Mark 2:1-12 “Arise, Take Up Your Bed"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Thank you for your Bday wishes… I’ll be 46 on Tuesday… Amanda is much younger than me… much much…

Special Guest: Kevin Denlinger… Welcome back!

Please open your Bibles to Mark 2. Mark 2:1-17 today.

Last time, we finished Mark 1 and Jesus had begun what is called His “Great Galilean Ministry”… which extends for multiple chapters ahead… ending somewhere around Chapter 6 or 7… even beyond depending on which scholar you read.

Jesus has called His first disciples… Peter, Andrew, James, and John. “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

They go to City of Capernaum (in the Galilee Region)… and Jesus shows these disciples what it means to Follow Him… to imitate Him… not just to walk after Him… but to become like Him.

All in one day… in various ways… Jesus demonstrates His authority… through teaching… casting out demons… healing Peter’s mother-in-law… and then after sundown healing everyone brought to Him in Capernaum in public…

As Jesus went beyond Capernaum to minister throughout the Galilee… one person He healed was a leper…

And Jesus asked him specifically not to share with anyone about the healing miracle he received, but he told everyone.

It’s kind of a big ask. Imagine if you had been living in isolation from leprosy and now were healed and could rejoin the community.

But, in not being obedient… the leper hindered Jesus’ ministry because Jesus could no longer enter the town because of the crowds.

Forcing Him to minister in out in the deserted country.

Today, in Chapter 2… we pick up where Jesus is back in Capernaum… and Mark takes a snapshot of the famous healing where the friends of the paralytic man lower him through the roof…

A very rich and well known scene. What a blessing to have this before us today!

This is a great scene that demonstrates Jesus has the authority to heal and forgive sins because He is God.

And, the title of our teaching reflects a climatic moment in these verses today… and an application for any who need to hear… “Arise, Take Up Your Bed.”

Let’s Pray!

Mark 2:1-2 “And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.”

I love how chapter two begins. Jesus returns to Capernaum on the north-side of the Sea of Galilee… after ministering all around the Galilee region…

And, once people heard Jesus was in the house… meaning Peter and Andrew’s family home…

A typical small flat-roofed Palestinian home… with a stairway leading to the roof top where people commonly gathered.

The people don’t waste anytime, but immediately they gather. And, so many people gather that you couldn’t even get near the door.

Lk 5:17 tells us “...as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.”

So, even the religious leaders gather en masse… which is not surprising…

Jesus had already cleansed the temple His first time… He had been throughout Judea and Galilee… He was on their radar.

Note… they do not interrupt Him here while He teaches… they’ll reserve that for later…

And, as this crowd has gathered…

Notice Jesus doesn’t shoo them away. “Hey get off my grass!”

Jesus doesn’t get impatient and overwhelmed by the crowds.

Jesus doesn’t complain about the lack of privacy of people gathering outside the house where he is staying… or cal 911.

None of these things we may feel tempted to feel…

I mean… can you imagine… if a crowd of people was so thick outside your house that you couldn’t even approach your front door?

That’s the scene here.

So, what does Jesus do? Look at the end of V2…

Jesus “preached the word to them.”

Jesus could have chosen to say or do many things with this crowd in front of Him.

But, in His infinite wisdom, He chose to preach the word to them.

2 Tim 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

And, Jesus feeds them the word… He equips them.

He met a need they all had… a universal need… He teaches them the word of God.

Mark doesn’t record what He preached… because Mark records Jesus doing… and less on the content or theology.

Note… NOT ALL of the people who gathered were sick. Not ALL of them were demon possessed. Probably the vast majority of them were like you and I… mostly decent health minus a few complaints…

They had jobs… they had homes… they had family and friends.

But, they still had a need that was universal for all people… they needed truth.

So, Jesus “preached the word to them.”

And the word of God is truth.

That’s what Jesus called the word in John 17:17 when Jesus prayed His ‘High Priestly Prayer’ to the Father and said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Jesus ‘preached the word to them.’ Jesus preached truth to them.

