A. Have you ever thought you knew someone, but then you were surprised by something interesting that you learned about them?
1. What’s true about our friends is also true about celebrities.
B. Let me share some of the surprising hobbies that some famous celebrities have that you probably were unaware of:
1. Tom Hanks is one of the best know actors and has been in some of the most successful movies.
a. What does Tom like to collect? Answer: vintage typewriters.
b. In an essay he penned for the New York Times, the actor discusses everything about the hobby, from getting his first model at 19, to the 250+ that he now has in his collection.
c. While it’s been a joy to collect them, he revealed that he plans to slowly give them away, eventually only owning one.
2. How about well-known actress Penelope Cruz, what does she like to collect?
a. This is one falls into the bizarre category.
b. Cruz admitted to having collected over 500 coat hangers in various shapes and sizes—none in metal.
c. But guess what? None of the hangers in her collection are used for hanging up her vast designer wardrobe.
3. What about actor Ryan Gosling? What does he like to do in his spare time?
a. In an interview with GQ Australia, Gosling revealed that he learned how to knit on a movie set and then kept up the hobby.
b. The actor even admitted, “If I had to design my perfect day, [knitting] would be it. And you get something out of it at the end. You get a nice present. For someone who wants an oddly shaped, off-putting scarf.”
c. Some of you might add that your perfect day would be knitting with Ryan Gosling!
4. We could go on forever, but let me share one more that might make sense – what hobby does Beyonce have?
a. During a recent interview, Beyonce revealed a surprising fact about herself, she said: “I know it’s random, but I have two beehives. Real ones. I’ve had them at my house for a while now. I have around 80,000 bees and we make hundreds of jars of honey a year.”
b. Beyonce’s nickname is “Queen Bey” and her fanbase is called “The Beyhive”, so it’s easy to think that that’s the reason why she’s chosen this hobby.
c. However, she began keeping beehives because two of her children have terrible allergies, and honey has countless healing properties.
C. So, people can be full of surprises, for sure, and as we will see in today’s study in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is a man of surprises.
1. Last week, we discovered that Jesus was a man of wonder and amazement, and that the things He did caused the crowds to be astonished and amazed.
2. Today, we will see that He continues to amaze, but that the amazement gets bigger and deeper as the question about His identity comes into focus.
D. We start our exploration of the text today in Mark 1:36-38: 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him, 37 and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”
1. What a surprise it must have been for those disciples to wake up after the busy day before and find that Jesus was missing.
a. Peter went into a wild panic and at once lead his friends in a wild search for him – the Greek words used to describe that search occur only here in the NT and literally mean they “hunted” for him.
2. But here we see Jesus doing something that we will learn was a great priority for Him, which was spending time with His Father in prayer.
a. The NT records 10 times that Jesus retreated from His apostles and the crowds to be alone in prayer with His Father.
b. Does it surprise you that Jesus needed to be in prayer and knew He needed to be in prayer?
c. This is certainly such an important lesson for us: If Jesus needed prayer, then we need it way more than He did.
d. I pray that all of us will spend more time alone in prayer with our Father for there will be far less ministry, fruit and power without prayer.
3. Mark tells us that Peter and his companions were good hunters, because they eventually found Jesus, and when they did, they said with exasperation: “Everyone is looking for you!”
a. In other words: “What are you doing out here alone, when everyone is looking for you?”
b. After having the whole town show up the night before and healing so many, perhaps a crowd had gathered back at the house where they thought Jesus was that morning.
c. His disciples thought that Jesus should fan the flames of His success in Capernaum, and perhaps Jesus was tempted to stay in Capernaum, but He knew what the main mission was.
1. It would have been easy for Jesus to get caught up in His success and celebrity.
2. He was a star now and everyone was looking for Him.
3. Normally, when you have success and become a celebrity, you ride the wave.
d. That’s why it must have surprised the disciples when Jesus said: “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.” (vs. 38)
e. God’s ways are so surprising because they are not our ways.
f. Jesus knew that His primary mission was not feeding the hungry and healing the sick, even though He would do as much of that as time allowed and it served the greater purpose.
g. Rather, Jesus knew that His primary mission, until His death on the cross, was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God.
h. Jesus knew the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing, and so must we.
