Introduction

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In our passage today … Jesus sees things that you and I don’t.  What I mean is … what YOU and I see as important in life … is usually not what Jesus sees as important.  And what Jesus sees as important in life … is usually not what you and I see as important.  So the message of this passage is … Jesus wants to help us see a little more clearly … by showing us what’s important in life.

Now Simon Manchester says this passage is arguably the most important passage on Jesus outside of the Passion Narratives.  The reason he says that is because this passage tells us everything important we need to know about Jesus … AS WELL AS everything important we need to know about ourselves.  OK … if we ONLY had these 12 verses … plus the Passion Narratives … we’d have everything we need to know about what is important in life.

Now last week we saw Jesus hit a watershed moment in his ministry.  Will he be a miracle worker … or a teacher.  In THIS week’s passage … we see ANOTHER turning point in Jesus’ ministry.  And THIS turning point … is that up until this moment … everything Jesus has said or done … has pleased everyone.  Yet in today’s passage … we see the first sign of opposition to Jesus.  And this isn’t low level opposition.  It comes from the top.  The religious leaders.

Yet what’s fascinating about this … is that this opposition is self-inflicted.  Jesus KNOWS his words and actions in today’s passage will trigger this first wave of opposition to his ministry.  So the question is … WHY does Jesus do it?  He’s only WEEKS into his ministry at this stage.  WHY does Jesus bring his honeymoon period to a crashing, grinding halt … like the guys in that joke … by saying something he KNOWS will cause problems.

Well … it’s because Jesus sees better than we do.  And he wants to show the people in this passage … as well as the people READING this passage … what is truly important in life.  And I’ve got 3 points today to help us see this.  So we’re going to begin by looking at what these men THINK they need from Jesus … vs. what Jesus SAYS they need.  And I’ve titled this point (i) What Jesus sees … v. 1-5.  We’ll then look at (ii) What Jesus does … point 2 … which SHOWS he knows what he’s talking about … v. 8-12.  We’ll then conclude with our application … which is (iii) What Jesus wants … for you and I.  How can WE hold as important in life … that which Jesus holds as important in life?  So please come with me as we look at what Jesus sees is important in life.

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What Jesus sees (v. 1-5)

 

And our passage begins with Jesus going back to his base of operations.  While Jesus has been travelling around Galilee … Northern Israel … teaching and proclaiming the evangelion … the good news … we’re told he would often return to Capernaum.  And when he does … he gets swamped:

Mark 2:2 (NIV) They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door

THEN something crazy happens:

Mark 2:3-4 (NIV) Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 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

So … picture the scene!  Imagine you’re at a dinner party … and you hear some people on the roof.  And these people start removing the roof tiles.  Then you hear some thuds from the ceiling … as they jump into the roof cavity.  Then these people start bashing HOLES in the ceiling … before they lower someone down on a mat.  And when he makes it to the ground … he doesn’t stand up.  And you think ‘OH!’  This guy is here to be healed.  OK … word was out that Jesus had authority to heal.  And this guy has come to get some of that.  But what happens next is even MORE crazy:

Mark 2:5 (NIV) When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now at this point … those present were probably thinking to themselves ‘hey Jesus.  Do you not SEE the guy’s legs?  He can’t use his legs bro.  He’s here for a healing … not an absolution.’  But here’s the thing.  What these 5 men think is important … is not what Jesus thinks is important.  What Jesus is doing here … is he’s saying to the man ‘IF I give you back the ability to walk … you MIGHT be elated for the first few weeks … and even happy for the first few months.  But sooner or later … the roots of discontentment will sneak back into your life.  The reason being … what you THINK is important in life is NOT what’s important in life.

Think of it this way.  Imagine this episode ended at v. 5 … and the guy has to be carried back home.  If that were the case … I imagine this guy … his friends … and his family would be pretty disappointed … right.  ‘I mean Jesus healed fevers … diseases … leprosy … but he can’t give me my legs back’.  Then imagine the guy 20 years later.  He’d STILL be disappointed.  But 40 years later … he dies.  And when he gets to the pearly gates … St Peter … or whoever it is … says ‘good news!  You’re on the list.  Come and enjoy eternal paradise.’  And the paralysed man says ‘how?’  And St Peter says ‘it says here that Jesus has forgiven you all your sin’.  And so the paralysed man WALKS into heaven … and walks straight over to Jesus and says ‘thank you for forgiving me my sin’.  Then 20 years later … he says thank you to Jesus again.  Then 20 billion years later … he’s still saying thank you to Jesus for forgiving his sins.

