Mark 2:1-17
Pastor Drew Williams
One of my favorite days that I can remember was when I was running late to get home. My wife, Megan, and I were going to be getting dinner with another couple, and my friend, Steven, and I had run to the store and were late getting back.
[SLIDE 2] lower third blank
For some reason, Steven had decided that it was a good time to “enjoy our time out” and “chat about whatever” and “take his time looking at what type of snacks we might want to grab for later.”
And I was enjoying hanging out with him, but now that we were in the car, and I realized we were 15 minutes behind, I was starting to stress a little bit.
So when we walked in the front door and all the people popped out and yelled “surprise” and starting singing “Happy Birthday”, I was so disoriented that I started singing with them. I thought, maybe we’re singing for Steven, not thinking at all that he and I had birthdays only a few days apart.
It turned out that Megan had planned a surprise 30th birthday party for me, and it was a triple celebration with two other friends who had birthdays within a week of me.
The “dinner” I was running late to had been a sham. No double date that night. Instead, ten guys got to hang out, eat wings and pizza, enjoy cold beverages, and chat about whatever came to mind. And it was amazing.
Parties are good days, aren’t they? And I love days like today, because it FEELS like a party. We get to celebrate with people as they receive Jesus’ invitation to new life, and then we’re going to have lunch together and fun activities this afternoon during our Harvest Fest.
Parties are good days, because they are full of celebration and joy, and they help us feel connected to others and realize that we’re not alone and there is so much good in life.
Unless, of course, you don’t really know anyone at the party, right? And almost every party has someone who feels a little left out. Who feels outside of the “in” group. Who feels they don’t quite fit in.
Maybe that’s a personal feeling, or maybe that’s because others at the party MAKE you feel that way. And we’ve all experienced that in some way or another at gatherings of people. There’s going to be SOME people who look around and wonder, “Why are THEY here?”
It’s the group of people who are huddled around with a hushed conversation that always seems to stop when someone else walks up. And you just KNOW that they were talking about someone, gossiping about the rumors, laughing about the failures, pitying the sad situation.
And if that’s something you’ve ever been the recipient of, I’m really sorry, and I know that makes parties NOT the best types of days. But if you’ve ever experienced that, it’s actually a GOOD thing for you, because Jesus LOVES to find the people on the outside and welcome them in.
[SLIDE 3]
And as we’ll see in our Jesus story today, Jesus liked to party, and he loved to party with people that others stayed away from. So open your Bibles to Mark ch2, which can be found on p28 of the NT in the black, seat-back Bibles.
As you’re finding it, This story is very early in Jesus’ ministry, but he’s already getting a bit of a reputation as someone who brings healing and hope wherever he goes. And he doesn’t seem to mind the outcasts, the types of people who are usually left out.
In fact, as we’ll see in our story today, Jesus likes to help those people be brought IN. So let’s read together…
[MARK 12:1-17]
[SLIDE 4] v1-2
It seems like whenever Jesus comes back into town, a crowd gathers. A party starts. Because Jesus has gotten the reputation as being someone others WANT to be around.
“Jesus is back, go gather everyone!”
“Jesus, can you tell us about God, hope, heaven, what life can be like without Roman oppression?”
So, over the course of the welcome party, Jesus starts to teach, and the crowd that is listening doesn’t even fit in the house, but is spilling out onto the street, which probably gathers an even bigger crowd of people who were just walking by and wanted to know what was going on.
[SLIDE 5] vv3-4
But it also attracted some folks with a mission. They had a friend with a physical need, and for some reason, they thought Jesus might be able to help. But when they couldn’t get through the crowd, they got creative.
Their friend needed help, and they weren’t going to give up! So they climbed up on the roof somehow, CARRYING a paralyzed guy on a mat, and then made an opening in the roof by removing the woven thatch top, and then digging through the clay supports.
This was NOT sneaky. They were NOT just hiding in the corner because they didn’t know anyone. These friends were BOLD. And as the roof opened up, sending clay and debris down into the house below, they lowered their friend down, right in the middle of where Jesus was gathered with everyone else.
[SLIDE 6] v5
And Jesus didn’t yell. He didn’t scold them for wrecking the roof. Our text said that he SAW their faith. He noticed how determined the four friends were. He saw how bold they were, not for their own sake, but for their paralyzed friend. In fact, they were willing to get in TROUBLE if it meant helping their friend.
And so Jesus saw THEIR faith, the faith of the friends, the fact that they trusted that Jesus could do something for man, and that trust caused them to take action. He saw their faith, and then he says to the PARALYZED guy, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
It’s not the paralyzed guy’s faith that leads Jesus to say this. It’s the faithful actions of the FRIENDS to bring the paralytic to Jesus, and Jesus gives him something he didn’t even know he was asking for: forgiveness.