E. Mark continued the story: 39 He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. 40 Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” (1:39-40)
1. So, Mark summarized that Jesus left Capernaum and when into all Galilee and preached in many synagogues and drove out many demons.
2. So many other stories could have been told, but are just summarized, until Mark stopped to tell this story of the leper.
3. We have just come out of a very unusual pandemic period where we all had to experience isolation and distancing like we had never experienced before.
a. The Covid virus caused fear as we masked and avoided everyone whether they were infected or not.
4. But our experience with Covid in our time was nothing compared with the fear and destruction of leprosy in the time of Jesus.
a. No disease in the Bible is spoken of with more terror on one hand and more pity on the other, than leprosy.
b. The leper had not only to bear the physical pain of his suffering, but also the mental anguish of being banned from society, the spiritual separation of being unclean.
c. Lepers had to live alone or live with other lepers outside the camp of Israel or outside the walled city.
d. Lepers weren’t allowed in the city or anywhere near the temple.
e. To ensure against contact with the healthy, lepers were required to make their appearance as disheveled as possible – they had to have unkempt hair, wear tattered clothes, and cover the lower portion of their face.
f. They weren’t allowed within 50 paces of a healthy human being and were required to warn others by crying out: “Unclean! Unclean!” whenever they came in range of others and they were not allowed to approach a non-leper.
g. The leper in this story was afflicted with this disease that had no doubt turned his life into a living nightmare.
h. Those who had this affliction lived in bodies that were literally rotting away little by little, until finally death would mercifully deliver them from their suffering.
i. The rabbis had declared that leprosy was impossible to cleanse.
5. But the leper in our story must have heard about Jesus’ power to heal and to cast out demons and so he came looking for Jesus that day.
a. The leper believed that Jesus was the only one who could help him and so driven by desperation and violating all kinds of laws and social norms, he made his way to Jesus.
b. Unlike the 10 lepers of Luke 17 who stood at a distance from Jesus, this leper came close to Jesus and fell to his knees and begged Jesus.
c. The leper didn’t question Jesus’ ability to heal him, but only questioned Jesus’ willingness, he said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
6. We can only imagine the reaction of the crowd of people who were with Jesus that day.
a. Horror mixed with indignation must have swept through the crowd – the makers of the Chosen did a good job capturing the likely reaction of those who were with Jesus.
b. Some probably shrank back in fear and covered their mouths as they quickly retreated.
c. Others probably shouted at the leper and told him to get away and some probably looked for sticks and stones to drive the man away from them.
F. But then Jesus, the man of surprises, did a most surprising and shocking thing.
1. Mark wrote: 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. (Mk. 1:41-42)
2. Jesus was moved with compassion – don’t miss those words and the truths conveyed by them.
a. The One who made this world perfect and without sin felt compassion for those who sinned and who suffered from sin’s result.
b. Jesus loves us in spite of ourselves and takes the sorrows of others on Himself.
3. Then, what Jesus did next is almost impossible for us to imagine because it is so shocking and surprising – Jesus reached out and touched the leper.
a. Can you hear the cry of His disciples and the crowd as Jesus did so? “No, Jesus don’t!”
b. Jesus didn’t have to touch the leper to heal Him, He could have just said the word.
c. But I think Jesus wanted to make a point that would leave a lasting impression – no matter how unclean, or untouchable, or dangerous, or damaging something or someone is – God can make a difference and change everything.
d. The infinite love and compassion and power of God was dramatically shown in this profound act of kindness.
e. Can you imagine how much that leper had been longing for a touch or an embrace?
f. It had probably been years since he had had human contact or touch.
g. Time must have stood still as Jesus touched him and it was more than a brief or light touch.
h. The word used here for touch can be translated “to take hold of” – Jesus took hold of him!
4. The touch of Jesus not only meant the world to this man, but it immediately turned his life around as it made him whole and clean again.
a. Years of disease and deterioration were reversed in an instant.
b. Can you imagine the shocked expressions on the onlookers faces?
c. Can you imagine the joy and elation of the healed leper?
