TEAMWORK IN TRANSIT TO JESUS
Text: Mark 2:1-12
A man consulted a doctor. "I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me," he complained.
"And you want something that will strengthen your will power?" asked the doctor.
"Well, no," the man said, "I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience". (Roy B. Zuck. The Speaker’s Quote Book. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1997, p. 353). In Mark 2:1-12, we have a miracle story about a paralyzed man whose "conscience" seemed to be "troubling him". In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, it was not uncommon for people to connect suffering with sin. The paralytic in Mark 2:1-12 had paralysis that was the end result of sin. His suffering and his sin were somehow connected. That is why Jesus enables the paralyzed man to experience healing as forgiveness.
SIN CAN BE CONFINING
Sin can be confining because of the guilt that goes along with it. We are not told what sin the paralytic was guilty of in this miracle story. The only information that we are given is that he was paralyzed because of his sin. It is possible for guilt to cause us to have possible health problems. That is why our guilt can eat away at us whenever we have done something wrong. Therefore, guilt can grow and grow and become somewhat paralyzing. Guilt can become paralyzing in a number of ways. It can cause unrest in one’s spirit leading to ulcers, high blood pressure, loss of appetite, insomnia and so on. In one way or another guilt can become a prison for the "consciences of those sinners who continue to be troubled by their misbehavior".
There is the story of a taxpayer who needed to ease his conscience. "A taxpayer wrote to the Internal Revenue Service, "I have not been able to sleep well for two years. Here is my check for $1,200 for back taxes." He even signed his name, then added a short P.S. "If I don’t sleep better in a week, I will send you another $1,200. He had to do something to relieve his guilt, but he didn’t want to do too much". (Roy B. Zuck. The Speaker’s Quote Book. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1997, pp. 182-183).
Sin becomes confining when guilt oppresses a sinner. Someone has said that the paralytic is a representative of the human race who was paralyzed and helpless in his own strength. (Leslie B. Flynn. The Miracles Of Jesus. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1990, p. 69). It is obvious that guilt is one of Satan’s greatest weapons that he uses to discourage people. Satan tries to use our guilt against us because as long as we are prisoners of our own guilt, we are fugitives who cannot experience the liberating power of God’s grace! This is one of Satan’s most subtle lies!
THE SINNER AND FRIENDS
The paralytic had friends. A friend is a person who is there through both the thick and the thin. A friend is a person that you can depend on. Proverbs 18:24 says, "There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (RSV). The paralytic was a lucky man because he had four friends. On the contrary, as someone has said, "I am convinced that being on a stretcher is not what destroys people. Rather, it is being on the stretcher and believing no one cares". (Michael Slater. Stretcher Bearers. Ventura: Regal Books, 1986, p. 46). It is the people who do not have friends that face hard times without any one to offer any kind of help.
The friends brought the paralytic to Jesus because he could not bring himself. Those who were paralyzed in that time in history did not have the luxury of a wheelchair. The only way that a person who was paralyzed could have gotten around anywhere back then would have been only by the help of another or others who would have carried him or her. These friends had obviously heard about Jesus and his ability to heal. That is why the friends of this paralytic carried him to Jesus because he could not carry himself.
These four friends went the extra mile in making sure that their paralyzed friend got to Jesus. They had great compassion for their paralyzed friend because when they saw that there was no way that they could get into the house where Jesus was, they found a way around that obstacle. They overcame the obstacle by lowering their friend on his mat through a hole that they made in the roof where he would be right in front of Jesus. As someone has said houses in Palestine back then had a staircase that would lead to the roofs of houses which were usually flat because they were used as a "place of rest and quiet". (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Mark. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 47). These four friends had teamwork in getting their friend in transit to Jesus! They did not just sit back and tell their friend how much they cared---they illustrated how much they cared when they carried him to Jesus to be healed! They even made sure that their friend got to Jesus in spite of the obstacle of the crowd. They went the extra mile for their friend who was paralyzed because they had heard about how Jesus could heal and wanted to be sure that their friend got healed.
