Sermon Class

LIPOKTEMSU AO

# For this morning meditation I have entitled my topic as…

Topic- Hope and Faith that Leads

Taken out from the book of Mark: Mk. 2:1-12

Introduction

It is a story about a lame man whose friends believed that Jesus could heal him.
It was the hope that made them to come to Jesus and it was the faith that healed
him.

The story of the healing of the paralytic highlights precious bible truths about
hope and faith. It is full of hope, faith, drama, and inspiration. The news was out
that Jesus was at home–Peter’s house, the home of Jesus in Capernaum.
However, a certain unnamed man with paralysis had no way to get to Him. The
man’s four friends knew about the dilemma and stepped in to help. Luke5:20
states that Jesus “saw their faith.”What caused Jesus to take special note of their
faith?

Let us quickly look into the background of the book of Mark:

The Gospel of Mark is the earliest and shortest of the Synoptic Gospels. The
fact that Mark’s Gospel records eighteen of Jesus’ miracles and only four of his
parables indicates that the writer’s focus is on Christ’s works rather than his
words, on action rather than on thought. Only one man in the New Testament
bears the name of Mark. Since the 2nd century the Gospel according to Mark
has been attributed to him. This Mark who was properly called John (and
'surnamed' Mark) was the son of a certain Mary who owned a house in
Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). John Mark was also a nephew of Barnabas, who at
times was a companion of the Apostle Paul (Colossians 4:10). According to
very old traditions Mark is supposed to have written his gospel based on
sermons and communications which Peter gave in Rome for the believers there.

It was probably written in Rome, the capital of the vast Roman Empire,
sometime between AD 55 and 70. The Gospel of Mark was written to the
Roman world, the world at large, the Gentile mind and the purpose of this
Gospel was to show that Jesus is unquestionably the son of God (Mark 1:1;
1:11; 9:7). The political climate was unstable and violent. The first official
persecution of Christians began in AD 64, and it is probably that both Peter and
Paul, the pillars of the early church, were martyred in Rome around this time.

Immediate Context (Mark 2:1-12)

After Jesus had completed his tour of the synagogues he returned to

Capernaum. The news of his coming immediately spread abroad. Life in
Palestine was very public. In the morning the door of the house was opened and
anyone who wished might come out and in. The door was never shut unless a
man deliberately wished for privacy; an open door meant an open invitation for
all to come in. There was no entrance hall; the door opened directly on to the
street. So, in no time, a crowd had filled the house to capacity and jammed the
pavement round the door; and they were all eagerly listening to what Jesus had
to say.

Into this crowd came four men carrying on a stretcher a friend of theirs who was
paralysed. They could not get through the crowd at all, but they were men of
resource. The roof of a Palestinian house was flat. It was regularly used as a
place of rest and of quiet, and so usually there was an outside stair which
ascended to it. The construction of the roof lent itself to what this ingenious four
proposed to do. The roof consisted of flat beams laid across from wall to wall,
perhaps three feet apart. So the four men dug out the filling between two of the
beams and let their friend down direct at Jesus' feet. When Jesus saw this faith
He looked at the man and says, "Child", "your sins are forgiven."

Let us try to understand what Hope and Faith is according to the bible

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain
of what we do not see.” Perhaps no other component of the Christian life is
more important than faith. We cannot purchase it, sell it or give it to our friends.
So what is faith and what role does faith play in the Christian life? The
dictionary defines faith as “belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or
something, especially without logical proof.” It also defines faith as “belief in
and devotion to God.” The Bible has much more to say about faith and how
important it is. In fact, it is so important that, without faith, we have no place
with God, and it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith is not something we conjure up on our own, nor is it something we are

born with, nor is faith a result of diligence in study or pursuit of the spiritual.
Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that faith is a gift from God, not because we
deserve it, have earned it, or are worthy to have it. It is not from ourselves; it is
from God. It is not obtained by our power or our free will. Faith is simply given
to us by God, along with His grace and mercy, according to His holy plan and
purpose.

The word hope in English often conveys doubt. For instance, “I hope it will not
rain tomorrow.” In addition, the word hope is often followed by the word so.
However, that is not the meaning of the words usually translated “hope” in the
bible. One of the verses in which we find the word hope is Hebrews 11:1. “Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” This
verse at the beginning of the faith chapter (Hebrews 11) carries with it all of the
confidence that comes with knowing for sure, with no question, what we have
been promised by God in His Word.

