Mark 2:1–12 with Pastor Andrew Courtis

The Gospel of Mark chapter 2 and our reading this evening will be from the first twelve verses.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

Let us hear the word of the Lord.

And again, he entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house.

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.

Then they came to hear him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.

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.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you.

And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak blasphemies like this?

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

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?

Which is easier to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk, but that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

He said to the paralytic, I say to you, Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.

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.

That ends the reading of God's holy word.

Join me as we come to his throne of grace.

Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Gospel of Mark, which presents to us in such clear and rapid pace the splendor of our dear Savior, your only begotten Son.

As we consider the great work that he accomplished in what we've just read, I pray that it would minister to us tonight.

I pray that I would be pleasing to you in what is said, and that the Spirit of God would bring clarity to our eyes and our ears, that we may be able to take the treasures of your word and hide them in our hearts, so that we would not sin against you.

Be with us tonight, and I pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

I wonder if you've ever been interrupted.

Imagine you're sitting there at home, it's a cool night, you've got your trackies on, ugh boots are secured, you have a glass of milk, non-homogenized, of course, a chocolate chip cookie, and you just sit back and the doorbell rings.

Interrupt it.

Of course, there are other kinds of interruptions that break into our lives, and they're far more serious, aren't they?

There are some interruptions that do bring us pain, and there are some interruptions that bring us despair.

The word interrupt is actually a very interesting one.

It begins with that prefix um inter, uh, which carries the idea of between, but it's got that stem in there, and it's the word rupt, and it's the word that we end up getting the term rupture.

Uh, to to interrupt is to to break in between something.

It's to break in and it's to interfere, and it's to bring a rupture to something uh that is going along.

An interruption has a way of capturing people's attention, it changes the course of things, and it certainly has a way of adjusting what we might be thinking about a particular thing.

Well, this evening I want to tell you about an interruption that is far more significant than not being able to have your chocolate chip cookie with your milk.

It's an interruption that took place in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus.

But it was an interruption that we ought to be very glad that it happened.

Because in the providence of God, this interruption taught the people something about who Jesus is and what only he can do.

And I want us to know tonight that what we see on display in our dear Lord in this passage isn't something that ought to encourage us as a mere Sunday school story.

But what we learn in this interruption is something that ought to help you and encourage you in every step of your life today.

Because what is true of Jesus in this passage continues to be true of him today.

For our Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And there is a glorious lesson for us to take hold of.

But this is one of those passages of Scripture that so many will miss the main point in.

Yes, there are many practical lessons for us to draw from a passage like this, but some of these lessons can distract us a little bit.

And as a result of that distraction, we end up placing the application in the wrong place.

This passage, after all, is called the healing of the paralytic.

But did you know that that's not what this passage is about?

The passage before us is not another story of another miracle that Jesus did.

Nor is this passage some prototype for us to embrace and pattern ourselves after.

No.

Every presentation in the Gospels is actually about our Lord Jesus Christ and what he exclusively can do and why we must find our refuge and comfort in him.

And only when we begin to grasp the reality of who the Son of God is and what he can accomplish, that will then mean something for us.

It will mean something for us in the ordinary, it will mean something for us in the extraordinary, it will mean something for us in the busy times, but also in the quiet times.

In moments of blessing, in moments of difficulty, the truths that we have presented before us must be clear and we must cling to the Lord Jesus.

That is what the Gospel of Mark is all about.

And that's what the Gospels are all about.

They present to us the glories of Christ and why we must follow him and why we must look to him and why we must love him.

And my desire tonight, and I know I will be greatly inadequate in being able to do this, but with the Spirit's help, my desire is that you would walk away from a passage like this, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ all the more, that you would love him more, and that you would live for him more, and that we would make much of our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus, for that is our duty as the people of God.

Well, with that in view, we are going to be reminded of this particular story in which we learn about this great interruption.

And I want to simply flow, uh follow the flow of the story that we see presented in the way that Mark records this particular event.

You'll notice in verse one that our Lord's return to Capernaum, and this particular region was a region that was greatly privileged.

Why?

Because they were exposed to so much of the divine work of the Son of God.

They saw so many miracles.

They heard so many sermons.

Our Lord spent much time in the synagogue there.

The reputation of Jesus spread throughout this town.

