Mark 2:1-12

Alright, and please take out your copy of God's Word.

Turn to the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 2.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

I am thankful that I read the lyrics of the song, In the Beloved.

I actually had forgotten I had done that.

!

And when He returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He was at home.

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.

And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men.

And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him.

When they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,

Son, your sins are forgiven.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts,

Why does this man speak like that?

He is blaspheming.

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

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?

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 sins.

He said to the paralytic,

I say to you, Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.

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.

Join me in prayer.

Father, certainly this day we can praise You for Your mercy to us.

We were once dead, imprisoned by sin.

But because of Your loving kindness,

You bestowed such a great mercy that we might have the redemption of our souls in Christ.

And now You have given to us abounding grace.

We have been set adrift and float effortlessly on a sea of grace.

You have given us this church.

And I praise You for every precious soul in this room coming together to encourage and build up one another in love.

You have given us Your word that we might look at, behold, the One, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior.

And You have granted to us part of Yourself, Your Trinitarian Self, the Spirit that abides within us,

that we might understand and apply these truths to our hearts.

I pray, Father, You will accomplish much with us this day.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So we come to a rather well-known story here at the beginning of chapter 2.

Before we get to that, I want to, by way of reminder, kind of bring us where we've been so far.

We come to this pretty intense place.

And in the next chapter, we're going to see Jesus actually confront the religious culture in a number of ways.

The next five stories specifically are aimed right at that.

He's flying in the face of religious culture in His day.

Up to this point, though, He's been working on establishing His authority.

That's what His ministry has been about.

And that is the way in which Mark has recorded this for us.

That we can see that He has authority over Satan.

That we see that He has authority over demons and over sicknesses.

Right?

That He teaches as one with authority.

But this is the first time in the Gospel of Mark that Christ proclaims His own deity.

That Christ says, I am God.

I and the Father are one.

Now to be sure, Mark has already said that.

He started the book out that way.

He wanted us to be very sure that we understood that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Son of God.

We see that right there at the very beginning.

Right?

But here we see Jesus for the very first time doing this.

Proclaiming His deity.

And we find Him back in the city of Capernaum.

Right?

Verse 1, chapter 2 says,

And when He returned to Capernaum after some days.

Now Capernaum was a city located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Recall in verse 16 of chapter 1, He was passing alongside the Sea of Galilee where He calls Simon, which most of us know as Peter, as well as His brother Andrew.

And following that, verse 21, and they went into Capernaum.

So they were fishing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

And they went into the city located there on the coastline called Capernaum.

Here He heals a demon-possessed man.

Then in verse 29, He immediately, Mark's favorite word, leaves the synagogue and enters the house of Simon, Peter, and Andrew there in Capernaum where He heals all who were sick and oppressed that were brought to Him.

That's what happens there in verse 29.

In verse 38 and 39, He says to them, the disciples,

Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.

So they leave Capernaum to go to other towns, verse 39,

And He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

We don't know where He goes exactly from there, but He goes and He travels around Galilee.

Luke chapter 5, verse 12, speaking of this activity of Jesus cleansing the leper, which we studied last week in verses 40 through 45,

Luke 5:12

Luke chapter 5, verse 12 says, while He was in one of the cities.

Luke 5:12

So we're not really sure which city He was in, but while He was in one of the cities.

We talked about last week how He healed a leper.

And in so doing, traded places with that leper.

The leper was welcomed once again back into the community of faith, could dwell amongst people.

And as a result, Jesus had to go out to desolate places and minister.

But when we get to chapter 2, verse 1, it's been some time, after some days, which in Greek just means some time.

We don't know exactly how long.

But it would seem that maybe the hubbub has died down.

That the fervency, these people were following Him around because He was doing healing, has died down a bit.

And He could enter back into a city.

And so He's back in Capernaum.

Now, you'll note that He is in a home.

And it's said He was at home.

But Jesus wasn't from Capernaum, was He?

Jesus was from Nazareth.

We know that's where He came out of.

He came out of Nazareth, of Galilee, to begin His ministry.

So it's believed that when He said He's at home, that He's at His home base in the area.

When He's in Capernaum, He stayed at, more than likely, Peter and Andrew's house.

This is the proposition I put before you, that when He's at home, this means He's at His home in Capernaum,

which would have been with Simon Peter and with Andrew.

