Healing of the Paralytic

Coming up today on Renewing Your Mind. You look up and you see some dirt falling from the ceiling and you try to keep your attention on Jesus but your curiosity has the best view because this disturbance continues at the ceiling and you look up when you see pieces of the ceiling being removed for desperate stop at nothing to get their paralyzed friend to see Jesus.

They hope beyond hope that Jesus could help, but they never expected what happened next.

Glad you joined us for the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, Dr. RC Sproul is taking us. Verse by verse through the gospel of Mark until he will not only see Jesus miracles confirmation that he is God. Mark continues his narrative told us that Jesus had made and said in Capernaum, but that the crowds had so pressed against him. There it became no longer possible for him to continue the mission that the father had sent him to perform. Namely, to preach the coming kingdom of God.

We remember that Jesus then withdrew from Capernaum and took his ministry to the other villages around the Sea of Galilee here in the text this morning, we read that Jesus returned to Capernaum and we read that it was heard that he was in the house. Another way of translating the text here is that he was at home which adds more credibility to the notion that Jesus made his home in Capernaum. After his family had moved away from Nazareth and it's also possible that at this time the home that was in view was the home of Peter that Peter was perhaps again sharing with Jesus. In any case, he comes to the house and no sooner does Jesus come into the house, but I once again a huge multitude presses together in order to gain entrance to this place to hear Jesus teach them to watch him perform his powerful works. Mark describes the scene in this manner that so many people were pressing about that. The whole house was filled with people and not only that, but they were crowded outside at the door so that you could even get close to the entrance to the house and on a couple of occasions so far in our study of Mark. I've asked you to use your imagination.

Try to visualize the scenes in which Jesus operated in the first century and once again this morning. I'm going to ask you to try to imagine yourself being one of those people who had made it inside the house and that you are in a posture of rapt attention as your listening to the teaching of Jesus and while Jesus is speaking and you are listening you look up and you see some dirt falling from the ceiling and you think yourself, what's up with that since there an insect up there disturbing the roof and you try to keep your attention on Jesus but your curiosity has the best view because this disturbance continues at the ceiling and you look up and you see pieces of the ceiling being removed.

Now you can look up and see the sky and the hole in the ceiling gets bigger and bigger. Now I know that there been disturbances and distractions in congregations where I've been preaching and it's maddening to a speaker to everybody's attention directed away from the one who is speaking and I don't know what Jesus felt like when everybody in the room start looking at the ceiling.

My guess is that our Lord himself looked at the ceiling and this disturbance that was taking place just a little word of background in Palestine at this time. The normal structure of a house was to be one story with walls and on top of that one story was a flat roof and the normal way in which rooms were constructed were the beams were set across resting on the walls of the house and then between the beams were interlaced sticks and reads and within the region sticks then were woven a kind of thatch like we know of thatched roofs.

If you want to go down to Disney World to the animal kingdom.

You can see buildings down there with authentic thatch roof and you had this thatch that was woven on top of the sticks and then on top of the thatch was several inches of mud and this mod was packed down hard against the thatch and they even had a kind of roller in the ancient world that they would get up to the roof and they would roll out this mod until it was very hard and stable and there were stairs that went outside the building up to the roof because the roof was the place where people would go just for fresh air.

They would often eat their meals on the roof receive company on the roofs of the roof surface sort of as a like we would have a deck. Mark tells us that while Jesus is teaching these four men carrying a stretcher or pallet upon which this paralytic's paralyzed man is lying there obviously coming seeking healing for this afflicted element, but they couldn't get anywhere near Jesus.

The entrance to the building.

As I said was blocked by this crowd that was there and so pressing on with their mission to get this suffering man to Jesus.