This town was exposed greatly, unlike other places, to the ministry of Christ, truly leaving the people in the city without excuse.

Later on in his teaching, our Lord will warn of these people, saying it will be more tolerable for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than these people, because these people had seen with their very eyes who Jesus is.

They heard with their ears what he would say, yet there was still much rejection of him.

Well, our Lord enters into this town, and the very first scene, and I want you to note that there's five quick, fast-paced scenes, and that's how Mark writes.

And I want to follow the cue of Mark as we rapidly work through five scenes that takes place in Capernaum, centering around an individual who produced a great interruption.

But oh, it's a good interruption.

Let's begin with the very first scene.

And the first scene could be titled Jesus Preaches.

Have a look at the first two verses, and again he entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house.

That could also be translated.

We don't know whose home this was, but some scholars believe it was Peter's house.

Regardless, Jesus was home.

He was there.

People knew he was there.

And the reputation of his ministry has rapidly been spreading, as I just mentioned.

And it doesn't take long, according to verse two, that a crowd gathers.

And verse two describes particularly that they had gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.

Can you imagine the scene?

Here is a house.

Jesus is in the house, and the crowds want to hear him.

They want to see him.

They want to know what he's all about.

They've been hearing stories from friends, from colleagues, from neighbors, and they gather into this house and it's jam-packed.

They're sitting all over the floor.

There's people standing up in the corner.

Even the doorway, it's blocked.

No one else can get in.

Packed in like sardines.

There is no room left in the house.

And the people are there ready to listen.

They're there to listen to the master preacher.

A man who preached like no one else.

There never had been a preacher like the Lord Jesus, and there never will be.

It's often said that the Prince of Preachers was Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Oh, I wish I had the opportunity to listen to Spurge preach.

There was no recordings of his voice.

The closest thing we ever have is a recording of his son Thomas, who reads a portion of his dad's sermon.

People used to gather into that metropolitan tabernacle, and some weeks people stood outside.

They couldn't fit in.

He preached with gospel clarity.

His voice could be heard so far that one time he preached in an outward outdoor gathering.

That as he asked the people at the back if they could hear him, it took about three or four messengers to pass the message to say, yes, we can hear you from the back.

But as great as someone like Charles Haddon Spurgeon was, he paled into insignificance compared to the master preacher, the Lord Jesus.

And we know this to be true because back in Mark chapter 1 and verse 22, we're told that when he preached in the synagogue, the people were astonished at the way in which he preached.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

Unlike the scribes and the other religious leaders, he preached as one who had authority.

It wasn't that his jokes were funnier.

It wasn't that he had a form of eloquence.

It's not that he studied the great Greek writers who would teach on rhetoric.

But he preached with commanding power and authority.

He proclaimed the word of God in a way in which no one had ever done before.

And it captured the attention of the people.

This was even said after he preached the greatest sermon ever preached that we know as the Sermon of the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

At the end of preaching that phenomenal sermon, again we see a parallel to Mark 1, where it says that people were astonished in the way in which he preached, for he preached with authority, unlike the religious leaders.

Well, the people are packed into the house.

No room.

Very familiar with each other.

Sitting right next to each other, not on comfy red seats, with seats between you.

There is no room left.

What is he gonna say?

What is he going to preach?

I love what it says at the end of verse 2.

And he preached the word to them.

He didn't tell them stories, he didn't give them his experiences, he didn't go into Chat GPT and give a synopsis.

He opened the word of God and heralded it to the people.

And what was it about the word that he preached?

Well, we've been told in the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, he preached the kingdom of God, he preached the good news that it is now near to them.

The king has arrived, the king is in their very presence, and he is proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.

He didn't preach tradition, he preached the word of God, he gave them bread from heaven, for he himself is that word.

And with clarity, with plainness, with power and with precision, he declared out loud and heralded the word of God.

I would have loved to have been in that house that night, to sit at the feet of the master preacher.

I'm impressed, though I know that there would have been different motivations, that there was such a crowd, that there was eagerness, anticipation, and a hunger to hear what he would have to say.

But friends, I want you to know that the scriptures that we have before us from Genesis to Revelation are the word of Christ.

It has been said that in the Old Testament scriptures, Christ is predicted.

In the Gospels, Christ, he's presented in the book of Acts, Christ is preached.

In the epistles, Christ is explained, and in the book of Revelation, Christ is expected.

