Healing What Ails Us - Mark 1:35-2:12

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. Hear him an apostle. So

just so you guys know, apostles, there's a big

a apostle and there is a little a apostle. Here's

what I mean by that. A little a apostle is a

calling, a church planter. Okay, someone that

takes the gospel out. I would say because we've

planted a church and what we've done in ministry,

I have the call of an apostle on my life. I do

not call myself an apostle. Here's why. When

I see guys, people calling themselves apostles,

they are not apostles. A big A apostle, a real

apostle is those who actually walked with Jesus,

all right? So there is a massive difference in

a calling of an apostle and being an apostle,

okay? So Mark, I would not consider an apostle.

He did not himself walk with Jesus, but he did

learn from an apostle in Peter. And so the book

of Mark is Peter's eyewitness account of what

how Peter saw Jesus ministering. And so it moves

very quickly. It's a very rapid moving gospel.

But the biggest thing that we need to remember

is who Mark is writing to. So just a reminder,

who's Mark writing to? The Romans, the Roman

church, the Roman church is under severe persecution.

So he is moving very quickly, uses the word immediately

a lot to show that Two things, one, he's trying

to get this gospel out to the persecuted church.

But the other thing is, is that he is also saying,

hey, the kingdom of God is constantly advancing.

It does not retreat for anyone. And then the

other part about this is his entire thesis on

what he is trying to put forward to everyone

is that Jesus is the servant king. That's His

entire purpose for what He's doing. So today

we're going to unpack a lot, multiple stories,

but we're going to be looking at the title of

my sermon is, Healing What Truly Ails Us, Healing

Beyond the Surface. And so my big idea that we're

going to kind of look at is Christ's healing

is holistic. He meets our physical needs while

addressing our greatest spiritual need for forgiveness

and purpose in Him. Now healing, I want to be

very clear. I believe in healing, okay? I believe

that Jesus can and still does healing. I do not

believe that the gifts of the Spirit stopped

with the apostles. I believe that when God heals,

He does it for a purpose. He can absolutely do

that. He can cure cancer like that. He can raise

the dead like that. I know he can do these things.

When he heals is up to him and his will and ultimately

for that person. And healing is one of those

things that it's difficult because when you,

if you've ever been there, if you've ever prayed

for somebody to be healed, I have a friend. very

close to us that his wife, they literally pray

every day cause she has scoliosis. And so, and

my wife is saying, no, that's not right. Erin

and Rhonda. Okay, yeah, okay. I wasn't even close.

Well, kind of close. It had an S in it, but they

pray every day. And you know, one of the things

that he said to me before, he's like, I just

don't understand why God is not answering our

prayer. And as a pastor, it's hard. I don't have

the mind of Christ. I don't know. It is a difficult

thing when you're praying for healing and healing

doesn't come. But ultimately, the one thing I

will say is he does ultimately answer, bless

you, he does ultimately answer the prayer for

healing. If someone does die, they're ultimately...

fully healed. And I know that that doesn't help

us on this side of life, or we're the ones dealing

with the grief of it. But to know that my father

-in -law was healed of cancer and he's staring

in the face of Jesus is very comforting to me.

And so I want to kind of say all that upfront,

because what I'm about to tell you to start this

entire opening is going to seem like I'm very

anti -healing and I'm not. What I'm anti is snake

oil salesman. That's what I'm anti. And so back

in about 2008, I want to introduce you guys to

you. Have you guys ever heard of the the Florida

outpouring? You guys familiar with that? Did

you guys ever hear about that? It was a nationwide

thing. And so actually, we'll go ahead and read

the text and then I'll then I'll get into it.

So let's go ahead. We're going to start actually

in verse thirty five and we're to go through

chapter two through twelve. And rising very early

in the morning, while it was still dark, he being

Jesus departed and he went out to a desolate

place and there he prayed. And Simon and those

who were with him searched for him and they found

him and said to him, everyone is looking for

you. And he said to them, let us go on to the

next towns that I may preach there also for that

is why I came. And he went throughout all of

Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting

out demons. And a leper came to him, imploring

him and kneeling, said to him, If you will, you

can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched

out his hand and he touched him and said to him,

I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy

left him and he made him clean. And Jesus sternly

charged him and sent him away at once. I want

you guys to highlight this, because we're going

to be looking at this in just a moment. And said

to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but

go show yourself to the priest and offer for

your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof

to them. But he went out and began to talk freely

about it and spread the news so that Jesus could

no longer openly enter a town, but was out in

desolate places. and people were coming to him

from every quarter. What do you notice, by the

way, before we continue on, do you notice there

was something that repeated in the two? From

Jesus being gone away, and then where he ultimately

left, do you guys notice? Did you see something

that repeated there? Desolate places, repeats.