And we see, once again, a great crowd gathering around Him.

A crowd so large, they're packing into the house and filling the doorway so that this paralytic cannot be brought in.

And they try. They try to get Him in, but it's such a packed audience that cannot be brought in.

But what is Jesus doing?

Let's look once again.

What is it that He's doing?

And He was preaching the Word to them.

There it is, at the end of verse 2.

And He was preaching the Word to them.

And remember last week, we talked about Jesus' activity as a healer, as a miracle worker.

And that this was simply meant to validate His message.

Jesus' primary purpose, His major goal as He traveled around during this time, was to preach the truth.

We see it recorded in chapter 1, verse 15.

He says,

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

He came to preach the coming of the kingdom.

We get to delve into so many wonderful parables in the Gospel of Mark.

I was flipping through them this week and just getting really excited about the coming chapters.

I can't wait to get to chapter 4.

We'll take our time to get there.

But I'm going to be really excited when we get to chapter 4.

We get to start talking about the parables of the kingdom.

This is the language that Jesus Christ used all the time.

And so I think it's important that we just pause for a moment to think about what is the kingdom of God.

A contemporary Old Testament scholar by the name of Graham Goldsworthy, which I would commend to you.

He wrote a wonderful book called According to Plan.

Said,

The kingdom of God is God's people in God's place under God's rule.

God's people in God's place under God's rule.

And I think that's a beautifully simple picture of what the kingdom of God is.

And this was what Jesus Christ came to preach.

The coming of the kingdom of God.

There's this massive crowd that's gathered around and he's preaching to them.

But a side note that I think is important to mention about crowds.

Numbers are not necessarily the measure of a successful ministry.

Numbers are not necessarily the measure of a successful ministry.

In fact, I would argue the largest church in America right now is led by a heretic.

Numbers are not necessarily the measure of a successful ministry.

In fact, in Acts chapter 1, after Christ has been crucified, we see together gathered 120 disciples.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

120 disciples gathered together after the crucifixion of Christ.

This was the fruit in the flesh, in those days, measurable fruit of the work of Christ.

Not the 5,000 and the 4,000 that he fed.

Not the crowds that followed him everywhere, even into desolate places.

These are the folks that were disciples of Christ.

That had committed their lives to him.

Look around this room.

There are over 120 people in this room.

I'm going to take just a stab at 150.

I don't really know that.

I know there are more than 120 people because I counted.

I got to 120 and stopped.

Right?

This was the measure of his physical ministry.

Now we know that the ministry of Christ has expanded far beyond that.

That the ministry of Christ supersedes, stands over any ministry of any man.

Everything belongs to him.

Right?

His ministry is infinite in measure.

Right?

But the measurable impact of this.

We must not look at these crowds and assume that they were all followers of Christ.

The more proper thing to assume, and we're going to see it over and over and over again,

is that they just wanted what Christ could give them.

And that was healing.

Right?

They just wanted to become and be made better.

They wanted to behold something miraculous.

Look at what he did.

That was incredible.

Right?

We would do the same thing.

Would we not?

Anybody like illusions?

Pretty fun.

Right?

We know it's fake.

He was doing amazing things for real.

And people were gathering to see what he was going to do.

So this is the crowd that surrounds him.

Right?

Chapter 4, verses 10 through 12 says,

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

And he said to them,

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.

But for those outside, everything is in parables.

And he quotes from Isaiah chapter 6, verses 9 through 10,

Isaiah 6:9–10

So that they may indeed see, but not perceive.

And may indeed hear, but not understand.

Lest they should turn and be forgiven.

The very reason that Jesus Christ spoke in parables,

So that these amassed crowds wouldn't understand what was being taught,

Unless it was revealed to them by the Spirit.

The very reason he used such complex languages,

And spoke in stories so often,

Was this, by his own account.

You can hate that all you want to,

But these are the words of Christ.

This is why he spoke in these ways,

To filter the crowds.

For those who had the working regeneration of the Spirit in their lives.

And so this is the scene that we see painted.

He's sitting in, more than likely,

Simon Peter and Andrew's home,

With a great crowd.

And he's preaching the gospel.

The coming of the kingdom of God.

And verse 3 says,

That some men, four men,

Brought a paralytic to him.

We don't know exactly what degree this man was paralyzed,

But certainly paralyzed enough,

That he could not walk under his own strength.