And when somebody opens up the holy scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and rightly divides them, you are hearing the word of Christ.

Would you be like the people in these first two verses that when the word of Christ is open, you are eager to hear it, you are there to listen.

But may we not be numbered among those who come for the wrong reasons.

We will learn in just a few moments that there were some who were there to hear him preach the word so that they could bring levels of accusation against the Son of God.

They didn't come to be fed, they came to divide.

But may we be among the number who desire to gather together, desire to pack ourselves in, to draw near to our Lord, and hear the word of Christ preached.

And the beauty of the preached word of Christ is faithful preaching of the word of Christ preaches all of the word.

It was J.C.

Ryle who once said it takes a whole Bible to make a whole Christian.

And we do well to expose ourselves to all of Scripture.

And that's why it is never our business to depart from what the Word of Christ says.

But we want to give people what the word of Christ says.

Well, that's how our passage begins.

The first scene is Jesus preaches.

But let us remember he continues to preach today wherever his word is opened and declared rightly.

The word of Christ continues to be proclaimed.

But we now come to the second scene, and the second scene can be titled The Paralyzed Man Comes.

Use your imagination.

You're in this packed house.

But you don't care about that.

You're not really worried about whether they had deodorant on or not.

You don't mind if there's much room because you just want to hear what the master preacher has to say.

But as he starts teaching and preaching the word of God, the good news of the kingdom, you notice that some mud falls down from the roof.

And it distracts you.

I remember a number of years ago being really distracted during a sermon.

I used to attend Belgrave Heights Convention in Victoria.

I think the equivalent would be the Katoomba Convention here.

And as a teenager, I was sitting there in the cold Easter convention.

And everyone's got their beanies on.

It's very cool, and it's uh a few thousand people packed into the auditorium.

Great singing is happening, you're getting ready for the preaching.

But the preacher got up and and it wasn't just me, but we all got really distracted because this convention center was in the blue dandinongs in Victoria.

And one of the things that's just everywhere in the dandinongs are possums.

And while the preacher was preaching his sermon, those beams ahead of us, we saw these possums just running back and forward, back and forward.

Preacher had no idea.

He was from another country.

He didn't know why everyone was highly engaged with activity behind him.

But boy, it was distracting.

And you keep trying to look at the preacher, but your eyes are drawn up.

Well, imagine what it would have been like that time when you were packed in the house with everyone else, the most compelling preacher of all time is preaching.

And then suddenly mud starts falling down from the roof.

What does your eye do?

It gazes up.

And as you look at that out of curiosity, thinking, why did that mud fall down the roof?

All of a sudden, a hole appears in the roof.

And not only does a hole appear in the roof, all of a sudden sunlight starts shining through.

And then it gets weird.

A stretcher is being lowered down.

That is an interruption, like you wouldn't believe it, to a service.

And as it gets lowered down, you're watching, stunned by what's happening in this very moment.

And then all of a sudden, you just catch on.

You think this guy is unwell.

This guy's sick.

He wants to see Jesus.

And that's what happens.

We're told in verse 3 that they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.

When they could not come near to 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.

We don't know what this man was like in his personality.

But one thing we know for sure, he wanted to see Jesus.

I don't know the backstory here.

I don't know how he convinced these four men to do it.

I don't know what he had to promise them.

I don't know what he said to them.

I don't know if they felt the same way as him.

But all I can say is this group of five were committed to the task.

Now, this doesn't have to be as strange as we might think, because houses back then had flat roofs, and it was not uncommon for there to be stairs on the outside that would take you to the roof.

And people would often sit on the roof of the house at the end of the day and to get some of the coolness that would come of an evening.

The roofs would have great big beams, and there would be lots of mud inside of it, and then there would be thatches at the top, and it would provide a covering, some form of tiles.

So all they would have had to do was simply go up the stairs, go on the top of the roof where people would sit, much like a deck, and they would go up there, and all they had to do was just break away at some of that mud, punch a hole through it, and all of a sudden there is a hole, and then just lower this bed down.

But this is a very dramatic act, isn't it?

I'm reminded of the words of J.C.

Ryle, who gives a very interesting insight, who points out that the sovereignty of God allowed for this man to experience this affliction.

When we experience afflictions, when we experience horrible trials, most naturally and most understandably, we don't want that affliction.