Many of these people were living life, but truly just drifting in life… like a boat without a compass.

Can anyone relate to that? Living life but not really sure of the direction you are going.

Ps 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path.”

The word guides us by showing us the right way to go.

Ps 119 is such a rich Psalm to read to meditate upon how precious God’s word is.

As a side study go through Ps 119 and underline or highlight all the references to God’s word, law, statutes, precepts, commandments, ordinances… His testimonies…

Oh… it’s such a rich Psalm to meditate upon and leaves you appreciating His word.

Many of these people gathered at the door of Peter’s house… they sought truth… they sought direction… and they sought something pure… they were tired of what the world was offering them…

On one hand… there were the ultra religious Pharisees… who Jesus called out as hypocrites for their religious show, but their hearts were far from God.

The people didn’t want that hypocritical and judgmental hyper conservatism.

On another hand… there was the Roman and Greek culture… with all it’s false gods and licentious worship practices.

And, the people didn’t want that liberal anything goes philosophy.

Droves of people were going out into the wilderness… to see the wild-man John the Baptist… who preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

And, that’s what they wanted … they wanted to turn from all that was false… and turn to the truth.

They wanted Messiah. They wanted a Savior. They wanted something real and pure.

Something that could be tried and found to be without deceit… without falsehood… without error.

Ps 12:6 states, “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.” [like the purest silver known]

And, that’s exactly what Jesus gave them when He “preached the word to them.”

That’s why here at Calvary Chapel we teach and preach the word of God.

This is what Jesus did. This is what His disciples did after Him. This is what wise saints throughout the ages have done.

And, we will not shun “to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Acts 20:27

Even if we are mocked as Isaiah was for teaching “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little...”

The word is truth… the word is a lamp to our feet… the word is pure…

And, we will stay centered on Jesus’ word that He preached to them.

Well… as Jesus was preaching… a group of friends… desperate to get their friend to Jesus… come up with a pretty ingenious way to get their friend to Jesus…

Mark 2:3-5 “Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Amazing scene… still almost 2000 years later. What Mark captures in these verses changed lives… rocked a religious system… shows faith in action… so rich in application for us today.

Four men… we presume they are his friends… could be family… they know his condition.

This man is not homeless… Jesus instructs him to go to his house in V11, so there’s some level of care… a support system around this man… he’s not abandoned… he has a house… he has four men in his life… and probably other family.

But, he’s paralyzed… King James says “one sick of the palsy.” By def. “as if dissolved.” Such a sad definition for a sad condition.

We don’t know if paralysis came by an accident... or a disorder like Cerebral Palsy or Spinal muscular atrophy… It’s even possible this man had late stage syphilis…which can cause paralysis.

But indeed, he was paralyzed… he had no modern technologies… no battery powered wheelchair…

He had a mostly horizontal existence. Bed sores would have been familiar.

He was living in a culture where men worked physically… they labored… there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for paralyzed men from the Galilee.

No computer programmers.

Not to mention he lived in a culture that said physical sickness was due to your sin… and he had to carry that.

In John 9:2… you see this kind of thinking later in the disciples, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Did this paralyzed man’s parents carry unnecessary shame and guilt?

He was in a hopeless situation.

Except… he had four men who were determined to get him to Jesus.

And, getting to Jesus was not easy. The house was small and the crowd was large… they couldn’t even approach the door.

So, they take the stairs to the roof…

The roof was likely made of wooden beams, thatch, compacted mud, tiling…

And, these men decide… let’s break through.

And, can you imagine?… you’re in the middle of bible study and dirt starts falling down on you… then a little sunlight… and some dude sticks his head in the hole all excited with some dopey smile.

Kind of like coming home to a dog who has destroyed your shoes… and they’re all excited to see you… “Hi Dad!!”

And, poor Jesus… he was getting a track record of having His teachings disrupted. In chapter 1 a demon cried out during His teaching… and in Chapter 2… now these guys…

These guys who are carrying their friend on a bed… not like a Sealy, but a simple portable mat somehow improvised where they could lower him somehow through the roof.