What Jesus is saying here … is the things we THINK will give our lives meaning and happiness … will actually end up sucking all the meaning and happiness OUT of our lives.  There’s an article you can read on-line … written by Cynthia Heimel for a NY publication called ‘The Village’.  In it she identifies 3 high profile celebrities … whom I won’t name here.  And she says before these people became famous … they were perfectly pleasant normal people.  But the instant they became famous … she says they woke up the next morning miserable.  Now they ALSO became really arrogant and really entitled.  But they were unhappier than the rest of us non-famous people.  Why?  Because the thing they THOUGHT would fulfil them and make them happy in life … didn’t.  Cynthia finishes her article by saying God plays a rotten joke on people … when he gives them everything they want.  THEN he sits back and giggles at the fact that they then want to kill themselves.

Now what we see in this passage is Jesus DOESN’T play rotten jokes on people.  He says to this man ‘YOU might be interested in what’s skin deep.  But I’M interested in digging into your very soul.’  Because what’s making you miserable in life is NOT your inability to walk.  It’s that you THINK the ability to walk will make you happy and fulfilled.  And it won’t.

So the FIRST question this passage asks us is … what is OUR functional saviour?  What is it we look to … to give our lives meaning and happiness.  Because if it isn’t Jesus … then that thing will end up making us miserable.

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What Jesus does (v. 6-12)

 

So … that’s what Jesus SEES.  He sees into our very souls … and sees what it is that is stopping us from living a fulfilled and happy life.  The NEXT thing we see in this passage is WHY Jesus is the only thing that can bring true meaning and satisfaction in life.  So AFTER Jesus offers this man forgiveness we read this in:

Mark 2:6-7 (NIV) Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Now the teachers of the law are the antagonists in the gospels.  Along with the Pharisees … THEY’RE the ones who conspire to have Jesus killed.  Yet like the demon from a few passages earlier … they actually speak the truth here.  No one can forgive people their sins except God alone.  Think of it this way.  Imagine 3 friends … Tom, Dick and Harry.  And imagine Tom punches Dick square in the face … for no reason.  Then Harry goes up to Tom and says ‘I forgive you Tom’.  What do you think Dick is going to say about that?  He’s going to say ‘you can’t forgive Tom.  Only I can … because it was ME he punched in the face.’

And so the REASON the teachers of the law are up in arms here … is because in forgiving this man his sins … Jesus is saying ‘all this man’s sin … is against me’.  And the only person who could possibly say that … is God.  The reason being … God made us for a purpose.  And when we go against that purpose … we violate the very thing he MADE us for; to live for God.

Now … before we look at how Jesus handles this charge of blasphemy … one small thing to note … and that is that Jesus seems to forgive this man WITHOUT him first repenting.  Yet the clear teaching of Scripture is … that without repentance … there is no forgiveness.  And that goes for US too … when we’re forgiving those who have hurt us.  The Bible says we are to OFFER forgiveness to everyone.  If someone hurts us 77 times … we are to get to the point where their sinful actions are no longer harbouring the root of bitterness.  For OUR sake … as well as theirs … as well as God’s … God wants us to OFFER forgiveness to everyone.  But we cannot GIVE forgiveness … until they ask for it … until they repent.  Otherwise … we’re in effect saying what they did doesn’t really matter.

So WHY does Jesus forgive this man without repentance?  Well … either Jesus is overturning the Bible’s teaching on repentance here … OR perhaps Jesus is once again looking into this man’s soul … and sees a desire for forgiveness.  And that’s all Jesus needs.  He is so eager to be gracious to us … that he will grab even the smallest … most inarticulate expression of dependence … and grant us what we need.  So he forgives the man.

But Jesus still has this charge of blasphemy to deal with … which he knew was coming.  In declaring his authority to forgive sins … Jesus KNEW he was making a clear claim to divinity.  So HOW is he going to back up such a bold claim?  Several years ago I saw Uri Geller on a British game show.  Uri Geller is the guy who could bend spoons with his ‘mind’.  And they said ‘what trick have you got for us today Uri’.  And he said ‘I want everyone at home to put a spoon on the top of their TV set.  And when I say ‘1-2-3-GO!’ … the spoons will fly off the TV and across the room.  And the host says ‘but Uri … how can we KNOW whether it’s worked?’  And Uri said ‘oh … people will email in and tell you it worked’.  That’s of course code for ‘I can’t back up my claims’.  So what does Jesus do to back up HIS claim?

Mark 2:8-9 (NIV) 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? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?

Now in almost 2000 years … we STILL don’t know which is easier.  Like anyone can SAY ‘your sins are forgiven’ … because there’s no way to prove it one way or another.  We can’t ask God to email in and tell us they’re forgiven.  It’s not how it works.  But when it comes to Jesus … he CAN actually heal people.  It’s really SIMPLE for him to heal people.  What’s HARD for Jesus … is forgiving people their sins.  Because forgiveness means absorbing someone’s debt.

