Mark 2:1-12 Healing the Parlytic

James Amos

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The Holman Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 2)

2 When z He entered Capernaum a again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message b to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, c carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to d Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.5 Seeing their faith, e Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins f are forgiven.” g6 But some of the •scribes h were sitting there, thinking i to themselves: j 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! k Who can forgive l sins m but God alone?” n8 Right away o Jesus understood in His spirit p that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? q 9 Which is easier: r to say to the paralytic, s ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? t 10 But so you may know that the •Son of Man u has authority v on earth to forgive sins,” w He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up, x pick up your mat, and go home.”12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded y and gave glory z to God, a saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” b

Hey everyone, I pray you are having an awesome day and that God has been glorified through you. Have you ever thought you have the best friends? I mean when you think about your friends you think it can not get any better than this. I feel the same way when I think about mine. I’m going to tell you a story about how awesome one of my friends is but first I have to back up just a little bit.

In Sept. of 2018 my family was about to go on a camping trip to one of our state parks. This would be the 2nd trip we would have taken with our new to us camper that my parents blessed us with. That story is great as well but we will save it for a different day. OK so visualize this, my family is packed and ready to go, we are trying to get to the campsite early so we can get setup. Everything seems to be going great until my truck makes a loud pop and starts running like it only has 3 cylinders. Think bout the old cars from Looney Tunes. (Make Noise) Now we have an issue and the truck will barely pull the trailer so I drop it off in the middle of a field. My wife, Ashley, and I spend the next half hour trying to hunt down a local repair shop. She finds one about 4 miles away, so we limp to the shop and the repairman states I have blown out a sparkplug. The good news is he can fix it and we should be on our way shortly. My lovely wife takes the kids across the street to Wal-mart to to pass the time. A couple of hours later we are back in business. We get everyone loaded up and head back to where we left the camper. Before we could even make it to the camper the sparkplug blew out again. I looked over at my wife and I could see the disappointment in her eyes when I said “well there goes the trip”. With some sad faces in tow we limped home. On the bright side of things we live close enough to the park that we drove up there and used our tickets for the events they were having.

Before I get to how great my friend is there is one very important fact I need to tell you. The reason we were trying to get to the campsite early and setup is because Hurricane Florence was heading our way. We were going to get anchored down before the storm got too bad. Well that did not happen and we had to drive home in it. Now we finally got home and I was mentally spent and I’m not quite sure how my friend found out the situation; my wife probably had talked with his wife. Well I get a phone call from him and he says “hey I’m picking up my dad’s truck right now and I’ll be there in a min”. I was like we can wait and he insisted we get the camper that night so it would not get stolen or damaged. Soon he arrived and we drove up to where the camper was and brought it back, all the while Hurricane Florence is full force on us. I know the suspense is killing you on who this friend is so here is his name, Matthew Coleman. This guy is spectacular, he not only left his family at home during the storm but he came to my rescue without me even asking. Actually he did it in spite of my objections. Man I love my friends and I know you feel the same way about yours.

I want to tell you another story about some awesome friends a guy had in the Bible. The story is recorded in Mark 2:1-12. Let’s start reading it now.

When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them. Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic, “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

The central verse that I want you to focus on as we discuss this passage is verse 5, it reads:

Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Almost everything that happens in the story revolves around this verse.

A.The Helpless (The Paralytic)

The first point or person I want to highlight is the Paralytic. He is helpless and can not heal himself. No matter how hard he was to try , he could not make his situation any better. Some scholars think he was a quadriplegic because of the mat that he had to be brought in on. If this is the case he would have had a caregiver to provide for him constantly.

B. The Helpers (The Friends)

Let’s move on to the friends. I think this was an awesome group of guys that really cared for their friend. They knew he needed physical healing so they took him to the One that could do the healing. The 4 friends and the paralytic man probably had heard about Jesus because He had previously healed Simon’s mother in law and many others during his last visit to Capernaum. When the friends arrived at the house where Jesus was preaching they could not get their friend to him because there were so many people. They could not even get in the door. I mean this house was packed tighter than some Pillsbury biscuits. It is what happens next that makes these friends stand out. Instead of turning around and heading back home with their friend they had a different plan in mind. They were determined to get their friend to the One who could heal him.This house was probably a single story dwelling with a flat roof. The roof would have been made of wooden cross beams with branches and brush mixed with clay filling in the gaps. These guys went up on the roof of the house. Next they removed a section of the roof and lowered their friend down front of Jesus.

C. The Healer (Jesus)

Now let’s look at the Healer and what he was doing in this home. He was “speaking the word to them” or we could say sharing the gospel. Jesus was doing what He had done everywhere he went since his ministry started. In this passage it is not revealed what exactly Jesus was teaching but we know it drew a crowd so large no one else could fit into the house. When Jesus spoke people listened whether it was because they believed him or they were trying to catch him in a lie. As soon as the Paralytic reached the floor he had an encounter with jesus, the healer. Jesus seeing the state that the man was in tells him “your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knew this man was crippled but also knew that he needed his sins forgiven more that the physical healing.

D. The Hassle (Conflict between Scribes and Jesus)

Now the Hassling or conflict starts within the Scribes hearts. They think Jesus has committed blasphemy because they know only God can forgive sins.Here are a few verses that state this truth:

Exodus 34:5–7 (CSB)

5 The LORD came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the LORD.” 6 The LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed:

The LORD—the LORD is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

IS 43:25 “I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions

for my own sake

and remember your sins no more. 1

1 Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Is 43:25.

Jesus knowing what they were thinking poses a question to them. Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 1

1 Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mk 2:8–9.

Instead of waiting for an answer Jesus shows He has the authority or power to forgive sins by commanding the paralytic to “get up ...and go home.” This display of power showed everyone that Jesus has the authority of God.

As a result everyone worshipped God because they were amazed at what they had just witnessed.

E. The Harvest (Conclusion)

We are all like the paralytic because in our sinful state we are helpless. We can not do anything to change it outside of believe that Jesus paid the debt for our sins on the cross and rose again on the third day.

If we have a relationship with God, it was probably assisted by some friends or helpers. What I mean is that it was by the hearing of the gospel that the Holy Spirit started changing your life.

Jesus the Healer is the only one who can remove our sin. This is because he is both God and man and was able to be the perfect sacrifice.

So the questions I have for you are

Are you still sick and in need of healing?

Are you leading people to the Healer by sharing the gospel or good news with them?

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