Right?

He could have been a quadriplegic.

He could have been paralyzed for the neck down.

We do not know.

But they carried him in on a pallet,

And they could not make headway.

Verse 4 says,

When they could not get near him because of the crowd,

They removed the roof above him.

When they made an opening,

Let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

Now it's really important to understand,

That in this day,

There was a great association of illness with sin.

A great association between the two.

This culture,

This religious culture of this day,

Saw people who were infirmed,

And assumed that it was a punishment from God.

And God has certainly used illness to judge the world.

That is one of the effects of our fallenness.

Fallenness.

Right?

But it does not necessarily follow,

That because of sin,

We suffer.

Great example of this.

John chapter 9,

John 9:1–3

Verses 1 through 3,

Says,

Of Jesus,

As he passed by,

He saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him,

So here's the religious assumption.

His disciples asked him,

Rabbi,

Who sinned,

This man or his parents,

That he was born blind?

Jesus answered,

It was not this man who sinned,

Or his parents,

But that the works of God might be displayed in him.

So you have to catch clearly,

That the two are not mutually exclusive.

Right?

That they don't coexist together,

But the culture thought they did.

Right?

So even this paralyzed man

Would have believed that to be true of himself.

Right?

Anyone who was ill,

Knew they were sinners.

Right?

A great benefit of your illnesses,

Your suffering,

As you get uncomfortable in your chairs,

Even today,

Could be to remember the fallen state of this world,

And that you are a sinner.

Right?

This is evidence of that.

I share with you some of the pain

I experienced last week in depth.

Right?

A great reminder to me

That this world is fallen.

Right?

That I am being redeemed out of it.

And one day I will have a new glorious body

That will feel no pain.

Right?

Good thing to work into your mind

As you think about illness.

So this is this man,

And this is what people would have thought of him

As he was carried by his four friends.

And when they couldn't get in,

They went up onto the roof.

Now,

The typical house construction of this day

Would have been single story.

Would have been a very rare thing

That a home would ever have been

More than one story.

But,

The second story

Was a flat top patio.

Right?

A roof top place

That they could spend time.

Flat roofs,

And they spent time up on the roof

Would have had an external staircase.

So these men

Hiked him up the stairs

And got on the roof.

And the roofs,

The houses were built

Out of straw and mud.

And the roof would have been beamed.

Beams running across

To give strong structure.

With sticks running the other way.

And then thatch layered with mud.

That's the way this would have all taken place.

There would have been enough

Wooden structure to hold mud in place.

And then it would have been tiled

On top of that.

So they could have gone up on the roof

And visited,

Ate their meals,

Etc.

Up there on the roof.

Right?

And this was the structure

That they dug through.

Right?

That they destroyed the roof

Of

Simon Peter and Andrew's house,

Presumably,

To get this man

Into this room.

And as I was just musing about this

Because we see that Jesus is

Preaching.

He is sitting in the room

And he is preaching a message

And this is what's going on

Above him.

This could not have been a quiet thing.

Right?

It wasn't like they were picking away

Quietly at straw

And then suddenly there was a hole.

Right?

Stuff must have been raining down

From the mud ceiling

That would have been in this place.

Right?

I can't even,

I just don't even,

I wish I had the details.

Like Mark and his punctuality

Just moves us right through the process.

They dug a hole

And then they lowered him down.

Right?

But can you imagine

A bunch of years ago

A young girl

Who's not a member of our church

Any longer.

She's moved.

Brought her mother

Who's just a little odd.

And her cell phone went off

In the middle of preaching

One day.

And it was hilarious.

I can't remember.

I wish I could remember what it was now.

But it was like a hilarious

Like classic rock and roll guitar riff.

And so it went off the one time

And you're kind of like

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Poor person.

Oh gosh.

They forgot to silence their phone.

I think everybody's looking

At their phones right now.

Right?

But then it went off again.

And then it went off again.

She was clueless.

Oblivious to the fact

That it was her phone.

I don't know where her head was.

If she could even hear.

I'm not sure

Really what was going on.

But it went to voicemail.

Like it rang

All the way through to voicemail.

And then the voicemail alert

Went off too.

Were any of you here for that?

It was so

It was not really funny at the time.

But after the fact

It was really, really funny.

But I just like

I had to like really focus.