They carry him up the stairs to the roof and they began digging on the roof taken apart the tiles cutting through the thatch breaking the sticks to make a hole big enough for them to let this man down, the Jesus may touch and not course, I have to ask questions like them. I use my imagination looking up there. How big of a hole they make all big enough that they can let this man down on the stretcher horizontally room for goal stretcher and the man that be a big owner or is it just a small hole that they let him down feet first on ropes certainly don't think they gonna drop them down there headfirst into the room. My guess is they made the hole big enough to let the man down on the stretcher. But the thing that's so amazing to me is how determined these men were to bring relief to their friend that they destroy at least temporarily, somebody's roof and interrupt the teaching of Jesus doing everything they can to bring their friend to Jesus says here that when Jesus saw their faith, he spoke to the paralytic, he saw this wretched man on the stretcher and he looked at him in compassion and he said son, your sins are forgiven. There's nothing here in the text that would suggest that the man was looking for forgiveness what he was looking for was healing notice. Jesus doesn't say Sir, your sins are forgiven, he addresses him as an adult would a child and this is not a child as one who was in the superior position of authority would to a subordinate because some son we said son, your sins are forgiven. Will that statement was so radical that it occasioned every action from those who were the theologians, the clergy of the day who were part of that crowd listening to Jesus paying attention every word already there beginning to try to trap Jesus if they can, but the scribes are there and we read that when they heard Jesus say to the man your sins are forgiven. Some of them were reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man speak blasphemies like this. Why were they thinking of blasphemy. All Jesus said was your sins are forgiven, why would that be blasphemy because every scribe new the principal in Old Testament Judaism, that no man, not even the Messiah would have the authority to forgive the sins of human banks as they took the position and held tenaciously that God and God alone has the authority to forgive sins. So what does Jesus say your sins are forgiven their thinking for me. This man is acting as if he had the authority of God himself. One of the things is fascinating. In the New Testament record of Jesus is that there are some people like the Jehovah witnesses in the Seventh-day Adventist, who argue that the New Testament doesn't really teach the deity of Christ. In spite of the explicit teachings of the text of the New Testament.

But not only does the New Testament explicitly teach the deity of Christ, that we see in narratives like this. The clear implication of Jesus claim to deity, and the point is is that what the Jehovah witnesses the Unitarians and the Mormons failed to get the contemporary Jews of Jesus day they got it they understood the Jesus was claiming divinity.

That's why they're so exercised. That's why they didn't say anything yet, but there thinking inside themselves. Why does he blaspheme why does he presume to forgive this man of his sins will Jesus reach their minds.

He knows what they're thinking and so he perceived in his spirit when they reason this way and so he said to them, and notice this method of debate in antiquity of answering a question with a question they're saying. Why does he blaspheme who can forgive sins but God alone. Jesus raises the question of them. Why do you reason about this 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 me to stop there for sick Jesus poses a question and the question is which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or get up and walk. I would initially question this is a difficult passage because on the one hand, it would seem that the easier of the two options would be to say, your sins are forgiven because nobody can test whether the sins are forgiven, there is no visible evidentiary test that can be taken to verify or falsify the truth of what Jesus pronounces, but if he says rise. Thank you Brad and get out of here, then he's putting himself of the test and people going to know whether he is the party heal the manner not the man goes back out on the stretcher. The way came in except through the door instead of the roof that would prove that Jesus didn't have the power to heal and or if he got up off the bed and walked home. That would also prove that Jesus did have the party so manifestly, it would seem, at least at first glance that the easier option when Jesus escorted which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, arise, take up your bed and walk, but I don't think that what Jesus had in mind was that it was easier to say, your sins are forgiven because in that culture. In that context in the presence of the scribes and the presence of his enemies.

It would been far easier for Jesus to say get up and walk your Jesus knows if he says your sins are forgiven when Don went has been laid down because he's claiming to be divine and that is not an easy thing to claim in that particular instance of Jesus is not saying I took the easy way out.

No, I took the hard way that will now that the plot thickens and you're still there. Remember you're listening to this exchange you're wondering what the world he means, which is easier, and he tells you why he did what he did why he chose the words that he chose listen carefully, but that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

Here's what I said it, much as to heal this man thoroughly body and soul. I went deeper than his paralysis. I went to the deepest need, that the man had his relief from guilt. This is not to say that the man suffering was directly a result of his particular sin. It could have been, but the New Testament makes it very clear that we are not to ever draw the conclusion that our suffering in this world is on an equal basis with our guilt.