So we need to take note of that. Going into chapter

two 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. He was it was at a home There was

no more room and not even at the door and he

was preaching the word to them and they came

bringing 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

And when he had made, then 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, They thus questioned within themselves,

he 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. Verse 10, but

that you may know that the son of man has authority

on earth to forgive sins. And 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. So lots going

on, lots to unpack. I wanna introduce you to

this guy, his name is Todd Bentley. Go ahead

and bring that up for me if you would Weston.

So this guy right here, is an interesting cat.

He is known as a faith healer, and there was

a thing called the Florida outpouring in 2008.

It went on for over a year. It started in a local

church, and then it ultimately, in our hometown,

it ended up being in an arena. It was every night.

And Tracy and I, at this point, Noah is one years

old. We're very, very, very broke. We are desperate.

I'm working about 70 hours a week. Tracy is working

as a custodian at night. We're doing everything

we can to try to make ends meet. And at this

point, we are still very much in the charismatic

movement, very much believe in all the things.

And... We were like we should go because people

just kept saying you got to see it like it's

it's incredible The healings that are taking

place are incredible There's so many things that

are going on and if you go and give an offering

like financially you'll be changed yada yada

yada So we're like, well, we're desperate you

know, so we show up and The worship so again

this this arena is packed and They I don't see

Todd Bentley anywhere in the crowd. I don't see

him on the stage. I don't see him anywhere. And

ultimately, we're in worship. Worship is good,

you know. And then he is nowhere to be found.

And then all of a sudden, like he comes out.

And when he comes out, when I tell you that it

was like the air was sucked out of the place,

it was like the air was sucked out of the place.

The very atmosphere changed. and it was palpable

in a way that was uncomfortable. And I didn't

even notice he had walked out until all of a

sudden I'm like, man, something is weird. Like

I feel weird in my spirit. And that's when I

noticed him out on stage. And I turned to Tracy

and I said, something is off. And she says, yeah,

like something really is off. Have you ever experienced

something like that where you meet someone or

like you show up and you're like, something about

this. It's just weird. And so then he's like,

he grabs the microphone and he's like, there's

someone here that's, you know, got this ailment

and this ailment, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. They're

going to be healed tonight. I want you to come

forward if that's you. And, you know, people

start coming forward. Well, I'm watching because

there's a paraplegic man in a wheelchair and

he is in the very front. and I'm watching him.

I heard a hospital chaplain say one time, he

said, you know, I've been a hospital chaplain

for 40 years and never once seen a faith healer

walking the halls. And so that should automatically

make you go, huh? So I'm watching this paraplegic

man, like I'm zoned in on him. And he is doing

everything he can to like wave at Todd Bentley.

I mean, they're literally from From me to Scott,

like he's just up on a tall stage. The guy's

right there. He's waving. He's desperate. And

all these other people are getting all these

healings and touches and he never, never pays

any attention. So then the wife or whoever the

woman was that was with the paraplegic man, they

formed this line around the arena. And he gets

in line and I just continue to watch. Sure enough,

Todd Bentley is laying his hands on all these

people and mysteriously, he goes right over the

paraplegic man. And you could see it that he

was broken and he just went limp. And his wife

or whoever the woman was just starts comforting

him. And we had come to give what little bit

of money we had in hopes for some sort of like

miracle in our finances. And I will never forget

the Holy Spirit speaking to me and my wife both

going, I don't need your sacrifice. This isn't

how I move. Keep your money. It's time to leave.