Like I was

I was like at the edge of going

Really?

Come on.

Really?

Like it's in this area.

Silence the phone.

I don't know how Jesus did it.

I guess he was perfect.

And he pressed on through

In his preaching.

Don't come through our roof.

I'll have to stop.

I'll have to stop.

This is this incredible scene.

Right?

And the boldness of these men

As they found a way.

We have a friend

Who is infirmed.

We desperately want him healed.

And they dug a hole

In the roof

In order to let him through

That roof.

And in verse 5

Jesus sees their faith.

Their faith.

The faith of these men.

And then he says

To the paralytic

Son, your sins are forgiven.

That's a really important thing

For us to fix our attention on.

It's a fascinating verse.

And when Jesus saw

Their faith

He said to the paralytic

Son, your sins are forgiven.

He goes from this

Broad sense of faith

To a very narrow

Forgiveness of sin.

Right?

What is meant here?

And here's what I believe

To be the case.

That he perceives

He can observe

Their faith.

Right?

They dug a hole in the ceiling

To let this man down.

But what he's referring to here

Is a natural faith.

Right?

A natural faith.

They had seen Jesus.

They had heard the telling

Of him healing people.

And therefore they believed

That he could also

Heal their friend.

Right?

The paralytic believed

That he could be healed.

Right?

Just like we trust

The structure of this floor.

We trust the structure

Of this floor.

If you've been here

For a while

You've seen the

Cattle trough baptismal

We've been bringing in.

Right?

I didn't have faith

In the floor

On that day.

I want you to know

That as your pastor

I jumped up and down

On the stage

Really really hard

Just to see if maybe

It would go through

The floor

So I would spare you all

From falling

A story

If the floor gave way.

Right?

But generally

We trust.

Right?

We have faith.

Like we've been in plenty

Of two story buildings

With floors

That hold up

That pass code

And they therefore

Will hold us up.

We trust the structure

Of this ceiling

Don't we?

We've got all kinds

Of things in here

That would get horribly ruined

If they got really wet.

Right?

We trust

That the guys

Who put the ceiling

In place

Put the metal roofing on

Did it right

And we're not going to get

Sopping wet

In here.

We trust those things

Naturally.

Right?

It's an easy thing

To do.

Right?

If you're going to go out

To eat this afternoon

You trust

That the people

Who prepare your food

Are going to do so

Appropriately.

Like none of you

At least I don't think

Will go and visit the kitchen

And inspect its cleanliness

Yourself.

Right?

You might

If you're a little OCD

Look at the rating

On the wall

Before you eat

Most of us don't do that

I usually notice the rating

When I'm paying

For the food I already ate

But you and I go

Oh, 88.

Right?

So we trust

That our food

That's natural faith

We can do

That kind of thing

Easily

And naturally

But that is not

The kind of faith

That saves.

So he narrows his focus

From this general faith

He sees their faith

And then he says

To the paralytic

He sees something else

In the paralytic

And he says to him

Son, your sins

Are forgiven

He sees in him

A saving faith

A supernatural faith

Right?

A faith that cannot be

His on his own

But that must be

Birthed in him

By the movement

Of the Spirit

Right?

Draw your mind

To John 6, 44a

No one can come to me

Unless the Father

Who sent me

Draws him

Right?

This is the work

Of the Spirit

The great ministry

To us in our lives

Is to draw us

To the Father

To work in us

Saving faith

To regenerate our hearts

So that we can

Believe

Right?

This is altogether

A biblical case

This is the way

That God works

In our lives

And this is what

Was happening

In this man's life

And he says to him

Son, your sins

Are forgiven

It's by faith

We're saved

But it's faith

That's worked

In us

Throughout time

This has been the case

Think about the fact

That what faith

Would be birthed

In this man

What is it

That he was

Believing in

If Christ himself

Is before him

Christ is before him

Has yet to die

Has yet to bear

The wrath

Of God's punishment

For his sin

What is it

That he believed?

Right?

What was it

That he had faith in?

He had faith

In the promise

Turn to Romans

Romans 4 · chapter mention

Chapter 4

We're going to look

At the life

Of Abraham

How was it

That Abraham

Was justified

Was found

In right standing

Before God

Right?

I hope you're with me

On this

Abraham

In the presence

Of God right now

Right?

