LOVE DOES : Bears All Things H HIGHLIGHT: 1 Corinthians 13:7; Mark 2:1-12 LEADER: Below are excerpts from the overall passage for use with the APPLICATION and RESPOND. It will be beneficial for the group to read the whole passage to understand the entire context. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Mark 2:1-12 (NLT) 1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, My child, your sins are forgiven. 6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins! 8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man Your sins are forgiven, or Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home! Page! 1 of! 5
12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, We ve never seen anything like this before! E EXPLAIN LEADER: Discuss the meaning of the text. In this section, you are trying to explain what the text says, not apply it to your life. Feel free to use any of the Explain materials to guide discussion as it is needed or to expound on a certain area of the text as it comes up during your Life Group time, the purpose of this section is to deepen everyone s understanding of the Word. Love is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. Love does! Love is not the feeling of sorrow and compassion over the misfortunes of others that s pity. Love does! God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Love does! 1 Corinthians 13:7a In 1984, Tina Turner rattled the music charts when she sang, What s love got to do, got to do with it? The Apostle Paul said, Love has everything to do with being a Christ-follower. Without love, all the wonderful things we do and say are long on motion, short on meaning (see 1 Cor. 13:1-3). V.7 is powerful in its summary of what love does. Like a diamond we will look at one of its four facets each week, letting it sparkle as we hold it up to supporting Scripture for illustration. (LEADER: Question 2 in the apply section will refer to this section) Love bears all things just one little word in the Greek (pas). But it is used with each facet of this verse. It is all inclusive: anything, and everything; anyone, and everyone; this situation and every situation. The power of love is that it bears all things. It (1) covers over or keeps hidden (like the roof of a house). It doesn t deny others sins (any of them), but it refuses to use those sins (all of them) in a way that destroys that person (see 1 Peter 4:8); (2) it supports in the sense of carrying a heavy load; lifts them up like the walls and beams support the roof; and (3) and it suffers patiently all the troubles that come from dealing with other people the people we are trying to help AND the people who try to harm us. When loving seems too big for my resources I need to remember that He will never give me more than HE can handle. He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love (Romans 5:5). Mark 2:1-12 The opposition of the religious rulers has become more definitive in this passage. In a way, Jesus has signed His death warrant. Opposition has now turned to hostility because Jesus has Page! 2 of! 5
committed blasphemy in the rulers eyes by making Himself equal with God only God can forgive sins. Jesus deals with this situation as He dealt with opposition throughout the rest of His ministry never ignoring it, but facing it in quiet dignity. Okay, is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven, or Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And He told the man to stand up and walk and he walked out through the stunned onlookers who were all amazed. An unanswerable answer! This passage also demonstrates the 3 ways that love bears all things. (1) The four men bringing their paralytic friend to Jesus shows love supporting helping their friend deal with something he could do nothing about. All of us need to be on the lookout for someone who needs Jesus, and then bring him into Jesus presence. (2) Love suffering patiently is demonstrated by these same four men AND Jesus. It was inconvenient to get this man to Jesus. Tearing a hole in the roof was not to be taken lightly. It was hard work. I m sure it was costly someone had to pay for the repairs. And Jesus met the paralytic s needs at the cost of the religious rulers indignation setting the stage for His own demise. (3) Love covering is also demonstrated by the men and Jesus. It appears that this man s physical condition was due to some sin in his life. Jesus was aware that he had done something that had brought him to this physical state. The paralytic s friends were probably aware his history. But rather than using his history to not do something (it s your own fault; you shouldn t have been sleeping with his wife; you knew those Zealots would break your legs if you ratted on them) they chose to bring him to Jesus who could do something about it. And, rather than exposing all his dirty laundry, Jesus covered it with His forgiveness (see Psalm 32:5 [we cannot cover our sin; only God can do that]). Every sinner (all of us) needs somewhere to go. JESUS IS WAITING WITH OPEN ARMS A APPLY LEADER: Be comfortable with some silence as people think back to the sermon or reread the text. If no one has an answer, be prepared to share what challenged you. Question 2 refers to the leader notes for 1 Corinthians 13:7. 1. What stuck out to you in what you heard in the sermon or read in the text? Page! 3 of! 5
2. Of the three definitions of love bears all things given above, which is the hardest for you to do? Why do you think that is the case? 3. How did the four men who carried the paralyzed man demonstrate love? What might they have sacrificed to be there? 4. How does Christ, the ultimate essence of love, bear all things? R RESPOND 1. Isaiah 53:4-6 (ESV) says, Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. On the cross, Christ took the punishment that you and I deserve because of our sin. You and I have turned to our own way (away from God), and Christ paid the penalty. Christ willingly bore the wrath of God and satisfied that wrath for all who are in Christ by faith. This is the good news, this is the Gospel. Page! 4 of! 5
When did you first trust and believe in Christ as LORD? How did the Gospel reach you, and by whom? This week, share that story with someone in your group. 2. The paralyzed man in Mark 2 needed someone to save him from his condition. The only one who could save him was Jesus, the Son of God. His friends went to every extreme in order to present him before the only one who could heal his ailments. Who do you know that is paralyzed by their own choices, sin, way of living, that desperately needs the only one who can heal their ailments, Jesus? Name this person: What can you do to lay the person at the feet of the Savior of the world so they can be healed? (What roof must you dig through? Mark 2:4) How will you will you accomplish what needs to be done? (Remember, Christ has the power to heal and forgive the sins of everyone. We should stop at no cost to bring people to him.) Page! 5 of! 5