And so we walked out and that has forever sat

with me. And the reason why I'm sharing this

with you is because in our day and age, but also

it was happening when Christ was here and after

Christ is gone, we have wolves who pray on desperate

people. And Jesus, if you can see here in this

text, that is not Jesus. Jesus doesn't pray on

desperate people. Jesus moves. He touches and

out of it says pity for the for the leper. He

touches him and makes him whole. But here's the

other part to this. It's not just a physical

thing that Jesus does. He wants to make You completely

whole not just physically whole and so If you

are taking notes my first well, let me figure

out where I'm at in my notes first So God doesn't

operate like this he doesn't manipulate desperate

people and God does not play games with suffering

people and God does not require you to prove

your desperation with a sacrifice because sacrifice

The sacrifice has already been made. And Jesus

Christ has already paid it all. And the church,

that experience with Todd Bentley, that experience

left a question in my heart that stayed with

me for a long time. If that kind of healing ministry

isn't real, then what does actual healing look

like? When Jesus healed people in the gospels,

what was he really doing? Was he putting on a

show for the crowds was he manipulating desperate

people or something deeper happening? So this

morning we're actually gonna look at in a series

of passages as I said answering those questions

And so Jesus was not a snake oil salesman This

Todd Bentley by the way is still even though

he has been caught in adultery even though he's

been caught Laundering money there are he still

has a massive following And that's absolutely

insane to me. There's two things that drive that,

two things that drive that, desperation and our

own wickedness. So let's go ahead and dive into

the first point. My first point is this, healing

begins with the right pursuit. And so when we

look at 35 and 39, Jesus, we see Jesus's actual

physical humanity because he is drained at this

point physically. And if you've ever done any

ministry, by the way, or if you've ever had to

serve people, it's draining. It is draining to

serve constantly nurses, teachers, anyone that's

constantly having to give of themselves over

and over and over homeschooled mothers, wives.

It's hard. And so Jesus, we see his humanity

in this. And so one of the most interesting things

about this passage is that even the disciples

seem confused by Jesus' response to the crowds.

So if you remember the context, Jesus has just

spent his entire evening healing people. The

crowds are pressing in, sick people are coming

from everywhere, demons are being cast out, and

the ministry is exploding with attention. What

typically happens when you have a ministry exploding

and people are coming from everywhere? We typically

look at that and go, that's awesome. If our walls

were filled with people and we were having multiple

services, we would be super excited. And that's

exciting, right? But when you have, I don't want

to offend anyone. So I'm not going to complete

this sentence, but my mentor in ministry, the

very first thing he ever told me was, Logan,

the masses are finish it with the rhyming word

that is a donkey. So he says, be careful when

you have a lot of people and everyone around

you is just taking, taking, taking, and no one

is willing to speak the truth to you either.

And so we see that there's these masses amounts

of crowds that are coming and the disciples are

pumped, right? Here's this guy. They're pretty

sure he's the Messiah. They're seeing him do

these cool things. A ministry requires money,

so there's tons of people coming. There's money

being given. There's all these things. And when

they go to find Jesus, he's nowhere to be found.

And then they finally find him. And what does

he say? He's like, everybody's looking for you.

Right? Right? What is Jesus' response? That's

nice. Let's go. So after rising early in the

morning, he has to go be with the Father because

he can't do anything apart from the Father. He

makes that very clear in John. And we see that

he's tired. But he also sees, why do you think

that he is ready to move on from the crowds?

Ask yourself that. What is it that Jesus is ultimately

saying? How does he respond? What does he say

to the disciples? Yeah, yeah, he says they say

everyone is looking for you and he says I got

to go Let's move on to the next town because

I got to preach He's about the mission. And so

what is that ultimately telling us about the

people? Yeah, they just want to take right Yes,

they're desperate and Jesus wants to heal their

physical part. So like I'm gonna continue down

this road for fear of you thinking that Jesus

doesn't love people or whatever, but also Jesus

knows our hearts. And sometimes we only just

want what we can get from him. And so here's

what's also funny about this, by the way, notice

how Jesus goes away to be with the father. It

reflects another time in his life where some

people were looking for him. Do you guys know

what I'm talking about? He was 12 years old and

his parents lost him, right? And he's like, didn't

you know I'd be in my father's house? Right.

And here he is again, slipping away to be with

the father, staying in step with him, remaining

in constant communion. But eventually the disciples

wake up, they're looking for him and they're

trying to hunt him down. And they finally, they

find him. They said, Jesus, the crowds are back.

Everyone wants you. And from the disciples perspective,

this is the moment every movement waits for.

