Our Problems Are NOT God Punishing Us! Series: Jesus: Why His Life Matters Today Compass Church Bible Studies: #2 September Mark 2:1-12 This study requires an open mind. We must think through the text. It is an important study because it concerns whether everything that happens is caused by God or at least is His will. Even bad things. When bad things happen, is it God s will for some mysterious reason? So take this study slowly. 1. Read Mark 2:1-12 several times and in several versions. Name the key people in the passage? What is the problem people want Jesus to solve? They are tearing the roof off Peter s mother-in-law s home, a place where Jesus slept. In a couple of sentences what do you imagine Peter and others are thinking as the roof is torn off? 2. So a paralyzed man is lowered through the room to Jesus. What does Jesus do that surprises everyone? What is the reaction of the Pharisees in verses 6 and 7? There are those who say Jesus never claimed to be God. The fact is that He repeatedly said and DID things that were a direct claim to be God, like forgive this man s sins. 3. Consider the following: Not a word is spoken because...well, no words are needed. Everyone knows what the paralytic needs. Healing! It s obvious! They expect this to be over in 30 seconds like dozens of times Jesus had healed people in the last 3 weeks. But Jesus does the unexpected...and the controversial. He says to the paralytic: Your sins are forgiven. What? His friends did not lug him all this way to be forgiven. He needs to walk. Notice: Jesus has been healing lots of people and NOT ONCE did He begin by saying Your sins are forgiven. He simply heals them directly. So why now does He begin by forgiving this man s sins? Remember all sin is the same. So this man s sin, whatever it is, is no worse than any others. So why does Jesus start by saying your sins are forgiven when He has not done that in other healings? 1 st, Jesus is revealing who He is. He is revealing that He is more than a teacher and a healer. He is God.
Let me explain. This is the first time the religious elite - - that is the self-righteous Pharisees - - are in the room to watch Jesus. And Jesus biographers tell us that they came from all over the country, from all over Galilee and as far away as Jerusalem, the religious center of Israel. They are in fact a HOSTILE investigative committee. They have heard of Jesus reputation as a healer and teacher and they are jealous of the huge crowds He draws when no one listens to them. They have come to catch Him in a slipup so they can accuse and bring charges against Him. So they are sitting in the room WATCHING and Jesus deliberately, in a very calculating way, GIVES THEM AMMO for charges against Him. He says to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven. Jesus knows how they will react. He knows that only God can forgive sins. But that is the whole point of why in this healing He starts with forgiving when He did not in other healings. The reason is the Pharisees are there and they will understand the claim He is making about Himself!!! The Pharisees are actually the first to understand who Jesus claims to be, but they reject His claim. Mark records in verse 7 Why does this guy (derogatory term) talk like that? This is blasphemy (insult to God). No one can forgive sins but God alone. (Mark 2:7) The Pharisees are outraged because they consider it blasphemy to do what only God can do...but it is not blasphemy if...jesus is God. Jesus wants them to connect the dots. Jesus deliberately does what only God can do - - forgive sin - - as a revelation of who He is - - that He is not merely a teacher or a miracle worker but God Himself come to earth. Jesus said He who has seen Me has seen God. (John 10:30) Mohammad never claimed to be God or to forgive sins. Neither did Buddha or any Hindu guru. All religions are obviously not the same. It s a fact that only Jesus claimed to be God and only Jesus claimed to be able to forgive our sins. Underline the most important sentence and explain why? Think about this: The Pharisees (self-righteous who consider others beneath them and who prided themselves in knowing Scripture better than anyone) were the first to understand Jesus claimed to be God. They saw all the miracles He did, heard His teaching as they investigated Him, and yet wanted to kill Him. They rejected Jesus to the end. How could a group see these miracles, know the Scriptures predicting the coming of the Messiah, and His powerful teaching..and not believe He was God? Be careful. Put yourself in their shoes. 4. This next quote was the nub of the sermon. How does it affect you? John s Gospel chapter 1, verse 1 says it this way: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. And the Word became flesh (human) and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-3,14)
So Jesus biography did not begin with His birth and did not end with the crucifixion. Jesus is God, who existed before He created anything, and then humbled Himself to become the Lamb of God to die for our sins. And that s not all. The Book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible about the end times and heaven. says in chapter 5 as John peers into heaven. I saw a Lamb, looking as though slain (Jesus crucified with spike marks still in heaven), and every creature sang, To the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever. Jesus biography then does not end on the cross or with the resurrection. His biography continues in heaven as He sits on the throne of the universe. Jesus is God. That s what He is revealing to the Pharisees when He dares to forgive the paralytic s sin. C. S. Lewis got it right when he said, Make your choice. Jesus was either God or He was a liar or a lunatic. But let us not come with the nonsense that He was only a great teacher. He has not left that option to us. He claimed to be God. So make your choice. This is not piddly. Our eternity depends upon our choice. People tell me that they don t care what happens after death. Really? If you stand by the grave of your child one day as I have, then heaven becomes very important it becomes very important if you will see your loved ones again...or is death permanent separation. Is death the end of seeing them or is there a place called heaven? Stand by a grave and it will matter. Jesus who says He is God also says He is the only way to heaven. Why? Because He is on the throne in heaven and you can t reject the one on the throne of heaven and expect to be in heaven...can you? Isn t it the ultimate nonsense to say we can be in heaven and reject Jesus who is on the throne???? May I ask - - have you said yes to Jesus? To not answer is an answer and it s a no isn t it? What will you answer this morning? Heaven depends on your answer. Jesus is waiting...he hopes you will say yes. Underline the most important sentence and say why? Focus on the C. S. Lewis quote. Summarize in a few sentences what Lewis is saying. What about the part of people saying they don t care what happens when they die? What do you think about that? In light of Jesus claims, what would you say to them that might be PERSUASIVE and not confrontative? Have you invited Jesus into your life or are you still investigating Him? Remember that Jesus did not come to start a new religion of rituals, but to begin a relationship with you. Where we end up after death depends on whether we have asked Jesus to forgive our sins and to be our God. The devil believes in Jesus, but the devil is not a Christian!