He's not in hell

He's in heaven

He's with the father

Now

Romans 4

1-3

What then shall we say

Was gained by Abraham

Our forefather

According to the flesh

For if Abraham

Was justified by works

He has something

To boast about

But not before God

For what does the scripture say?

Abraham believed God

And it was counted to him

As righteousness

Right?

Believed in the promise

Right?

He didn't even know

How it was going to work out

Exactly

But believed

What God had said

To him

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

I invite you to turn there

Beginning in verse 8

You guys might have to

Tab your Bibles

Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 8

By faith

Abraham obeyed

When he was called

To go out

To a place

That he was

To receive

As an inheritance

And he went out

Not knowing

Where he was going

So here's the

Action of his faith

By faith

He went to live

In the land of promise

As in a foreign land

Living in tents

With Isaac and Jacob

Heirs with him

Of the same promise

For he was looking forward

To the city

That has foundations

Whose designer

And builder

Is God

Not talking about

Jerusalem in this case

An eternal city

The new Jerusalem

This is what

The writer of Hebrews

Says Abraham

Was looking forward to

Skip down to verse 13

Of chapter 11

These all died

Speaking of all these

Saints

That chapter 11

Is referred to

In faith

Not having received

The things promised

But having seen them

And greeted them

From afar

And having acknowledged

That they were strangers

And exiles on the earth

For people who speak thus

Make it clear

That they are seeking

A homeland

If they had been thinking

Of that land

From which they had gone out

They would have had

Opportunity to return

But as it is

They desire a better country

That is a heavenly one

Therefore God is not ashamed

To be called their God

For he has prepared

For them a city

Right

They saw the promise

From afar off

Right

Didn't even know

How it would be fulfilled

In Christ

But knew that God

Would accomplish

The things he said

He would accomplish

In the Abrahamic covenant

Right

By their faith

They were saved

A faith that was worked

In them

By the spirit

Of God

Right

So Jesus

Sees this work

And says to him

Son

Your sins

Are forgiven

Right

And in this action

This is one of two ways

He declares

His deity

Right

Because only God

Can forgive

The offenses

Committed against him

Right

It would be really silly

If you offended me

Personally

You came up to me

And you told me

That you did not like

My shirt today

And I was offended by that

And then later on

My wife said

It's okay

That you don't like

Nathan's shirt

It would make no sense

Would it

Right

I must forgive the offense

That's been given to me

Right

Only God

Can forgive the offense

Of the sin

That's committed against him

Right

Our sin

All of it

Is primarily

Vertical

In nature

Sins have horizontal effect

Absolutely

You tell me

You don't like my shirt

Right

It's going to hurt my feelings

This is not a sin

By the way

You can not like my shirt

It's okay

Right

But sin

Is primarily

It's firstly

Vertical

It's an offense

Against God

Right

Let's take a look at

The story

Of David

And Bathsheba

Remember the story

Of David and Bathsheba

He beholds

A woman bathing

On a roof

A roof

A tiled roof

Is the way

They would have done this

Right

He sees her

And he wants her

She's married

To a man named Uriah

Right

And what does he do

He sends off Uriah

To the front

To be killed

And he has Bathsheba

Prior to her husband

Being killed

Right

This great offense

Did he sin against Bathsheba

He certainly did

Did he sin against Uriah

He certainly did

Right

But listen to what he says

In Psalm 51

Psalms 51:4

Verse 4

Against you

Speaking to God

Against you

You only

Have I sinned

And done what is evil

In your sight

Isn't that phenomenal

We should reflect upon that

Great offenses

Right

I mean I hope

I hope that

We don't have any

Adultering murderers

In the room today

Maybe

Maybe

I hope

I hope not

Right

But this is a great weight

This is a great thing

That he did

And he says

Against you

You only

Have I sinned

Right

Is he saying

That he didn't

Offend them at all

Absolutely not

But in comparison

The vertical nature

Of his sin

Vastly outweighs

The horizontal nature

Of his sin

Charles Spurgeon

In speaking of

Psalm 51

Said

The virus of sin

Lies in its opposition

To God

The psalmist's sense

Of sin towards others

Rather tended to increase

The force of his feeling

Of sin

Against God

All his wrongdoing

Centered

Culminated

And came to a climax

At the foot

Of the divine throne

He put it in proper

Perspective

He saw how really

Weighty it was

How infinite it was

As he sinned

Against

An infinite

God

He got some

Clue of this

