Do You See What I See?

Introduction

Story of two friends moving furniture. . .

One was bigger and stronger than the other. . . . lets call him Jake.

The other was smaller and weaker. . . lets call him Brian.

Brian tried to pick up a large dresser by himself.

Jake asked if he could help. . . but his friend refused and said he could do it himself.

After barely picking it up, Brian struggled to walk it up to the door.

When taking the first step, the dresser was slipping, and Brian heard a loud snap in his back and dropped the dresser. . . it landed on his foot, breaking it and shattering the dresser.

Brian was left with a broken foot and spinal chord injury to his lower back that left him bedridden for weeks.

Brian thought he could do it himself and refused the help of his friend. Out of pride, he wanted to prove to his friend that he was stronger and didn’t need any help.

But, his pride blinded him to his need for help, and his refusal led to him hurting himself and others in the process.

Does this story sound familiar?

FCF: Self-Righteousness, Pride, Being blind to our need for Jesus.

How can we have eyes to see? How can we overcome our spiritual blind spots?

Tonight In Mark 2:1-17, we will see two stories that also hit on this theme of self-righteousness.

After his baptism and temptation, Jesus had begun his ministry in Galilee, teaching on the Kingdom of God, casting out demons, and healing the sick.

In chapter 2, he comes back to his home where he was staying in Capernaum, which is a city in Galilee.

In these two stories, Jesus reveals his authority to forgive sinners and makes himself equal with God. But, there are then two different responses to Jesus’ authority by two different sets of people.

One group of people (paralytic, friends who brought him, Matthew, and tax collectors) see their sin and their need for Jesus. The other group of people (Scribes of the Pharisees) do not see their sin and need for Jesus.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners and has authority to forgive sins, but, he will only call those to himself who see their need for forgiveness. . . so once more the question remains. . . how can we have eyes to see???

Key Point: By seeing Jesus’ authority to forgive sins and his love for sinners, we will be given the spiritual eyes to see our sin and our desperate need to continuously trust in Jesus for our salvation.

Mark 2:1–12 ESV

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. 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. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 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?” 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? 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.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Mark 2:13–17 ESV

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

1. Jesus Sees Sinners and Calls Them to Repentance.

Jesus, Being God, Has Authority to Forgive Sins.

It does not matter if Jesus sees our sin, what matters is if he can do something about it. . . and in fact. . . he can. . . because he is God.

In v. 5, Jesus declared with his words that the paralytic’s sins were forgiven.

But the Scribes question in their hearts Jesus’ statement, for how can he say he can have the authority to do something only God can?

Isaiah 43:25 ESV

25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

In v. 8-12, Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, and proves his authority to forgive sins by healing the paralytic immediately with the power of his word.

By these actions and words, Jesus makes claims to be equal with God.

But I thought Jesus never claimed to be God???

HANDS

Names: Calls himself the “Son of Man.”

“Son of Man” is a Messianic term used by Jesus to express his heavenly origin, authority and earthly mission, to anticipate his suffering and death, and to anticipate his future exaltation and glory.

The Son of Man was the divine figure who is spoken of in Daniel 7:13-14 who will come on the clouds of heaven and be given and eternal kingdom to reign over all the earth.

By Jesus using this name for himself, he was claiming to be the heavenly and divine Messiah of Daniel 7.

Honors

Jesus, being the divine Son of Man, is served by the nations as Yahweh is served.

Attributes

Jesus demonstrates his omniscience in “perceiving what the Scribes said in their hearts.” (v. 8)

Only Yahweh is omniscient and knows the hearts of people (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Deeds

Jesus forgave sins. Something only God can do.

Jesus performed a miracle by his own powerful word and healed the paralytic.

Seat

Jesus claims the place only reserved for God and is called a blasphemer by the experts in the law.

So, Jesus, by his honors, attributes, names, deeds, and seat, claims to be God and has authority to forgive sins.

Jesus Sees Sinners and Calls them to Repentance.

Jesus says in v. 17 that he came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV)

15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Jesus does not turn away the unclean, the broken, the outcasts, and sinners, but sees their sin and need and calls them to repent and follow him.

v. 5 says Jesus “saw their faith” and forgave the paralytic. He saw the paralytic and friends’ need to be healed and forgiven and did not turn them away.

v. 14 Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax booth. He knew he was a sinner and a deceiver and a traitor to his own people. . . but he still called Matthew to repent and follow him.

v. 15 Jesus did not turn away the tax collectors and sinners who came to eat with him at Matthew’s house. Even though they were unclean, Jesus called them to repent and follow him and he would make them clean.

Know tonight that we are all sinners, but we are exactly the wicked and unrighteous people Jesus came to save.

Jesus will never cast out those who come to him by faith (John 6:37).

Praise be to God!

