Sermon 3-18-12 Lent 4 who is this Jesus? He breaks the rules Mk 2:1-12-
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
This is one of my favorite bible stories
He has friends- he accepts help- jesus is cool- jesus acts outside of the box
1 He has friends
Lets celebrate the joy of friendship.
4 friends going to the mat for one of their buds. I like that. maybe jesus likes that.
His friends are determined
The crowd doesn’t make way for a man on a mat….
they are not deterred
they start peeling apart the roof
Celebrate the role of friends in our lives
When 2 guys drove me to the Denver airport the night my dad died
2 The man is willing to accept help
Well, he couldn’t help himself.
True, but sometimes we are too prideful to let others help us
we want to do it on our own
Eli Wiesel claims that he and his father motivated each other to survive in the concentration camp. Wiesel needed to stay alive to take care of his elderly father. That became his motivation for surviving the concentration camps. He knew that if he died, his father would give up hope and die also.
Wiesel wrote, “The Germans tried to get the inmates to think only of themselves, to forget relatives and friends, to tend only to their own needs. But what happened was just the reverse. Those who retreated to a universe limited to themselves had less chance of getting out alive, while to live for a brother or a friend, helped you hold out longer.”
Shawn’s rubber bands
We are in this together
When we are unwilling to ask for help, when we are unwilling to accept help, not only is the outcome bad for us, we also compound the tragedy by destroying a divine and sacred moment in which others have an opportunity to exercise their gifts and ministry in the Christ Body. And that’s not a good thing.
Relationships are about us relying on each other….
who in your life helps hold you together?
What friends are immortalized in your life?
If you don’t have the answers to those questions, you may be missing out on a very important part of life……friendship
It is ok to cultivate friendships. To identify people and pursue a friendship.
3 Jesus is cool
• He has attracted a crowd.
• The compassion aroused in Jesus as he witnesses the great extent that the friends go to
• Jesus is patient
• Jesus has some control over this. Lets go outside. Hey stop dropping stuff on our heads…
• he has a sense of humor………pieces of the roof are falling…………….. some might have wanted to leave. Jesus keeps his cool.
4 He acts outside of the box
The Pharisees have rules- God forgives your sins when you offer a sacrifice in the temple.
Jesus breaks their rules
We have ours about forgiveness
Jesus breaks some of those rules as well.
Some of our rules.
• You have to ask
• You have to be sincere
• You don’t get to have your sins forgiven because of someone else’s faith
The rules that we have made for people to believe in Jesus, Jesus doesn’t even follow them.
He is not bound by our attempts to confine the activity of God
He is not impressed with our efforts to control the divine
What is Jesus like.
I visited a class a few weeks ago
I like doing this. If you have a group, Jeff would love to come visit
Part of the conversation was about why some people don’t believe
I don’t believe in god or I don’t believe in the god that someone told me about
What is Jesus like?
Good model to lay on top of about any situation.
Wwjd
Someone cut me off in traffic
My child was rude to their mother
My boss is unfair to me
conclusion
Who are your friends? Have you thanked them lately?
Has someone told you that you could not be forgiven?
What do you need help with? I know someone that you can call.
It is fine for you to ask God to help you
Who is Jesus? I have never seen anything like this
The last verse- they praised God saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
I have seen a lot of things -The grand canyon
The redwood forest-The florida keys-The birth of a child
I just want to praise God. Is that ok? I am one of the most normal people you will meet. We need to praise God
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