The crowds are gathering, the influence is growing,

and the momentum is building, but Jesus responds

in a way that stuns them, because he's like,

not, we're moving on, we're leaving. So you know

that they had to be super confused by that, because

they're like, no, no, no, no, no, like, word

is spreading, influence is happening, momentum

is building, and Jesus is like, we're moving

on, why? because Jesus knows something that the

disciples don't yet understand. The crowds are

not coming because they want Him. They're coming

because they want what He can do for them. They

want healing, they want miracles, they want relief

from their suffering, but they do not yet want

what Jesus actually came to bring. And what did

He actually come to bring? Salvation, repentance,

right? That was the first words we hear Him speak

in the book of Mark, to repent. And so Luke records

Jesus describing his mission this way, the son

of man came to seek and save the lost. He came

to call sinners to repentance. Yes, Jesus healed

the sick. Yes, he fed the hungry. And yes, he

sat at the tables of sinners and tax collectors,

but those were not the end goal. They were the

doorway. They were the invitation to something

deeper, because the greatest problem people have

is not physical sickness. It's a sickness that

is much deeper called sin. And Jesus understood

something that the crowds did not yet understand.

They were pursuing the benefits of the kingdom

without submitting to the king. And church, if

we're honest, that temptation still exists in

us today. Many people come to Jesus because they

want something from him. They want peace, they

want success, they want healing, they want their

problems fixed. But Jesus is not interested in

a spiritual vending machine. Being a spiritual

vending machine, he calls us to something much

deeper. He calls us to surrender, to repentance,

to allegiance to his kingdom. Healing begins

with the right pursuit, not simply asking what

can Jesus do for me, but asking, will I follow

him even if he demands everything of me? And

so here's what I want you to think about. What

brought you to church? Not just this morning.

just in life, what brought you to church? Was

it, well, my parents made me come. Was it desperation?

Maybe it's like I've done everything I can at

this point, my life is still falling apart, I

might as well go ahead and try this whole Jesus

religion thing. That's a lot of people's story.

But typically, Church we're brought into church

for some reason and it's usually not Repentance

it's usually not allegiance to a kingdom. It's

usually what can I get from God does that make

sense And so we have to ask ourselves when we

start looking for healing is it Are we pursuing

it in the right way? Or are we pursuing it in

a way that points to us where we, as you guys

hear me say all the time, we're constantly navel

gazing and making everything, including our faith

about us. So let's go to point number two. Healing

exposes the heart. So as we move on to the next

scene, we see the leper. It says that the leper

came to him, imploring him in kneeling. He said

to him, if you will, you can make me clean. What

do you notice about the posture of the leper?

What's his posture? Yeah, he comes with this

humble, he's falling before him and he's like.

If you can. or if you will, I know you can. If

you will, you can make me clean. And so I want

to really, if you're not familiar with leprosy,

I want to kind of, I want you to feel the weight

of this. So leprosy is a disease that still we

don't have a cure for. In America, we can lessen

its impact some and people can live a little

bit longer. But for the most part, most people

die pretty terrible deaths because I mean, literally,

you've got limbs falling off. Your skin is rotting.

It's bad. It's really bad. And so in the Old

Testament, in the law, they say, hey, if you

are a leper, you have to be pushed out of the

city. And if the wind is blowing, you have to

get even farther away from the city because it

can leprosy spreads through the wind. It's not

just through touch. And so. It slowly, gradually

kills your nerves. It's a pretty bad thing. But

it's also not just physically brutal, but it's

socially isolating. Because I want you to think

about this. Imagine being diagnosed with leprosy.

You've got a family and everything. And then

all of a sudden, as soon as you're diagnosed,

you have to go live outside the city gates with

other lepers. and you could never have contact

with your family ever again. That's brutal, man.

So it's physically, it physically hurts, it socially

hurts. But here's the other part that I've never

thought about that John MacArthur in his commentary

points out. Leopards were without hope. Here's

why. Leopards could not come into the city to

the temple to have sacrifices made on their behalf.

So it's a physical, it's a social, and it's a

spiritual sickness. It's brutal, man. And so

imagine being cut off in every way. And so here

is this leper who comes in and he's like, I don't

care about... the law of the Romans, the laws

of the Jews. I don't care about anything. He

even is actually technically disobeying the law

of God by coming in and he comes in and his desperation

to be made clean. Right? And Jesus, it says,

he He has pity upon him. And here's the other

part, by the way, that I have in my notes here.

Lepers also, too, when they came into the city,

if they had to come in for some reason, they

had to declare themselves unclean, unclean so

that people could get away. But this man, he

ignores it all because his desperation has a

way of pushing him past his fears. Desperation

pushes all of us. past our fears. And this man

doesn't care about the social rules anymore.