We want to be released from that affliction.

We desire to be pain free, we desire to be without limitation and without those sicknesses.

But Ryle points out that if this man did not have the paralysis that he had, maybe he would have been a shepherd in the mountains and would have never come to see Jesus.

But we see in the wise and sovereign plan of God that this man in that moment would have paralysis, and that Jesus would be there at Capernaum, so that a profound lesson would be put on display.

This man and his friends certainly give us a reminder that we ought to seek out the Lord Jesus at all costs.

We ought to persist in finding him.

We ought to go to him in any affliction, we ought to go to him in any difficulty.

That is a valid application and that is a good lesson for us to learn, but that is still not the point of this passage.

We must move on from the paralyzed man to Jesus' pardon.

As we continue through this epic story, we note in the third scene, verses five to seven, this description.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you.

Now, this is actually a shock.

Because the man had come for one particular purpose to be healed of his paralysis.

The man couldn't walk.

He had a horrible affliction.

He was severely disabled.

Yet this man is presented to Jesus, and Jesus declares that he is forgiven.

And Jesus speaks as one who speaks with words of great authority.

It begins by the way in which he addresses him.

He doesn't address him as a peer, he speaks as an authority would speak to an inferior.

He calls him son.

And that immediately indicates that Jesus here is speaking with power and authority.

He's revealing something about who he is.

But the authority is seen not just in the address, which is tender, but it's in what he actually declares.

Your sins are forgiven you.

And as the Lord Jesus pardons this man's sin, in the presence of all in the room, Jesus could perceive that there was a segment of the congregation, the scribes, who were reasoning among themselves, concerned about what Jesus has just said.

What they were reasoning is found in verse 7.

Why does this man speak blasphemies like this?

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

What was their beef?

Well, they're charging Jesus of blasphemy.

And the reason they're charging him of blasphemy is because only God can forgive sins.

Now they're right.

Only God can forgive sins.

But they've made a false assumption.

Their assumption is Jesus has claimed to forgive sins, only God can forgive sins, therefore Jesus is a blasphemer.

Their assumption is Jesus is not God.

Their theology is not wrong, it's just their application of it's terribly wrong.

Only God can forgive sins.

Oh, we know that.

That was seen in the call to worship that was chosen tonight.

Psalm 105 and verse 3 tells us that the Lord, He forgives our iniquities.

Only God can forgive sins.

Only God can pardon us of our unrighteousness.

Humans can say, God can forgive you.

Humans can remind you that you've been forgiven, but no pastor, no priest, no institution, no church is able to absolve a person of their sins.

Only God can.

And they were troubled by the fact that Jesus said this.

Because only God can forgive sins.

This brings us to the fourth scene.

Jesus proves his authority.

He did that to show what this man's greatest need is.

But not only did our Lord do that to show that this is what that man's greatest need is, he did that so that he could now demonstrate through an act of divine power that what he has just said is true.

How does Jesus prove his authority?

Well, he perceived in his spirit that they were reasoning within themselves.

So Jesus calls it out.

And what our Lord often does, it's a very Jewish way of thinking, is when there is conflict, he will challenge the assumptions of those who level criticism toward him.

And that masterful way of addressing draws out the flawed thinking in his opponents.

Look at how our Lord does it here.

He said to them, Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

First of all, what a shock to have someone read your heart.

What a shock.

Well, our Lord, with great perception, it tells them what they're thinking.

It's hidden.

It's not hidden, it's exposed.

And then he goes on and asks them a very perplexing question.

Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk?

Well, obviously, from a human perspective, it's easier to say your sins are forgiven you.

Because you could say that to someone, but you've got no way of verifying that they're actually forgiven.

But to say to someone who is actually a paralytic, get up and walk, or if they're a paralytic, they're not going to get up and walk if you can't heal them.

So obviously it's easier to say that, but our Lord deliberately says, Your sins are forgiven you, because he truly is saying the thing that is hard to do, and he is now going to prove that the very thing that he has just said is actually true by verifying it, by actually performing this miracle.

He goes on to say in verse 10, but that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

What our Lord is saying here is, I am going to demonstrate, I am going to prove that I have authority.

Authority from on high.

I have power.

And the power that has been endowed upon me is divine power.

I have the authority to forgive sins.