As the prophet

Nathan was sent to him

2 Samuel 12

2 Samuel 12:9

Verse 9

Listen to what

The prophet Nathan

Said to David

His friend

Why have you

Despised the word

Of the Lord

This is in response

To the same activity

Why have you

Despised

The word of the Lord

To do what is evil

In his sight

You have struck down

Uriah the Hittite

With a sword

And have taken his wife

To be your wife

And have killed him

With the sword

Of the Ammonites

Why have you

Despised the word

Of the Lord

To do what is evil

In his sight

Why have you

Offended God

In this action

It's important

That we get this

Properly

That we get this

Right

Jesus declares

Himself

God

As he says

Son

Your sins

Are forgiven

Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9:22

Verse 22

Reads

Indeed

Under the law

Almost everything

Is purified

With blood

Some things

Were purified

By water

Almost everything

Is purified

With blood

And without

The shedding

Of blood

There is no

Forgiveness

Of sins

You have to see too

And you have to

Really understand

Right

That it's not that

That God

Forgives sin

The way we would

Forgive an offense

Against us

Where we just

Kind of pass it over

We just kind of

Say it's fine

Right

I'll deal

It's okay

But because God

Is all of who he is

At all times

It's actually a doctrine

Called the simplicity

Of God

Right

That he is always

Who he is

He's not bipolar

He's not wrath

One moment

And mercy another

But he's always

All of these things

Right

Because God

Is a just God

He must judge sin

And therefore

Punish it

Appropriately

This is the picture

Of our God

He must

Do this

And without blood

There is

No forgiveness

Of sins

He didn't say to you

When you placed your faith

In Christ

Yours is good

Right

What he said

Is I've already

Punished your sin

In Christ

Christ's blood

Covered

Your sin

Right

Christ's blood

Covered the sins

Of Abraham

Right

This work

That he completed

So many years

Later

Was the accomplishment

Of the promises

Given to Abraham

That he might have

This eternal life

This is why we believe

In Jesus Christ

He is the lamb

That was slain

On our behalf

Who bore our wrath

Who took our punishment

Gave us

His righteousness

The chorus

Of that song

In the beloved

In the beloved

God's marvelous grace

Calls me to dwell

In this wonderful place

God sees my savior

And then he sees me

In the beloved

Accepted

And free

And I just imagine

This paralytic

Right

Let's assume

He's a quadriplegic

That he can't move at all

And he's laying on a pallet

He's been lowered

Through the roof

And Luke it says

Right in front of Jesus too

Again the distraction

Right here

Right

He comes down

And he's laying on the floor

Right

And Jesus forgives

His sins

Right

That he would want to sing

Such a song

Still paralyzed

Right

Receiving the joy

That is granted to him

Because of the gospel

Of Jesus Christ

Right

What a picture

What a picture

Then in verse 6

We see the scoffers

Sprinkled amongst the crowd

Right

The scribes

They were sitting there

And they were

Questioning in their hearts

Why does this man

Speak like that

He is blaspheming

Or saying he is God

Who can forgive sins

But God alone

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

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 sins

He said to the paralytic

I say to you

Rise

Pick up your bed

And go home

So we see scribes

And we need to ask the question

Who were these scribes

In verse 16 of chapter 2

We see it recorded

The scribes of the Pharisees

That's a way it was recorded

So we see a number of sects

That exist

S-E-C-T-S

Sects that exist

In Judaism at this time

And Phariseeism

Was one of these things

Do you know

There were probably

Only about 6,000 Pharisees

In existence

In Jesus' time

But boy

Do they run rampant

Around Jerusalem

And the neighboring area

About 6,000 of them

And their sect

Actually

Arose during the time

Of Ezra

Remember we studied

Nehemiah together

Previously

At the

Babylonian return

When the sect

Arose about

400 years

Earlier

John MacArthur

Said this of them

These are the guardians

Of the populist form

Of apostate Judaism

Right

Love that sentence

These are the guardians

Of the populist form

The popular form

Of apostate Judaism

They're the fundamentalists

Legalists

Architects

And promoters of salvation

By works

Salvation

By self-righteousness

That's who these Pharisees were

They constructed laws

To protect people

From committing laws

They were called hedge laws

So much so

That people had lost

The very point

Of the law

To begin with

Jesus spends his time

In the Sermon on the Mount

Re-establishing

What he was trying to teach

To begin with

In the giving

Of the law

Right

These Pharisees

Were tearing down

Faith

Any of you know

People like that?