So for example … ‘debt forgiveness’ means you don’t make the person pay their debt back.  You absorb that financial debt yourself.  It’s the same when we forgive those who have hurt us.  We absorb any metaphorical ‘debt’ they’ve opened up with us … rather than make THEM pay it off.  When Jesus grants forgiveness … he’s absorbing the debt of rebelling against the one person we’re infinitely obliged to obey.  So while it’s easier to SAY ‘your sins are forgiven’ … because you don’t have to back it up … it’s much harder for Jesus to do it.  To forgive this man his sins … Jesus had to go to the cross.

Yet in order to SHOW that he is the Lord of heaven … who has authority to GRANT forgiveness of sins … Jesus does the thing that is verifiable on the spot.  He heals the man … who gets up … takes his mat … and walks out.

But notice what Jesus has DONE here.  In giving the man what he originally THOUGHT was important … he has shown the man … and everyone else … that he’s come to take care of what IS important.  You see Jesus KNOWS claiming authority to forgive sins is going to elicit serious opposition.  And so here in Mark 2 … just weeks into his ministry … Jesus is purposefully taking his first steps towards the cross. So while Jesus DOES heal the man … he does so … to show us what’s REALLY important in life.  And that is … having our sins taken away.

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What Jesus wants

 

So … the final question is … what do we do with this?  We’ve seen what Jesus SEES.  And we’ve seen what Jesus DOES.  The final thing to see is what Jesus WANTS.  And there are 3 things by way of application that I’d like to discuss with us today.

And the FIRST thing I want to say is to those who might be looking into Jesus for the first time.  You haven’t yet committed to Jesus … you’re not willing to take the mantle of ‘Christian’ yet … but you’re looking into it.  Can I begin by saying that is awesome!  Keep looking.  Yet what this passage tells us is … Jesus is not interested in your agenda.  What do I mean?  I mean …

• Some people come to Jesus … because they’re looking for something spiritual in life

• Others come because they want help with something … like their career

• Some people come to Jesus because they’ve blown their life up somehow … and they’re lost

• While others come because they’re fleeing addiction

• Some people come to Jesus because their marriage is on the rocks

• While others WANT to get in touch with their Christian roots … but want to straighten their lives out first.

The guy in our passage today came to Jesus because he wanted physical healing.  And Jesus just brushes straight past it.  Why?  Because ANY agenda we might have … pales into insignificance when held up against eternity.  When we hold our life up against eternity … there’s only 1 thing that really matters.  And that is having our sins taken away.  So to those who are considering Jesus … our application for today is … leave whatever agenda you might have for Jesus at the door … and instead come and get what Jesus says is important in life.  Repent of your sins … and receive the gift that will keep on giving into eternity; the forgiveness of your sins.

The second thing I want to say is to the Christians among us.  And that is … does what WE think is important in life … align with what Jesus thinks is important in life?  And the way we answer that … is by looking at 2 things.  We look at (i) our prayers, and (ii) our daydreams.  And by daydreams … I mean look at where our thoughts naturally turn … when we’ve got nothing else to think about.  So (i) what are the things we pray about the most?

• Do we pray most often … for health and safety?

• Do we pray mostly for finding a good spouse … or the success of our children?

• Do we pray most often for passing exams … or getting ahead in life?

And where do our thoughts naturally turn … when nothing else is vying for our attention?

• Do we daydream about winning the lotto?

• Do we daydream about the downfall of that person who hurt us?

• Or do we daydream about being famous or successful?

Because what Jesus cares about the most … is NOT our physical or emotional issues.  Now that’s not to say he doesn’t care about those things at ALL.  But what Jesus cares about MOST … is our spiritual wellness.  Now first and foremost … that’s having our sins forgiven.  Yet once that’s taken care of … spiritual wellness means ridding our life of sin … and living for God.  And so our second piece of application today … is to make spiritual wellness the MAIN focus of our personal prayer life … until it becomes the main focus of our daydreams as well.  Let us align what WE think is important in life with what Jesus says is important in life.

Then finally … how quickly do we take our non-Christian friends or family to their need for forgiveness?  Like WHEN the topic of Jesus comes up … and PRAY for those opportunities to arise … how quickly do we mention forgiveness?  Because for Jesus … that was number 1.  Now that’s not to say that’s the ONLY thing Jesus spoke about.  The Sermon on the Mount covers a HUGE range or topics.  But when Jesus met people like the man in our passage today … the FIRST thing he mentioned was his need for forgiveness.  So application point number 3 for today is … after we focus OUR attention on what is important in life … let’s not keep that to ourselves.  Like Jesus … let’s make forgiveness the number 1 thing we tell others.

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Conclusion

 

Because THAT … is what Jesus sees is important in life.  So friends … whatever it is that makes us angry … or upset in life.  Whatever it is that we grieve over the most in life … and for this guy it was not being able to use his legs … which is pretty huge.  May we allow this passage to realign our priorities.  Because IF we can do that … those things that tend to make our lives more miserable … when we don’t get them … will do so less and less.  Because when we put our lives up against eternity … we realise the ONLY thing that counts … is Jesus saying to US … ‘my child … your sins are forgiven’.