5. Before we move on in the story, I want to challenge us to think about how we can be more like Jesus in our encounters with others who might be like the leper to us.
a. I pray that we will allow God to help us to learn how to reach out with God’s love and compassion and touch people who may be very different from us, or people whose life choices may be very distasteful to us, or people who we may be afraid of.
b. God doesn’t want us to look at anyone as being unlovable or untouchable or unreachable.
G. As Mark concludes this story, we might find what Jesus did next to be quite surprising.
1. Mark wrote: 43 Then he sternly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.
2. I don’t want us to spend a lot of time on these verses, but I need to mention a two things.
3. First, we might be surprised that Jesus wanted the man to be quiet about having been healed.
a. We would think that Jesus would want him to spread his testimony far and wide.
b. Jesus needed the leper to keep quiet because Jesus wanted the freedom to continue to publicly preach, but if the news got out that Jesus healed lepers, lepers would come from far and near and be a challenging distraction in many respects.
c. Which is exactly what happened when the leper didn’t follow Jesus’ instructions.
d. From then on, Jesus was more secretive about His movements and ministry, and yet people were coming from everywhere and were able to find Him.
4. Secondly, I want us to notice that Jesus told the leper to go show himself to the priest.
a. By doing so, Jesus was showing that He was obedient to the Law of Moses and wanted the priest to confirm the healing and give the man permission to resume his place in society.
b. Although Jesus stood against human traditions that had built up around the Law, Jesus never violated the Law itself.
H. The last story we want to explore today came after a period of time and took place when Jesus returned to Capernaum.
1. Mark wrote: 1 When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. (Mk. 2:1-4)
2. This is one of my favorite things that happened in the ministry of Jesus.
3. In these verses, Mark reported another miracle of Jesus, but Jesus had a big surprise in store.
4. The home spoken of here, is probably Peter’s home, where Jesus had stayed on an earlier visit.
5. Perhaps Jesus had entered town secretly at night so as not to draw attention, but somehow word got out and another crowd gathered the next day.
6. In that land, in that time, most doors and window were open from sunrise to sunset, and visitors could come and go at will.
a. So, the crowd gathered that day and the house filled up, and the windows and doorways were filled with people as far as people were able to hear Jesus as He taught.
b. Mark wants us to know that Jesus was preaching the Word rather than conducting a healing service.
7. Mark turned his attention from Jesus doing His teaching, to a group of four men carrying a paralyzed man hoping to get Jesus to heal him.
a. When the men carrying the paralyzed man got there, it was obvious that the crowd had beat them to the house and that there was no easy way to get the man to Jesus.
b. Normally, considerate people will make a way for someone ill or handicapped, but there may have been many who might have wanted healing, and no one was willing to move.
c. But these men were determined and figured this was their friend’s only chance to receive healing from Jesus, so they came up with a plan.
d. Most houses in that region were one-story with a flat roof made of beams interlaced with sticks and woven thatch, and then covered with mud.
1. Usually there were stairs on the outside of the house that led to the roof, which was used like a deck where people would go for fresh air.
e. So, the 4 friends took the man up on the roof and made a hole in the roof and lowered him down to Jesus.
1. These friends didn’t let the crowd stop them and they didn’t even allow the destruction of this man’s roof to stop them.
2. I think there are important lessons for us about how much effort and urgency we should be exerting in trying to bring our friends to Jesus for spiritual healing.
8. I have always wondered about what was happening inside the house as these men made a hole in the roof.
1. Did Jesus just keep on teaching? I guarantee you that if someone makes a hole in the roof while I am preaching, my sermon will stop as I stop and stare.
2. Were the religious leaders getting irritated by the dust falling on their fine robes?
3. If Peter was the homeowner was his wife saying, “Peter, their wrecking our home, do something, stop them!”
9. If Jesus hadn’t stopped teaching before, I’m sure that Jesus stopped as the man was lowered through hole and laid there before Him.
I. If a hole in the roof and a paralyzed man being lowered through it weren’t enough of a surprise, what Jesus did next was the biggest surprise of all.
