Picking Up and Laying Down

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it. We’re going to be in Mark 2:1-13 tonight and I’m super excited to get to this passage, it is absolutely an amazing passage that I believe has something important for the believer and the unbeliever in this room. We’re going to discover a whole lot about Jesus and hopefully discover a whole lot about ourselves in the process. One of the many interesting things in this passage is that up to this point, there has been absolutely no push back to what Jesus is doing. Sure, we could argue that the demons pushed back but there has been no earthly complaints or push back from any within the first chapter of Mark. We see Jesus being praised and applauded throughout the community for the things that He had done and said but now we get to chapter 2 and it hits us with the reminder that not all the world is crazy about Jesus. Have you been able to pick up on that in your life? That not everyone is crazy about or in love with Jesus? What do you think it is that makes people push back against Jesus? Would you say that more people push back on what Jesus did or that more people push back on what Jesus said? How about in your mind? In your mind is it easier to accept what Jesus did? Or is it easier to accept what Jesus said? Now we can be honest, Jesus said some pretty hard things. He said things that are meant to challenge both the righteous and the unrighteous so I would say that while the enemies of Jesus certainly had a problem with what He did, they were often more concerned with and had a greater problem with what Jesus said. I would be willing to bet that if you were to talk to someone who did not believe the Gospel about what their problem with Jesus is, it would likely not be about something that He had done. Isn’t that what we usually hear? People will say that they don’t like what Jesus said about this subject or that subject and they reject Him based off of what He said. What we are going to see tonight is that the scribes and pharisees problems with Jesus did not stem from what He did, but came from what He says and once He speaks, anything that He does is going to be looked at as a negative. Yes they will have a problem with what Jesus does but it is only after they despise and fail to understand what He has to say. Even if we jump towards the end of the story, when the pharisees and the councils arrest Jesus and bring Him before Pilate in Luke 23, the accusations seem to be focused not on what Jesus did, but what He said and what He taught. So, what is it that Jesus says in Mark 2 that is so controversial? What I want to do tonight is look quickly at three “problems” that we see in this passage. 1. The problem of the paralyzed man. 2. The problem of Jesus’ statement in verse 5. 3. The problem in the question. The problem of Let’s pray and then we will read Mark 2:1-13

Mark 2:1–13 NASB95

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. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, 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 pallet 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 pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of 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 all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