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Why didn’t Jesus just heal him right away? Well, in that culture, the philosophy of the day was a lot like what we would describe as karma. If something bad happened to you, it was probably because you did something bad to deserve it. So when they saw someone who was paralyzed, everyone figured that God had punished him for something awful. “And if he’s such a bad guy, let’s just stay away from him. We don’t want any of his bad juju to rub off on us.”
So this guy not only is dealing with being unable to walk, he also deals with most people judging him and whispering about him and avoiding him.
So when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven”, he is doing it to heal the guy’s heart. No, God isn’t staying mad at you. You are forgiven! And, Jesus said it publicly so that everyone listening would hear it too. Don’t judge this guy anymore.
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Because Jesus can heal wherever you’re hurt. And he knows us better than anyone else in the world. He can forgive every way we’ve been hurt and hurt others.
And I just want to point out again that Jesus gives forgiveness BEFORE this guy has done or said ANYTHING. Forgiveness from God isn’t something we EARN. It doesn’t depend on us.
It’s a gift from Jesus. All we do is turn to him and receive from him, whether we turned around ourselves, or whether we have a friend who gently brings us back to Jesus.
Some of you might have been invited by a friend today. God still looks at YOU with love and grace.
It doesn’t matter whether you feel like you belong or not. God reaches out to you with forgiveness.
The paralyzed guy was an outcast. And we have that still today. People look at us and make assumptions as if they know us.
Got a lot of tattoos? You must have a past.
You’re a single parent? You must have a failed marriage.
Are you dressed a little dingier than some? You must be down on your luck, so we’ll pity you.
Got a nice car? You must be loaded and trying to flaunt it.
But Jesus doesn’t see us that way. He looked at the paralytic and said, “CHILD…” He uses a term of affection. He doesn’t say, “Who invited YOU?!”
He says, “You’re mine. I claim you. And I give you forgiveness.”
[SLIDE 9] vv6-7
And the religious people listening didn’t like that AT ALL. Because “only God can forgive”, so what is Jesus doing? Is he saying HE’S God?! Or is he just saying empty words that he can’t back up in order to become more famous with people?
[SLIDE 10] vv8-9
And Jesus somehow reads their minds (wow, miracle) and responds to them, even though they weren’t saying their disagreements out loud. He says, “I’m not using the term “forgiveness” casually. You’re right, words are easy, but actions are harder. So, is it easier to say I forgive someone, or is it easier to say I can heal someone?”
Obviously, that’s a rhetorical question, because how could they disprove whether or not he can offer forgiveness? But healing? There’s a clear way to see whether that’s possible…
[SLIDE 11] v10-12
“So,” Jesus continues, “in order to PROVE to you that the forgiveness I give is real, let me heal the guy, too. Because if I can do what I say I can do with the healing, then you’ve got to trust the forgiveness thing.”
And Jesus turns to the guy and says, “Stand up, take your mat, and walk home.”
…And all eyes are on the paralytic. What will he do? Will he trust Jesus? Will he obey? Or will he say, “no thanks”? Will he rather stick with his mat because it’s what he knows and he doesn’t want to risk being ridiculed?
But he chooses to obey Jesus. He gets up, and WALKS. And everyone is amazed at what they saw and they glorify God. Because they KNOW that healing can only come from God. And Jesus proves that he can heal WHEREVER you’re hurt.
[SLIDE 12] vv13-14
So later on as Jesus is walking along, there’s DEFINITELY a crowd following him, hanging on every word. And as he was walking along he SAW Levi and INVITED him to come along. He invited him to obey.
There is a whole crowd being taught, but Jesus singles out one guy, Levi. And you might be listening right now, and you might feel like you’ve been a part of the crowd your whole life. But Jesus SEES you and he’s INVITING you to follow him. He’s inviting you into his way of life.
And did we notice that Levi didn’t DO anything to earn Jesus’ attention or invitation? He was just sitting there. Sitting at his job. His awful job. Because Levi was a Jew who was working for the Romans, collecting taxes from his own community, his own people, and helping the oppressors stay in power. Levi was probably also getting rich in the process. So, talk about a guy who was an outcast in his own community, to his own family.
The paralytic was someone who people thought had “probably” sinned, and that’s why God punished him. But Levi? He was ACTIVELY betraying his people, so you KNOW that he was hated and judged every single day.
