Who is He? Josh Short
Series: Mark
Speaker: Sam Low
Date: 15th March 2014
Passage: Mark 2:1-28
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Let me tell you a little bit about my family.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 So in my immediate family, there are four members.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 There's my father, my mother, my brother, and I.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 And we are a family of avid readers.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 Hands up anyone here who would consider themselves a reader.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 Any fellow people who know my pain.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 Okay, we've got some good work of the Fitzpatrick and the Lau family.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 Good work, you guys.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:31 To give you a small picture, I consider myself the least active reader in my family.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:38 And just recently in the last week and a bit, my only bookshelf in this country has now completely been filled.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 There is no space for the next year and a half of my theological textbooks that I need to buy.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:45 And I am in trouble.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:51 And I realized that in my house back in Vancouver, there are about five boxes, medium-sized boxes,
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 with my name on them saying Josh's Books.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 Far too many books for one person to reasonably have.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 But the person to watch out for is my dad.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 He consumes books.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 I am amazed at his ability to read.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:11 I'm jealous of it, to be honest with you.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:20 He takes anything from the largest tomes of theological text to amazing fantasy fiction
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 and just reads it all incredibly fast.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:31 And just recently, he got very into a particular variety of Scandinavian crime mystery fiction.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 It's very specific, I know.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 But he read a lot.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:44 As in, if it wasn't for a Kindle, our house would be overrun with novels.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:50 We'd have to have an intervention saying, Dad, please stop buying books because we can't move on our house anymore.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:51 There's too many.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:59 And the reason I'm telling you this is I think it's helpful sometimes to think about the book of Mark as a mystery novel.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 Not all the time, but it's helpful to think about.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 We have a mystery.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:10 The major question of the book presented to us last week in chapter 1.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:12 Who is Jesus?
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 And what is he doing?
00:02:14 --> 00:02:14 What has he come to do?
00:02:14 --> 00:02:22 And we have a narrator who is trying everything he can to help us understand more and more of that question.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:28 And this week in Mark chapter 2, we make some great headway into seeing who Jesus is, I think.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 Seeing a glimpse of his incredible power.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:39 And so, in particular, this passage shows us, I think, Jesus' power, his right to his power,
00:02:39 --> 00:02:43 and his will with his power, what he's going to do with it.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 And so, case number one.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:51 The mysterious case of the paralytic and his four destructively helpful friends.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:57 So, please, if you don't have your Bibles open, get them open to Mark chapter 2, verse 1 to 12 at the moment.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:02 Jesus is back at Capernaum, his old stomping ground.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 And the word has got out that Jesus is there.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:07 Big news.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:12 Jesus, everyone, everyone and their dog has come to see him.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 The entire town has just flooded his house.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 And I don't know about you, but if 200 people showed up at my house, so there's no room for anyone,
00:03:22 --> 00:03:23 I wouldn't be the most hospitable person.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:28 But Jesus is obviously better than I am and decides to preach to them.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 He gives them a message.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:31 It's incredible.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 And here enter the other characters.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:41 Four men carrying a fifth on a mat because he is utterly paralyzed.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:43 Can't move.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 These five men are desperate.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 Understandably so, I think.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:53 Because if you're a paralytic back in those days, your life was essentially over.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:57 All that you can do for your entire life is beg for money.
00:03:58 --> 00:03:59 You can't eat food.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:00 You can't feed yourself.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 You can't go to the temple to make sacrifices.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 So you are permanently unclean.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 You can't physically clean yourself.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:09 You can't move.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 You can't do anything, really.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:20 Thankfully, this particular man has four friends who are just desperate to help him.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:23 It's kind of beautiful, really.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:29 And they've obviously heard of who Jesus is and what he can do and what he might do.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 And it's enough for them.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 So they get to Jesus' house, totally packed, no room.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:42 And they decide to make some exterior design choices and make a hole in the roof and slowly lower him through mid-sermon.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:46 And I'm confident you've heard this story before.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 It's quite a famous one.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:53 But for a moment, try to picture the tension of what's actually happening.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 You know, you have Jesus preaching to a packed room, literally.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:07 And mid-message, a hole opens up and there's four bearded faces looking down, kind of lowering this guy on a mat in front of him.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:08 It's just, what?
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 Like, it's so surprising.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 And they put him there.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 And the whole room freezes.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:22 These are the kind of moments where Jesus does something and we don't know what.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 Because Jesus is Jesus, right?
00:05:25 --> 00:05:26 And someone's kind of waiting there.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:27 What's he going to do?
00:05:27 --> 00:05:28 This is going to be good, right?
