The Good News of Jesus – Part 4
By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
Mark 2:1-12 – June 1, 2025
This is part 4 of our series on the gospel of Mark – the good news about Jesus. I love the Jesus story that we are going to look at today. It tells us a little more about Jesus and how he responds to people. I believe that it is helpful to see how he responds to us.
If you have ever wondered what faith looks like, then you may find the story helpful. If you’ve ever wondered what prayer does, then you may find the story helpful. If you have ever wondered what it means to bring a friend to Jesus, then you may find the story helpful.
Let me walk you through the background of the story. Jesus has been teaching and preaching in the synagogues all around the region of Galilee. He has been doing miracles, and word of his fame is spreading.
So here is what Mark records.
Mark 2:1
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.
Apparently, Jesus had moved from Nazareth, where he grew up, to Capernaum. This is where Jesus lived now. Scholars are divided when it says he had come home, whether that means to his own place or possibly Peters’s place. That will play into the story in a moment.
Mark 2:2
They gathered in such numbers that there was no room, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
So, Jesus comes to Capernaum, which is now his hometown, and he goes to the place where he is staying. That may be his own house or possibly Peter’s house. The word of his fame had spread. So, a crowd of people crammed into the house to see Jesus. There was no sitting room or standing room left in the house. People were crammed into the doorway and outside the door. Everyone wanted to hear what Jesus had to say and see what Jesus would do.
I have preached in the house like that before. Friends of mine ran the Navigators – a Christian group at Carleton University. They had a very small house just off the campus. Every week, they would invite the group over to their place. There would sometimes be 50 or 60 university students who would cram into their place. They had a PA system setup. So, the people in the basement could hear what was being said. I spoke in the dining room, and I could see into the living room. Besides the living room, there was a hallway and a stairway, and they were crammed with people. Behind me was the kitchen and a small sunroom, and it was crammed with people. It is rather interesting to speak to a group like that because I could only see about 40% of the people that I was speaking to.
But it’s also a fun atmosphere. There’s a lot of joy. There’s a lot of laughter. There is also the sense that people are willing to make themselves uncomfortable to learn about Jesus.
Back to Capernaum. People are listening to Jesus speak. There is a sense that something special is going on in the room. Then, all of a sudden, they hear this pounding on the ceiling.
Mark 2:3-4
Some man came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.
That is a sermon stopper. On a flat house roof, this paralyzed man’s friends dug a hole so that they could get their friend to Jesus.
I want you to think about the logistics of this for just a few moments. There were four men who were carrying this paralyzed friend on a mat. They had the problem solved to get by the crowd. They had to figure out where Jesus was in the house. They had to figure out a way to bust through the ceiling. After all that, they had to figure out the logistics of lowering a mat. Did they use a couple of slings? Was there just some random rope sitting around? We are not told. But here is what we are told.
Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man,” son, your sins are forgiven.”
When he saw their faith…
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I grew up adjacent to a faith movement that said if you just believe strong enough, then God would answer your prayers. So, I took from that that faith looked like stronger conviction. I had to somehow believe harder. If I could just believe in God more then God would do more. Prayer became something where I would have to work up my internal life to try and believe more. Have you ever been there?
That is not what faith looks like in this passage. Verse five says that Jesus saw their faith. What did Jesus see? He saw four friends figuring a way out around the crowd. He saw four friends doing what they needed to do to get to Jesus – like busting through a ceiling. He saw four friends get quite creative in getting a mat from the ceiling to the floor. He looks at those things, and that is what he calls faith.
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Sure, there was an underlying belief in these four friends that if they could get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, Jesus could help him. But Jesus saw the actions of these four friends, and he labelled those actions faith.
What does faith look like? It looks like problem-solving. It looks like perseverance. It looks like a whatever it takes attitude to get people to Jesus. Faith is not just believing the right things. Faith has a way of turning our beliefs into action.
What would Faith look like here at Asbury? We cannot physically locate Jesus and bring our friends there. But we still can bring our friends to Jesus.
There has to be an underlying belief that if we could get a friend to Jesus, Jesus could help our friends. That is the first piece of faith.
But what does it mean to bring people to Jesus in our time? Part of it is that we pray specifically for our friends. We bring our friends to Jesus in prayer. If we could just get our friends to Jesus., Jesus could help our friends. Part of the way we bring our friends to Jesus is through prayer.
Jesus also said that we are two or three are gathered together in my name. I am there in the midst of them. Part of bringing our friends to Jesus is to bring them to where he is likely to show up by his spirit. That means places like church and small groups. It means places where people are likely to encounter Christ.
What does faith look like at Asbury? It looks like inviting friends to encounter Jesus.
Some of you might say, my friends aren’t ready to come to church. I get that. Sunday morning church service is just too far of a step for them. What does faith look like? Faith looks like problem-solving. So, if Church is a step too far., maybe a barbeque in Kevin and Lorna‘s backyard and doing the Alpha series together with them would look like faith.
Faith might be finding a way to inspire them to read scripture with you. It may be opening your house to hospitality and having friends who know Jesus and friends who don’t there. What does faith look like? It looks like the four friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus.
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Mark 2:5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Imagine that you are the friend of this paralyzed man. You have lowered him down in front of Jesus. You are looking through the hole in the ceiling that you have created. Your hope is that Jesus can do something for your friend.
Pause there for a moment. Why did these four guys bring their friend to Jesus? They believed that their friend’s biggest need was to be healed from paralysis.