[SLIDE 13] v15
But Jesus? He goes right to him, invites him along, and then invites himself over to Levi’s house for a dinner party. And he’s there with a bunch of the types of people that Levi could associate with: other outcasts and tax collectors who were hated by the others.
And I’ve got to pause really quick to point out the repeated theme of friends here. Our paralyzed guy was brought to Jesus BY his friends. What if we could all be like those friends? Who can we help carry to Jesus, who can we point to him?
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Maybe someone just came to mind, and I want to encourage you to invite them to come back to church next week with you. We’re going to be starting a very practical series on how the Bible gives us a proven path to repair broken relationships. So if you know anyone who could use some pointers on how to begin the process of repairing and healing a relationship – with their spouse, with their kids, with a neighbor – invite them to come sit with you next week.
[SLIDE 15] v15
And that’s actually what we see in the second part of our story, because Levi has JUST been invited to walk alongside Jesus, and HE’S inviting his friends too! Levi isn’t some super strong Jesus follower! He’s some guy who has received kindness from Jesus like two minutes ago and he’s already bringing his friends along, because he knows that the kind of hope that Jesus brings is something that needs to be shared! Who is God telling YOU to share with? Who is God inviting you to reach out to?
[SLIDE 16] vv16-17
So Jesus is at a party with Levi and his friends, and the religious people are there again, noticing this. And they don’t like it. What the heck is Jesus doing? First, he’s speaking as if he’s God, and NOW he’s hanging out with all the wrong people.
These are the wrong friends to have, Jesus!
Have you ever been the “wrong type” of friend? Maybe others have stayed away from you. Maybe when you were younger, dads didn’t trust you with their daughters.
Maybe you’ve been told you were a bad influence.
I mean, if you’ve ever been the “wrong type” of friend…Jesus would go straight to you! Because Jesus doesn’t stay away from outcasts. He doesn’t steer clear of broken people. He doesn’t ignore people with a past.
[SLIDE 17] v17
He said it best himself: He CAME for the sick. He came FOR sinners. Healers spend time with sick people. Jesus like to party with sinners. Because he can heal wherever we’re hurt. And he WANTS to bring healing.
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So, if you’re listening right now, and your life is great and you don’t have any problems or failures, you have my permission to stop listening.
But if you know you’re sick somehow because the world has beat you down…
If you know you’re broken somehow because life has kicked you around…
If you know you’re messed up somehow because you keep doing things and making choices that hurt yourself and others…
…then Jesus came for YOU.
Because he’s a healer. And he knows you were made for more than this. You were made for more joy, and peace, and love. You were made for more gentleness and self control. You were made for more generosity and patience.
Our hurts are calling for a healer, and Jesus goes to wherever there is hurt in order to bring healing. Jesus can heal WHEREVER you’re hurt.
So don’t hide from Jesus. Don’t cover up your hurt.
That’s a natural reaction when we’re hurt, isn’t it? It’s a natural response to cover it up. Protect yourself. Don’t show vulnerability.
We say things like, “I don’t want pity, so I won’t tell anyone about this.” or “I don’t want to be taken advantage of, so I’m not going to admit my weakness.”
But if you don’t attend to your hurts, if we don’t let a Healer help, it can get infected. It can scar permanently. It can heal wrong and keep causing problems later on.
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But Jesus can heal wherever you’re hurt, so we’re invited to bring hurts to Jesus.
If you’ve got hurts, bring them to Jesus. If you have a friend who is hurting, bring that friend to Jesus!
Because Jesus has the TRUE cure for our brokenness. Hiding won’t cure us, it just keeps us alone.
Numbing the pain with alcohol or shopping or porn won’t cure us. It justs avoids our issue and gets us deeper into different problems.
Trying to TAKE from the world or from others won’t fill us, because nothing can truly fulfill our lives apart from Jesus, because we were created for more. We were created for a better way of life.
And Jesus’ way of life is what he’s inviting us into. He invites us through the grace of his sacrifice and beckons us to follow him through his forgiveness, and that’s how we begin to experience his life.
His way of life is how the Holy Spirit works in us to heal us, to transform us to become more and more like Jesus, to help us join Jesus in his work of inviting more and more people to the party.
And it’s not because of anything we’ve done to earn his love. There is no entrance test. There are no prerequisites before we can ask for forgiveness.
Jesus has SEEN you, even when no one else sees you. He has called to you, even when no one else wanted you. He has claimed you as his child, adopted you into his family through his death and resurrection, and is promising to never leave you as you learn how to follow him each and every day.
Because he loves you. Because he came for you. Because he wants you to spend eternity with him at the party in heaven. Isn’t that good news?