Who Knows?: Believe 2

Introduction

What is our theme verse?

Jeremiah 29:13 CSB

You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

We’ve talked about seeking for Jesus, studying God’s Word, and getting to know Jesus.

Tonight we are talking about Believing.

If we are going to seek for Jesus, we are called to believe in Him.

Read Mark 2:1-12

Mark 2:1–12 NIV

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 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. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 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? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Pray

So here we see Jesus coming back home to Capernaum and people heard He was there. What do they do? They all come to see Him and want to hear from Him, so Jesus does what He does best: He preaches and teaches them from God’s Word.

And while he was preaching and teaching, we have five men who show up.

What are these five men doing?

Four of the men are carrying the fifth man because he is paralyzed, which means he can’t walk. Because they hear that Jesus is there, they want to bring their friend to Jesus.

Admit You Need Jesus

The first thing we see here is that, just like these men, we need to admit our need for Jesus.

Just like the paralyzed man, we all need to come to Jesus.

These men knew they had a problem. Of course, their problem was they had a friend who couldn’t walk.

What is our problem that we need to admit to Jesus?

(Picture of Chasm separating People from God)

We are sinners who are separated from God.

Our sin means we cannot be with God the way we were created to be.

But the only way this problem is going to be fixed is if we admit our need to the One who can fix it. We have to admit we cannot solve this problem on our own.

These men admitted they had a problem and they heard Jesus was there in town so that’s who they are going to.

Believe Only Jesus Can Save

But not only did they admit their need for Jesus, they truly believed that Jesus was the only One who could help them. There was no one else they could go to for help.

How do we know this?

Because of how determined they were to get to Jesus.

We have a similar situation to that of Zacchaeus in that there is a crowd that is keeping them from Jesus. But just like Zacchaeus, they were determined to find a way to get to Jesus because they knew and believed that only Jesus could help their friend.

So what did these men do?

They climbed to the top of the roof and dug a hole from the top to lower their friend to Jesus.

Homes in Israel were made of clay and stone and the roofs were flat and made of tiles that could be moved. They might have had some clay and straw on top for insulation, but it would not have been hard to remove a part of the roof to let their friend down. There was also probably a staircase they could easily climb up and carry their friend to the roof.

They showed they believed in Jesus because they were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend to Jesus.

The question we have to ask is what does it mean to believe?

Charles Blondin - In the nineteenth century, the greatest tightrope walker in the world was a man named Charles Blondin. On June 30, 1859, he became the first man in history to walk on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. Over twenty-five thousand people gathered to watch him walk 1,100 feet, suspended on a tiny rope, just 160 feet above the raging waters. He worked without a net or even a safety harness of any kind. The slightest slip would have been a fatal one. Then, with all eyes watching him, he began to walk across the chasm. When he safely reached the Canadian side, everyone cheered in relief.

In the days that followed, he walked across the falls repeatedly. He walked across, taking a chair and a stove with him, sat down at the midway point, cooked an omelet, and ate it. Another time, he walked across on stilts, and another time he pushed a wheelbarrow loaded with 350 pounds of cement across the tightrope. One of his most memorable times was when he asked the cheering spectators if they thought he could push a man across in a wheelbarrow. The crowd cheered in agreement. Seeing a man applauding loudly, he asked,

“Sir, do you think I could safely carry you across in this wheelbarrow?”

“Yes, of course,” the man replied.

“Get in,” the Great Blondin said with a smile.

The man refused.

However, one man trusted Blondin, his very own manager, Harry Colcord. Colcord agreed to ride on Blondin, piggyback style, across the tightrope. With 10,000 spectators watching, Colcord climbed on Blondin’s back and held tight as the daredevil walked across Niagara Falls.

True belief is not just knowing that Blondin could get across the deep chasm. True belief was being willing to let Blondin carry you across the chasm. It was having a desire to get across the gorge and realizing that only Blondin could get them across.

What happened as these men believed that Jesus could help their friend?

One would think that Jesus would heal their friend.

But what did He do first?

He took care of his greatest need first, his sin. And here’s how we know the paralyzed man believed and trusted in Jesus and not just his friends. His friends demonstrated their faith as they brought their friend to Jesus. But their faith couldn’t save their friend. Only the paralyzed man’s faith in Jesus could bring him the forgiveness from sin that he needed.

show the picture of jesus filling in the gap

Because of God’s grace received by his faith, Jesus bridged the gap between the man and God and Jesus carried him. Jesus is able to do this because of He gave His life for our sin upon the cross.

Romans 10:11–15 (ESV)

Vv. 11-13 - For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The next question I have for you is if you do believe in Jesus, who can you be a friend to back home that you can tell about Jesus and let them know they can seek, study, know, and believe in Jesus and receive eternal life ?

Vv. 14-15 - How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

the friends couldn’t make their paralyzed friend believe in Jesus but they certainly let him know that Jesus could help him and save him from his sin. Because of their belief in Jesus they were willing to do what it took to help him know who Jesus was so he could believe in him.

My question for you, have you ever put your faith and trust in Jesus? Have you asked Jesus to take away your sin and give you eternal life with God?

Jesus Shows He is Trustworthy

But it’s one thing for Jesus to say that the man’s sins were forgiven. How do we know they were really forgiven? How do we know that Jesus really is trustworthy?

This is the question that many of the religious people had. They were thinking that only God could forgive sins, and they were right. Only God could forgive sins.

So Jesus shows them that He is able to forgive sin. How does He do that?

He then brings the physical healing for the paralyzed man.

It’s one thing to simply say your sins are forgiven. Even though it was true, no one could actually see if that happened.

Charles Blondin could claim all day that he could cross the Niagara Falls on a tightrope and it would have been a true statement.

But how did people know it was true?

Because he demonstrated how he could actually do it.

Jesus showed the people that not only did He claim to forgive the man’s sin, He could actually do it because He is God. And He showed that He was God because he healed the man. He did something that was, in a way harder, because people could see if it was true or not.

But that wasn’t the only thing Jesus did that proved He was God.

Jesus did all kinds of miracles and healings and amazing things. John the Apostle wrote a Gospel account of Jesus’ life.

And he wrote at the end of his book, John 20:30-31

John 20:30–31 ESV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

But the greatest things that Jesus did to prove He was God was that Jesus died upon the cross. But did He stay dead? No. He rose again from the dead on the third day. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t known anyone else who could come back from the dead.

Only Jesus could do that because He alone is God and He alone is worthy of our trust and belief.

Jesus healed people and did all these amazing things for people because He did love them and wanted to help them. But the main reason He did all that was because He wanted them to know who He is and that we can believe and put our faith in Him alone!