He doesn't care about the risk. He doesn't care

about the crowds. He's just desperate for a touch

from God. And when he reaches Jesus, he kneels

before him and he says something remarkable.

If you will, you can make me clean. He does not

say, Jesus, if you have the ability, if you can,

he says, if you will. He believes in the power

of Jesus. He simply wonders if Jesus is willing.

And it says Jesus has moved with compassion.

He stretches out his hand and he touches him.

But also that, if you read the other accounts,

Jesus brings him in and he kisses him. And here's

what's stunning about that. Jesus didn't have

to touch him. All he had to do was just say a

word. In other gospels, we see that Jesus simply

gives a word and people are healed even from

a great distance. But instead, Jesus reaches

out and He touches him. And think about what

it meant for this man. How long had it been since

he ever touched another human being? How long,

how many years has passed since he felt the embrace

of a friend or the hand of a loved one, and now

the Son of God reaches out and touches the untouchable?

And some people might have assumed that touching

a leper would make Jesus unclean, but the opposite

happens. Instead of the leper's uncleanness spreading

to Jesus, the purity of the power of Jesus spreads

to the leper. And Jesus says, I will be clean.

And immediately the leprosy leaves him, not gradually,

not through therapy, not through months of recovery,

not through prescription drugs, but instantly.

And in a moment, his skin is restored, his body

is healed, and his life is given back to him.

But then there's something interesting. And this

is what I was telling Keith May this week that

I've never noticed this in the story before,

because I get so caught up in his healing and

how he responds and telling everyone that I have

completely missed the fact that he was disobedient.

Have you ever picked up on that before? What

does Jesus say to him? Jesus makes him clean.

And then what does he say? Don't tell anyone.

And then what's the other thing? Show yourself

to the priest at the temple, make offerings that

you've not been able to make for a long time,

make offerings to glorify the father who has

done this. But the leper doesn't do any of that.

But here's something else. Well, I'm getting

ahead of myself. These were not suggestions.

These were commands. First, Jesus tells him not

to spread the news. Second, he tells him to go

to the priest and follow the instructions of

the Mosaic law by offering the proper sacrifices

for his cleansing. That process would allow the

priest to officially declare the man clean so

that he could be restored to society. But what

happens is we see something that reveals the

heart of us as human beings. but he went out

and began to talk freely about it and to spread

the news. In other words, the man does the exact

opposite of what Jesus told him to do. You can

write this down right up here. When he was desperate,

he was humble. When he needed healing, he knelt

before Christ, but once he got what he wanted,

he no longer obeyed the commands of Christ. You

ever met a poor person that became rich and completely

changed? Same thing. And the result is that Mark

wants us to notice this. The text says, Jesus

could no longer openly enter a town but was now

in desolate places. So do you see this? I want

you to notice something. Mark is foreshadowing

Jesus and the cross in this moment with the leper.

How? Where does the leper come from? Where does

he come from? Outside the city. from a desolate

place. He is the one who is the leper and the

outcast of society. Jesus is inside the city

and everyone is crowded around him. Now that

the leper has spread the news, everyone's coming,

and so what does it do? What did it say? It takes

Jesus where? Outside the city, where people have

to go to him there. So we're already seeing the

foreshadowing of the cross. where Jesus takes

upon himself, there's the reversal that happens.

Do you see that? Like that's beautiful. We have

in the disobedience of a man and the sin that

he was just touched and made whole and he walks

immediately and is sinful. And because of his

act of disobedience, it drives Christ into the

desolate place. Do you see it? Do you see? Okay.

It's wonderful foreshadowing. One day Jesus will

take our place in the ultimate way. He will become

the outcast. He will be the rejected. He will

be led outside the city gates and nailed to a

cross. The sinless son of God will take the place

of sinners so that we can be brought back into

the presence of God. But this story also exposes

something about our hearts. Sometimes we come

to Jesus in desperation. We cry out to him because

we need something. We ask him to fix our problems,

to heal our pain, to rescue us from circumstances.

But once we receive the blessing we wanted, do

we submit to his authority? Not always. Healing

exposes our heart. It reveals whether we truly

want Christ or whether we only want what he can

do for us. And that leads us to the next story

in Mark's gospel, because in the next passage,

a man is brought to Jesus for healing. And everyone

in the room believes they know what his greatest

need is, but Jesus does something else. So my

next point is this, healing goes deeper than

our felt needs. Healing goes deeper than our

felt needs. As we continue into Mark chapter

two, we encounter another scene of desperation.

