WWUTT 2138 Jesus Heals a Paralytic (Mark 2:1-13)

You're probably quite familiar with the story of Jesus healing the paralytic, demonstrating not only Jesus' power to heal the infirmed, but it's also in this story we understand his authority to forgive sins when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Find all our videos online at www .utt .com, as well as links to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Reading Mark 2:1-13 and the Authority to Forgive Sins

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Mark, we are on to Chapter 2 now, and I'm going to begin by reading the first 13 verses out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. And when he had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there was no longer room, not even near the door, and he was speaking the word to them.

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And being unable to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof over where.

He was.

And when they had dug an opening, they let down the mat where the paralytic was lying. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Child, your sins are forgiven. But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak that way?

He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Immediately Jesus, aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and pick up your mat and walk? But so 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, Get up, pick up your mat, and go to your home.

And he got up immediately, picked up the mat, and went out before everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. And he went out again by the seashore, and the entire crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.

So if you'll remember yesterday when we were in that last section of chapter 1, I said that the emphasis in that section was the fact that Jesus came to preach, saying to his disciples, This is the reason why I came out.

And notice that in this account of Jesus healing the paralytic, we begin and end with Jesus.

Teaching.

It says in verse 2, he was speaking the word to them, and then in verse 13, and he was.

Teaching them.

So once again, even though we have a miracle performed here, and it seems like the emphasis is on the miracle, the reality is that the emphasis is on the teaching, and the miracle authenticates the teaching.

Just as when the apostles were performing miracles in the first years of the building of the church, the miracles that they did authenticated that the word that they spoke came from God. And so this is authenticating, not just that the word that Jesus is speaking is from the Lord, but that he himself is from the Lord.

And we certainly have that in this account, where Jesus has authority even to forgive sins. So let's come back to Mark 2, verse 1. As we look at this story again, we looked at it, what was it, last year sometime when we read the story in Matthew.

This is Mark's account of Jesus healing the paralytic. And when he had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at.

Home.

Now, we really don't know how much time has transpired. The word that Mark loves the most in his gospel is immediately. And here at the start of this account, he doesn't use that word. We do see immediately in the story, but it's not at the start here.

So some amount of time has transpired from the events that we read about in chapter 1 into what we come into here at the start of chapter 2. Mark was using chapter 1 to establish some main characters, to provide some settings, to introduce us to Christ and to his ministry with the miracles that he performed, the demons that he cast out.

Even the demons gave testimony to the fact that Jesus is the son of God. Remember that we started the gospel this way, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, which is a declaration of his divinity.

So here, some time has passed after all of those rapid fire events that we saw one after the other there in chapter 1. And here we come to another account. Now, at the close of chapter 1, it was also said that word had spread about Jesus everywhere so that Jesus couldn't go into any of the towns.

He attracted too much attention. And so he would be out in the countryside and people would come to him. But here he goes back to Capernaum. And what happens when he goes to Capernaum? Word immediately spreads that he is there.

They heard that he was at home, verse 2, and many were gathered together so that there was no longer room. There was at some point in Matthew, I can't remember which chapter this was now, but I had said to you that Capernaum was also mentioned as Jesus' home in a couple of places.

He was from Nazareth. That was where he was raised, born in Bethlehem, of course. But Capernaum was also a place where he made his residence, Capernaum being right there on the Sea of Galilee, there was probably somebody that was generous to open a home up to him.

It may not have been his own house since he was known as a carpenter of Nazareth. It's not like he would have moved his shop down to Capernaum, but this was how he began his ministry. So somebody there in Capernaum likely opened his home up to him and to his disciples.

Remember that Jesus had said when we were reading in Matthew chapter 8, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. So during the time of his earthly ministry, he was most likely living off of the charity of others.

And of course, who wouldn't want to give Christ an opportunity to stay at their house or eat at their table, considering all the incredible miracles that he was doing at this time. So there he was at the home.

Many were gathered together so that there was no longer room. They had come to the house where Jesus was staying. They were packed inside the house, not even near the door. The people had packed in by the door as well so that you could no longer get close enough to the house, perhaps to even hear what Jesus was preaching.

And he was speaking the word to them. That's the end of verse two. So that's what they are there to hear. Of course, they have come to the place because they have heard of all the miracles that Jesus has performed.