The Problem of the Paralyzed Man

We all have problems right? Some problems are more pressing than others but I would say that we probably all have something in our lives right now that constitutes a problem. Anyone feel like sharing something that they are going through right now that you consider a problem? It can be a big problem or even a little problem? Or even how about this, raise your hand if you feel like there is something in your life right now that you consider a problem. Now this may seem like a fairly simple question but what do you think is the primary problem for the paralytic? This man that is being carried by four men to Jesus, what is his primary problem? I am sure the most obvious problem to us and to him was that he was paralyzed. One problem that he does not have is good friends. In these verses we see four men who understood that this man needed to get to Jesus and not only do they not hinder him from getting to Jesus, they do all that they can to get him to Jesus! They are pushing so hard to get this man to Jesus that they remove a section of roofing and lower him directly above Jesus. What a drive we see in these men to get to Jesus. Surely this is something that we must reflect on in our day. Do we possess such a passion and drive to not only get ourselves to Jesus but to get others to Jesus? Here we see a practice for our spiritual lives. Jonathan Edwards said of this moment, “This teaches us after what manner we ought to seek spiritual healing. We must break though all difficulties, must be violent in the matter. Let it be never so inconvenient for us as to our temporal ease and comfort, never so costly and troublesome, our places of habitation and rest must be broken up and utterly destroyed, rather than fail of this benefit.” Here’s a question that I want us to go over and it is a more complex question than I think we have been asking but for you personally, what extent are you willing to go in order to get to Jesus? I’m sure that you have heard people say something like, “It’s fine that you love Jesus but do you have to be so uppity about it? You can love Jesus all you want but what has that got to do with all of us?” The question or the reflection really involves this: Here we see a number of men that are unconcerned about the social and cultural standards of the day in order to get to Jesus. It did not matter what it cost and I am sure it cost something considering now they have to repair a roof but it did not matter what it cost them because they knew, they absolutely knew that they must get to Jesus. You see they saw something in Jesus that not only attracted Him to them but they saw something in Him that made them know that He was able to do something for this paralyzed man. The next question is this: Do you truly know that Jesus is able to make a drastic change in your life? What change are you hoping to see Him make in your life? Let’s go back to the problem that this paralyzed man faced. It doesn’t take much to recognize that this man’s paralysis is a problem but as we jump ahead a little into verse 5, a new problem arises where Jesus shows that this man’s paralysis is not his greatest problem. As this man comes down through the ceiling, He sees the man and says to him, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now if you are the paralyzed man, what is it that you are probably thinking at this moment? It’s probably something like, “Well, geez thanks Jesus that’s great but that’s not necessarily while I’m here. You are very wise but can’t you see that I have a more immediate problem here?” What then is Jesus saying in this moment? He’s saying, “Yes, I see your problem and I will address it but you don’t understand. I am addressing a far greater problem in your life. The main problem in a person’s life is never his suffering, it’s his sin.” I want you guys to understand that this very statement is just as applicable to you as it is to the paralyzed man. Now you might be thinking to yourself, “Time out Jesus, you don’t really understand my problem. You really don’t get the depths of my hurt. You don’t get to say that when you see what my parents say to me. You don’t get to say that with how I’m treated. You don’t understand the depths of my loneliness or the depths of my problems.” Let me just say to that, Jesus does understand and He does care and as horrible as those problems are, they are not the worst problem in your life. Sin is the cause of all suffering and Jesus is saying until that sin is addressed, you are really only putting a band-aid over the open wound of your other problems. If all Jesus did was heal this man of his physical problem, but failed to address the greater problem, wouldn’t that itself be a problem? Let’s say that one day your house was on fire and it was dinner time and your mom was trapped inside the house. You are starving and you are in a panic and when the fire department arrives, they have a bag of McDonalds with them and hand it to you and say, “Welp, here you go. You won’t be hungry anymore” and then they leave. What are you probably thinking in that moment? “What about the fire? What about my home? What about my mom? Who cares about these nuggies if I’m about to lose everything!” But do you see how this applies to our sin? We have a far greater problem, a far greater fire to deal with because of our sin that until we have assurance that that problem is dealt with, all other problems really don’t matter. That’s not to say there is no significance to our earthly problems but they do not compare to the far greater spiritual problems! Do you think that after the paralyzed man was healed that he never had another problem? Let’s say that he gets up and is super excited that he is healed. He may have joy in that for a week, maybe a few months, maybe even a year but there will come a point where he finds another problem. There will be another concern in his life won’t there? But by having his sins forgiven there is one problem that will never concern him again. There we see the greatest problem resolved and it is the only problem that we are utterly powerless to resolve on our own. In the forgiveness of sin, Jesus fully addresses the only problem that lasts into eternity. Now of course we mentioned earlier that not everyone was happy with Jesus saying to this man that his sins are forgiven and so I want us to look at the problem of that statement.

The Problem of Verse 5

What problem did the scribes have with Jesus saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven”? It’s in verses 6 and 7 so who wants to turn there and read it? They are reasoning to themselves, “Who is this guy to talk like this? He isn’t just saying something wrong, He’s saying something blasphemous? Isn’t this sin because who can forgive sin but God alone?” The theology that they have is right! God absolutely is the only one that can forgive sin. If you were to steal $100 from me, it would make no sense if you went to your best friend and they forgave you for stealing the money. Why not? Because they are not the injured party and they do not have the ability to forgive the sin that you sinned against me. Does that make sense? It is true that only God can forgive sin. For Jesus to say to this man, “Son your sins are forgiven” is not Christ’s way of hopefully forgiving on behalf of God, it is His way of forgiving as God Himself! The scribes natural response to this was, “Here is this man in the wrong.” They did not consider, “Here before me is the only one that is able to forgive sin. Here before me is God Himself.” You see the problem that these men had was that they understood exactly what Jesus was claiming to be but they did not have the faith or eyes to truly recognize it. The problem for these scribes was not what Jesus was doing for this man, it was what Jesus was claiming to be. The problem is with what Jesus says because they understood the meaning under what He was saying. What Jesus said is absolute blasphemy if He is only a man. They are absolutely blasphemous unless He really is God. Daniel Akin said, “They recognized that the proclamation of forgiveness was not a passing comment but a declaration of deity.” All of this leaves us with the question, “Who is it that can really forgive sins? Who is it that can really address the biggest problem in my life?” Jesus understands that the scribes are having these thoughts, His divine nature has revealed this to Him and maybe they look just so dumb-founded and shook that He can read it right off their face. So, Jesus asks Him a question in verse 9 and there is in a sense, a problem in this question so can someone read Mark 2:8-11 again for us?