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 And he clears his throat.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:32 Verse 5.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic,
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 Son, your legs are healed.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:39 Nope.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 Son, your sins are forgiven.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 Excuse me?
00:05:45 --> 00:05:45 I'm sorry, what?
00:05:46 --> 00:05:46 What was that, Jesus?
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 I'm going to pass me again because I think you missed the problem.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 That is clearly the man's legs.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:57 Don't you see what needs to happen?
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 He needs to be healed.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 That is his problem.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 Come on, man.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:08 Nobody is thinking, man, his sins are really his problem.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 It's not a question for people.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 It's so unexpected.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 It's almost an anticlimax.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 It's just out of left field.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Can you imagine the sheer disappointment?
00:06:18 --> 00:06:25 The poor man is probably lost for words at this moment because I came all this way and my friends did all this for me for this.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:34 And we focus on some scribes who are sitting there, some teachers of the law and what they're thinking to themselves.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 I think they have not a good reaction but an understandable reaction.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 Verses 6 and 7.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:47 Some of the scribes are sitting there and they're thinking to themselves, why does he speak like this?
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 He is blaspheming.
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 Who can forgive sins but God alone?
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 Jesus has claimed to have the power to forgive sins.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:01 He has put himself on the same level as God the creator.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 Which, to be fair, if it wasn't true, would be entirely blasphemous.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:14 So the reaction from the statement of Jesus from the scribes is one that we can at least understand, I think.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 However, Jesus is not finished working.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:20 He's not done yet.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:28 After he's made these incredible claims, he now asks the scribes why they're thinking what they're thinking.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:35 So worrying, don't you think, to have someone tell you that he can read your mind
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 and then tell you what you're actually thinking?
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 Ah, man, I'd be so concerned at that point.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:43 Especially because they're thinking bad things about him.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 And he answers their private question, who can forgive sins but God alone?
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 He has an answer for it.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:49 9, 10, 11.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:51 What's easier to do?
00:07:52 --> 00:07:57 To say that this guy's sins are forgiven or to fix his legs and make him walk again?
00:07:57 --> 00:08:04 It doesn't really matter because Jesus has the power and the authority to do both.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:07 He heals the man.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:08 He jumps up.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:10 Dances away with his mat.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:18 And Jesus says, so that you would know that he has the authority to forgive sins is why he's done this.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:25 Such an immense act of power I think we often overlook the entirety of.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 As Jesus is saying, this man's legs are healed.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 He's also breaching reality as we know it.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:47 The idea of Jesus forgiving sins not only brings the future effectiveness of his crucifixion to that point,
00:08:48 --> 00:08:49 before it's happened,
00:08:49 --> 00:08:56 he also brings the reality of the last day of judgment effective at that point.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 The paralyzed man has been declared free from sin.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:00 Utterly free.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Which can only happen through Jesus' power at the cross.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 The only way.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:08 And his status in God is secure.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:14 Which is only evident, only truthful at the last day of judgment.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 It can only be true that way.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:21 And so Jesus cracks through every conception we have of this miracle.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 And just explodes with power.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 It's incredible.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 It's hard to fathom.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 I think the crowd has an appropriate reaction when they say,
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 we haven't seen anything like this.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 But they're more correct than they realize, I think.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 It's an entirely unique miracle of Christ.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:45 Bringing the heavenly reality, the heavenly kingdom of God,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 present and powerful.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 And that's just some of the power Jesus has.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 And it's amazing.
00:09:53 --> 00:10:07 Let's say somehow we could get permission from God that he would let some of his angels bring the paralyzed man down here today and we could interview him.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 Let's give him a nice Jewish name.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 Eli.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:12 Let's go with Eli.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 I had some friends called Eli back in high school.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:16 Eli.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:16 Eli.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 What was it like that day with Jesus?
00:10:20 --> 00:10:25 Well, it was the most amazing day of my entire life.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 You know the story.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 I was lowered to the roof at Jesus' feet.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 I was kind of nervous.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 And he said, your sins are forgiven.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 And of course, I was a little bit disappointed.
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 Possibly a little angry.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 To be honest with you, I wanted to walk.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 That was what I wanted.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 But he healed my legs as well.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:48 And I was so happy.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 You know, I just had to dance and jump and walk out of there.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 And I had a good life after that, thanks to him.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 I lived for another 25 years.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 I had a job.
00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 I had a wife.