I have a slide of an artist’s rendition of this scene… here the artist portrays a mat… I’ve seen other pictures with a wooden frame and ropes…

It’s impossible to say exactly how they lowered him.

Maybe they just roll him up like a burrito and slide him in. We’re not told.

I did not see any pictures of people dropping him. We assume proper care was taken to avoid further harm.

Mark’s gospel has the greatest detail of these men breaking through the roof… which is good support for Mark recording details from Peter.

Obviously this event would have been bothersome for Peter… some guys broke through his roof.

Reminds me of party I had in High School at my parent’s house… my friends started wrestling and one of them went right through the dry wall.

Definitely not a parallel scenario, but it’s not fun when your house gets damaged.

Peter was feeling this.

But, what would you do to get your friends to Jesus? Would you go to these lengths? Would you think outside the box… or I guess in this case… did a hole through the box for your friends sake?

How many of our friends are like this man? Paralyzed.

How many of our friends are paralyzed by some secret vice?

Or paralyzed by the love of money.

Paralyzed even with legalism… they have no freedom in Christ… there’s is a paralysis of analysis.

These friends use determination and ingenuity to find a way to get their friend to Jesus.

And, Jesus… He didn’t flip out. “Whoa… stop destroying the house? Peter just put on a new roof! It had a 10 year warranty. The insurance company will never cover this.”

That’s what we would say if someone cut a hole in our roof.

But, Jesus doesn’t get bent out of shape about the house… look again at V5… “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Jesus would do the impossible because He “saw their faith.”

Jesus loved their faith. He wasn’t mad that they disrupted His teaching.

I remember leading Bible Study in the Philippines under a 20’ x 30’ pavilion.

I had about 10 youth and adults at one corner… and Amanda had about 35 kids… and sometimes they erupted in laughter.

So, we would pause for a moment… check out what the uproar was about… giggle and go on with our lesson. No big deal. We were happy... kids were excited about Jesus.

Pastor Chuck used to say, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.”

Jesus was flexible… and such an interesting phrase “Jesus saw their faith.”

Not their physical strength or intellect. He didn’t see their college degree or bank account.

He saw their faith.

This is the first time faith in mentioned in Mark’s gospel and it’s NOT paired with intellect or feeling, but with action.

Jesus saw their faith. It was observable.

Reminds me of James 2:18 “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

This act of lowering their friend was not a prank… they weren’t trying to punk Jesus.

This was genuine and observable faith as seen through their good works.

Can people observe your faith? Is your faith obvious?

If you took an account of your life… of the moments your faith was visible… the times you followed Christ and had to take steps of faith even though walking in faith may have seemed reckless… or illogical.

Walking away from a career to pursue calling. Jesus’ disciples did this. Anyone here? I did.

My boss was trying to talk me out of it and said, “Just make sure this is a good long-term decision.”

I was thinking, “What’s more long-term then Eternity?” He didn’t win me over with that logic.

The friends of this paralytic… they were in the midst of one of those “take a leap of faith moments.”

They didn’t know if the teacher would be angry with them.

Or, the cost they would have to pay for the damages.

They just knew the Teacher had the power to heal… and so they fought to get their friend to Jesus.

Oh… if we only fought this hard to get our friends to Jesus!

And then… when Jesus saw their faith… the most amazing of statements, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Matthew records Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Not as in ‘cheer up’, because that’s not what you say to someone who has been paralyzed for years, but lit. “take courage.”

And, it would take courage, because how many times was he let down in life. It takes courage to look into the face of hope… to look into the face of Jesus and believe.

Was Matthew at the scene to know this detail that Jesus said, “be of good cheer”?

In the very next scene Matthew is called to Follow Jesus and he does.

Was this healing of the paralytic the event that pushed Matthew over the edge?

Was this what Matthew himself needed to be courageous to walk in faith… leave his career… and follow Jesus?

I know for me… two months before He called me to follow Him… he healed my wife.

She was pregnant with Timothy… who’s 10 now… one day her leg swelled up… she couldn’t stand…

The hospital sonogram revealed she had a continuous blood clot from her abs to her calf.