They want to hear the miracle worker. And because of these miracles, it's quite important to the Jewish people to understand what this man has to say. Many of them believed he was from God or that he may have been from God.

After all, John the Baptist was a forerunner to him. John the Baptist pointed to him. And there were many that had been there on the day that Jesus was baptized and even heard the voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

So there is enough things surrounding Jesus that have the people's attention. And they're there at the house to listen to what it is that he has to say. He's speaking the word to them. He is teaching what the father teaches in verse three.

And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Now the day is kind of vague. We don't know exactly who these men are. But we know that that this story of the paralytic is such an important one in the ministry of Jesus that it is mentioned in three gospels.

All three synoptic gospels talk about Jesus healing the paralytic, Matthew, Mark and Luke. And so here these four men bring a paralytic, they're unable to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd. So they remove the roof over where he was.

And when they had dug an opening, they let down the mat where the paralytic was lying. Now again, this is such a significant account in the ministry of Jesus that it's in three of the gospels. It's such a significant story even that I remember seeing it visually as a kid in a cartoon in a Bible cartoon that I watched as a child.

And I can vividly remember it. I don't remember much from this particular cartoon, but for whatever reason, the account of the paralytic being lowered through the roof to Jesus who heals the paralytic, that specific animation that they did in this cartoon, I can still remember that.

I can see it visually exactly the way that they drew it. There's something amazing about this story that draws our attention, that three of the gospels would recall it, and that it's one that we often speak of whenever we talk about the miracles that Jesus performed.

If somebody were to ask you, tell me about one of Jesus' miracles, you might talk about feeding the 5 ,000 or walking on water or turning water into wine. This would probably be the one that I would mention first, Jesus healing a paralytic.

And the faith of the people that's demonstrated even in this healing, because they go to such lengths, this man's friends go to such lengths to make sure that this paralyzed man gets before Jesus, removes the roof over where he was and dug an opening in the roof.

And then they let down the mat where the paralytic was lying. Now, it wouldn't be easy for us to do that in an American home. You could certainly break away the roof with some effort if you had to. But this is a house that's not exactly made with concrete.

You work at it hard enough, you're going to be able to tear the roof away even with your bare hands. And so that's what they do. They've got rope with them so that they can lower the paralytic down in front of Jesus.

And Jesus, it says in verse five, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, child, your sins are forgiven. That's the same thing that we read in Matthew's account as well. Matthew 9, 2, seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, take courage, son, your sins are forgiven.

Because this man's friends had such faith to know that Jesus was the miracle worker. And if anybody could heal their friend, it's the Christ. Because of their faith, because they believed, because they went to such lengths for the sake of their friend, so he could have this miracle done for him.

Jesus, observing the faith of his friends, had compassion on this paralyzed man and said, your sins are forgiven. Of all the things to say to him, that's the first thing he says, child, your sins are forgiven.

Because you know what? That is way more important than having arms that work and legs that walk. It is more important that your sins are forgiven. I could be a quadriplegic for the rest of my life, as long as I know my sins are forgiven.

And I am going to get to spend eternity with God in glory. You might think of the story of Johnny Erickson Tata, if you know who she is. She's been a paraplegic, paralyzed from the neck down for most of her life, ever since an accident that she had when she was a teenager.

She's been paralyzed from the neck down. And yet when you hear her testimony, she talks about being able to enter into glory. She's going to walk into glory one day and be before her Lord and dance for him.

And she's so looking forward to that day. In the meantime, she lives her life with joy unto her King, worshiping God with all that she is, even though all that she is can't move real well. But what is most important for Johnny is that her sins are forgiven and that by faith in Jesus Christ, she knows that she has eternity in heaven with God.

That is the most important thing. And so when I've had opportunity to show charity to somebody, whether I take them down to the gas station, get them some gas, take them to the grocery store, buy them some groceries, whatever it might happen to be, if I have that opportunity to show charity to somebody, what is most important for me in that exchange is that I take a moment to share the gospel.

With them.

Because buying them groceries or getting them gas is only going to be temporary fulfillment. Without the gospel, if they do not have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, well, they will perish and they will dwell in hell for an eternity.