As Christians, we should have the same heart as Jesus toward others.

Jesus has shown his authority to forgive sins and his love for sinners. . . now how will the people respond?

2. Sinners See Their Sin and by Faith are Forgiven.

The Paralytic and His Friends (v. 1-5)

The paralytic heard the teachings of Jesus in Galilee. He may have even heard the testimony of the leper who Jesus had pity on, touched, and healed (Mark 1:40-45). . . and so he believed that Jesus was the Messiah and had the power to heal and forgive him.

He saw his need and knew that only Jesus could heal him. By faith, he pleaded with his friends to take him to Jesus.

His friends also had faith in Jesus as the Messiah and believed he could heal their friend.

The four men had faith that Jesus could heal their friend because they were willing to carry him on a bed to Jesus. It is unclear how far they might have traveled with him, but it could have been a long way.

The four men demonstrated their faith by not allowing the crowd to prevent them from placing their friend before Jesus. They took great lengths to put their friend before Jesus and probably risked being mocked by the crowd. . . yet, they did not care what others thought. . . they just wanted their friend to be healed by Jesus.

The friends of the paralytic would not be denied, they knew their need and their friend’s need to be healed and forgiven, and they would not take no for an answer.

The friends’ determination to get to Jesus should be an example for us to follow in doing everything we can to seek spiritual healing.

“This teaches us after what manner we ought to seek spiritual healing. We must break through 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 comfort and rest must be broken up, and utterly destroyed, rather than miss out on this benefit” -Jonathan Edwards

The four men’s love for their friend in need should also be an example how we should love our friends and do everything we can to bring them to Jesus.

And so Jesus, seeing the paralytic and friends faith, forgave and healed the paralytic.

Matthew and the Tax Collectors (v. 13-15)

Matthew heard Jesus teaching by the sea. He saw his authority in his teaching and probably heard about the paralytic who Jesus healed.

When Jesus called Matthew, he rose (ανιστεμι) and followed Jesus.

Even though Matthew had all the treasures of the world by being a wealthy tax collector, he knew need for forgiveness was greater, and so he left his wealth, his job, and his family, and followed Jesus.

Some of Matthew’s co-workers who were also tax collectors saw their sin and were willing to come to Jesus and recline with him at the table of fellowship.

They did not let their pride keep them from coming to Jesus. They did not care if others would mock them and call them sinners. . . they knew their need, they saw the love of Christ, and came desperately in faith to Jesus for healing.

The Self-Righteous Don’t See Their Sin and by Unbelief are Condemned.

In contrast, the Scribes of the Pharisees are blind and do not see their need for Jesus.

Who were the Scribes?

Class of scholars who teach, copy, and interpret the Jewish law.

They were the experts in Jewish law.

In v. 6, After hearing his teaching, they question Jesus’ authority and ability to forgive sins and heal.

In v. 16, after seeing Jesus’ love for the outcasts in associating with the unclean tax collectors, they question how Jesus, being a teacher of the law like them, could have fellowship with sinners.

In seeing Jesus’ authority to forgive sins and his love for sinners, their hearts were not softened, but hardened.

The Scribes were too focus on examining the sinfulness of others that they were oblivious to their own sin and need for Jesus.

They thought they could see, but they were actually blind. They were blind to their own blindness (John 9:39).

Jesus calls them blind guides multiple times (Matt. 15:14; 23:16, 24).

What caused this blindness? Self-Righteousness.

Because they were blind, they did not see their sin and need for forgiveness, and so they did not repent and follow Jesus.

Ultimately, the result of their blindness led to their condemnation.

Are we spiritually blind like the Scribes?

Spiritual blindness isn’t like physical blindness. When you’re physically blind, you know you’re blind, so you compensate for this significant physical deficit. But spiritually blind people are not only blind, they are also blind to their own blindness! They think they see well, so the spiritually blind person walks around with the delusion that no one has a more accurate view of himself than he does. -Paul Tripp

Response

There are two ways our spiritual blindness can be healed. . .

We need to see Jesus.

Jesus is the Word of God.

Seeing the power, authority, and holiness of Jesus helps us see our sin.

Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3)

Seeing Jesus’ love, grace, and compassion toward sinners leads us to repentance.

We need the Body of Christ to help us see our spiritual blindness.

Hebrews 3:12–13 ESV

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Who helps you to see what you won’t see if left to yourself?

Who are you helping see their blind spots?

How will we respond to Jesus’ authority to forgive sins and his love for sinners tonight?

Will we soften our heart, repent, and follow Jesus like the paralytic and his friends, like Matthew and the tax collectors. . . or will we harden our heart, and remain in unbelief like the Scribes.

Jesus sees our hearts, he sees our sin, and he loves us still. . . calling us to follow him.

The question is, do we see what he sees?