The prognosis was poor… she could die… they couldn’t do surgery because she was pregnant… all they could do was start her on a blood thinner called Lovonox and that would take a year to clear a 2.5 foot long clot.

A month later… lot’s of people praying for her… a second sonogram… the clot was gone. It was gone… a medical miracle!

June 2005 she was diagnosed… July 2005 she was healed… August 2005… I’m drinking like a fish and Jesus calls me to Follow Him.

And, when His words rang in my head, “You need to put to death the old man and get baptized again.”

I was able to take courage, have faith and obey… because He had been setting it up for months.

Heb 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

The same who called me… called Matthew…and called this paralytic to faith…to follow.

And, He’s the same God who is working in your life as well.

Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Jesus was able to look at and into the man and He knew exactly what the man’s condition was.

He knew exactly what this man’s greatest need was… which was NOT physical restoration of all his capacities to move his body…

BUT… the forgiveness of sins.

What does that say about God’s mindset… about God’s greater emphasis on the eternal versus the temporal? It says a lot.

We don’t know if this man had a sin in his life that caused this condition.

He could have gotten drunk one night and got into a fight or fallen and caused himself to be paralyzed.

One dumb decision in life can have a tremendous impact for the rest of your life.

My wife went to college with a guy that dove into the ocean, I believe, but it was a shallow spot… forever paralyzed.

If the man here in Mark was paralyzed due to late stage syphilis… that was not treatable during this time… was he carrying guilt?

Did he think over and over about his sin… did he wish he could go back and take that one moment back?

To not make that mistake? “If I could do it all over again.”

Did he accept his condition… as some do… “I’m getting what I deserve.”

Maybe there wasn’t a specific sin in his life, but just that we live in a fallen world, and at no fault to his own… the sin of Adam… introduced disease into the world… and this man is a victim.

But, he still needed sins forgiven. No matter WHY he was paralyzed, he wasn’t innocent of sin.

Rom 3:23 confirms that all people are in need of forgiveness “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Forgiveness is what Jesus extends to this man. “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Forgiven by def. means “to send away.”

Jesus sends his sins away. He removes them… He pardons them. When Jesus says his sins are forgiven… it’s done.

Ps 103:12 states, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

I’m glad the Psalmist wrote “As far as the east is from the west” and NOT “As far as the North is from the South”…

Because, there is a North Pole… and there is a South Pole… and the distance in air miles from the North to the South is about 12,430 miles.

But, THERE’s NOT a East Pole and a West Pole… you can travel East or travel West… and go forever.

If you head East around the globe… Indiana to California… to Asia… to Europe… back to the U.S.... there’s no final destination… you can just keep circling the globe heading East… or heading West…

And, when God forgives us… He removes our sins and transgressions infinitely.

The poet Kipling said, “OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet...”

Isa 43:25 states, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

God’s forgiveness of sins is likened to blotting them out in this verse… “blot out” means to wipe away… He erases them.

And, not only are they blotted out, but He doesn’t remember our sins.

That’s certainly not how we function… half the time our pride prevents us from forgiving… and even when we overcome that battle… we don’t forget.

Forgetting is supernatural… I have forgiven people who have done me harm, but how do I erase the memory?

Do you still have scars from childhood? Many of you do… and many of you… and I… have entered into a place where forgiveness reigns.

But you still remember. If you have figured out how to forget… let me know.

God declares… because He can… He chooses that He will not remember your sins.

You die… your in heaven… you beg God… forgive my sins… He says, “What sins?”

NOW… there is a caveat… Peter exhorts in Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord...”

As true as that was for Israel… it is true for each individual that changes their mind and returns to God..

Convert means “to turn, to return.”

And, as that person does… a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord begins in their life.

If you’re here today, and you’ve never turned to the Lord… and called on the name of the Lord to be saved…

Rom 10:8-10 states “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

God is near you…

Look… Jesus knew the inner condition of this man… and what does He say… He says… “Son...”

My son… My child… there’s intimacy.