Any of you been

People like that?

And here we have

Scribes

Now the scribes

Would have been

Like the theologians

Of the day

Right

They were learned men

They were often called

Rabbis

Which means teacher

Not all scribes

Were Pharisees

And certainly not all

Pharisees

Were scribes

Right

But you get

There's an intermingling

Here of this

Self-righteous

Form of teaching

And these are the men

That we often see

Confronting Jesus

Hijacking

The conversation

And here we see him

Boldly

Confront them

Even as they haven't

Said anything

Out loud

They've simply

Thought in their hearts

This is blasphemy

Right

How is it that

This man

Can forgive sin

Only God

Can forgive sin

And they're right

In that

Right

Aren't they?

But they just

Didn't understand

That Jesus himself

Was in fact

God

That he

Was

Deity

Leviticus

Leviticus 24:16

Chapter 24

Verse 16

Says whoever

Blasphemes

The name of the

Lord

Shall surely

Be put to death

All the congregation

Shall stone him

This was a well

Understood

Jewish tradition

You did not

Call yourself

God

We will kill you

If you do

This is the very

Accusation that's

Brought to Jesus

That has him

Hung on a cross

And his response

To this

Is just

Phenomenal

Right

He says

Which is easier

To say

This was puzzling

To me

For a while

Because it seems

That he's actually

Saying that it's

Easier to say

Your sins are forgiven

Doesn't it read

That way

To you

Which is easier

To say to the

Paralytic

Your sins are forgiven

Or to say

Rise take up

Your bed and walk

And then he proves it

By telling him to

Rise take up

His bed and walk

It seems that he's

Saying it's harder

To heal

The body

Than to heal

The soul

Who would disagree

Agree with that

Would we not

I hope we would

I do

Interestingly though

When you look

At the original language

If you look at

The word in Greek

For say

It could also mean

To affirm

And I think

That would be

A much better

Translation here

Of the text

Which is easier

To affirm

Your sins are forgiven

Or easier to affirm

Rise take up your bed

And walk

Right

They could visually see

I say to this man

Rise take up your bed

Go home

And he does it

It has been affirmed

Or to say

Your sins are forgiven

Can you affirm that

With the seeing

With the senses

You certainly cannot

Right

So he does something

For them

That they can

That they can

Visually see

Right

He not only heals

The soul of this man

But then he heals

This body

Right

To display

His power

Right

He's affirming

His deity

In this way

He forgives sin

To affirm it

Right

Secondly

He affirms his deity

By searching

The hearts

Of men

It's a shame

That these scribes

Miss this

As they

Think these thoughts

Within themselves

And Jesus calls them out

On the very thing

Why are you thinking

These things

1 Chronicles 28

1 Chronicles 28:9

Verse 9

It says

The Lord searches

All hearts

And understands

Every plan

And thought

Jeremiah 17

10

I the Lord

Search the heart

And test the mind

Ezekiel 11

5

For I know

The things

That come into

Your mind

Jesus put on

His deity

In great display

As he draws

Out of them

The very things

That they were thinking

And he does this

Over and over

And over

Again

Throughout the gospel

Of Mark

And the other accounts

Of Jesus' life

Proclaims his deity

To this people

Right

And then we see

The response

Of the paralytic

He rises

Immediately

There's Mark's word

Again

And immediately

He picks up his bed

He goes out

Before them all

So that they were

All amazed

And glorified God

Saying we never

Saw anything

Like this

So the result of it

Seems to be

An amazing turning

To Christ

Does it not?

What a neat account

At the end

They were all amazed

And they glorified God

Saying we never

Saw anything

Like this

But the account

In Matthew

Matthew 9:8

Chapter 9

Verse 8

Of the same story

Says

When the crowd

Saw it

They were afraid

And they glorified God

Who had given

Such authority

To men

You catch the difference there?

