Jesus and the Paralytic

Introduction

Last week, we jumped back into the Gospel of Mark and looked how Jesus prayed as well as how Jesus healed a leper. Remember from that passage of Scripture that we all once were like the leper. We were outcasts because of our sin, but through Christ, we become children in the family of God.

This week, we continue in our study through the Gospel of Mark. This week we come to Mark chapter 2. Not much changes in the storyline of Mark. Jesus is still the main character that is traveling from place to place preaching, teaching, and healing. So tonight, we come to Mark 2:1-12 and what we will see is that Jesus returns to Capernaum and continues teaching; however, something happens while He is teaching.

Let’s read together

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!”

Pray.

Again this week, we see that Jesus is healing and preaching. He has returned to Capernaum. Upon His return, many hear the news that He was back so they all showed up to the home. So many people showed up that there was absolutely no more room in the house. The house was packed full. They definitely were not practicing social distance (joke). Jesus is preaching to this crowd and then, four men carrying a paralyzed man come for the man to be healed which leads us to our first point.

Jesus preached the Word of God.

Mark 2:1–2 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.

As we see that the crowd has heard the news that Jesus is back home and they have swarmed to the house. It is believed that Jesus had returned to Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. However, Jesus is back in Capernaum and the crowd is coming to see Him again. This time, the crowd has shown up and packed the house. The house is so packed that people cannot even fit into the house. The house was full of people that no one else could fit into the doorway.

The crowd comes to the house and fill it up to where no one else could enter in. It is likely that much like the previous crowd that was beginning to gather while Jesus was praying, this crowd was showing up to see the type of miracle that Jesus would perform. People again were more than likely showing up for the performance. However, what they got at first was preaching.

Notice, what verse two says, “And he was preaching the word to them.” Jesus had the crowd around Him, and His goal was not to provide them with temporary earthly healing or with entertainment. He had one goal and that was for every person to hear the Word preached in order that some would be saved. Understand this, the New Testament (which we are reading out of) was not yet written while Jesus was on earth. The New Testament would come after Jesus was ascended into heaven. So, Jesus was teaching these people or crowds from the Old Testament which was what the Jews used and read. Remember, Jesus was a Jew while on earth. Likewise, He would teach often in the synagogue. So, Jesus is teaching the crowds from the Old Testament.

As Jesus preached from the Old Testament, He was preaching to them about repentance and faith in the Gospel which was coming through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection.

Remember in

Mark 1:15 ESV

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus was preaching from people to repent of sin, which means to turn away from disobeying God and turning to obey God and His Word. He was preaching repentance and faith in the Gospel. Remember that Jesus when Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, the Kingdom of God came. The Kingdom of God is right now and not yet. What that means is this. Currently, if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, you are saved from sin and enter into the Kingdom of God as the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. Then, when Jesus comes again at His Second Coming, the Christians will be called up to be with Him, and the Kingdom of God will be consummated, which means the Kingdom of God will be made complete as satan will be defeated.

So, Jesus was preaching the Word of God to the crowd so that some might be saved. That is why we preach the Word every Sunday morning and Wednesday night is so that some by be saved from sin and be restored to right relationship with God. That is why preaching the Word is so important.

I touched on this quite a bit last week, but I will repeat it again. We come to church not to be entertained. We come to church to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and His Word which will result in life change and the worship of God. Likewise, we come to have fellowship with one another as believers so that we may be encouraged and lifted up in the faith. Then, we also pray that the preaching of God’s Word will result in the drawing of those not saved to salvation through Jesus Christ. So, Jesus preached the Word, and we, the church, must be devoted to preach the Word as well.

Faith results in the forgiveness of sin.

Look back with me at verses 3-5.

Mark 2:3–5 ESV

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.”

Jesus came and was preaching the Word to the crowd. The crowd more than likely came to witness the next miracle that Jesus would perform. While Jesus is preaching, four men carrying a paralytic show up. They see the door is packed full of people as well and the entirety of the house. So, these men in desperation to have their friend healed go to the roof of the house in which Jesus was preaching to the crowd. They, then, make a hole in the roof to lower their friend.

