Mark 2: 1 – 12 - A Hole In The Roof
Intro: Imagine you have a very close friend who has a desperate legal problem. They’ve been to lawyers, courts and all sorts of legal actions to no avail. You hear the President is coming to Nederland to visit another of your friends. The President could definitely solve the problem. What would you be willing to do? ---- Cut a hole in your friend’s roof?
I. Mark 2: 3-4 – This is exactly what these four men did. They made it possible for a man with a problem to reach the one person who could make things right.
A. They couldn’t get him to Jesus the “normal” way, they accomplished their goal in a unique way.
B. Used ingenuity and persistence to bring a man to Jesus. Cutting a hole in the roof brought more than sunlight into a house. It brought a man to the light of Christ.
C. Do you know someone who is paralyzed by sin who needs to be brought into the presence of Jesus? How are you going to do it?
II. This is really 2 stories in one. Vs. 1 – 5 / deals with forgiveness of sins – name it – claim it and move on.
A. Vs. 5 – Jesus saw the faith of those who brought the man / Jesus does not heal the man / he forgives his sins 1st. / sin is indeed the cause
B. We don’t know what these sins are - Jews thought sin caused illnesses – could that be the case? We’ve heard of psychosomatic illnesses – is this the case?
C. We learn – the first step in the healing process is accepting – here forgiveness. --- Proven psychological theory – acceptance is the 1st step to wholeness.
III. Second story vs. 6 – 12 / Confrontation with religious authorities and healing of the man.
A. Vs. 9 “Which is easier?” – You can’t see if the sins are forgiven; but, you can see if the man is healed. either/or --- “If you’re upset because I forgave his sins, just watch this!”
B. TV program, “Commander In Chief” – the speaker of the house played by Donald Sutherland is always trying to trip up the 1st female president played by Gina Davis. But she somehow always manages to do the unexpected and solve the problem at hand.
C. Vs. 10 – “But that you may know . . .” In this gospel story, we see two different groups of people: 4 men who would do anything to help a friend and some teachers of the law who would criticize the “Son of Man”
Conclu: ---- I once overheard my mother make a statement to one of her friends who had been criticizing an action of the new pastor. Mom said, “There will always be people who criticize. If Jesus himself came here they would probably complain about him wearing sandals to church.” You can find those same 2 groups of people in every community, every organization and yes, even in every church across the world. --- In which group are you? Have you made a hole in anyone’s roof lately? Have you made a difference in someone’s life?