And that's not what I want for them. And so the gospel is what's most important, taking an opportunity to share what God has blessed me with, with them, but taking that chance to also share the gospel so that they will receive an even greater reward than whatever few dollars I was able to give them for a short period of time.

They need to hear the gospel of Christ so that by faith in him, their sins will be forgiven and they have fellowship with God now and the promise of life everlasting with him in glory. And so as we go on here, verse six, some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak that way?

He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Yes, exactly. What a great question. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And indeed, we know Jesus is God. He does have the authority to forgive sins as well as the authority to tell this man to get up and walk.

Remember, as Mark is laying out for us here, the authority of Jesus, authority over sickness and disease, authority over the demons, authority even over this man's unmoving limbs. Christ's authority demonstrated here that he can even forgive sins.

Verse eight, immediately Jesus, aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, he said to them, why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and pick up your mat and walk.

If you were with me for our study through Matthew, one of the things I said as we're going through that is that the easy thing to say is your sins are forgiven. That's actually the easier thing to say.

That's the thing that the Pharisees are criticizing him for. He's blaspheming because who can forgive sins but God alone. But Jesus is saying to them, of all the things I say here, that's the easiest thing to say.

Because how can I prove to you that I actually have the authority to forgive sins? I can say your sins are forgiven, but what tangible thing can I present before you to authenticate that that's true? So anybody can say your sins are forgiven and not be able to show proof for it.

But Jesus saying, get up and pick up your mat and walk. That's the more difficult thing to say. So for Jesus to ask this question, that's something for us to ponder as well, which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and pick up your mat and walk.

It's easier to say your sins are forgiven. It's more difficult to say, get up and pick up your mat and walk and actually have that be accomplished. So, verse 10, so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

And then he says to the paralytic, I say to you, get up, pick up your mat and go to your.

Home.

And he got up immediately. This wasn't some gradual, you know, he's starting to get feeling back in his legs here and I've kind of been a little atrophied. So we got to work at it a little bit, poke it with some needles, you know, let me do some finger exercises.

No, immediately. It's that great word that Mark uses. Immediately he got up, he picked up his mat and he went out before everyone, you know, and by the way, none of the charismatic healers can perform a miracle like that.

None of them can. Not one of them has. None of them in our present American evangelical movement, not even anywhere else in the world, frankly, is there somebody who is telling people get up your mat and walk and they immediately do it.

Now, I believe that there are miraculous healings.

Absolutely.

I do believe that a person can be miraculously healed, but it doesn't quite look like that. It doesn't have the immediacy by which Mark presents it here. This is something that people absolutely conclusively know 100 something miraculous has happened here because this man was paralyzed.

Everybody knew this man was paralyzed and here Jesus has said to him, get up, pick up your mat and go home. And it happens right there in front of everybody so that they were all amazed and they were glorifying God saying, we have never seen anything like this.

And so the miracle that Jesus does verifies authenticates. This man is from God. He does the works of God and verse 13 and he went out again by the seashore and the entire crowd was coming to him and he was teaching them.

We continue right on with the very thing that has all the authority, the preaching of the word of God. And you know, that word has authority even to this day. You're not going to be able to declare to somebody to get up and walk, but it is through that word that a person's sins can be forgiven.

As Romans 10 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Earlier in Romans chapter five, you have been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, justified, declared innocent.

Your sins washed away because you believe in Jesus. And we come to know that truth through the preaching of the word. It still has the power to forgive sins and to reconcile man to God. So there are many things in showing love to others.

We must do showing charity, especially to the household of faith. As set in Galatians 6 10, as we have opportunity, let us show charity to everybody. But using those opportunities that we show love to others to give them the gospel, because that is the most loving thing.

If you give a person what they need materially, but you never share the gospel with them, that might actually be a very unloving thing to do. The loving thing is to show a person that they're a sinner in need of a Savior and point them to that Savior who forgives sins, reconciles to God, gives eternal life.

Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let's finish there with prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read. This account, once again, of Jesus healing the paralytic. And through this, we see the power of Christ and his word.

He does have the power to heal us of our infirmities and our diseases. But most of all, and most important, he has the power to forgive our sins. He has the grace and the love to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Convict our hearts that we may confess our sins to you. Cleanse us from all wickedness and lead us in paths of righteousness. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.