You see, in the first-century, houses did not have roofs like we have today. Instead, the roofs had sticks, wood slates, and straw on the roof to prevent rain and other things from getting into the house. This allowed for the men to dig a hole into the roof of the house and lower this man down to see Jesus. These men were desperate for their friend to be healed so much so that they went to this extreme length to get him to Jesus.

Remember last week, we looked at the leper who went to extreme lengths to be healed. We see this again tonight. The driving force behind their actions is faith. These men knew that if they could simply get their friend to Jesus, Jesus could heal him. These men put faith in Jesus.

After they left their friend down to Jesus, did Jesus heal him physically? No. First, Jesus says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus healed him from his sins. Why would Jesus heal this man of his sins. Well, first because of their faith in Jesus, Jesus healed them. Secondly, healing is not always physical. Whenever we are born sinful and place our faith in Jesus, we are healed through the forgiveness of sins. This is ultimate and eternal healing. We are freed from sin and no longer bound for hell. Faith in Jesus results in the forgiveness of sins.

Now, the paralytic was not an outcast like the leper. However, during this time period the Jews believed that if someone had a severe illness of situation, that meant it was a result of that persons sin. While this can be true, it is not true of every situation as we know. Because we do live in a sin fallen world, thinks such paralysis, leprosy, and other diseases do harm humanity; however, not all of these result because of an individual’s particular sins. But, this paralytic was probably seen as a sinner being punished for his sins. But, Jesus sees that paralytic and instead of healing him physically, Jesus grants him forgiveness of sins. This is a much larger healing that has deeper meaning.

The man’s faith in Jesus resulted in his forgiveness of sins. The same is true of us today. If we place our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven of sin as well.

Romans 10:9–11 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10:13 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

What we see is that through faith in Jesus we are forgiven of our sins. Jesus is the only way to have forgiveness of sins and salvation. There are a lot of other religions that claim they grant salvation, but they are all wrong because Jesus is the only way to salvation.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Only through Jesus can we have reconciliation and spend eternity with God.

This leads to our last point tonight:

Jesus is God, and He is the only One able to save.

Mark 2:6–11 ESV

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.”

Jesus has forgiven this man of his sin proving that He is God. The Jews believed that only God had the power to forgive sin, which is true. God does have the power to forgive sin. Likewise, the pharisees and scribes were Jewish religious leaders and they did not see Jesus as God’s Son. They denied His divinity. Because of this they were thinking that Jesus was blaspheming. Blasphemy is when someone disrespects and insults God. The Jews were thinking among themselves that Jesus was committing blasphemy.

Notice this, the Jews were thinking, and Jesus knew their thoughts and called them out about. Jesus knew that they were calling Him a blasphemer. However, Jesus says to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin” —he said to the paralytic—I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”

Jesus had already proved He was God by forgiving this paralyzed man of his sin. That should have been enough. But, to further reveal that He is God, Jesus healed the paralytic. Jesus said He is God through forgiving the paralytic of his sin. He proved that He is God through healing the man physically.

Jesus healed the man so that they may know that He is the Son of Man or fully human and fully God. The Jews were looking for a Messiah that would be a king and deliver Israel from its oppressors. However, Jesus came as a servant. His role was not to save Israel from oppressing nations. He came as the suffering servant who came to save humanity from their slavery to sin. He came to give His life to save us.

John MacArthur writes, “Jesus purposely waited to heal the paralyzed man until after He declared His authority to forgive sins. Disease and disability are consequences of living in a sin fallen world, meaning that sin’s permeating effects are the root cause of all sickness and suffering. By healing the paralytic, in demonstration of His power over sin’s effects, Jesus proved His authority over sin itself.”

Jesus has the power to forgive us of our sins. Jesus became sin for us in order that we can be saved. Jesus is the perfect Son of God who died for the sins of the world an now, we can be saved by Him. Jesus died on the cross, His blood was poured out for our sins, He bore the wrath of God for our sins. Jesus was our substitute on the cross and His death grants us forgiveness. Then, He rose again from the grave on the third day revealing His power over sin and death and satan.

Today, you can place your faith in Him and be forgiven of sin as well.

Believers it is important to take away that Jesus is God, able to forgive sin, and we should praise Him.

Mark 2:12 ESV

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!”

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