1. I am sure everyone in the room and outside were watching to see what Jesus was going to do.
2. Jesus could have said: “What are you doing? I’m trying to teach these people! How rude of you to interrupt,” but He didn’t.
3. It must have been obvious that the biggest need in this paralyzed man’s life was healing, right?
4. So, everyone was probably expecting that Jesus would take the man by the hand and say, “Rise up and be healed,” but that’s not what happened.
5. Mark reports: 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (2:5)
a. There’s nothing in the text that suggests that this man was looking for forgiveness, he was looking for healing.
b. I’m sure the paralyzed man thought: “If only I could walk again, then I would be set for life. I’d never be unhappy, I would never complain. If only I could walk, then everything would be right.”
c. But Jesus knew better, and Jesus could have said to him, “My son, you’re mistaken. You might think that if I heal your body, then you will never be unhappy again, but wait 2 months or 4 months, the euphoria won’t last. The roots of your discontent and your greatest needs go much deeper.”
d. Jesus looked past the physical needs of this man’s body and saw his deepest need – the spiritual forgiveness of his sins.
e. And the same is true for all of us – our greatest need is the forgiveness of our sins, but so many of us think our greatest need is something else.
f. Unfortunately, we buy into Satan’s lies that tell us: “We will be happy if we can just have a successful career, become famous or rich, have a mate, or get the recognition we deserve.”
g. But then what happens when we get the thing that we think will make us happy? It doesn’t.
h. The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity and well-being on something besides Jesus and that is our greatest sin.
i. Forgiveness of sin is God’s greatest gift and miracle, because it meets our greatest need and comes at such a high cost.
6. Jesus surprised this man and everyone else by forgiving his sins rather than healing his body.
J. The reaction of the scribes to Jesus’ pronouncement shouldn’t surprise us, Mark reports: 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (2:6-7)
1. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He made that pronouncement, and He knew exactly the reaction it would bring from the Jewish religious leaders.
2. In their hearts, they determined that Jesus spoke blasphemy and they were right – no one can forgive sins except for God alone.
3. They wondered, “Who does this man think He is? God?” But they had determined that Jesus was neither from God nor was divine.
4. They should have asked themselves, “Can this be God’s spokesman? Can this be God?” But their prejudices prevented them from sincerely exploring those questions.
5. Keep in mind that none of this was spoken outwardly, but rather they only thought it in their minds and felt it in their hearts.
K. How surprised must they have been when Jesus was able to read their minds?
1. Mark wrote: 8 Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralytic— 11 “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. (2:8-12a)
2. To assist the bewildered people who were wondering who Jesus was, He performed a sign by healing the man to prove His power and His authority on earth to forgive sins.
a. He asked, in effect, “Which is easier: ‘to say’ a miracle or to do miracle?”
b. Jesus knew that saying something is easier than doing it.
c. The onlookers could not verify His statement “Your sins are forgiven,” but they could certainly verify His command to rise and walk when the paralyzed man did just that.
d. Jesus’ ability to heal demonstrated divine power and implied that He also had the right to carry out the other declaration that the man’s sins had been forgiven.
e. Forgiveness is the thing that no one but God can do – no angel in heaven, no person on earth, no church, no preacher or priest can take away sin and grant peace with God, except for God Himself.
3. And what was the result of this great surprise? Mark wrote: As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (2:12b)
a. And neither has humankind seen anything comparable in more than 2000 years.
b. Jesus continues to amaze us and is a man of surprises.
c. He is God in the flesh. He has great compassion. He has the power to heal and to forgive.
d. What He promises, He delivers – He meets all our greatest and deepest needs.
e. We are privileged to know Him, to follow Him, to love others and bring them to Jesus.
f. I pray that all of us will put our faith in Jesus and surrender our whole selves to Him.
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Jesus the King, Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books
• The Lord and the Leper, Sermon by Nate Shinn, ashlandbiblechurch.com
• Drop in Visitor, Part 1, Sermon by Nate Shinn, ashlandbiblechurch.com
• Who is Jesus of Nazareth?, Sermon by David Owens
