“He’s Amazing! The Greatest Ministry Ever!”
Mark 2:1-12
Mark wrote his Gospel to Christians, mostly Gentiles, living in Rome. Since being Christian in Rome was very difficult due to opposition and persecution, his main concern was to share with them the power available through Jesus Christ. I believe that we, too, need a sense of that power. In an age when so many things and forces threaten to control our lives, we need the reassurance that Jesus’ power is available to us.
In Mark 2:1-12 we see Jesus encounter opposition to His ministry for the first time. His power over the lives of others was beginning to draw not only attention, but also the ire of the religious leaders. To fully appreciate this scene we need to look, first, at THE MOMENT OF NEED. Imagine the scene. It is A PICTURE OF NEED. It centers on this young, itinerant preacher who has taken the people by storm. His fame had spread like wildfire. He was so new and exciting that people would travel most anywhere and do most anything to hear and see Him. It was not only what He had been saying, but also what He had been doing. He was transforming lives – not just psychologically and spiritually but also emotionally and physically. The blind were seeing, the deaf hearing, the dumb speaking, and the crippled were being healed.
But consider JESUS’ NEED. He had more to do than just do miracles and heal. He came to preach and teach, to save the lost. So in this scene He has retreated from the crowds and demands of the people by taking his first four disciples to the home of Simon and Andrew to teach them. But word spread all too quickly that He was there. Soon his ‘private time’ became ‘public time.’
So the focus is also on THE CROWD’S NEED. It’s a large crowd and they are pressing all around Jesus. In this crowd are the religions leaders, the four disciples, local townspeople, and curious onlookers. These people line the walls, drape the furniture, and squat on the floor; others stand outside straining to hear and see. Still others, passing by, linger at the fringes.
Then out beyond the fringes we see four men carrying A MAN IN NEED. These four men see the large crowd and wonder how they can ever get their friend to Jesus. They loved their friend and wanted the best for him; they had come this far by faith and they weren’t about to turn back. So they devise a way. Quietly, yet resolutely, they head for the stairs which lead to the rooftop. After cautiously carrying their friend up those steps, they lay him down on the roof and begin to tear away the dried mud and heavy straw that compose the roof. Dust begins falling on the people inside the house below. Simon and Andrew look up with great dismay – it’s their house! Jesus, too, casts an upward glance. Suddenly a shaft of golden sunlight bursts through the roof and upon the crowd. But before the people can recover from the initial blinding brightness, the mat is lowered through the new opening in the roof. Then they see the paralyzed man. The people are excited, for this is more than what they hoped for – a chance to see Jesus heal someone. The disciples, though, are disturbed – they wanted to hear Jesus teach. And the religious leaders are stunned and curious – they are, after all, checking out this man who is a threat to their religious system. Yet quickly all are quiet. All eyes are on Jesus. He moves to the man and the focus shifts to them. Then Jesus speaks: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
A murmur ripples through the crowd; what is this Jesus is saying? After all, it’s obvious the man needs healing, not a sermon. But Jesus isn’t through. He looks at the religious leaders, whose temperatures are rising as they ponder “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus asks them “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…’” Then Jesus looks again at the man – “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man gets up, tucks the mat under his arm and heads out the door. And the people are amazed,
But while the people are amazed, the religious leaders aren’t so sure. This business of forgiving sins doesn’t thrill them; it fact, it upsets them. The healing is hard enough to live with, but this God-like attitude about forgiving sins…well it’s just not kosher. In fact, it’s blasphemous! If Jesus can help people by healing them, they can live with that. But to claim to be God, well, that’s another story.
And that brings us into the picture. WE, TOO, HAVE A NEED. We need to know how we fit into the scene. What role are we to play? Are you one of the amazed onlookers? Are you one of the excited but uncertain disciples? Or are you an ecstatic friend of the paralytic? Are you like the owner of the house – irritated and concerned about the ethics of destroying property to get attention? Or are you the paralytic, hoping to get healed and restored? Maybe you’re one of the questioning religious leaders. Unless we can identify where we are in this scene we cannot experience the power.
But how do we decide? We get some help by looking at THE MEANING BEHIND JESUS’ QUESTION concerning which is easier – forgiving or healing. JESUS ADDRESSED A CONFLICT that centered on the religious leaders. He caught them off guard. They are quietly thinking about His bold words of forgiveness but He knows they are thinking it! So that’s why He approaches them with the question. He wants to know which is easier to say – “You are forgiven” or “Walk!” To simply make an announcement is to go unchallenged. After all, no one can prove forgiveness. But to heal takes special power. So the leaders are wondering if Jesus is taking the easy way out by announcing forgiveness rather than performing a healing. Talk is cheap, not to mention that, even if He could prove it, it would be blasphemous.
Yet Jesus does not skirt the issue; He’s only focusing it. “Which is easier…That you may know…” that I have authority to forgive… THE HEALING IS ONLY SECONDARY FOR JESUS. He knew the religious leaders believed that only Almighty God could heal, and that sin was the cause of illness. So healing was conditioned by forgiveness and healing was the demonstration of forgiveness. And Jesus agrees with them. So He turns the question back on them – Who but God can forgive? Only God can do it. It is the harder thing to do. So, says Jesus, if someone can only be healed if they are forgiven, then watch this. Then He healed the paralytic. If healing is divine, then He is divine! If He is divine, He can forgive sins. That’s his purpose for being here. The conflict has not gone away – it’s clarified and intensified. The religious leaders have no way out – either Jesus is the Messiah or the greatest imposter they’ve ever seen.
