Scripture Reading: Psalm 40:1-8
Scripture Reading: Mark 2:1-12
Psalm 40 emphasizes the idea of “waiting.” We don’t like to wait and can often become impatient depending on what we are waiting for.
David proclaims that he waited “patiently.” How many of us do that??? But in that patient waiting as David was bringing his prayers to the Lord, He proclaims that the Lord turned to Him, lifted his heart, helped set his feet once again on a firm foundation, and put a new song in his heart.
It is often hard to wait but more often than not, it is necessary. We all know that there is no quick fix and that we can do absolutely nothing about some of life circumstances. So many times we have the opportunity before us to become bitter or better—to be impatient or to wait patiently until the Lord comes and helps us.
The psalmist reminds us that the Lord does hear us. The Lord does lift us up. The Lord does help us to find a new song of hope and grace when perhaps life has brought a sad song.
One of the things that this psalm invites us to do is to reflect on what the Lord has done for us in the past and in the present. This month is a month of thanksgiving and as I encouraged all of us to do the first of the month is to each day write down at least one thing that you are thankful for! Perhaps it is that the Lord has lifted your heart. Maybe you had an answer to prayer in your life or heard of someone else who the Lord lifted up and answered their prayer.
It is easy sometimes to not want to reflect on the difficult parts of our lives but when we can take the time to do so, we can see the Lord is a variety of ways that perhaps we had not done before.
We don’t know what the psalmist was dealing with, but what we do know is that the result of his calling out to the Lord provided an opportunity to testify to what the Lord had done in his life.
How many times do we share with one another the goodness of God and how He has working in our lives. How often are we giving Him praise for getting us through various situations and helping us find our way through?
There is a determination in the psalmist to not only patiently wait on the Lord but to submit himself to God’s plan.
In our Scripture today from the Gospel According to Mark, we see the ministry of Jesus at the forefront. It is what happens during this period in the life of Christ that provides us insight into what the Kingdom of God is like and also the character and nature of the God whose Kingdom we are a part of.
In Isaiah 61:3 It reads: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. 3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”
When Jesus began his ministry, he quoted these verses and applied them to himself. (Luke 4:18-19) The anointed ministry of Jesus had a 4-fold purpose:
1. Preaching the Gospel to the poor, the meek, and the afflicted.
2. Healing and binding up the spiritually and physically sick and brokenhearted.
3. Breaking the bonds of evil and proclaiming freedom from sin and satanic dominion.
4. Opening the spiritual eyes of the lost that they might see the light of the good news and be saved.
As we take a closer look at the ministry of Jesus and how he responded to people—it lets us know what is expected of us as well.
Jesus said in John 17:18—“As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” Also, in John 15:16 Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”
It is also important for us to keep in mind 1 John 3:8b”…the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
(NIVSB) “It was never God’s intention that people should live with sickness, disease, and infirmity. These things are the results of the sinfulness of the human race and the activity of Satan in the world. Consequently, healing through Christ involves God invading the realm of Satan to destroy his work.”
In our portion of Scripture this morning we get a beginning glimpse of the ministry of Jesus as both Healer and Forgiver. We also see the beginning of the development of opposition to Jesus. The opposition is first unspoken in the thoughts of the scribes…but Jesus perceives them and questions them at that point. The religious people attack the disciples and question them and then further in chapter 3 they begin to plot against Jesus himself.
Often, when we read Scripture and it becomes familiar to us in many ways, it is easy to skim over things and maybe miss a few important things…so today let’s slow down and imagine together the scene shared with us in Verses 1-12 and look at the details of the story. This story is also recorded in Matthew 9:2-8 and in Luke 5:18-26. I mention this because with the different writers the fullness of the story is seen from different eyes yet all anointed by the Spirit to write what they did.
Jesus has returned to Capernaum which is the base of operations for his ministry. Word has spread quickly through the grapevine that Jesus is back. So many people began to gather that both the house and the area surrounding the house were packed wall to wall and shoulder to shoulder with people. Mark says that so many people had gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door. The crowd was made up of common everyday people just like us and in the crowd were also representatives of the religious establishment, both Pharisees and teachers of the law.
And Jesus began to preach the Word to them…
No matter where Jesus is…he is sharing the Good News of the Gospel…letting people know that there is hope and that they are loved by God. We have to understand that Jesus reaches people no matter who they are! He does not discriminate in any way whatsoever!