Our faith is confident assurance, for it is founded upon the Rock of our
salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the actions of the heroes of the faith
recorded in Hebrews 11 were made possible because they had this faith based in
their confident assurance or hope in God. As believers, we are also called to
give an answer for the hope that is within us to any who would ask (1 Peter
3:15).
Therefore, biblical hope is a reality and not a feeling. Biblical hope carries no
doubt. Biblical hope is a sure foundation upon which we base our lives,
believing that God always keeps His promises. Hope or confident assurance can
be ours when we trust the words, “He who believes on Me has everlasting life”
(John 6:47). Accepting that gift of eternal life means our hope is no longer filled
with doubt but, rather, has at its sure foundation the whole of God’s Word, the
entirety of God’s character, and the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
Keeping this in mind I have entitled my first sub-topic as…

Exposition

1. Jesus and His Ministry in Capernaum (Mark 2:1-2)

v.1- Capernaum is Jesus’ home (Matthew 4:13; Mark 2:1) and the center of his
early ministry. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus opens his ministry in the vicinity of
Capernaum by calling four disciples and performing a number of healing
miracles in the city (1:21-34). Then he goes on a preaching tour of Galilee. Now
he returns to Capernaum, where this story finds him at home. It is not clear
whether he has his own house or lives with Peter, Andrew, and their families
(1:29), but the latter seems likely.
v.2a- A crowd of people gathers in front of the house, blocking the door. In this
Gospel, crowds often gather around Jesus but, while they might respond with
wonder to his miracles, they do not respond by becoming disciples. The large
crowd comprised of three basic groups: (1) Ordinary folks,(2) Jewish rulers, and
(3) Jesus and His disciples. They are passive and fickle.

Jesus could have used this opportunity to increase His celebrity in Capernaum.
The crowd came to see the Lord work some more miracles. They came to see
Him do the extraordinary. Imagine their surprise and disappointment when
Jesus began to preach to them.

In vs.2 we can clearly see that speaking the word is central to Jesus’ ministry.
He began his public ministry by teaching the word with authority in the
Capernaum synagogue, where he then exorcised a demon (1:21-28), and left
Capernaum so that he might “proclaim the message” elsewhere (1:38).
Preaching the word will also be central to the ministry of the church (Acts 6:4;
8:4; 17:11; Galatians 6:6; Colossians 4:3).

It is clear that to Jesus, the message was far more important than the miracles.
We do not know what the Lord preached that day, but we can safely say that He
probably reached back into the Old Testament and preached about the same
things He had preached the first time He was in town (Mark 1:14). He probably
preached about the Kingdom of God, the power of God and the salvation of
God (Luke 4:18-19). Surely, Jesus preached the central message of the Bible:
salvation by faith through grace. Preaching was central to the life and ministry
of the Lord Jesus. Preaching is God’s chosen method for reaching into the
hearts of the lost with the Gospel of grace (Rom. 10:13-15; 1 Cor. 1:21).

God has a purpose for everything. The Bible says in Proverbs 19:21, “The
human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will
be established’’. God has a specific purpose for preaching, and His purpose is
far more important than your purpose. God wants people to think like Jesus, feel
like Jesus and act like Jesus. So the objective of preaching is to develop
Christlike convictions, Christlike character, and Christlike conduct.

Preaching is vital to the health and growth of Church and to the Christian life.
Jesus used Scriptures to teach us how we are to live our lives. Jesus exercised
His teaching ministry to confront the religious who thought they had it all
figured out, when, in fact, they didn’t. He also preached to the crowds and
called people to Himself. Jesus divided the audience between those who
believed and those who would walk away from His harder teaching.
The preaching of the Word of God can either soften or harden our hearts. One
of the clearest signs of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the believer is a
hunger and thirst for God’s Word. The faithful preaching of God’s Word helps
us to grow to be like Christ. It helps us to grow in the knowledge of who God is,
what He is like; what He demands of us now, and His mission of seeking the
lost, and making disciples for His glory.

My second sub-topic is entitled as…

2. Faith that Initiates (Mark 2:3-5)

In v.3- ‘And they came unto him’ simply means a considerable body of people,
townsmen, friends, and relations of the person.

Right in the middle of the preaching service, something spectacular happens.