We are blessed today that we can look at the conflict FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CROSS. Only after Christ arose did the disciples fully understand this scene. We see it all through the eyes of the resurrection. As the paralytic had new power to walk, so we have new power to see. What keeps a person whole is always Jesus’ concern. And He knows that behind the physical ailments, and the bodily weakness and decay, there is a more serious affliction. PEOPLE ARE ESTRANGED FROM GOD. Sickness and disease remind us that death exists. It tells us something is wrong in our world. It’s not that our sins cause our sickness – no, Job and Jesus cleared up that misconception. But sickness is a result of sin, period. Even today doctors estimate that 50% of all illness is emotionally caused – it may be real illness, but its roots are emotional.
Think about it. When we are ill we cry out for healing. Yet at the depth of our beings we are really asking for wholeness, to be at peace with God and in harmony with others and the world. And that comes only we are forgiven and put back into right relationship with God. Healing is the gracious movement of God into the sphere of withering and decay which are the tokens of death. Healing is the driving back of death and sin. We cannot rise up and walk, therefore, until we first soak in the Lord’s forgiveness.
It’s easy for God to heal; He does it every day. But forgiveness is hard; it’s much more costly as it took His Son to share our humanity, to bear the weight of our sin and guilt. He had to die for us. That’s how hard and costly it was! The Judge couldn’t condone our in, the Holy One couldn’t overlook it, and new power on earth could help overcome it. SO JESUS CAME TO MAKE WAR ON DISEASE BY WIPING AWAY THE GUILT OF SIN. So the cross puts the conflict in perspective for us. Forgiveness is the hardest thing to bring about – yet that’s what God sent Jesus to bring about. His first concern is that we have experienced forgiveness and are right with God. Then, whether we are physically well or ill, we are still healed and whole eternally!
But what bearing does this have for THE MINISTRY OF HOPE REFORMED CHURCH? Consider, first of all, what it says to EACH OF US as individual Christians, the followers and disciples of Jesus. We can now begin to pinpoint our role in the scene. At times WE ARE THE PARALYTIC ON THE MAT. How long has it been since you’ve sought forgiveness from Jesus? Do you really believe Jesus Christ can meet your needs – whatever they are at this moment? Or do you wish to remain estranged from God, to stay ill and broken? We’re not talking about faith in some young preacher/healer in a Palestinian house, but about faith in the risen and victorious Lord! When we come to Him, even though paralyzed on a mat, with all our needs, desires, and miseries – whenever we go to Him – He will forgive and heal. What is paralyzing you? What is holding you back from a deeper, fuller relationship with God?
Go to God. There are no crowds in the way; you don’t have to break through a rooftop. The door is open and you have free access through Jesus. He is waiting for you; He wants to do the greatest and hardest thing for you – to forgive you. He wants to say to you, “… your sins are forgiven.” Just as Jesus empowered the paralytic to rise up and walk away, so He will empower you to walk away from that which paralyzes you.
Once we have experienced that forgiveness WE BEGIN TO SEE OTHERS ON THE MAT. We see people we know and love. Whom do you see needing Jesus’ touch? Whom can you carry into the presence of Jesus for healing? THE GREATER MINISTRY IS NOT THE MIRACULOUS ONE, BUT THE SLOW DELIBERATE ONE OF BRINGING OTHERS ON THEIR MATS TO JESUS. When you love someone you will go to any length, distance, or cost to help them be healed. But how far are you willing to go to help them receive forgiveness?
And there are tremendous implications here for ELDERS AND DEACONS as well. You have been called to minister and to serve. It is your task to help each member of this congregation to experience this greater ministry of forgiveness and healing. Reconciling people with God is primary. As Paul wrote (2 Cor. 5:19-20 NLT): “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” Your ministry is to be one of compassion, assistance, guidance, and discipline. YOUR PRIORITY IS TO LEAD PEOPLE INTO THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST where they can experience forgiveness and healing. Be sensitive to the needs of people; speak to them of Jesus Christ; take their sin and brokenness to heart. Take it to Jesus. Can you imagine the power of a congregation of people who have truly experienced the power of forgiveness?
Don’t worry about those who feel that ministry must be showy and miraculous to be successful. They’re more interested in the ‘wow’ than in the Word. Rather show, above all else, that Jesus Christ alone can heal because He alone can forgive! Daily forgiveness is far more important than the occasionally miraculous. We may not be able to give someone more years of life, but we can lead them to eternal life! We may not be able to calm all the storms of life, but we can lead people in the midst of storms to the source of peace. The greatest ministry is to escort and usher people into the presence of Jesus Christ.
And Consistory members – and all who truly hear; realize that WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE. We need the Divine Counsellor who alone can enable us. If we abide in Him, we can do what we are called to do. When we have opened ourselves to His presence and leading, the people to whom we minister will be the proof of our ministry – they will be the showpieces of God to the world! Clear out your life today. Let the Holy Spirit in. Trust Him to lead and guide and strengthen. It is, after all, His ministry.
So which is easier? Or is the question ‘Which is greater?’ Both healing and forgiveness are difficult; but one must come first. And that’s forgiveness. Right now, seek your own forgiveness; humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Bring your crippling, paralyzing hindrances of life to Him. Receive forgiveness. Then take up your mat and walk – no run – to others and bring them to Jesus. Allow them to experience the healing touch of His hand and the renewing breath of His Sprit. Let them be the proof of Jesus’ forgiving power. That is, after all, the greatest ministry of all.