Now as Paul Harvey would say…for the rest of the story…
Enter a number of men…and 4 of them are carrying a man on a mat that is paralyzed. They encounter the crowd but want to get their friend in front of Jesus. They devise a plan…if we can’t get through the crowd to Jesus then we will go above the crowd, break through the roof and lower him down in front of Jesus. They had to literally break their way through a baked clay tile roof and make a hole large enough to lower a man through! Imagine all the debris falling on people as they work their way through the roof!
Their team work and determination found a way!
Sometimes it is not easy to “break through” the obstacles that are in our way of getting to Jesus. This story helps us to see that faith pushes through. These people didn’t stop because of the obstacles—they just knew they needed to get their friend to Jesus.
How often do we let things or people get in our way of reaching Jesus? Of developing our faith and serving the Lord with a fullness of joy and determination. Fulfilling God’s plan in our lives is through the avenue of our faith! As a result the need is there to persevere, to push through, to not give in or up!
Obstacles are different for each of us. The Spirit can reveal to us what they are. Some may be minor, others major—but the difference in facing the obstacles in your life is whether or not you are approaching them in faith.
There are some characteristics of these friends that I want us to look at this morning.
1. Determination—amazing persistence. The roofs back then were baked clay tiles mixed with mud and twigs for strength. Again, think of the debris falling from the roof and the effort it took to make a hole big enough to lower their friend through.
2. Deep compassion—these men cared for their friend and they were willing to do what needed to done. They didn’t care what other people thought about what they were doing—they just knew that their friend needed Jesus!
3. Team work—they combined their strengths to accomplish a goal. There are so many times we try to accomplish things as lone rangers when in reality if we teamed up with another person/s, the task may get completed in a more efficient and productive way.
a. I think of a few years ago with my first experience with Brick Church in Mt. Vernon and their Christmas tree. I was their Sunday morning pastor. It has been tradition at that church to cut down a large cedar or fir tree and to bring it into the sanctuary for Christmas. Wow—it was a tree big enough to fill this entire area of the sanctuary! That tree was literally 20 feet tall and just as wide. It took a team to pick out the right tree. It took a team to cut down the tree. It took a team to get the tree into the back of the truck. It took a team to get the tree into the church. It took a team to decorate it for the beauty of the season and the wonder of all who enjoy it!
b. This is also true of us personally. Perhaps we are dealing with something and we need a team to come around us and help us through a situation. But we have to be willing to ask for the help. For some, that is probably one of the most difficult things to do.
c. The Scripture doesn’t tell us…but what part do you think the paralyzed man played in all this? Did he ask his friends to take him to Jesus? Did he ask for their help?
d. These men truly believed that Jesus had the power to heal their friend!
4. Everyone has a “role” in the walk of faith.
a. Perhaps some people parted the crowd as this man was carried toward the house.
b. Perhaps some of them brought the rope needed and helped lower the paralyzed man through the roof.
c. Perhaps some of them were crying out to Jesus for help as their friend was lowered down in front of him into the house.
d. The end result was Jesus seeing the faith of the team and healing the paralyzed man!
The Pharisees and teachers of the law struggled with what Jesus said to the paralyzed man…that his sins were forgiven. Wait a minute…only God has the power to forgive sin. Wait a minute…this Jesus is saying he is God.
We must understand the power of this story…not only is Jesus a healer but now he is forgiving the sin of this man and declaring himself as God. Jesus is declaring his authority. Not only was Jesus revealing who He is—but he is also acknowledging the faith of those who just fought to come into His presence and said to them…your faith is in the right place—I am the Messiah, I am the one who was to come—the Kingdom of God is here…and I am it!
What would be some take away thoughts of what we have shared today?
1. How does this kind of determination of faith come to be?
a. God’s Word: Romans 10:17—So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
i. Hearing and believing produce new life, but refusing to hear produces spiritual death. The responsibility rests on the hearer and not on the messenger or the message.
b. Courage: When Joshua in the Old Testament was taking over leadership of the children of Israel to lead them into the Promised Land, the Lord told him three different time to be strong and courageous and to understand that the Lord would be with him every step of the way.
i. It is no different for us today! We are called to stand, to be firm, to be courageous in our walks with Christ.
ii. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it tells us, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
c. Prayer: Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
i. I think of the song, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”
1. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
d. Perseverance: Hebrews 10:19-25, “9 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Determination—to serve the Lord with all that is within us and to also come alongside one another to encourage one another to do the same! The paralyzed man’s friends did what they needed to do to help their friend…and Jesus honored their determined faith!
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