Some people think they can’t come to God because they were forgiven once… and they blew it…

Well… that’s not what I read.

Peter asked in Matt 18:21-22 “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

And, that’s not 490… that figurative for indefinitely.

Jesus is not going to instruct Peter to forgive 70x7… if that’s not how God Himself forgives.

You see… my God… is not only the God only of first chances… BUT He’s the God of second, and third… and fourth chances…

You’re NOT TOO FAR from Him… NOT too far from Him calling you Son or Daughter…

1 Jn 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You can do that today… pray with us after service… and He will cleanse you… forgive you…

And, this idea of sins being forgiven… this was groundbreaking.

Jews they knew of a morning and evening sacrifices. A sin offering.

They knew the sinner would bring the lamb… and the lamb was examined.

The sinner wasn’t examined… it was assumed they were a sinner… they wouldn’t be bringing a sacrifice if they innocent.

But, now… Jesus just pronounces forgiveness without a ritual…

And, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law/ the scribes that Matthew records were there… now they have something on Him...

And… a red flag… a cause for alarm… even a doubt goes up in their hearts… look at verses 6-7…

Mark 2:6-7 “And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Their thinking here is not entirely wrong… Only God can forgive sins… that’s true.

Jews learned this from many OT verses like 2 Chr 7:14 “…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Sin is a spiritual offense… thus God ultimately is the forgiver of sin.

But, it’ s also right to seek forgiveness and extend forgiveness on the horizontal… person to person, but understand… all sin is ultimately against God… and you ultimately need to get right with God…

Even if you wronged someone and they forgive you… you still need to repent to God and be forgiven by Him… because all sin is against Him.

David knew this when He sinned with Bathsheba… he didn’t say, “Against Urijah I have sinned…”

In Ps 51:4 David wrote, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—”

This thought process is thematic in the OT.

If a crime is committed and someone is harmed by the crime… they are a victim, but the State upholds the law and brings the case to court… to determine guilt or innocence.

And, in the case of sin… another may be harmed… but sin is against God’s law… and He holds you accountable.

The religious leaders just had not connected the dots that Jesus was God… and that’s why He could forgive sins… that’s why He was NOT speaking blasphemies (they had that part wrong).

Their error is after this whole scene is over… they still don’t acknowledge Jesus as God.

Instead, they are reasoning… silently in their hearts… figurative… they are silently thinking that Jesus is committing blasphemy.

Blasphemy by def. is slander, vilification, evil speaking, railing, reproach.

And, they were probably also thinking they could stone Jesus to death…

According to Lev 24:16, to blaspheme God was punishable by death. “And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him...”

But, this isn’t going to happen to Jesus… just like He could see inside the paralytic… He knows exactly what these Scribes and Pharisees are thinking as well, thus He poses a question…

And, what a climatic moment this is… look at VSS 8-9…

Mark 2:8-9 “But immediately [a popular word in Mark’s gospel], when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?”

Might I suggest that you’re playing in a different league when someone speaks directly to your thoughts.

And, that’s exactly what Jesus does here. The scribes are thinking to themselves, and Jesus addresses their thoughts.

Jesus’ omniscience is on display here…

He was able to see their thoughts…

He could see into the paralyzed man and address his greatest need…

He knows what you’re thinking as you look at this account and consider His words.

He sees your faith… or doubt… or distraction… He knows our hearts.

He’s always known the hearts of people.

At the end of John chapter 2… John 2:23-25, we read, "...many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”

Jesus knew there was a temporary excitement because He performed signs… but not genuine faith… they believed He was a healer, but not the Savior.

And, we all have to come to that place of how we relate to Christ.

He’s not a political Messiah… like these Jews hoped for.

He’s not a genie in a bottle… like many want Him to be.

He’s the Savior from sin… the Lord of our lives… and God over all.

I believe the OT verse in 2 Chr 16:9 is still true today, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

God’s desire is to strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

He sees our hearts…

And, as Jesus looked at the heart of the Scribes in Mark 2… He did NOT see faith, but doubt and hostility toward Him.

