snow out of our parking lot and off ppl’s driveways.

Jesus saves us b/c we have faith. And, b/c we have faith, we do all these things and more.

The book of Acts. The big idea of the entire book is, “Now that we’re saved, we have work to do.”

The entire book is about the work we do to build the church that Jesus started. He works thru us. He gave us the assignment, empowers us, employs us, equips us, then rewards us for doing what He told us to do w/ the resources he provided.

Jesus has an advantage. He knows our heart. But, he also saw their faith in action.

Faith works.

Faith persists. It doesn’t let a little inconvenience, a crowd, or a tiled roof stop it.

Faith succeeds. It got the man into the presence of Jesus and healed.

Faith saves. It got all 5 of them saved.

The faith of the 4 friends made a difference in the life of the paralytic. Your faith and what you do b/c of it, makes a difference in the lives of those around you. That is, as long as, you do something b/c you have faith.

How faithful are you to pray for the ppl you care about and are concerned about?

Do you really? Or do you just say you do?

How faithful are you to serve your community the way Jesus would if He were here to do it Himself?

Does your faith drive you to action? Or, do you just talk about it.

If you act on your faith, it will impact the ppl you act on.

Seeing their faith, inside them and outside them, Jesus met the man’s greatest need first; salvation, not mobility.

“Son” Relationship w/ Jesus.

Even if Jesus stopped here, the man would be healed eventually, anyway. There is no paralysis in heaven.

Our greatest need is heaven, not comfort. No matter what Jesus does for us here, getting us there is by far the greatest thing He can do for us.

Can we be sure they had a saving faith? Jesus said so. But none of the 3 writers clarified their faith. Why?

B/C the main focus of the miracle is not between Jesus and the paralytic or the 4 friends. The main focus is what comes next between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.

The Consequence of the Miracle

Mark 2:6–12 NIV

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

The leaders were there to evaluate whether or not Jesus broke their law.

The law provided 3 grounds for someone to be convicted of blasphemy.

Deny an attribute of God. He is not the creator, all-powerful, and all-knowing.

Attribute and absurd attribute of God. He barks like a dog.

Claim and attribute of God for yourself. I can forgive sins.

The OT law did not allow for the forgiveness of sins, but gave the procedure ppl must do to achieve forgiveness from God. Priest laying hands on the head of a goat and sending it away. The scape goat. Transfer guilt to the animal, removing it from the ppl.

There were no goats here. No one had ever just declared someone forgiven. Only God could do that.

In their minds, Jesus should have sent the man to the priest to be declared forgiven after the goat was released.

Jesus could read their minds. He knew what was on their hearts. He confronted them on it.

Which is easier to say? Get up and walk. Or, your sins are forgiven.

Easier to say your sins are forgiven b/c it can’t be proved until we all get to heaven and see who’s there and who isn’t. Were this guy’s sins forgiven? Were theirs? Is mine?

They would have immediate evidence about his healing. So, harder to say get up and walk b/c he’d have to make it happen right away to be believed.

If the man didn’t get up, then Jesus would prove himself to be an imposter and guilty of blasphemy as charged.

Which is easier to do? Heal him or save him?

Easier to heal him than get a sinner to heaven.

So, Jesus said the harder thing to say and did the easier thing to do; to prove He was capable of doing the harder thing to do but easier thing to say.

In order to know he has the authority and ability to forgive sins and save us, he healed the man for all to see.

The healing was immediate and complete.

There was no need for therapy to retrain his brain to walk. No therapy for his muscles, bones, and connective tissue. It all worked.

He got up, picked up his mat, and walked out.

Jesus is God and is capable of all that He claimed t/b able to do.

He silenced his critics immediately, if not temporarily.

Double clarity here. It was bel’d in c.1 that sin caused paralysis like this. If it did, it was very rare. But, the religious leadership saw it that way.

So, when the man got up and walked, they would have had to admit whatever sin caused his paralysis had been forgiven.

They face a dilemma once again. They saw the evidence.

Jesus healed the man.

He forgave his sins.

Everyone in and around the house witnessed it.

Jesus read their minds.

Now, do they believe He is Who He says He is. If they do, then they need to believe and get on board.

Or, do they deny all the evidence they see, refuse to believe in the face of all the witnesses who are rational, sane adults.

The crowd, filled w/ awe, praised God, saw Jesus’s authority that God had given Him.

But the leaders refused and missed it.

That day, Jesus proved He has the authority and ability of God to forgive sins and save sinners.

Have you seen enough?

Can you believe I was ever athlete enough to play on a team that won a nat’l championship and be inducted into 2 Halls of fame?

I’m not sure I can and I lived it.

Can you believe Jesus is the only One who can save you? And the only one who can save the ppl you love.

Do you have the faith to do what you need to do?

Then, let’s get into the applications.

Applications

Faith

Faith works. It’s a verb. We don’t work to be saved, we work b/c we’re saved. And ther are lots of places to get involved to act out your faith.

Faith persists. It doesn’t let a little inconvenience stop it. A little snow. A little crowd. A little less sleep.

Faith succeeds. Faith in Jesus, to be led by the HS, do what God is calling you to do, will end in success as God defines it. You may not look like a success to some ppl, but you will to God and that’s all that matters.

Faith Saves. It survives trials and saves you to get to heaven.

Where is your faith and what are you doing about it?

Greatest Need

Our greatest need is spiritual, not physical, mental or emotional. God will meet you greatest need if you ask in faith.

He may stop there, for now. Eventually, if your greatest need is met, all others will be too, when you get to heaven.

In the meantime, you may have the opportunity to tell ppl that your faith is strong even though your comfort level is low.

Can you be okay, when you ask God to do something big for you, no matter what He does even if it’s not exactly what you ask?

He will meet every need. Maybe just not right now.

Your faith, other people

My faith can make a difference in your life. Your faith can make a difference in my life.

Demonstrate your faith by never failing to pray daily for someone you love who needs a little more God in their life.

Show God your faith by what you do for those you love, that He loves, too.

Have you seen enough?

Can you believe I was ever athlete enough to play on a team that won a nat’l championship and be inducted into 2 Halls of fame?

I’m not sure I can and I lived it.

Do you believe this? Do you believe me? I showed you what I can show you.

Did I show you enough proof for you to give me the benefit of any doubt that I was part of a team like this?

I am somewhere between a has been, and never was. I was part of a team of guys who were a lot better than me. But the team accomplished a lot.

Can we believe Him? Did He give us enough evidence to believe? He can’t show us everything, but did He show us enough?

Jesus said the harder thing thing to say but easier thing to do, to prove He could do the harder thing to do, but the easier thing to say; so that we could believe He can do it for us.

Jesus is not a has been. He is not a never was. Many claimed for themselves what He claimed for Himself. But He is the only One to deliver and prove that He can do it.

Related Media

Related Sermons