Jesus' Purpose For Healing A Paralytic Series

We continue our worship by listening to what God wants to tell us through the Gospel of Mark. Open your Bibles to Mark 2….. read along with me v1-17…..

We have noted in chapter 1 of Mark that the news about the power of Jesus, both physically and spiritually, have spread throughout the land and so we note here in Mark 2, v1-2: a multitude of people came to be impacted by the power of Jesus Christ; but Jesus focused on God’s Word!

Now before we talk about v3-12, let’s look at another Gospel for a better picture of what happened; Luke 5:17-19… We can note Luke’s emphasis that the religious leaders were witnessing the events.

What was Jesus’ main focus in this event with a paralyzed man and his friends?? Jesus desired for everyone, especially the religious leaders, to know that He is God and has come to save people from their sins!

How can we say this?

A. What was the desire of the men and the paralytic?? The desire of the men and the paralytic was for physical healing but Jesus healed him spiritually first! (v5)

We also note from v5,

B. It was their faith that healed the paralytic spiritually!

Jesus definitely said that it was faith that saved the man from his sins. What can we note about saving faith from this event??

- a belief that Jesus can do what He says!

- there was dedication to action in getting close to Jesus no matter how difficult

Now, in v6-7, why did the religious leaders saw Jesus as a blasphemer??

Jesus was claiming Himself to be God by forgiving sins!

What did the religious leaders knew at that time about how to be forgiven of sins?? The religious leaders during Jesus’ time were following the Old Testament of animal sacrifices to be forgiven of sins.

But what else should they have known from God’s Word, the Old Testament??

The religious leaders should have known about the coming Messiah and should have been excited about the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah!

C. The religious leaders did not fully grasp God’s Word as they dealt with Jesus! (v6-7)

The religious leaders looked at God’s Word with blinders; they were tunnel-visioned in what they wanted out of God’s Word rather than grasping all of God’s Word fully!

And what can we note in v10? Basically,

D. Jesus directly told the religious leaders that He is God in human flesh and has authority to forgive sins!

And what is significant about what happened in v13-17??

E. Jesus called sinners to follow Him!

What biblical principles can we apply to our lives from this passage?

We noted that a multitude of people came to look for Jesus but Jesus focused on God’s Word! What do we need to note from this??

1. Our priority, especially at church, must always be God’s Word!

But what was the problem with the religious leaders during Jesus’ time in how they grasped God’s Word??

2. We must be open to and accepting the complete word of God in context! There are many churches today who state they are biblical but they see the Word of God with horse blinders; they will take much of Scriptures out of context or look for interpretations that fits their thinking; the popular book “The Purpose Driven Life” is full of “biblical” thoughts taken out of context! Let us all be careful in not fully grasping the Word of God!!

3. Know what saving faith truly means! How confident are we to have the mindset that whatever Jesus says He can and will do? How dedicated are we in taking action with our belief in Jesus Christ?

And finally, how do you think we need to apply Jesus’ statement in v17?? (our Scripture of the Week)

May I suggest this:

4. As Christians, we know the solution to a lost soul. We must ask ourselves daily, what am I doing to be able to share the Gospel?