It does teach that suffering enters the world because of sin. But Jesus is not suggesting here that the man's problem is that he's paralyzed by sin, but he does recognize that the man has a deeper problem in his paralysis, and it is the problem of sin and Jesus that I did this not only feel this man body and soul, but I did it. You may know, the Son of Man has the authority, the expert Lussier the power that we talked about already on earth to forgive sins which is like saying that you may know that the Son of Man is God incarnate to titles that are frequently used for Jesus in the New Testament Son of Man son of God, and we have a tendency to say what we believe that Jesus has two natures of human nature, divine nature, and that the title son of God describes his divine nature in the title Son of Man shows his solidarity with us in his humanity. But if we make that assumption. We miss a very significant point that the New Testament makes about Jesus. Just take a moment to explain this. The title Son of Man is used for Jesus I told you this before over and paid school but some of you come since then and others have forgotten since then, but the title Son of Man occurs 83 or 84 times I forget which, in the New Testament and in every single case except two of them. The title Son of Man is used by Jesus for himself in the New Testament. If you look at the frequency of titles that are used for Jesus. The number one title in terms of numerical frequency that is used for Jesus in the New Testament is the title Christ the number two title in terms of frequency is the title Lord, the number three title in terms of frequency is the title Son of Man. But what I find astonishing is that even though the title Son of Man is number three. Overall in terms of frequency is foreign away number one in terms of Jesus self designation when Jesus tells who he is the favorite title that he used for himself is the one that he uses for the first time you're in the gospel of Mark Son of Man who's the Son of Man this week.

Dig a little deeper go back to the book of Daniel.

Go to the seventh chapter of Daniel where the seventh chapter of Daniel describes in graphic detail. The appearance description character of the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a heavenly being. It is the Son of Man who's appointed by the ancient of days to be the judge of the earth.

It is the Son of Man, to whom the ancient of days gives the kingdom forever. It is the Son of Man, who descends from heaven, and then sends into heaven, so that when Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. He's not practicing humility's, nothing will. I'm just a poor country human being what he saying is I have descended from heaven I am heavenly, not from this earth, so that title is pregnant with theological significance of the deity and the office of Jesus and Jesus said that's why I said your sins are forgiven you may know that the Son of Man has divine authority.

I have the authority. The XO CF the power and the authority to say, your sins are forgiven and when I say, your sins are forgiven, your sins are forgiven, and he looks at the mantises rise, take up your bed and walk and he did anyone know the greatest thing that happens in the paralytic that day was not the healing of his body was the forgiveness of his soul with the hearts the controversy that erupted in the 16th century between the reformers in the Roman Catholic Church was the Church's understanding of the sacrament of penance. There are many factors to that, but part of the sacrament of penance was confession and priestly absolution where the penitent church person would come in the confessional and say father. I've send that it's been so long since my last confession. He would recite his sins, and so on. He would have to go through his act of contrition, and so on. The highlight was when the priest would use the words they absolve.

Oh you.

Some Protestants get really upset when they hear about that.

They say what right does the priest have to say I absolve you of the church was very careful for centuries to point out that no priest has the inherent authority to forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins but what the priest is saying in shorthand when he says they absolve in the name of Jesus Christ who does have the authority to forgive your sins, I declare you absolved by your repentance, so the problem with Reformation wasn't with that was with other aspects of the sacrament of penance, we can treat another day.

But you know Luther kept the confessional. For this reason, he said, because people need a word assurance therapy forgiven very seriously. I told you this again 25 years ago, a psychiatrist who had a very prosperous practice in South Florida seriously asked me to come on his staff. He offered me what at that time would've been a princely sum of $100,000 a year to join his team. I don't even have a degree in psychology. Why would you want me Lisa because RC 95% of my clients don't need a psychiatrist.

They need a priest because their lives are destroyed by un-resolved when the B grade and Jesus came in this room. We walked up to you and he put his hand and said your sins we can have confidence that Jesus is done just that for his life, death and resurrection.

The apostle John assures us of that in first John five I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

Jesus proved his deity and his ability to forgive sin in the story of the paralytic were glad you've joined us on the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind with RC scroll time we web each Lord's day. We are making our way through the gospel of Mark paying close attention to all of the astonishing things Jesus did in his life and ministry. Getting to know Jesus and an amazing journey and were offering a resource that we believe will be a great benefit in your personal study when you contact us today with your donation of any amount. We will send you Dr. scroll's expositional commentary on the Gospel of Mark.

This hardbound volume has almost 400 pages of Dr. scroll's easy-to-read explanation of this gospel. It's a great study companion as we continue our prescriber series every Sunday. You can go online and request this commentary@renewingyourmind.org and that, let me thank you in advance for your generous donation will next week we will continue our study of the life of Jesus from Mark's gospel and who knows, we learn together these things that the churches believed for 2000 years. Our goal is to help equip you, so that you can live out the and share them with others.

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