5. So now, what does this Scripture teach us about the idea that everything that happens is God s will, or at least God s permissive will? Consider this: 2ndly, Jesus is showing that He does not believe bad things happen because it is God s will. This is quite obvious when He heals the paralytic, isn t it? Jesus did not believe the man s paralysis was something God did to him, or else Jesus would not have healed him. If it was the will of God that this man be paralyzed, then to heal him would be against God s will; nothing is clearer than that. In fact, think about this: Jesus would have sinned in healing him if the man s paralysis was God s will. But Jesus healed him...because this paralysis was not God s will! Remember Jesus is God. So it is actually God healing this man! Clearly his condition is not something God caused or willed because God is healing him! Jesus did not believe everything that happens is the will of God and the proof is He healed the paralytic. This means that there is real evil in this world and we can call evil...evil and not blame God for it! It means I don t have to say there is some disguised good in bad things. I don t have to say it s all good. Why? Because not everything is God s will and it is NOT GOOD! This is such a relief. I can call bad things bad and not put a super spiritual gloss on what is horrible. There are lots of things that happen in this world that are against God s will because He has given us freewill. This is important: we are not robots. God is not in control of all things because He s not in control of you and me. We are not puppets on a string. We have freewill and that means God is not in control of everything in this world because He is not in control of us. And because we are not puppets on God s string, it makes love and virtue and courage and heroism possible. All those are choices of a free person, not a robot. But it s easier to blame God than to take responsibility, isn t it. It sounds even spiritual. But if Jesus is God and God is Jesus and if Jesus came to give the right name to God, which is Jesus, then that means I can ask a crucial question when bad things happen. It is this: Would Jesus do this to a person? Would He cause a man to be paralyzed or to be in an automobile wreck. And the answer is No. Jesus wouldn t do that and that means God wouldn t do it either because Jesus is God and God is Jesus. That simple logic destroys the idea that God s sovereignty means everything that happens is God s will...because so much that happens in this world Jesus would never do to a person. So God would not either since God is Jesus. God is sovereign but the sovereignty of God means that God has the last word over evil. The man was paralyzed. Did he have a bad fall that injured his spine, was he paralyzed at birth - - we aren t told. What we do know is that Jesus came and had the last word. He healed him. He got up and he walked. Jesus un-paralyzed him. God had the last word. That s the sovereignty of God. He has the last word and un-does evil one way or another. That s the bio of Jesus - - constantly un-doing evil! Don t blame Jesus for bad things. Go to Him and pray for His strength and for Him to overrule things in your life. And I can hardly wait to see Jon in heaven.
Underline the most important sentences and say why. In a few sentences summarize in your own words the logic of that quote. A key part of the logic is that Jesus would not have healed the man if it was God s will he be paralyzed. Remember Jesus is God, so God is healing the man! Plus we must always ask Would Jesus cause such and such to happen to a person? Summarize that part of the logic and explain why you agree or disagree. Suppose you believe, as many do, that everything that happens is God s will because He is in control of this world. Ignore for a minute that Scripture says Satan is the ruler of the earth until the 2 nd Coming of Jesus. Suppose you believed that everything that happens is God s will and your daughter got inoperable cancer or one of her children was hit by a car and paralyzed. With the belief everything is under God s control, what would you have to say to her? How might what you say affect her idea of God and relationships? That is one of the reasons I reject the idea that everything that happens is God s will. It is widely taught, but I believe Jesus is God and God is Jesus, and Jesus would not cause many things that happen and therefore neither would God because God is Jesus. (Tough question that requires thought) Still, a very good question is Why pray if God is not in control of all things that happen? What would you say? James 4:2 might help. As you think back over this study, what is the BIG application for your life? Pray for each other (If praying out loud is uncomfortable, praying silent is a good prayer too!)