I want you to... to notice the pattern we've

been seeing in these passages. Desperate people

keep showing up around Jesus. The crowds are

filled with people who are suffering and people

are broken and people who are longing for something

to change their lives. But this story introduces

us not just to a desperate man, but to something

else that is beautiful. We see friendship. In

this passage, I mean, what kind of friends they're

like. There's this guy who's who's healing people

Could possibly be the Messiah we don't know but

we know that the healings are real. He's casting

out demons We got to get you to him. So they

carry this man for friends carry this man to

Jesus when they find out where he is But not

only that These dudes are so hardcore. They're

like, all right, we can't get him in and You

know, you know, it was one of the ADHD guys.

I was like It's the roof. Boys, the roof. They're

like, all right, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so they

get the guy up onto the roof of this poor man's

house and they dig a hole. And you know that

the guy who owned the house was like, what in

the... Thank you, fellas. I always wanted a skylight.

And they lower him down. I mean, what commitment

and what faith of the friends, right? That is,

brothers and sisters, that is friendship. That

is willing to do whatever it takes to see our

friends in desperate mode, willing to do anything.

And we're like, hey, we're going to get you there.

If it means driving cross -country to get you

to a doctor to get healing, we'll do that. I

mean, what an incredible vision. story of friendship.

And so you imagine the determination that they

have. So they tear this roof off. Sorry, I'm

trying to catch myself up. It says, when Jesus

saw their faith. So notice the there is not saying

his, he sees the faith of not just the paralyzed

band, but the faith of his friends. Church, this

is what real friendship looks like. Real friends

bring people to Jesus, even when it's inconvenient,

even when it's difficult, even when it costs

them something. But then something happens in

the story that must have confused everyone in

the room. The paralyzed man is lying in front

of Jesus, and what does he say? What does Jesus

say? If you guys go back, what does he say? Yeah,

it's like your sins are forgiven. And you know

the paralyzed guys, like in the friends. who

have dug a hole are looking down going, okay,

but there's a physical thing here. Jesus, do

you not notice that He's not moving, right? And

the friends are probably going, I think we just

messed up. We just messed this dude's house up

and this dude's not doing anything. But Jesus

is like, your sins are forgiven. And if you guys

will remember back when we had communion not

too long ago, I talked about this, where this

is what gets the the Pharisees so upset because

they're saying, how can anyone forgive sins but

God? And so Jesus is declaring himself in this

moment that he is God. That's what he's saying.

When he says your sins are forgiven, the Pharisees

get upset because they're like, there's only

one person that can do that. And why is Jesus

saying that? And I use the example of saying,

if Mike got up and he punched Gene in the face,

and then I said, It's OK, Gene, I forgive Mike

on your behalf. That doesn't make any sense,

right? Only Gene can forgive Mike for for for

harming him. Right. And so God is saying or Jesus

is saying, I'm God. This man has sinned against

me and I'm saying his sins are forgiven. So that's

why the Pharisees are so upset. But why does

Jesus say that and not get up your mat and walk,

which he what he does eventually? But what is

the point that he's making Yeah, he's like There's

a deeper issue you think it's just the healing

it's actually much more than that, right it's

Because here's the deal The healing, yes, is

incredible. The man gets up and he begins to

walk. He hasn't done this probably since birth

and he's excited, but eventually life does kick

in and things still get hard. Just because the

man can now walk, doesn't mean that all his suffering

is now fixed, right? And so Jesus is essentially

saying, yes, I see what you think you physically

need. But there is a much deeper need that I

need to touch first. Because the excitement of

your healing will wear off probably by tomorrow.

And your discontentment inside your heart is

ultimately going to continue to build up, and

you're going to forget that the real thing that

you actually need is me. And that's what he's

speaking to when he says your sins are forgiven.

Write this down. Jesus is essentially saying

to him, I see your suffering, I understand your

pain, and yes, I'm going to deal with that, but

you need to understand something first. The deepest

problem in your life is not your suffering, it

is your sin. And what Jesus is revealing here

is something that we often all struggle to accept.