The crowd glorified God

But they missed

The fact

That Jesus

Himself

Was God

Right

They were afraid

They glorified God

For giving such authority

To a man

But they missed

That he himself

Was God

Philippians

Philippians 2:9

Chapter 2

Verse 9

States that

God

Has exalted

Jesus Christ

It's not enough

For us just to believe

In God

But we must believe

In the Son

Of God

The One

The Person

Jesus Christ

Has accomplished

Work on our behalf

Another text

Exalting

Christ

Revelation

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

Chapter 5

Turn there

Verse 11

John's account

Of his vision

Beginning in verse 11

Then I looked

And I heard around the throne

The living creatures

And the elders

The voice of many angels

Numbering myriads

And myriads

And thousands

Of thousands

Saying with a loud voice

Worthy is the Lamb

Who was slain

To receive power

And wealth

And wisdom

And might

And honor

And glory

And blessing

And I heard

Every creature

In heaven

On earth

And under the earth

And the sea

And all that is in them

Saying to him

Who sits on the throne

And to the Lamb

Be blessing

And honor

And glory

And might

Forever and ever

And the four living creatures

Said amen

And the elders

Fell down

And worship

The Lamb

You can see

Is the one

Who is exalted

In heaven

Ephesians chapter 1

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 19

You can try to get there

I'm going to keep reading though

Paul prays the Ephesians

Will know

The immeasurable greatness

Of Jesus' power

Toward us who believe

According to the working

Of his great might

That he worked in Christ

When he raised him

From the dead

And seated him

At his right hand

In the heavenly places

Far above all rule

And authority

And power

And dominion

And above every name

That is named

Not only in this age

But also in the one to come

And he put all things

Under his feet

And gave him as head

Over all things

To the church

Which is his body

The fullness of him

Who fills all in all

We see this picture

That's repeated

Throughout the scriptures

Of Jesus now seated

At the right hand of the Father

Which is the place

Of honor

The Father

Exalts

Christ

These people

Exalted

God

They missed

That Christ himself

Was part of the Trinity

Was God

In flesh

Not us

We exalt

Jesus Christ

This is our faith

The one who has power

To forgive

Sins

The one who by grace

Freely bestows

Forgiveness

Of sins

We don't work

This is unique

For the world religions

Right

We don't work

Our salvation out

We cannot

We are incapable

Of accomplishing this

On our own

Praise God

That he works it in us

That he gives us

This gift

Of faith

Fall on your knees

And praise him

For that

You have no

Thing good

To boast in yourself

Paul said

Far be it for me

To boast in anything

But the cross

Of Christ

Right

That's what we have

To boast in

His work

On our behalf

As a church

We exist

To exalt Christ

I don't know if

Yeah

It's up there

Christ's only church

Exists

To glorify God

Right

To lift him up

By experiencing

Proclaiming

And displaying

The supremacy

Of Jesus Christ

In all things

To all people

I don't have time

This morning

To break that

All down for you

Right

Do you see that

We as genuine

Believers

Right

I hope that if

We were standing

In this crowd

Right

We would have

Seen Jesus

As the son of God

Right

We would have

Experienced

His supremacy

Right

Then we would have

Spent the rest

Of our lives

Proclaiming

And displaying

That very truth

In all things

To all

Peoples

That's what we

Have been called

To

To exalt him

Amongst

The nations

Jesus Christ

The son of God

Who is himself

God

Establishes here

His deity

His authority

Over sin

I hope this morning

That you can

Revel in that

With me

You can rejoice

In the fact

That your sins

Have been forgiven

In Christ

That you can say

With confidence

That when he

Hung on that

Cross

And bore

The wrath

Of God

That he

Was bearing

The wrath

For your

Sin

That you

Know

That it

Was

Stricken

From the

Record

Because

Of his

Work

That you

Know

That your

Name

Was written

In the

Lamb's

Book of

Life

Before the

Foundation

Of the

World

Because

Of this

Work

That Christ

Would

Accomplish

One

Day

That you

Can say

That with

Confidence

That the

Spirit of

God

Has worked

In you

A new

Heart

So that

You can

Believe

And you

Have

Believed

And many

People get

Perplexed

At that

Point

But what

If I

Don't

Know

Don't

Overcomplicate

It

Just believe

Repent

And believe

It's a

Simple

Gospel

Call

If you

Don't

Live your

Life

In light

Of that

Truth

The

Same

Is for

You

Repent

And believe

Turn

From your

Sin

And turn

To God

Let's

Pray

Together