Mark 2:8–11 NASB95

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 pallet 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 pallet and go home.”

The Problem in the Question

What does Jesus mean when He asks this question? It is fairly straightforward but what he’s saying is, is it easier just to tell someone that their sins are forgiven even if they are not or is it easier to tell someone who is paralyzed to get up, pick up your stuff, and go home and have that actually happen? Is it easier for someone to speak religious words or is it easier for a paralyzed man to walk? Well, common sense would probably tell us that it is easier for us to just tell someone that their sins are forgiven even if we do not actually possess the ability to forgive those sins. How do we know this? Because all it is is words. There is no force or action behind that statement, it is only words. However, for us to say get up and walk, that requires action in order for us to see that there is any power at all behind what we have said. What Jesus is doing here by healing this man is that He is saying that if He has the quote on quote harder ability to say to someone get up and walk and it happens, He just as easily has the ability to forgive someone of their sins. He that has the authority to heal a paralyzed man with just a word has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus says in verse 10, allow me to give you a visible sign of the authority that I have on earth as the Son of Man, “Get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” So, what happens then? Does the man stay paralyzed? No, he gets up! And in classic Mark fashion, we read that he gets up and IMMEDIATELY picks up and goes out. Now in this we have more of the Gospel being told than what we might realize? Jesus asks the question, “Which is easier” so I want to ask you, is there anything that is hard or harder for Jesus? Here is what I want to argue while it is substantially easier to say to someone that their sins are forgiven it is borderline impossible for that to happen. Now I want to be careful saying this but I believe that in terms of the two options that Christ gives, it is substantially harder for Him to forgive sins than it is to heal a paralyzed man. Why? Because in order to forgive sins Jesus must go to the cross. In order to reconcile man to God, Christ must first die in the place of man. It seems that at this point in the book of Mark, the shadow of the cross is already being cast. Tim Keller puts it like this, “Jesus knows what the religious leaders are thinking, so he knows that if he begins to let on that he’s not just a miracle worker but also the Savior of the world, they’re eventually going to kill him. If he not only heals this man but forgives his sin as well, he’s taking a decisive, irreversible step down the path to his death. By taking that step, he is putting a down payment on our forgiveness.” Do you guys get what Keller is saying there? He’s saying that if Jesus is going to have the authority and ability to forgive this man’s sin, it must take Him to the cross because there is absolutely no forgiveness of sin outside of the cross. What Jesus is saying, and we can see this clearly on this side of the cross is that in order for this man to pick up his mat and go home, Christ must lay His life down to bring us home. What we know is that a paralyzed man has no ability to heal himself and mankind has no ability to have their sins forgiven within themselves. In order for there to be forgiveness for sin, God must do the work. Has God done this work in your life? What problem have you brought to the Lord to solve? Look, you can bring all your earthly problems to Christ but unless you address your spiritual problem first, it will not ultimately matter what happens with your earthly problem. There is a far greater problem before us but it is a problem that Christ provides an answer to. The Lord bids us all to come to Him no matter what it may cost us in order to get to Him. We see this in the life of this paralyzed man in Mark 2 and we see it in the lives of these four men that brought him to Jesus. Charles Spurgeon said, “Where there is a will, there is a way; and when there is no way, a resolute will can make one. Better to come to Jesus through the ceiling than not to come at all. Better to be let down to Jesus by a rope than not to be in his presence.” As we wrap up, I want us all as we worship to reflect on this question: What is standing in your way to get closer to Jesus? What needs to be taken down in order to get you into His presence? Finally, how does Christ’s authority to forgive impact your ability and desire to be forgiven? Think about these things as we pray and as we worship.