There is so much wrapped up into this little account (Mark 2:1-12). We don’t nearly have time on a month of Sundays to unpack it all. But we don’t have a month of Sundays. We have one. So, hang on. I’ll try to talk about some of it here.
There is ONE PRIORITY that Jesus has. Grab your little red pen (or a blue one if you don’t like red) and circle all the times that preaching and teaching show up in his life and ministry. It is his highest priority. When John the Baptist is thrown into prison, he immediately begins to preach, “Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand!” He preaches in the synagogue, where he drives out a demon. He can’t stay in Capernaum because he has to keep on going with the gospel; that is why he came. Even here in Mark 2, with this dramatic miracle at the end, the first thing we see Jesus doing in his home is preaching. Indeed, the first thing that Jesus does is forgive the man. He does it right there and right then. He has ONE PRIORITY.
And he seeks to meet TWO NEEDS. We see this most clearly as Jesus interacts with these four friends, letting their paralyzed friend down through the roof. The love of Jesus powerfully and in-the-now meets this man's deepest and highest need, the spiritual and eternal need. He cut off this man’s illness at the root by forgiving his sins. Right there, and right then, he does just that. He chops it off at the root. And then, having cut off sin at the root, he met this man’s physical needs. Yet, to prove his divine power and divine right to forgive sins, he told that man to get up and walk.
There are THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF JESUS we see. First, he knows people’s hearts. Look into it, and you’ll see, Jesus looks at the men letting down their buddy through the roof, and he sees “their faith.” He sees what is unseen. Then, though his adversaries sitting there said nothing (The nerve of them! Sitting there when there is a beyond-capacity crowd longing to hear and see Jesus!.), Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking in their hearts. He knows their hearts. Second, we see his power and authority. It’s all over this account. He forgives sin, which is truly God’s work alone. The scribes were right to question him. But Jesus had that authority, and he proved it with his power. And, finally, he is “the Son of Man.” This claim that Jesus makes about himself is not just about his humanity but about who he is as “the Son of Man” spoken about by the prophet Daniel. He is the one, the only Son of Man!
There are FOUR FRIENDS. That’s where we’ll start this Sunday. We want to consider the characteristics of these four friends and consider what we can learn about evangelism in our lives from them. Here’s my challenge to you this weekend. As you come to church weekend, I want you to come with a face and a name in mind. This sermon will mean so much more to you if you have a friend in mind. And I want you to take it one step further; what would you do if you knew that (whatever that is) would get them to Jesus? These guys tore a roof off. What will (it’s not theoretical anymore) you do to get your friends to Jesus?
I think you get the idea. There is a lot to study, more to think about, and lots of power in this text. It’s been moving in my heart for more than a week now, and I can’t wait to walk with you through it. Pastor Nate