True God

William H. Banegas June 10, 2012

Scripture: Mark 2:1-13 “And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.”

Theme: Jesus the Christ, the Son of Man, verifiably is God, therefore, receive His teaching.

Introduction: The passage that is before us today is one of my favorite to reflect on. When I was in college taking my last semester of New Testament Greek, my Greek teacher made this passage really come alive for us. One of the most-debated topics is that of the Deity of Jesus Christ, that is, Jesus is God. Today we have religious groups like the Unitarians, who have a church right in the middle of Old Town Manassas, and even the Muslims who completely deny that Jesus is God. To answer this question it’s best to ask the Man Himself and let Him verify for us Who He truly is. Jesus the Christ, the Son of Man, verifiably is God, therefore, receive His teaching.

Book Background: Though subject to much debate, the Gospel of Mark is believed to be the earliest written Gospel, written about AD 57-59 from Rome to Gentile Christians; this Gospel takes some pains to explain some Jewish customs. The testimony of the early church indicates that John Mark, a companion of the Apostle Peter and Barnabas, wrote this Gospel. This Gospel probably draws from the following sources: the Apostle Peter’s sermons and teachings, contact with Paul and Barnabas, probably own memories, units of oral traditions, independent traditional sayings of Jesus linked together by “catch words”, summarized oral tradition. Oral tradition was not only very popular at this time but also very reliable as their standards for memorization were very high.

Narrative background

An Up and Coming Teacher

The first Chapter of Mark begins by introducing us to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus who would “prepare the way” for that generation to receive Jesus by preaching and teaching. Not only does the chapter introduce us to an initial teaching from Jesus about salvation but also to some pretty amazing things that Jesus did: Relieving a man of demon possession and healing Peter’s mother-in-law - things that gave authority to Jesus’ teachings and attracted a following. So much so that a crowd has gathered at a first-century Jewish home - a crowd that has crowded out any others who would wish to “see” Jesus.

The Home of Peter, the Apostle

All the commentaries I consulted have testified that they believe, given the context that this is Peter’s home. First century Jewish homes were either one or two-story structures that usually had an open porch in the front. If this home had a porch then this would account for the fact that, at the moment this event takes place in our passage, there is no room for anyone to come in not even to the door, the whole house was jammed with people to hear Jesus “speaking” the Word. Another commentary I consulted speculates that this home had a door leading to the street only based upon that the door was jammed with people not allowing anyone inside the “house”.

These homes had a flat roof with a trap door leading to it - used something like a modern living room. It had a fence going around it for obvious reasons. The tiles that composed the roof were made of plates of burnt clay upon which a mixture of mortar, tar, ashes, and sand was spread in addition, grass would grow and it was not uncommon to find goats belonging to the owner of the home on a roof feeding - if the four men who bore the man with the palsy had to contend with Peter’s goats, I don’t know.

In the course of studying for this passage, the thought occurred to me - this is Peter’s house and his roof is being taken apart!!!

Palsy

This is a debilitating disease in which partial or full paralysis is the result

Safely assume the latter as this man was either too weak to take himself to Jesus or completely paralyzed and had to be taken by these four to Jesus

Caused by the cessation of the nervous activities: the brain’s signals to the limbs through the nervous system are interrupted

In order to receive forgiveness of sins, you must come to Jesus with faith.

Notice, the man with palsy also had faith - and Jesus responded with words of comfort “son”.

Consider the unconquerable faith of the four - they would not be defeated.

Jesus has the authority to forgive sins because He is God. *Notice: the Pharisees did not ask the wrong question, they assumed the wrong premise.*

God alone can forgive sins and to wrongly claim such was punishable by death.

Daniel 9:9 “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;”

Leviticus 24:15, 16 “And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.”

We know Jesus is God because He knows the inner dialogues of the hearts of men. Psalms 44:21 “Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”

We know Jesus is God because He has the power to heal.

Consider the magnitude of this miracle. v. 11

It is unknown not only the age of this man but also for how long he was sick with the palsy; he may been born with this illness and never walked a day in his life - now he has the coordination to walk and doesn’t stumble like an infant just learning to walk.

Muscles that are not used atrophy, or deteriorate over time, but this man immediately got up - his muscles were immediately restored to full use.

This miracle took place as Christ spoke several words to this man - The Power of the Word of Christ!

Consider the response to this miracle. V. 12-13

“They glorified God” Only God could do that!

Completely amazed - “Amazed out of their mind”

Others received His teaching. V. 13

Conclusion: Jesus begins His public teaching ministry in Mark 1:15 where He instructs us that the appropriate response to the coming Kingdom of God is to Repent and believe the Gospel. Repentance is defined as a change of mind that demonstrates itself in a change of action. We change our minds about sin to reflect God’s attitude toward sin. And we accept as true through faith the Gospel, or good news, about Jesus: 1) that He died on the Cross for our sins, 2) He was buried, 3) He rose again from the Dead, 4) He was seen by many in testimony to His physical resurrection from the dead - according to the Scriptures. Have you received Jesus’ teaching? He is God and will hold you accountable for His Words and what you do with them.