Four men bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They believe that if they can get
this man to Jesus, then Jesus can heal his body. He was a dead carcass; so weak
and enfeebled was he by his disease, that he could not walk. Four men, at the
four comers of it, carried in their hands, he was brought upon a bed. This man's
case appears to be a very bad one, and what seems to be incurable by the art of
medicine: it was not a slight touch of the palsy, but a general one, which had
deprived him of motion and sensation.

When they arrive at the house, the crowd is so large that they cannot get into the
house through the door. They chop a hole in the roof to lower their friend into
Jesus’ presence. Now, houses in that day were usually constructed with flat
roofs. A set of stairs on the side of the house allowed access to the roof, which
was used much like we use a deck in our day. These roofs were usually made by
laying timbers across the top of the house. These timbers were then covered by
a layer of branches. This was covered by a layer of clay tiles, and finally, a thick
layer of mud was placed on the very top. This was rolled and pressed until it
was very hard and rain proof.

Getting a paralyzed man up the ladder would be no small task, and would
require courage on the part of the paralyzed man. Chopping a hole in the roof
would be a bold means of solving the problem of access to Jesus. Some scholars
say that it is easy to repair a mud/thatch roof, but it is difficult to patch any roof
so that it doesn’t leak. This damage is not ordinary. It involves “a major
demolition job”.

So, here is the humorous scene, Jesus is preaching in the house, these four men
carry their friend up the stair case onto the roof of the house. Once there, they
begin to dig through the roof, until they have made an opening large enough to
lower their friend into the house.
The faith that Jesus sees is not simply intellectual assent or emotional feeling,
but is manifested in determined, visible action. Jesus can read people’s hearts
(mark 2:8), but he doesn’t need to do so here. The faith of these men is out in
the open for all to see.

Some scholars suggest that it is the litter-bearers who have faith rather than the
paralyzed man, but there is nothing in the text to suggest that. Presumably, the
paralyzed man is a full participant in this endeavor. Nobody has to take him
forcibly to Jesus. Nevertheless, he is the beneficiary of the faith of his litter-
bearers. It is their faith as much as his own that makes his healing possible.
Without their rock-solid confidence that Jesus could help, the man would never
have seen Jesus. Without their bold determination to surmount the difficulties
imposed by the crowd, the healing would never have taken place.

Here in vs.5 Jesus says, “Son, your sins are forgiven”. Note that he does not say
that he forgives the man’s sins. The passive voice (“are forgiven”) admits to two
possibilities. One is that Jesus is forgiving the man’s sins. The other is that God
has forgiven the man’s sins, and Jesus is simply acting as God’s agent in
announcing the fact of God’s forgiveness.

“Son, your sins are forgiven.” This is a pastoral word to a man who is wounded
in spirit as well as in body. This word assures him that he need not fear that God
is waiting around the corner to strike him down again. The man surely hopes
that Jesus will take the next step and heal his body, but it seems possible that,
for the moment, he feels overwhelming relief at the healing of his soul.

They dared to do what was difficult. It was not easy to carry that man up on the
roof. It was a difficult task. The Bible says that “Jesus saw their faith”. Faith is
something that works in the heart and then it works its way to the outside
(James 2:18; Eph. 2:10). They dared to do the unusual. They were willing to
think outside the box! For them, it was not business as usual, it took ingenuity
to think of breaking up the roof to get that man to Jesus. These men were
willing to do whatever it took to bring that man to the Lord. That same heart
needs to beat within us.

Faith is not just something Christians have, it’s something we do. Faith is the
key element in the Christian life. The bible is clear without faith it is impossible
to please God.

Keeping this in mind I have entitled my third and last sub-topic as

 3. Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Mark 2:6-12)

Here we see some scribes sitting there in the house that day. These men had, no
doubt, been sent to check up on this Jesus of Nazareth. The scribes were writers,
as the name implies. They are the authorized, ordained interpreters of Torah
law. These men were given the duty of copying the Scriptures. As they copied
they became very familiar with the biblical texts. They eventually became
scholars and authorities in the text. By Jesus’ time, the scribes and their
interpretation of the Law had become more important than the Law itself.