When they do get their friend in front of Jesus, what does Jesus say? “Son, your sins are forgiven.” That is not why we brought our friend to Jesus. We brought him to Jesus so that he would be healed of paralysis. What does Jesus do? He addresses a completely different need. He speaks of sins forgiven.
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I often have an agenda when I bring my friends to Jesus as well. I want them to be delivered from their addiction. I want them to find peace in their life. I think that if I can only get them to Jesus, he could deliver them from their hopelessness. I want to see people come to Jesus because I know that he can speak into the hurt. I believe that if I can just get them in front of Jesus, Jesus will heal them.
Here’s what I found. What I think my friend’s greatest need and what Jesus thinks the greatest need is, are often different. These four friends taught their friend needed healing from paralysis. Jesus knew that he needed forgiveness of sin. His agenda was different than the paralyzed friend’s agenda. I’ve also found that Jesus’ way is the right way.
When we bring our friends to Jesus, let Jesus determine what they need first. You may think that the most important thing is that they deal with a boyfriend or girlfriend that is unhealthy for them. Jesus might show them something different. Maybe you think it is an addiction that needs to be dealt with first. Maybe you think it is an identity issue that needs to be dealt with first. But Jesus might have a different agenda. Bring your friends to Jesus and then encourage what Jesus is doing in their lives.
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Did you notice how Jesus addresses the paralyzed man? He says, “Son.” It is a term of endearment. It would be somewhat equivalent to you saying, “my friend,” or how the Auzzies would use the word “mate.” Jesus says, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”
It was obvious, at least to Jesus, that this man was a sinner. Yet, he greets him with a term of endearment.
Jesus knows that you are a sinner, but that doesn’t keep him from being fond of you, either. As we often say around here, Jesus loves you just as you are, but he doesn’t want to leave you as you are. He wants to say to you, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”
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Mark 2:6-7
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,” why does this fellow talk like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
Not everyone will celebrate the work of Jesus. There will always be some naysayers in the crowd. There were some teachers of the law who judged Jesus harshly. They weren’t saying anything out loud. But they were judging, nonetheless.
Here is the thing. If people judge Jesus, they will judge you, too. I have seen well-meaning church people judge that someone was disrespecting God by wearing a hat in church. They went and quite aggressively spoke to that person about the hat. That person never came back to church again. If you let it, people’s judgement will get in the way of what God wants to do in your life.
Jesus knew what was going on in the hearts of these teachers.
Mark 2:8 (NLT)
8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?
The teachers of the law were taking issue with Jesus pronouncing this man forgiven. They said only God could forgive sins. In some ways, they had it right. It is God who forgives sin. What they got wrong was Jesus. They didn’t know who Jesus was. They didn’t know that he was the only begotten son of God. They didn’t know that he was the Messiah. They didn’t know that he was the saviour. They didn’t know that in him, the fullness of God dwelt in bodily form.
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Now, remember that Mark is writing this book so that we will know who Jesus is. He knew his readers would understand the thought process of the teachers of the law. That is why it is so astounding when Jesus says
Mark 2:9–11 (NLT)
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!”
Jesus says as proof that I can forgive sin. He says, Son, stand up, bend over, pick up your mat, and go home. That is exactly what the man did.
Mark 2:12 (NLT)
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!”
Remember that the house is full of people. You can imagine this healed man trying to get to the door. Excuse me. Pardon me. Can I just get by you here? Excuse me.
The response of the people in the house was to praise God. They were amazed. They were saying, “We have never seen anything like this before.”
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You may remember how, in chapter 1, Jesus taught in the synagogue and cast out a demon. The response of the people then was that
Mark 1:27 (NLT)
27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!”
They were amazed that he taught with authority. They were amazed that he could cast out evil spirits by his authority. Now we come to Chapter 2
Mark 2:10–11 (NIV)
10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
Jesus shows us that he has the authority to forgive sin. He proves it by this healing. Mark is trying to paint a picture of who Jesus is. He has authority to teach. He has the authority to preach. He has the authority to cast out demons. He has the authority to heal the sick. And now we see that he has the authority to forgive sin. And we’re only in chapter 2.
I think sometimes we are tempted to see Jesus as just a nice guy. He is very kind. When he saw the paralytic being lowered through the roof, he said, “Son.” My friend. He used a term of endearment to talk to this man in distress. Jesus is very kind.
In our world, kindness is seen as a weakness. Can you imagine the conservative party saying something kind about the Liberal Party or vice versa? If we say something kind, they believe that it will be perceived as a weakness.
But here in the book of Mark, Jesus is portrayed as one who is very kind. But he is also portrayed as one who has real authority. He has the authority to deal with the real issues in our lives. He has the authority to speak truth into our lives.
That is good to know if you are one of the friends who are carrying your friend to Jesus. When your friend gets to Jesus, he has the authority to do what needs to be done. That is good to know When you’re struggling over the sin of your past. Jesus is both kind and says you’re my friend, and he has the authority to forgive your sin. Jesus is both kind and strong.
Maybe you’re here this morning, and you know about the kindness of Jesus. But maybe you have forgotten about his authority to speak into your life what you need. Would you talk to him about that? Would you tell him that he has the authority to say what he wants to say in your life? Would you tell him that he has the authority to do what he wants to do in your life?
If you’re stuck, it just might be that you need a few friends to help you get to Jesus. Have some people pray for you. Have some people help you to get to Jesus. I know I always feel privileged when I can help people move towards Jesus. Because I, like the paralyzed man’s friends, know this: If we can get in front of Jesus, he has the authority to do what needs to be done.