LOC 036: Life of Christ:
The Unexpected Visitor
(The Paralytic Healed)
At a few points along the way, we noted that Jesus had been
travelling all around Galilee preaching in their synagogues. Preaching was the purpose, as far as his
earthly actions is concerned, for which he came. Matt. 4:23 ¶ And Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the
people.
The Crowds kept coming more and more to get from Jesus the things
they desired. Many came for their own
selfish reasons, only a few departed with a real faith worthy to be noted in
the texts. It is interesting to note
that in only a few occasions do we see Jesus as being moved within himself to
compassion. Yet, he went about doing
good as he healed, cast out demons, and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Today’s encounter starts to add another element into the Life of
The Lord Jesus Christ. That is the
tension between Jesus and the religious establishment, between Jesus and the
Scribes and Pharisees.
We will be jumping around quite a bit this morning among Matthew
9, Mark 2 & Luke 5, yet primarily in Mark.
The Gospel writers each gives us comment and added color to help us
understands the dynamics of one particular day.
A day soon after the sabbath we discussed and the early morning spent in
prayer, but just how soon after, we do not know.
1. The Setting
Mark 2:1 And again He entered
Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
2. The Gathering
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer
room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
3. The Desperate Action
Mark 2:3 Then they came to Him,
bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near
Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they
had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
4. Jesus Took Note
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith,
He said to the paralytic, “Son, your
sins are forgiven you.”
5. The Hidden Offense
Mark 2:6 And some of the scribes were
sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7 “Why does this Man speak
blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
6. The Surprise Rebuke
Mark 2:8 But immediately, when Jesus
perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to
them, “Why do you reason about these
things in your hearts? 9 “Which is easier, to say to the
paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’
or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and
walk’?
7. The Clear Pronouncement
Mark 2:10 “But that you may know that the Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11
“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
8. The Obedient Paralytic and
the reaction of all
Mark 2:12 Immediately he arose, took up
the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and
glorified God, saying, “We never saw
anything like this!”
Let’s look a little closer at the text Mark with Matthew and Luke:
1. The Setting
Mark 2:1 And again He entered
Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
Mark gives us the Just the Facts Version of the background and
setting. Jesus had reentered Capernaum
after being away for a time. The people
heard that Jesus was in the house. Which
house? Probably Peter’s House where he
spent the sabbath afternoon and night when he first rose ridiculously early to
pray, That is the only antecedent house
referred to in the Gospel accounts. It
is reasonable to assume that Mark is talking about Peter’s house. An ancient house would have been one large
room with areas of the room given over to various household concerns.
Luke gives us more background from a very different
perspective.....
Luke 5:17 ¶ Now it happened on a
certain day, as He [Jesus] was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law [probably Scribes] sitting by,
who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.
See how far Jesus fame had spread?
Here in one place is assembled those who wanted Jesus attention to make
them well and those from the spectrum of the religious establishment. They all
came to hear and see Jesus. And, I am sure with mixed motives.
See what else it says in Luke.....
And the power of the Lord was
present to heal them.
The Power of Jesus to heal was no respecter of persons. The Power of Jesus could make the Pharisees
and Scribes as complete or well as it could any other. If it was powerful enough to cleanse a leper
and heal a paralytic, his power was strong enough to cleanse even a
Pharisee. I love the irony found in the
broader context.
Jesus is in Peter’s House where the multitudes came that one
evening after the Sabbath. Word got out
that Jesus was there. The crowds pressed
in again. The Pharisees and Scribes are there.
2. The Gathering
Mark 2:2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer
room to receive them, not even near the door.
Mark uses that word immediately again. He shows that many came together at the house
in an impromptu manner. It just happened
and they kept coming. The house filled
up, there were no more rooms wherein to put the people and that meant there was
no more room. There wasn’t even room
near the door. There was no room in
Peter’s House. But still Jesus seized the
opportunity to.....
And He preached the word to
them.
