When were you last surprised by something you read in the Bible? For many of us, who have grown up through Sunday School and church, we think we know all about it. We’ve heard it all before. So maybe, as you heard our Bible readings this morning, you thought to yourself, oh aye, this is the one about the wee man coming down through the roof and Jesus heals him. I know that one.
If that’s you, then I hope you’ll find at least one surprise in our reading today. You see, they come thick and fast in this story from Mark’s Gospel. Normally, I might give a wee hint of where we’re going, but I want the surprise to really surprise you, so stick with me, and we’ll see what jumps out at us.
Last week we saw how Jesus was willing and able to help the man with leprosy. Jesus was filled with compassion, as he reached out to touch the unclean leper and heal him. And we saw that the man completely disregarded Jesus’ words to him - Jesus had told him to tell no one apart from the priest. But the man had told just about everyone apart from the priest!
The end result was that Jesus couldn’t enter towns any more. He stayed out in lonely places. And even there, people kept coming to him. In verse 1, it’s a few days later, and Jesus is back in Capernaum. Remember, this is where it all began (1:21). It was here that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and then everyone else. It was here that Jesus had moved on from, in order to preach in other villages (1:38).
Now he’s back home, and everyone comes to see him. There are so many (2) that there’s no room left inside or out. But Jesus isn’t healing this time. ‘He preached the word to them.’ Jesus is proclaiming the good news. Perhaps that’s a surprise - the repeated focus on preaching which Mark has in these opening chapters. Jesus was a preacher.
Now we’re not told how long he spoke for, or the details of what he said, but he preached the word. God’s word. The good news he came to share.
In verse 3, we’re introduced to the four men bringing their friend, the paralytic. The man can’t walk by himself, and so they bring him to Jesus. Except, there’s a problem. They can’t get near Jesus. The crowd is so great that they haven’t a hope of getting in to see Jesus themselves, let alone bringing their friend with them. At least, not through the front door.
Now, you know the story, and you know what happens next. Mark tells us in verse 4: ‘Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on.’
They couldn’t get through the door, so they went via the roof. The houses of the time would have been single storey with a clay roof, so they could dig through it. But isn’t this a surprise? Imagine being inside the house that day. You’re listening to Jesus, when suddenly, there’s some dust and dirt falling from the ceiling, then daylight, then a stretcher being let down above your head! What a surprise! (Especially for the owner of the house!)
The big surprise of the story comes in verse 5. Look at it with me. We’re told what Jesus sees, and what he says. What does he see? ‘When Jesus saw their faith...’ He sees their faith. Now, whether this is the four stretcher bearers, or the five of them, we’re not told. But as one writer puts it, ‘It seems more likely that the ill man also had faith, bearing in mind all that he went through simply in order to be where he was!’ (English, p.66, BST) Jesus sees their faith - faith expressed in their actions.
And in response to what he sees, we’re told what he says. Now, if you’ve ever watched A Question of Sport (or even You’ve Been Framed), you’ll know the question ‘What happens next?’ They show a part of a video clip, pause it, and ask what happens next. So, don’t look, and tell me, what would you expect to happen next?
The man is paralysed. Mark has told us that in verse 3, 4 and 5. So you expect Jesus to heal him. You expect Jesus to say to him, get up. No one was expecting Jesus to say what he said. It’s a surprise, isn’t it? He completely ignores the man’s problem with walking, and instead says, verse 5: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
When we see the paralysed man, we think that his biggest problem and his greatest need is to be able to walk. But Jesus shows us that his biggest problem and his greatest need is to be forgiven. That’s a surprise for us. Whatever else may be affecting you today, your greatest need isn’t your health, it’s your need to be forgiven.
So, if you’re able to go into town tomorrow, everyone you meet has a sin problem, whether you can see another problem that’s more visible. And if you go to the surgery or the hospital, more urgent than people’s sickness is their problem with sin.
Perhaps you’ve never thought like this before; never seen other people this way before - maybe never even thought of yourself like this. our most fundamental and most important problem is our problem with sin - but there is someone who can deal with it. There is someone who can say to you, Son, Daughter, your sins are forgiven.
There’s another surprise here. Those very words almost caused some people to fall off their chairs in amazement, and/or anger. These teachers of the law, they hear the words. And look what they’re thinking to themselves: ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’
They’re surprised to hear Jesus declare forgiveness for the paralysed man. Why’s that? Because they are correct - only God can forgive sins. It’s what God says through the prophet Isaiah: ‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.’ (Is 43:25). God is the only one who can forgive sins. They’re right on that. But they’re wrong on the rest of what they say. In effect, they’re asking ‘Who does he think he is?’ The charge of blasphemy is to make yourself equal to God, to think that you are God. If anyone else said it, they’d be right. But the one who stands before them is indeed God.
Jesus knows what they’re thinking, and so answers their thoughts. (Was this a surprise for them! They think something, and Jesus answers them). In verse 9 he asks them a question. Have a go at answering it: ‘Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk”?
So which is easier? It’s not that any of the words are difficult. But it would be easier to say you’re forgiven, wouldn’t it? You can say that, and no one can see the difference. But if you say get up... then everyone will instantly know if you’re spoofing or the real thing. It’s far easier to say, you’re forgiven.
But do you see how Jesus carries on? V10: ‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins... He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ And the man got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all.
Jesus says the more difficult thing - telling the paralysed man to get up. And what a miracle this is! If you’ve ever broken a leg, or been in bed for several weeks, you’ll know that you don’t just get up out of bed one day able to walk. It can take a while to build up your muscles again, weeks or months of physio. But this man, paralysed, gets up and walks straight away!
Jesus is able to heal the man. But Jesus does so to prove something else. Verse 10: ‘that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ Jesus heals the man (the hard thing to say) to show that he has the authority to forgive sins (the easy thing to say).
And how can Jesus declare that sins are forgiven? It’s because he will give his own life to bear the punishment that our sins deserve. Jesus himself will pay the price, will foot the bill for sin - not just this paralysed man’s, but yours and mine as well.
We have a sin problem, but we also have a Saviour. And he offers you those same words today. You see, whatever needs you might have; whatever might be weighing on your mind; whatever you would like some help with; even more urgent is your sin problem. There is a Saviour, the one who bore your sins, who offers you forgiveness today, full and free.
How do you receive it? It’s simply by faith. Taking Jesus at his word. Believing his promise. You’re invited today, whoever you are, to take that step of faith. You don’t need to climb onto the roof and abseil down. You can step forward and receive the bread and wine - the sign and symbol of his sacrifice for you, his body broken and blood shed, for you, and for your forgiveness.
There are lots of surprises in our reading today. These men brought their friend to Jesus for healing, but he left with something even more precious. Who does Jesus think he is? Well, he is God, and he speaks this precious word: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 4th March 2018.
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