And if he has the authority to forgive sins, then Jesus is the Son of God.

He is who John the Baptist has declared him to be.

Have a close look at what Jesus said there in verse 10.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth.

Jesus had many titles.

Of course, we know his name was Jesus, because it means he will save his people from their sins.

We know him to be the Son of God, that's how he's presented in Mark 1.2.

But his most favorite designation, used over 80 times in the Gospels, is Son of Man.

And it's actually a misunderstood title.

Most people think when he says son of man, his meaning, or when I say son of God, I'm God.

When I say son of man, I'm man.

But that's not what he's getting at.

It's actually a very profound title.

Where does your mind go back to in the Old Testament?

Daniel 7.

And what's going on in Daniel 7 is we have this description of the Son of Man who goes to the throne of God, the Ancient of Days.

And as he goes to the Ancient of Days, he is presented with authority, dominion, and power.

And that authority, dominion, and power will be unfolded and exercised over the far corners of the earth, in which he will have a people for his glory.

I take that to be a picture of his glorious ascension, that there the Lord Jesus Christ ascends, and upon his coronation receives all authority in heaven and on earth, so that he would commission his people to go to the nations to declare the gospel, and there the authority of heaven would come down to earth, as one by one people come out of darkness and enter into the kingdom of light, so that there will be an assembled crowd from every tribe, tongue, and nation brought before the king.

Jesus here is saying, I am the Son of Man.

I am the one who's going to be endowed with all this authority.

And I have authority to forgive sins.

This was a stunning moment.

And after he makes this incredible declaration, he says to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house.

He speaks the words of command and authority and power that this man would now stand up and go home.

And look at what verse 12 says.

Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out of the presence of them all.

He was healed instantaneously in the presence of all who were there.

This was a miracle.

But the miracle was not the purpose of this episode.

It was to reveal that the Son of God, the Son of Man, can forgive sins.

Because he's God.

The paralytic and his affliction.

That was just extra stuff.

So that it could be a part of a grand story in which the Lord Jesus Christ would put on display his authority and through this dramatic act would show that just as I have raised him up as a verification of what I have declared, I have the authority to forgive sins.

And just quickly, we come to the final scene.

Look at how verse 12 ends.

So that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this.

Talk about a church service that you'll never forget.

You remember the time it was so packed?

Remember the time it was so full?

Remember the time that Jesus sat there and preached?

Remember the time the mud fell down, the man came down, and then Jesus called out the scribes and he read their hearts and he gave forgiveness to the man, and then he proved that he had authority by telling the man to get up, and he got up, and we all just started celebrating and praising God.

What happened that time was the roof came down and the praise went up.

This is a phenomenal moment.

This is all pointing to the fact that the one that they are standing before is the Son of God and he can forgive sins.

And Mark records this for us, not so that we look at this as some kind of example or prototype or some special little lesson on things that may be valid applications, but really miss the point.

Mark is presenting this to us so that we would see, with eyes wide open, that the Son of God has authority from heaven and he and he alone forgives our sins.

And if you come to Christ, you've been pardoned, you've been forgiven.

But the doctrine of forgiveness isn't something that we just leave at the start of the Christian life, it's something that means something for you now.

Are you experiencing guilt?

Are you struggling with sin?

Look to Christ and know that in him you've been forgiven.

And that forgiveness compels you to a newness of life, a freedom, a freedom to live for him.

Don't hold on to your guilt, don't live in your past.

Look at the words of Christ and believe them.

Receive them and experience the liberation that his forgiveness brings.

Don't look to anyone else for forgiveness.

Don't look to the world to remove your guilt.

Don't try to suppress your guilt through bad pleasures.

Don't try to explain your guilt away.

Bring it to the cross.

Bring it to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He does forgive.

And his forgiveness is real.

It's not the kind of forgiveness that you and I can give and snatch away so quickly.

But it's a complete forgiveness, a total forgiveness, a full forgiveness.

This is what the Lord Jesus and He alone can do.

Mark 2, 1 to 12 can be summarized by that phrase The roof came down and the praise went up.

And that happened because the authority of the Son of God was on false display.

Friends, are you willing to embrace the words of David, who said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven?

I am so glad that though our sins are many, his mercy is more.

Help us, Lord, to love him and to love him more.

I pray this in the name of our dear Savior.

Amen.