He would not be displaced from his purpose. Jesus Preached the word to them. He spoke to them about the things of
God. Again, in this instance we do not
know what he said when he preached. We
know that he did preach fulfilling an important purpose in his coming. He spoke
to a packed house, literally, on that day.
Since there was no room, not even at the door....we see
3. The Desperate Action
Mark 2:3 Then they came to Him,
bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near
Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they
had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
Jesus had such a reputation among men, that some of those men were
willing to take desperate actions in order to get what was wanted from
him. Here, four men take one paralytic
man up to the roof, dismantle it, and let him down.
This must have caused a disturbance while is was going on. Houses were not that big, generally
speaking. With the direct access these
men had to Jesus, it does not appear to have been an overly large house.
Consider the Paralytic. A
paralyzed man could offer nothing to his family except perhaps the hardship of
caring for him. Such an man and his family would do almost anything, humanly
speaking, to get well. We don’t know who
the four men were who carried him. But, we can surmise that it took a lot of
recruiting on the part of someone in order for four men of some strength to do
what they did. Someone had strong beliefs in what Jesus could and would do for
this man. And, those who helped did it
boldly.
These four let down the bed with the Paralytic in it through the
roof they had broken through to get Jesus attention. It also got the attention of all who were in
the house.
4. Jesus Took Note
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith,
Jesus took note of the strong trust in God that compelled their
actions. They believed not just to get
what they desired, they believed Jesus was who he proclaimed himself to
be. This was a work of faith, the fruit
of belief. They knew he had the power and authority to do what was needed. They
had faith, they were not seeking favors. Their faith produced the actions.
Their bringing of the paralytic was fruit of their belief. This is what Jesus saw when he first realized
what was going on. In the Scripture, it
is the first thing to be commended.
Jesus then turns to the Paralytic and pronounces, first,
forgiveness on account of the faith in action. It says.....
He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
People were likely expecting a healing of the body and they
witnessed a healing of the soul. Do you
catch this irony. The paralytic man got
more than he sought as he sought what he thought he needed out of faith in the
son of God. In the vernacular, he got a
lot more than he bargained for. He got
beyond what he could ask or think. But
note......the scene shifts to others who are present.....
5. The Hidden Offense
Mark 2:6 And some of the scribes were
sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7 “Why does this Man speak
blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Mark gives us the inner thoughts of some who sat in the house that
day. They considered what Jesus said to
be blasphemy--they saw Jesus as speaking against God, rather than for him. From their limited perspective they thought
Jesus had no right to do what he did, within themselves they reasoned, Jesus
can’t forgive sin, only God can....
That is right, Scribes. Add
it up and what do you get? Do you think
that maybe Jesus is God, the one who spoke in the synagogue as the one who had
the right to have and exercise all authority over his hearers, demons diseases
and all manner of things, is it possible this one could be God incarnate?
They saw these words pronouncing forgiveness as blasphemy. Blasphemy is literally to speak against
someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation (it can occur
in relation to persons as well as to divine beings, Although, we usually think
of it only with reference to God) —the word means ‘to revile, to defame, to blaspheme,
reviling.’ One way in which blasphemy was used was in speaking of ‘defaming
God’ by claiming some kind of equality with God. Any such statement was
regarded by the Jews of biblical times as being harmful and injurious to the
nature of God. To claim the power to forgive sin brought God down to the level
of this particular man. That was impossible. They were too man-centered in
their thinking. That is why the Scribes took this private offense. They saw Jesus claim for what it was,
equality with God and possessing the right to forgive sin. He had power to preach, authority over
unclean spirits, control of all physical ailments and now the right to forgive
sin. This was an escalation of the
claims made by the Lord Jesus Christ in a quiet but powerful way. He did not gloat or announce his prerogatives
and divine powers, he used them in an appropriate way.
Well, if the SCRIBES were there to get the goods on Jesus, he gave
them plenty of evidence in this one saying,
Your sins are forgiven. Jesus was
clear in what he said. The Scribes understood what was going on. And, they understood quickly.