The things we think will fix our lives usually

aren't the deepest things we actually need. This

man likely believed that if he could just walk

again, everything would finally be okay. If I

could just get my legs back, my life would be

fixed. But Jesus knows the human heart. He knows

that even if the man walks again, the deeper

problem will still remain if his heart is not

healed. Because the roots of human discontent

run deep. And that's what Tim Keller says. I

think I have this up there. Maybe not. But Tim

Keller says this, the roots of the discontent

of the human heart go very, very deep. And so

I want to give you this illustration. There is

a woman who is a journalist. Her name is Cynthia

Heimel, and she wrote an article years ago about

celebrities. And I want you to listen very close.

If you've been zoning out, listen to this story

because it speaks to the depravity of our hearts.

And so Cynthia Heimel is not a Christian. OK,

so before anybody thinks, well, she's writing

from a Christian perspective. She's not. She's

writing for this magazine called The Village

Voice. And so she talks about in the article

how early in her career she knew many struggling

actors and actresses in New York. These were

people waiting tables, punching tickets at theaters,

barely scraping by while chasing their dreams.

And like so many people. They would say things

like if I could just make it if I could just

become famous Then I'd finally be happy brothers

and sisters. Let me ask you this before I continue

on how many of you guys have said something like

that before Yeah both hands and both feet And

so we've all thought this right if I could just

get this thing if I could just reach this amount

of money per year if I could just get Have a

have a child. If I could just whatever it is,

fill in the blank, I will be happy. But that's

not how it goes. And so Heimel says that it was

fascinating what would happen to those people

once they actually became famous. Instead of

becoming happier, they became miserable. And

so she wrote that they actually became unstable,

angry and difficult to be around, not just arrogant,

but something much worse than that. They were

now unhappier than they had ever been before.

And here's what she said that is so breathtaking

to me. This is an actual quote from her. I pity

celebrities. They were once perfectly pleasant

human beings, but now their wrath is awful. The

morning after each of them become famous, they

wanted to overdose because the giant thing they

were striving for, the thing they thought would

make their lives bearable and provide them with

happiness had happened. and nothing changed.

They were still them. And then she makes a statement

that really hit me. She says, I think when God

wants to play a really rotten practical joke

on you, he grants your deepest wish. So I want

you to hear this carefully. Jesus is saying to

the paralyzed man, this is what he's saying.

I am not playing a practical joke on you. I'm

not just going to fix your body and leave the

deeper problem untouched. Because the things

we think we will finally fulfill us rarely do.

Those things make terrible gods. They demand

our devotion and they leave us empty. But Jesus

offers something radically different. He says,

in effect, if you have me, I will actually fulfill

you. And if you fail me, I will forgive you.

Not false gods. They can't do that. Only Jesus

can. And here's the hard truth for many of us.

Most people start coming to God because they

have problems. We come because we're hurting,

because we're desperate, because something in

our lives is broken. And in that sense, we're

a lot like the leper or the paralyzed man. But

often what we're really asking God to do is simply

to give us a boost so that we can get back to

pursuing the thing we believe will finally save

us. We think if we could just get that thing

we could get right back to saving ourselves essentially

We want God to fix the immediate problem so we

can return to chasing our deepest wish But Jesus

looks at us the same way. He looked at the man

lying on the mat and he says you're not going

deep enough You've underestimated the depth of

your problem and the depth of your longing Because

what your hearts truly need is not just relief

from suffering What we need is forgiveness. What

we need is reconciliation with God. What we need

is a savior who heals not just the body, but

the soul. And that's exactly what Jesus came

to do. I'm going to close with this. In the Chronicles

of Narnia, there's a book called The Voyage of

the Dawn Treader. And there's a character by

the name of Eustace who is the cousin of of the

brothers and sisters. And Eustace is, there's

no better way to say it that he's just a turd

of a human being, okay? He is not likable. He

is selfish. He's arrogant. He's greedy. He's

one of those characters in a show and in a book

that you just cannot stand. And so at one point

in the story though, the crew lands on an island

and Eustace wanders off by himself and eventually

he stumbles into a cave. And inside the cave,

he discovers something incredible. He sees this

massive treasure, okay? And so there's gold everywhere,

there's jewels piled high. And being the little

jerk that he is, he begins thinking to himself

something like, now everyone who ever mocked

me, everyone who ever hurt me, everyone who ever

treated me badly, they're now gonna get what

they deserve. Because now I've got money. Now

I'm a man. Do you guys know the story? OK, some

do, some don't. OK. And so, by the way, if you

ever watched the Chronicles of Narnia that they

did, that Disney did, they tried to do this scene

and it's terrible. They don't do it justice.