In vs.7 we see the scribes silently judge Jesus for usurping (U-surping) God’s
authority of forgiving sins. When these religious men heard Jesus forgive the
crippled man’s sins, they could not believe their ears! They knew that only God
could forgive sins. They understood the words of Jesus as a claim to be God!
When they heard this, they immediately accused Him of blaspheme(Blas-phem)

The scribes judge Jesus guilty of blasphemy for assuming God’s prerogative.
Blasphemy is the most serious of all sins, and Torah law specifies that the
blasphemer be put to death by stoning (Leviticus 24:10-23).

The scribes have not voiced their displeasure but, like God, Jesus knows their
hearts. Jesus answers their unspoken questions with one of his own. He does not
ask which is easier to do, but which is easier to say. Is it easier to say, “Your
sins are forgiven” or to say, “Arise, and take up your bed, and walk”?

Notice His words in verse 10, “the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins”. The words “power on earth” can be taken in two ways.

First, Jesus is saying that He had the power, while He was here on earth, to
forgive sins. He proved this several times as He forgave those who came to Him
(John 6:37; Col. 2:13). Secondly, Jesus is saying that the place to receive
forgiveness is here on earth. It will be too late to be forgiven when this life is
over.

The title, Son of Man, comes from the book of Daniel, where God gave the Son
of Man “everlasting dominion and glory” (Daniel 7:13-14).

This title, Son of Man, has the advantage of having none of the militaristic
connotations associated with the title, Messiah. People expect the Messiah to
raise an army, to drive out the Romans, and to re-establish the great Davidic
kingdom. They have no such expectations regarding the Son of Man.
Jesus frequently refers to himself as Son of Man. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus
refers to himself fourteen times as the Son of Man. Twelve of these take place
after Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah. (Mark 8:27-30)

In vs.11 Jesus authenticates his authority by ordering the paralytic to take up his
mat and walk. The man quickly responds by doing what Jesus commanded.
Jesus’ word, like the creative Word of God in Genesis 1, is effective—has
power—accomplishes the work that he sets out to accomplish. The result is that
all are amazed and glorify God. If Jesus were truly a blasphemer, as the scribes
have charged in vs. 7, the end result of his efforts would not be the glorification
of God.

When Jesus says, “Arise, and take up your bed, and walk,” he is stepping out on
the high wire without a net. If the man success in standing and walking, it will
become obvious that Jesus is working by Godly power and was therefore within
his rights to say “Your sins are forgiven.” However, if the man fails to stand,
Jesus’ will be revealed publicly to be a failure and a blasphemer. If convicted of
blasphemy, he could be put to death by stoning (Leviticus 24:16). With his
question, then, Jesus is proposing a verifiable test of his authority (healing) to
authenticate that which cannot otherwise be verified (forgiveness).

Notice that Jesus commanded and the man immediately obeyed in faith; no
excuse, no complaint. He believed that through Christ’s power, his almost
lifeless body had been restored (John 10:10). He was quick to do as Christ
commanded him, and then he walked away with joy and hope written all over
his countenance. Look at the kind of obedience this man had. He didn’t spend
time wondering if his limbs would move.

When Mark says that they were all amazed and glorified God, he surely does
not include the scribes. No doubt the scribes are amazed, but Jesus’ success
comes at their expense. Their continuing opposition in Mark 2:13-17 makes it
clear that they do not accept Jesus’ authority and cannot be expected to glorify
God for Jesus’ miracles.
Implication

Hope and faith in God has to make sense and stand up to investigation. This
does not mean that we have to be able to understand God, but if we believe that
God made this world then we should not be afraid to engage in debate with
science, history or whatever. Faith should make sense of this world in which we
live and enable us to live in a better way. Yet the purpose of hope and faith in
God is to trust and serve God to know his will and love him.

God is looking for such a hope, one that grabs His attention, a hope that is
unshakable, immovable, a faith that goes through the roof. Even in death, we
can rest in the hope that Jesus, who conquered death and the grave, is coming
back for us and will raise us up to eternal life.

Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone because all of our righteous deeds are
tainted by sin (Isaiah 64:6) and are not good enough for us to merit salvation.
Therefore, because there is nothing we can do to obtain it, there's only one thing
left for us to do, trust in what God has done in the person and work of Jesus.

Being a Christian will not be the end of all our problems, even Jesus found
himself killed and hated. However I do believe that faith in God causes us to
think and behave in ways that work with the grain of the universe. We were
made to know and serve God and there can be no better way for us to live than
what we were made for. Amen. God bless us all.