6. The Surprise Rebuke
Mark 2:8 But immediately, when Jesus
perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves,
Again, Jesus is the one who knows men’s hearts. What a thrill to know and at the same time a
rebuke. To think he knows the filth that
we let lurk in our hearts.
Jesus knew they were thinking.
And, he knew what they were thinking.
He confronts them, perhaps turning to them, the text tells us he
addressed them directly. Look....
He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your
hearts?
Jesus was not to be fooled or trifled with. He got to the heart of the matter. Why do you think about these things in your
hearts in this way? Then he asks a
question. Everyone thought the paralytic
would be healed in body, but he was healed in soul. So Jesus asks the teachers of the Law a
theological question in the presence of all the other people gathered in and
around the house that day. He asks....
9 “Which is easier, to say to the
paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’
or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and
walk’?
The word used for say has a different meaning than spoke. Jesus is making a contrast between two
things. The word is, (an idiom,
literally ‘as to speak a word’) it is an expression used to introduce an
alternative form of expression as an interpretation of what has been said —
‘that is, “that is to say,” or “so to speak,” or “in a sense.”’
Jesus asks “Is it easier to heal a body or a soul?” Is it easier to make a man walk or to forgive
sin? The question is rhetorical, but the
answer is profound--they both take a work of Power and authority from on high.
Although, from the context it seems to take more power and authority to forgive
sins than to make a man walk. Lameness
can return to a body; forgiven sin will never be placed back on his account.
Jesus had done the greater work for this poor paralytic, who was still laying
there is his bed. Spiritual healing was
of no earthly good to him. But, it was
of greater importance to his soul and the life to come. Jesus, in doing either the power to forgive
or the power to heal showed himself to be equal with God. But, Jesus does not stop there. He goes on
to make....
7. The Clear Pronouncement
Mark 2:10 “But that you may know that the Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11
“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Using the plural form of the words, that you may know, Jesus
addresses all the Scribes, note what he didn’t say. Did you catch it? This is
what Jesus did not say, But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on
earth to heal all manner of diseases, he
said, But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive
sins” To prove he has power to do the
one he does the other. Jesus does the
extraordinary outward work of healing before their eyes that they might know he
has the power and authority to forgive sins as well. The healing pointed to the
power and right to forgive.
He turns to the Paralytic and speaks to him directly, “I say to
you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Pack up your things and go home.
He obeyed......
8. The Obedient Paralytic and
the reaction of all
Mark 2:12 Immediately he arose, took up
the bed, and went out in the presence of them all,
Can you imagine the sight.
A houseful where nobody could get in, a confrontation with the Scribes
over forgiveness, a healing of a paralytic, who is now commanded to go
home. I bet he made a beeline for the
door. Probably walking over people or squeezing through. His departure was proof that Jesus had power
and authority on earth from heaven. What
do you figure? I think there was
silence, dead silence for a few pregnant moments except for one lone grateful
paralytic doing whatever he did to glorify God and then....
and [he] went out in the
presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
I love how Luke is translated
in the NJKV,
Luke 5:26 And they were all amazed, and
they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” We
have seen paradoxa things today. A
paradox is an apparent contradiction, things that are difficult to reconcile of
figure out.
The Greek word means pertaining to being difficult to be believed — ‘difficult to
believe, unusual, incredible.’ ‘we have seen incredible signs today’ Lk 5:26.
It would also be possible to translate paradoxa ‘we have seen today things we
can hardly believe’ or even ‘… things which people would scarcely believe.’
Or, pertaining to that which is unusual in the sense of contrary to
expectations — ‘unusual, remarkable.’
These things fit both shades of meaning.
They caused astonishment. The
Jews sought after signs. They got powerful ones they did not know how to
understand. Jesus blew their minds by
what he said and did. Do you get that
sense of wonder? He left them in awe.
And, Matthew measured words of conclusion, Matt. 9:8 Now
when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such
power to men.
This same Jesus is risen and reigning from heaven for the sake of
his people. He still knows men’s
heart--including yours. He still
forgives the sins of those who come unto him by faith.
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