00:10:58 --> 00:10:58 I had some kids.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 I gave sacrifices at the synagogue every week.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 And I eventually died.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 That happens.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 It was a good life.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 And I'm thankful for Jesus for healing my legs.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 But here I am 2 years later.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 And I've spent all that time with God in heaven.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 I've been in heaven for so long.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 And it's been so good.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:29 Without a moment's thought, I would take Christ forgiving my sins over healing my legs any day of the week.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:35 It's a small penalty to live paralyzed and to lose his soul.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 Jesus hasn't come to iron out the problems that we have in this life.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 But to open the gates of the life to come.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 The man in the story is alive today.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 I have no doubt about that.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 He's with Christ in heaven at this very moment.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:57 And if Eli could come down and talk to us today, he would say this.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 And we see some of Christ's power here.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 What about his right to use this power?
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 Verses 23 and 28.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:15 Here we have an issue of the law.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 Of the Sabbath.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 The fourth and longest commandment out of the ten.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 The best day in creation.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 In Genesis chapter 2.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:35 How is it okay for Jesus and his disciples to supposedly be breaking the Sabbath and still claim to be sinless and good people?
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 How is that okay?
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 And the last two verses are of particular importance.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:53 I don't think we quite understand the immense importance that the Sabbath holds for Jewish people now and back then and even further back.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 It's amazing.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 If you ever get to go to Jerusalem, my parents did.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 It's an incredible sight to behold what the Sabbath is.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:12 But in the Old Testament, God is emphatic with his command of the Sabbath.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:19 Often repeated is the phrase, I am the Lord or I am Yahweh and you will keep my Sabbath.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:21 It's just that simple.
00:13:21 --> 00:13:22 I am God.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:22 I am holy.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 And you will keep my Sabbath holy.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:30 It's not something that God suggests should be kept.
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 It is a requirement.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 It needs to happen.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 And so when Jesus says in verse 27,
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 He is changing the whole thing.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 He is just flipping it on its head.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:56 He says the Sabbath is not meant for a strict, rigid ceremony, but as a blessing.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 And to be under humanity.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:08 Genesis 2 is not just about God admiring his creation, but loving what he has made for us and us loving him for it.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:15 The New Testament, the idea of Sabbath, the idea of rest, is repurposed.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:22 It is reused to show the great rest that is to come when Jesus comes back.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 The final and complete rest that he has.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 And it talks about his authority.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 Jesus likens himself to David in the Old Testament.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 Here's an example there from David and his starving men being at a temple,
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 taking some of the holy food, which is only good for priests, and eating it.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:47 Jesus is saying that like the king of Israel, when it is necessary,
00:14:48 --> 00:14:52 he also has authority over the things that are supposedly out of reach.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57 Because they are made to bless rather than made to rule over humanity.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 It's the same authority he has over fasting, as we saw earlier.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:05 The same authority it talks about in the first bit of the chapter where he heals the man's sins.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:11 He says, I have done this so you know that I am powerful and authoritative over everything.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 Sin, death, legs, everything.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:26 And because of this, Jesus offers us a place in his rest.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 It's incredible to think about.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 Jesus' power is mind-boggling.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:36 We cannot comprehend the limits of his limitless power.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 And his authority is entirely unquestionable.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 But I think what the most amazing thing is,
00:15:44 --> 00:15:49 because as the most powerful creator and sustainer of the universe and everything in it,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 he uses his power for love.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 For love of us.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 For the sake of us.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 It's just incredible.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 The paralytic and his friends come to Jesus,
00:16:01 --> 00:16:06 because they know that he has the will to heal this man,
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 to be merciful, and to love him.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13 And Jesus shows to us, just like the paralytic,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:17 that he sees past the immediate problem that we may have,
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 and gets straight to the point.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:26 Straight to the disgusting, black, gooey, horrible sin,
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 and heart problem that we all have.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 And he deals with it.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 He says,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 Your sins are forgiven because I love you.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 Because he loves us,
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 he wants us to be a part of the greatest Sabbath
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 that is ever to come in the history of anything.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 And because he loves us,
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 he opens the gates for us and lets us in.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 His power over us,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 his authority over us,
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 and his love for us,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 for our salvation,
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 is what Jesus does for us.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 He throws open the gates,
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 commands sin and death,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 and offers us a place by his side,
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 because of his love for us.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 And the only mystery left to us,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 I think, in the book of Mark,
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 is how could he ever be so loving to us,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 when we are so horrible to him?
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 The only reason I can think of
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 is because he wants to,
00:17:16 --> 00:17:16 and it's his will.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 And we have to love him more because of that.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:23 Jesus loves us so much
00:17:23 --> 00:17:27 that he moves heaven and earth for us,
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 so that we can be by his side in eternity,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 because he loves us.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:31 Amen.