Matthew 9:1-8
Mark 2:1-12
“In pursuit or Jesus”
I love this quote from Jim Carrey, who in my opinion is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time- just watch a movie called dumb and dumber for proof.
Jim Carrey said this:
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer”
Jim Carrey says here what the world tells us constantly- follow your dreams….be who you want to be, do what you want to do.
In one sense you think that it was easy for Jim Carrey to have said this, since he is stinking rich, since he has been the actor, he always dreamed he wanted to be………but I still think he makes a good point.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for you following your dreams, I am all for you making sacrifices in order to achieve your goals, I am all for hard work and dedication, but…..and here is the big but……..If you do achieve your goals, if you achieve your dreams, but you don’t know Jesus as your lord and saviour, you have gained nothing.
Once you have achieved “it” whatever that “it” is, and yet you have neglected Jesus, you will realise that “it” isn’t the answer.
You may gain the world, but you lose your eternal soul.
This is perhaps why, many famous people, many rich people are miserable, because when they have achieved all that, they wanted to achieve, done all that they have wanted to do, they realise, that as Carrey quoted, “it”, whatever that “it” is, is not the answer.
And, so no wonder the rich and famous can be so miserable, because as they have given their lives to reaching their goal, when they have sacrificed so much, when they have given their whole life to something, but when they actually get there, they soon realised that “it”, whatever that “it” is, doesn’t actually give them eternal satisfaction, whatever that “it” may be.
In the story that we read about today, we see 4 men, who had one goal in mind, and they were willing to do anything to reach that goal, - there goal was to get their mate who couldn’t walk to Jesus. By hook – literally, or by crook – not literally, they were going to get their friend to Jesus no matter what.
And get this, when they got their friend, to Jesus, Jesus did not only satisfy the paralytic man in that moment, but he satisfied him eternally as he fixed his sin problem to.
Jesus not only fixed the man in this life, but he also fixed him for the life to come.
Friends, I promise you, that if your goal, just like those men that day, is to know Jesus more and more, I can promise you, that you will not only be satisfied in this life, but also in the life to come- Jesus really is the answer.
And so, in response to Jim Carrey’s quote, I would say this:
I think everyone should seek to know Jesus more and more and they will soon realise, He really is the answer, both in this life and the next.
In Matthew’s account of this story, it just tells us in verse 2 that some people brought a paralytic man to Jesus on a matt, it doesn’t explain the obstacles that these men had to overcome to get their friend to Jesus, as it tells us in Mark’s account.
Just look at Mark 2:3-4
3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
So, these four men, who brought their mate to Jesus had to come over a few obstacles before they actually got him to the feet of Jesus.
First of all, they had to get through the crowd.
As ever, Jesus had a crowd of people around him, all wanting a piece of him, and so when those 4 men rocked up that day with their mate on a mat, they could have saw the crowd and perhaps thought, well today is just not going to be our day. There is no way we can get through this crowd, there is no way Jesus will want to see our friend, when he is so busy teaching all these people.
There could have been a hundred excuses that day, for the men not to pursue Jesus, but they pressed on anyway.
Perhaps they could have looked at the door to the house and thought, well even if we get close to the door, we probably wouldn’t be able to get our mate and his mat through the door- perhaps they thought this just wasn’t their day, but they pressed on anyway.
They climbed on to the roof of the house.
When they climbed on the roof, and saw that there was still no way for them to get in the house, it was just a solid roof with no opening, they could have given up, but they didn’t- they pressed on anyway.
They dug a hole in the roof.
When they dug a hole in the roof and saw it was a big drop to the floor, they could have given up, but they didn’t, they pressed on anyway, they lowered the man down on his mat.
These 4 men, had overcame obstacle after obstacle to get their friend at the feet of Jesus, and when finally, their friend was lying in front of Jesus, - Jesus didn’t disappoint, in fact Jesus more than met expectations, he gave this man, this paralytic, even something more than he was after.
The men wanted Jesus to physically heal their friend, and Jesus did that, but he also did much, much, more.
Look at verse 2 again with me:
And behold some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven”
Notice, that Jesus saw the faith of man’s four friends.
Jesus knew that they had overcome many obstacles in order for them to get his friend to him, and so he clearly saw their faith.
Friends, our faith in Jesus is shown by our actions.
In James 2:21-24 it says this about the faith of Abraham
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
God told Abraham to sacrifice his own son Isaac- an absolute crazy thing……….
And yet Abraham didn’t just say he believed and trusted that God wanted him to do the right thing, but he showed by his deliberate actions that he believed God. He prepared the wood for the sacrifice, he walked up the mountain with his son, he told he servants to wait for them both at the foot of the mountain, believing that if Isaac did die, God would raise him back to life, He tied his son on the altar he made, he prepared the knife, he raised the knife- He did all of this because he believed and trusted God at his word.
If Abraham would have told God that day that he would do as God told him and sacrificed his own son, but then just sat on his hands, you would have questioned if Abraham did really trust God.
Friends, our faith in Jesus is shown by our actions.