And it's very disheartening. So anyway, this

treasure, though, belongs to a dragon. But he

doesn't know that, and he slips this bracelet

onto his arm and eventually falls asleep on the

treasure. And so when he wakes up, he is himself

a dragon. And so when Eustace the next morning

discovers that he is a dragon, he's like, I can't

go, I can't get on the boat, I can't continue

to travel with everybody else. So he's like,

he's confused, he's scared. And so then suddenly,

he's overwhelmed with despair and he begins to

cry because he knows that when the others see

him like this, they have to leave him behind.

So now he's alone and he's a monster. And eventually

he encounters Aslan, the lion. And if you aren't

familiar, Aslan represents Christ in the Chronicles

of Narnia. But here's the beautiful part. Lock

in with me because this is, if you... missed

my entire sermon, this is the thing I want you

to hear. This is the thing I want you to take

home with you today. Eventually Aslan comes and

he shows up and he brings Eustace to this clear

pool of water and he tells him to undress and

get in. Suddenly Eustace realizes what he means.

Undress means to take the dragon skin off. So

Yusuf begins clawing at the scales and he gnaws

at them, scratching them. And eventually he manages

to peel off a layer of dragon skin and he thinks

he's done it. But when he looks down again, he

realizes there's another layer underneath. He's

still a dragon. So he tries again and again and

again and three times he tears off layers of

skin and every time he discovers the same thing,

he can't get deep enough. And then finally, Aslan

says this. You're going to have to let me go

deeper. And Eustace later describes the moment

just like this. This is the words from the book.

It says, I was afraid of his claws. I could tell

you. But I was pretty desperate now. The very

first tear he made was so deep that I thought

it had gone right into my heart. And when he

began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than

anything I've ever felt. Well, he peeled the

beastly stuff right off. And there it was lying

on the grass, ever so much thicker, darker, and

more knobbly than the others had been. Then he

caught hold of me. And then he threw me into

the water. And it smarted like anything, but

only for a moment. And then I saw. I was a boy

again. So brothers and sisters, do you see yourself

as Eustace? Because I do. I'm definitely a greedy

little turd of a human being who always looks

out for number one. I want, when I come to Jesus

many times, if I'm not careful, I can see that

I'm asking for God to do things that really If

I'm honest, will bring my destruction. Do you

see yourself as the leper? Because I do. Do you

see yourself in the paralyzed man? Because I

do. So many times in my life, I've prayed desperately

for things, begging God for something that I

thought I needed. And sometimes in his wisdom,

he's even given me those things, but not because

they were my deepest need, but because he was

exposing my heart. He was exposing my greed and

my idols and my false saviors. And in his goodness,

sometimes he even allows moments of what we might

call allegorical leprosy in our lives, moments

of desperation that drive us back to him. And

when we finally come to him broken and desperate,

he says something very similar to what Aslan

says to Eustace, I will heal you, but I must

go deeper. And many times it hurts. Because when

Jesus goes deeper, he begins tearing away at

the things we have built our identity on, the

idols we've trusted, the dreams we thought would

save us, the dragon scales wrapped around our

hearts. And like Eusta said, it feels like he's

tearing right into our heart. But here's the

good news of the gospel. Jesus didn't tell us

to tear the scales off ourselves. He did something

far greater. Like the leper in a story, he traded

places with us. He became the outsider. He went

outside the city. He went to the cross. And there

on the cross, he bore our sin that the old self

could die and a new creation could be born. so

that the dragon skin could finally come off,

so the old, dark, knobbly, twisted version of

ourselves could be left behind, and a new creation

could rise in its place. So if you take one thing

home today, let it be this, Jesus wants to go

deeper, deeper than your circumstances, deeper

than the problem you think you need fixed, and

deeper than the surface wounds of your life.

He wants to heal what truly ails you, so let

him do it. Because the Savior who heals the heart

is so far better. than the one who simply fixes

the symptoms. And the one who went deeper for

us on the cross is the only one who could finally

make us whole. Brothers and sisters, he does

not want to play a dirty trick on you. He is

not a snake oil salesman like I told you about

at the beginning of this sermon. He's not looking

for a seed for you to sow into his ministry so

that you can get a short -term fix. He wants

to go much deeper and make you whole. So I would

ask you to let him do that, no matter how bad

it hurts. Let's pray.