And, so Jesus addresses their thoughts… which should have been enough evidence of His deity…

And He poses an alternate question to them in V9… “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?”

Well… neither is easy, but which is easier to say AND PROVE? “Your sins are forgiven” -or- "Arise”?

Anyone can say “Your sins are forgiven”, but how could you prove or disprove this in the moment?

In time, you may see a change of heart in a person… or a change in their life, but visible evidence in the moment is lacking.

But, to tell a paralytic to “Arise”… well the paralytic is going to prove whether you are true or false in that very moment… it’s observable… and immediately verifiable, thus it’s suggested that this is more difficult.

No one would believe anything Jesus had to say if He boldly declared “Arise” and the paralytic just lie there.

So, if Jesus can do the impossible physically… and heal a paralytic through the utterance of the word “Arise,”…

What does that say about what He can do spiritually as well?

If He can heal physically, can He then also heal spiritually by the forgiveness of sins?

The answer is yes.

And, if He can forgive sins, this verifies who Jesus is.

As the scribes asked, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Exactly… and that’s why Jesus can forgive sins, because He is God.

And, this whole interaction just feels like a divine set up…

Especially as we continue with Jesus’ further reply in VSS 10-12… our final verses for today…

Mark 2:10-12 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

And, so Jesus does the physically impossible… with a word… He says to the paralytic… the lame… the palsied… “Arise, take up your bed...”

‘I say to you… you were carried here… you walk home.’

How beautiful those words must have sounded. He didn’t need someone else to pick up his mat… and he didn’t need to be carried.

He could walk home.

And, simple word from Jesus spoke volumes to all who heard. It shattered doubts… it softened hearts… the healing drew many to Him.

He says, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”… arise, take up your bed…

This physical miracle provided spiritual confidence that Jesus had the power to on earth to forgive sins.

The word ‘power” in Gk is ĕxŏusia meaning authority. Jesus had the authority to forgive sins.

And, notice Jesus does not say, “I have the authority to forgive sins”, BUT the “Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins”…

In the NT, 46x we find the phrase “Son of God” and 87x the phrase “Son of Man.” And, Jesus was both- the God-man.

In Acts 7:56, as Stephen was being stoned, he cried out, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Son of Man testifies of Jesus’ humanity, as “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 Jn 4:2)…

Son of Man testifies of Jesus’ diety… “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily...” (Col 2:9)

Son of Man testifies of Jesus’ humility. The Word who was with God and was God and was in the beginning with God… became flesh and dwelt among us. (Jn 1:1 & 14). “… who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Phil 2:6-7

Son of Man fulfills prophecy. Looking back to Dan 7:13-14 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”

In Jesus’ statement, here in Mark… He not only proves He has the authority to forgive sin… and to heal, but the Jews would know He is also applying this prophecy to Himself.

They asked, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

And, in many ways Jesus demonstrated that’s exactly who He is.

I love how V12 says the man immediately arose…

I remember breaking my arm in high school, and when the cast was removed several weeks later… my arm had atrophied.

How long had the paralytic not used his muscles? And, yet… he immediately arose… he didn’t need physical rehab… and muscle conditioning… he was wholly restored… another medical miracle.

And, the people responded as we all should before the goodness… and the authority… and the mercy and grace of God… they were amazed (lit. ‘out of their minds’) and glorified (or praised) God saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

This is the God we serve. He is worthy of all blessing and honor and glory. Amen?

Let’s Pray!

Many of us formerly were paralyzed by something in life… be it our fault or not.

And, we know… there was a season where we resented the bed we were bound in… life felt hopeless…

But, that paralysis… and that bed… brought many of us to Christ.

My former addiction that paralyzed my life… brought me to Christ.

If you are here today… and you need a release from some form of paralysis… some bondage…

Whatever is holding you back from arising and walking home…

You come forward now… and our Elders will be here to meet you where you are and pray for you.

Don’t take it home with you… What did Jesus say to the paralytic? “Son, have courage…”

He says the same to you now… Have courage… come forward for prayer… as our worship team closes with one last song…