JESUS STILL HEALS AND FORGIVES
One of the things that Jesus was always delighted to see was faith. When Jesus saw the paralyzed man being lowered from the roof on his mat by his friends, He did not get angry at the interruption. Jesus was delighted to see their faith. In fact, when Jesus saw the faith of the friends, He said to the paralyzed man on the mat, "My son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5 RSV). At that moment, the paralyzed man experienced healing through forgiveness! He became a free man.
One cannot truly appreciate his/her freedom unless he/she has experienced freedom as having the boundaries of his/her bondage removed. There is a story of a big brown bear that was locked up for most of its life in Germany. "All day long , it would pace in its awful prison, 12 feet forward, then 12 feet back. The water the bear drank was stagnant slop, and its food was rotten garbage. Cruel people tossed cigarette butts into the bear’s path to burn the pads of its feet and halt it’s march. But the bear plodded on, 12 feet forward and 12 feet back.
"One day the famous Heidelburg Zoo bought this bear. Here bears did not live in 12-foot cages but had the run of plush grass with trees to climb, pools of clear water, the best of food, and other bears for company. However, when they opened the doors to freedom, the big bear just kept on walking inside his cage, 12 feet forward and 12 feet back. Zoo workers had to scare the bear out. Outside his cage with almost unlimited space, he again began to pace the same distance, 12 feet forward and 12 feet back. Had they released him in vast prairie wilderness, he undoubtedly would have acted in the same manner". (Leslie B. Flynn. The Miracles Of Jesus. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1990, pp. 69-70). This bear obviously had a hang-up from which he needed to be delivered. The paralytic in Mark 2:1-12 unlike the bear in this story received freedom and healing through forgiveness as Jesus forgave him of his sin and set him free. The friends of the paralytic could not stand the thought of their friend being paralyzed.
Jesus still honors the faith of stretcher bearers who bring others to Him. The chances are that we know Jesus because somebody else carried us to Jesus where we met Him for the first time when we experienced forgiveness and healing. If we thought about it hard enough, then we could trace those "stretcher bearers" who first introduced us to Jesus. Those same stretcher bearers who introduced us to Jesus were themselves introduced by stretcher bearers who introduced them to Jesus. Someone has noted that all the stretcher bearers who carried us to Jesus make up a "spiritual genealogy". (Bruce Larson. The Presence. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988, p. 73).
"Every believer has a spiritual genealogy, whether he or she is aware of it or not. Perhaps you came to faith through Billy Graham’s ministry, as so many people have. Your spiritual genealogy has already been researched in detail. In 1858, a Sunday school teacher named Kimball led a Boston shoe clerk to give his life to Christ. That clerk was Dwight Moody, who became an evangelist. In 1879, Moody preached in England and the Spirit claimed the heart of Frederick B. Myer, pastor of a small church. Myer, preaching on an American college campus, converted a student named, Wilbur Chapman. Chapman, engaged in YMCA work, employed a former baseball player. Billy Sunday, to assist him in his evangelical campaigns. Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a result, a group of local citizens were so enthusiastic that they planned a second campaign with Mordecai Ham as the preacher.
In that second revival meeting, a young man named Billy Graham heard the gospel and gave his life to Christ. If Billy Graham led you to Christ, you can trace your genealogy back well over one hundred years to Mr. Kimball, the Sunday school teacher. Actually, every Christian has a genealogy that goes all the way back to Pentecost from person to person. That’s the royal priesthood. I charge you to make sure it does not stop with you. Continue to introduce those around you to a God of grace, a God of glory, a God of love". (Bruce Larson. The Presence. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988, p. 73). If we were to stop and think, who would we label as the "stretcher bearers" carried us to Jesus in prayer and otherwise? And who would label us as their "stretcher bearers" that carried them to their introduction to the Savior in prayer and otherwise?
Friends, there are people all around us who need the love and compassion of their friends to be their "stretcher bearers". The work of being a "stretcher bearer" does not end with our introducing others to Jesus. The work of "stretcher bearers" continues beyond conversion within the Body of Christ: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (First Corinthians 12:26 RSV). How is our teamwork in helping others that we carry to Jesus for healing and forgiveness?
