“Then They Came”
Mark 2:1-12
- The Bible is full of real and imperfect people. Noah was a drunk; Abraham was too old and a liar; Sarah laughed at God’s promises; Isaac was a daydreamer; Jacob was a liar; Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused; Moses had a stuttering problem and a short fuse; Miriam was a gossip; Gideon was afraid; Samson had long hair and was a womanizer; Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. Naomi was a widow; Job went bankrupt; David started off too young, then his armor didn’t fit, then he had an affair; Solomon was too rich. Elijah was burned-out and suicidal; Isaiah preached naked; Jeremiah was depressed; Jonah ran from God; Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning; Hosea’s wife was a prostitute. John the Baptist ate bugs; Martha worried about everything; the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once; Peter denied Christ; the disciples fell asleep while praying; Thomas doubted; Zaccheus was too small; John Mark was rejected by Paul; Paul himself was too religious, plus, he was a murderer, as were Moses and David. And of course, Lazarus was dead! (Sermon Central contributor)
-It is inconceivable to think we too could not be used. To think that God too could not use us or our situation to bless another no matter the level of severity. God wants you to surrender and fulfill His purpose for your creation.
(Read text)
-“Then THEY came” I find it very relevant that all the attention and focus was taken off the many that were listening to Jesus, intently focusing on every word, and was placed on 5 individuals.
-Remarkable to me that Mark was not describing what Jesus was teaching. Remember this is the Person that when He was 12 captivated the religious leaders with what He said, during His ministry hundreds of people crowded around Him to hear what He had to say, Jesus would have to get in a boat and push away from shore to be able to speak to people because of the crowds that were LISTENING, yet Mark doesn’t tell us what He was saying but just that “they arrived”.
-An unbelievable course of events takes place that could not go undescribed.
-Let us not forget all those involved, Jesus, religious leaders who had their mind read by Jesus, 4 with faith, 100’s watching, and a paralyzed man. But my thoughts this morning is on this bed.
I. His bed controlled his destination
A. The bed can be found in the Bible as a place of rest or a place of bondage.
1. The reference several times is that of a place of restoration of strength whether of illness or fatigue.
2. Through Jesus’ ministry though many were brought to Him in their bed, representing a place of bondage, as is the case we look at today.
B. He went nowhere his bed did not take him.
1. A constant reminder of his condition.
a. His condition was that of a paralytic.
b. Countless days spent lying without motion; days and nights spent praying that there would be opportunity to conquer this bed, maybe even hate that had grown toward this cradle that had him captured due to his condition.
c. Depravity of experiences; fathering a family, working for a wage, standing in the Temple to worship, even following this Man that had been proclaimed as the Messiah, these were not to be his, but this bed was.
2. Places he went were determined by this bed.
a. No one to carry him, nowhere to go.
b. Notice he was not allowed initially to enter Christ’s presence, not enough room.
3. Represented his inability
C. There are very real destinations that are controlled this morning.
1. Eternal destinations
a. Peace is experienced by those who have found themselves in the presence of Christ due to placing their faith in Him as the Lord of their life.
b. A very real hope is given to their eternal inheritance.
c. Likewise there is suffering by those who have not come to Christ through faith.
d. Despair due to the condition of sin in their life Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
2. Experiential destinations
a. Some may have come to Christ through faith and yet their day to day experience with Him, relational, has barriers, deterrence from knowing the full joy found in complete obedience to Him.
3. Physical destinations
a. God has purposes for your life that require surrender.
b. For some this means ministry in a church, and yet for others ministry outside the church.
c. Yet we find ourselves incapable of finding it due to our negligence to surrender. Philippians 3:7, 8 (NKJV)
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
d. EVERYTHING I NEED (Robert Reed) From Max Lucado
His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.
e. A much deeper and more fulfilled experiential relationship waits for those who will but give it all to Christ, to the point of considering it all as “loss”.
II. His bed prevented his desire
A. He had the desire to be healed
1. No one in their right mind would miss the opportunity to be healed from their physical ailment.
a. If a disease plagues you or a loved one and the healing agent was found, no matter where you would have to go, you would.
b. These people had helped this man for who knows how long, and the only thing they knew that would help him was near, and no matter what it took they were going to do it.
2. Depending on the duration is considerate of how great the desire.
3. Unfortunately with sin, the more of it we have the less desiring we are of it being gone.
4. People sometimes live with the very thing they are diseased with and will defend it to the death, even eternal death.
5. Until the very moment God reveals to them the need to get rid of it and what it takes to do so, and at this point many will turn to Christ to free them of this disease of sin.
B. He had the desire to get into the presence of Christ
1. Though the way was congested, he would not be turned away.
2. We can either today allow the bed of sin we lay in to deter or drive us to Him.
III. His destination controlled his bed
A. Christ said two things
1. Your sins are forgiven
2. Take up your bed and go home.
a. The very thing that controlled him, by the power of Christ, he now controlled.
