Mark
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The next few months we are going to be walking through Mark and talking about what it means to be a disciple of Christ through a relationship with Him.
Being a Christian isn’t always about what you know but it is more about who you know.
Last week we saw Christ get baptized by John the Baptist after John had stated that he wasn’t worthy to untie the sandals of the Messiah
What we learned was that apart from Christ we are not worthy to be in relationship with God but through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection we have been enabled by Jesus to enter into relationship with God the Father.
It’s Christ who gives us our worth and who opens the door for us to be in relationship with Him
Tonight we will see that it is faith alone in Christ that brings the forgiveness of sins and how that faith can glorify God to those around you.
PRAY
PRAY
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.
After Jesus was baptized he went out and started a ministry to the area of Galilee and had developed a following of people as he had been teaching and healing in the area.
As Jesus goes to Capernaum for some rest we see that people find out where He is staying.
Have you ever seen paparazzi following a celebrity around
In like 2016 or 2017 Shia Lebouf had put a flag up on a live stream that said “he will not divide us” in a location that was undisclosed and there was not a lot of details that you could use to figure out where it was.
For instance you couldn’t see the Hollywood sign in the background or anything.
So a bunch of 4chan users (if you don’t know what that is it was kind of like Reddit) got together and hunted down Shia Lebouf’s flag and when they found it they posted the location
So Shia Lebouf moved the flag and they found it again
Then Shia moved it again and they found the flag again
This is what I imagine is happening with Jesus right now here.
He has just gotten back from a long trip around Galilee and he is tired but then someone notices Him and starts telling everyone where He was at until finally there is a crowd gathered at the house Jesus was staying at and the crowd was so large that there wasn’t any room inside the house or outside the house that anyone could get through.
It’s in this scene where Jesus is preaching to them the word of God and all these people are gathered around listening intently that four men come carrying their friend to Jesus
3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
So the crowd is stuffed in there listening to Jesus and all the sudden they see bits of roof falling down as Jesus is teaching.
And a man who is paralyzed is lowered down through the roof!
Let me ask you one question?
What purpose did they have that they were lowering this man down through a roof to the feet of Jesus?
What was the goal they had in mind?
Keep in mind, Jesus had just finished travelling all around Galilee teaching and healing many people
If you were paralyzed and you heard about a man who is healing everyone he meets and you found a way to show up at that man’s house and get his attention what do you think he is going to do?
They wanted this man to be healed!
They had brought this man to Jesus because they desired that he would be PHYSICALLY healed by Jesus
After they lower this paralytic man down I’m sure everyone, even Jesus stopped to watch what was happening
After He is lowered down to the floor it says this.
5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Imagine this, Jesus (who was known for the healing miracles he had performed) meets this man who is paralyzed
Who was specifically brought to where Jesus was staying so that he might be healed
And everyone around Jesus knows that He has healed people all around Galilee
Everyone is waiting with anticipation to watch someone who is paralyzed be healed and get up and walk!
And Jesus says “Son, your sins are forgiven?”
Why did Jesus say Son, you sins are forgiven?
Let me ask you… What is your greatest need? Jesus to heal your body, or for Jesus to heal your soul?
CONTEXT
Now for context here, at this time and in the Jewish religion it was believed that physical disabilities were seen as a result of unforgiven sin in someone’s life or in someone’s family.
LISTEN UP
As Christians we do not necessarily believe that a sickness or an illness is a direct result of sin in your life
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Jesus here in Mark chapter 2 is making a point that he not only has the power to save people from their sins but that is exactly why He came.
Notice this though...
Jesus is the one who forgives sins as a result of our faith.
Verse 5 says that Jesus saw their FAITH and he said to the paralytic your sins are forgiven.
It’s through YOUR faith in Christ that your sins are forgiven.
The paralytic had to have faith in Jesus in order for his sins to be forgiven.
The people that were around him got him to the feet of Jesus but at the end of the day other peoples faith does not save us, we must believe and have faith in Jesus personally as well.
Because you can be in the presence of Jesus and still not believe in Him.
Notice what the scribes say in verse 6.
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Just like the paralyzed man and everyone else in the room the scribes (describe what a scribe was) They were there in the presence of Jesus as well.
and instead of believing in Jesus and rejoicing that God had saved someone from their sins they questioned Jesus authority to forgive sins.
Students listen up!
Your parents can only bring you to the feet of Jesus
Your friends can only invite you to Immerse
Their faith in Jesus does not make you saved!
It is by you placing your faith in Jesus that you are saved from your sins.
Not someone else’s faith, yours and yours alone
At the end of the day you may be able to fool me into thinking your a believer
you may be able to fool mom and dad
But you cannot fool the Lord because He knows if you have truly placed your faith in Him in your heart.
8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?
Jesus knows you and He sees you
He searches and knows your heart, there is no faking it with Him.
See you can either believe in the gospel or not but either way that doesn’t make it untrue.
Mark 2:5 we see Jesus declare the forgiveness of sins for this man just like He has declared forgiveness for all of us
Mark 2:6-7 we see the forgiveness questioned like many people do today
Mark 2:9-11 we see Jesus validate His power to forgive sins
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
Jesus says “so that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins… I says to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home”
Jesus validates His authority to those around Him who did not believe.
You may be in here tonight asking God to validate Himself to you, but that will not cause you to turn to Christ.
It is by faith alone, in Christ alone that we are saved.
There is coming a day when God will validate Himself to the world that He is God
We see this in the prophecies of the end times like Revelation and in Philippians we see it say that on that day every knee will bow and every tongue confess in Heaven, and on earth, and under the earth that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Whether you like it or not Jesus is the only way that your sins will ever be forgiven