Yes, we are saved by faith alone, through Christ alone, by grace alone and yet, as James told us in chapter 2 verse 24, you see that faith being worked out by what we do, and in how we live. James even argues that if you cannot see your faith in Jesus being worked out in your life, then your faith is dead.
All talk and no action is dead faith.
It was obvious to everyone that day, who was gathered at the house that Jesus was teaching at, that these 4 friends had the faith that Jesus could help their friend.
There was no denying it. While Jesus was teaching in that house, the roof started caving in, a man was lowered in on a mat and suddenly there he was- right in front of Jesus.
Can you just imagine what people were thinking at that time.
Perhaps many people were upset.
What about the person who owned the house?
His roof had been damaged?
What about the safety inspector?
All the codes of safety that were violated that day?
What about those in the crowd who also wanted Jesus to heal them?
Why should this man get in first?
What about those who were listening to his teaching?
They had disturbed the lesson?
And yet Jesus did not get upset with any of that- He just lavished his mercy on this man who lay before him.
Jesus showed mercy and compassion to him.
Friends, when we come to Jesus with hearts of faith, he will always show us compassion and mercy. Jesus talked to this paralytic in a fatherly caring way, he said “Take heart my son”, and what Jesus said next was extraordinary, he said “Your sins are forgiven”
When we genuinely lay our hearts before Jesus and ask him to help us, we trust that he will give us what we need- and sometimes that may be different from what we think we need.
Jesus dealt with the paralytic man’s main problem first.
A problem which would have not only paralysed him in this life, but in the next life too, the problem of Sin.
Jesus declared that this man’s sins were forgiven- and he hadn’t even asked for them to be forgiven.
I love this- the man didn’t even ask for forgiveness and yet Jesus gave it.
So willing and merciful is Jesus wanting to forgive our sins, that he just poured out his forgiveness on this man and he didn’t even ask.
So eager was Jesus to fulfil his mission to save people from their sins, that he didn’t even wait for this man to ask- he just forgave him.
Jesus knew that it would have been a temporary fix for this man, if he just made him walk but not forgiven his sins.
When Jesus declared to this man, that his sins were forgiven, the scribes who were listening that day, knew exactly who Jesus was claiming to be.
Look at verse 3 with me:
And behold some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming”
The scribes, probably thought that if anyone could declare forgiveness to anyone on behalf of God, it was them.
They knew that this “forgiving of sins” was something that only God could initiate. They also knew that to declare someone to be blaspheming would lead to punishment of being stoned to death.
The scribes and pharisees had a very broad and lose definition for what classified as blasphemy, and so they often used it against opponents they didn’t agree with or like, because they knew it was a way they could get rid of their opponents.
It was perhaps used a little like we use the term “racist” today, people can throw around the term racist, without actually knowing what people may or may not being racist against.
The scribes accused Jesus of “blasphemy” and they wanted to stone him for it.
In this case though, the scribes were “spot on”, by Jesus claiming to forgive this man’s sins, he was claiming to be God himself and so to prove the scribes right, that Jesus is in fact God, who can forgive sins on earth, he healed the paralytic man and made him walk.
Look at verses 4-7 with me:
4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home.
Jesus furthered added fuel to the scribes fire, by saying more things which pointed to the fact that he indeed was God.
First of all, he told them what they were thinking in their hearts- He knew they were thinking evil in their hearts.
Secondly, he referred to himself as the Son of man who had authority. This would have led the scribes’ minds directly to the Son of man who was prophesied in the book of Daniel- Chapter 7 verses 13-14.
Look at that prophecy with me from the book of Daniel.
Behold, with the clouds of heaventhere came one like a son of man,and he came to the Ancient of Daysand was presented before him.And to him was given dominionand glory and a kingdom,that all peoples, nations, and languagesshould serve him;his dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not pass away,and his kingdom onethat shall not be destroyed.
The scribes were waiting for this son of man who had authority to come and rule God’s kingdom forever.
Jesus was that man, standing before them that day- and Jesus made this fact perfectly clear to them, as he said “so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins- I will make this man walk”
Now in one sense it is much easier to say to someone that your sins are forgiven because no-one can prove it either way, but it is much harder to heal a man who couldn’t walk because that can be clearly proven, and it was as the man picked up his mat and walked home.
The scribes could not dispute the fact, that a man who once couldn’t walk met Jesus and now could walk.
This man physically showed people that day, that he had met Jesus.
Friends I want to encourage you today, to keep walking with Jesus.
Sometimes that walk will meet obstacles, and as we meet those obstacles, we can make excuses for not continuing to follow Jesus.
Friends can let us down, family can let us down, church can let us down, and so we stop pressing on with Jesus.
But let us press on anyway- Jesus really is the answer for this life and the next.
You can pursue your dreams, do what ever you so desire, but if you don’t know Jesus, it really isn’t the answer, whatever that “it” is, - Jesus is the answer.
I think everyone should seek to know Jesus more and more and they will soon realise, He really is the answer, both in this life and the next.
Let us pray.