I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up

I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP - Mark 2:1-12

In the late 1980’s a television commercial for a company named LifeCall depicted an elderly woman falling in her bathroom. A pendant around her neck had a button that she pushed and she was immediately contacted with an emergency dispatcher. She desperately cried, “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!?” and help was on the way. A lot of people made fun of that lady and that commercial, maybe because it seemed like a low budget production that lacked a lot of sophistication. But it did communicate a message that any one of us can fall and need help outside of our own ability to rise again.
Now anyone who has ever taken a serious fall or known someone who has suffered like that knows that it is anything but funny. A lady I was privileged to know fell and broke her hip when she was 99 years old. She told me that it was the first time in her life that she could ever remember not being able to walk. Oh, she knew that she was dependent upon others when she was a baby. But she couldn’t remember that experience. And she wasn't looking forward to being that dependent on others again.
This week as we turn to the Gospel of Mark we are once again considering the authority of Jesus as it was demonstrated to the people of that day. The familiar narrative is about a helpless paralytic that encountered Christ and the resulting challenge of the religious scribes in regard to the authority of Christ. Both the paralytic, the scribes, and the people who witnessed the encounter experienced God in a very unexpected way. It is my prayer as we hear the Word of God read and preached that we come into a fuller understanding of the authority of Christ over our lives and the relevance it has for the people of God in our day. Hear the Word of the Lord.
When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”--He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” (Mark 2:1-12)

JESUS HAS AUTHORITY OVER SINSICKNESS.

I. ACTIVE FAITH BRINGS PEOPLE CLOSE TO GOD. (1-5)

... Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic…

The Word of God overcomes barriers of time and space. Christ is in the midst of men and speaking His word to people. This transcends the separation between God and man. God transcends time and space. He had become man and was communicating in a type of language that could be understood. Jesus was in the house, teaching the Word. It was not the healing that was attracting attention. It was the speaking of the Word. God’s word connects when it is proclaimed publicly. This is transcendental truth. People still hunger for that. But sometimes they are too sick to feed on His word.
People can be so sinsick that they need help coming to Jesus. In my zeal as a pastor, I once believed that if I could only get some sinsick person to come to the worship service that I could preach this person into the kingdom of God, healed and whole. I would have some advance knowledge that a certain person would be in the congregation on a certain Sunday. I would prepare a sermon with that person in mind. The sad part is that this sinsick person was often oblivious to the message or they were absent from the service. They weren’t hungry enough for God. Their sinsickness had curbed their godly appetite. Sinsickness creates an appetite for ungodly things. This paralytic needed help coming to Jesus. I believe he was hungry for the nourishment of the word. I believe he came there to be in the presence of God. The paralytic was dependent upon others for his very survival. He was dependent on others to bring him to Jesus. How much more was he dependent upon Jesus for his eternal destiny?
Christ “sees” the faith of the men and speaks to the one most in need. What does faith look like to God? It’s when someone acts on their desire to draw near to God, believing that God is, and believing what God says is beneficial. Faith at work is people working their faith. Faith in God is acting on God’s promise. God had promised that a Messiah would come. I believe that we sometimes give all the credit to the four men for their faith. But I think the paralytic had faith as well. Jesus tells him his sins are forgiven. Someone without faith can never receive this forgiveness that God offers. Faith is a gift from God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.
Risk is involved when people desire to get close to God. The paralytic took a risk to ask others to become their burden. Someone had to give up their time to help him get to Jesus. The four men took a risk in the whole event. Wouldn’t you have liked to been in the crowd? They must have created a scene publicly, becoming a spectacle themselves, risking offending all who were present. They also took a risk to offend the owner of the house when they tore up his roof! It took a pretty big hole to lower him down, bed and all.
The four men not only let the paralytic down, they carried him up! One of the most fascinating details of this account is hidden from us. How did they get him up on the roof in the first place? Our application as Christians is to ask a question. My question is not are we willing to tear up the roof and let the ones we are burdened with down, but are we willing to carry them up? I don’t want to spiritualize this too much, but do we carry some burdensome person up to God in prayer? Do we labor on their behalf? Do we bring their case before our loving Father in Heaven? As a practical understanding, do we pay the price to be heavily involved in the lives of suffering, sinsick people? They are all around us. Sometimes right in our midst.

II. SINSICKNESS IS THE GREAT CRIPPLER OF HUMANITY. (5-11)

Son, your sins are forgiven...get up, pick up your pallet and go home...

God’s word is curative for sinsickness. As God progressively revealed Himself to the generations, there was a priesthood installed who stood before men on God’s behalf. The priest was a type of God Himself. Religious tradition through the ages has allowed for a priest to grant forgiveness. But only an absolute God can grant absolution. One God alone has that authority. Only He knows our darkest secrets and only He knows our deepest need. Sinsickness is a total epidemic. All of humanity is infected with it and affected by it. It has a 100% mortality rate. All humans are born in sin and die as a result of it. Some of our physical afflictions have their root in sinsickness. For someone to have authority to heal these symptomatic afflictions they must also have the ability to cure them at their root cause. Christ’s word has absolute authority over the power of sin in the life of a human. If we do not hear God’s curative word, we will die. Eternal life with God is our greatest need. Sinsickness is our greatest affliction. God’s word contains the cure.
The man’s need to be forgiven was greater than his need to walk. Jesus was there to meet the greatest need. The non-Christian may think his or her affliction or addiction is their biggest problem. Their greatest need is to be forgiven of sin. The condition of unforgiveness paralyzes all of human existence and poisons our relationships. Man needs a Savior from sin and deliverance from this condition. Sinsickness manifested in the public arena is masked with human justification. When we are told we are products of our environment, or economically deprived, or genetically predisposed to our addictions and afflictions, it is just human attempts to cover our sin and explain it away. After all, we’re only human, huh? We are either faulty or perfect. We cannot be both. The humanist cannot have it both ways. Believing these things cause us to avoid taking responsibility for our behavior, claiming our behavior is someone else’s fault and continuously making excuses for our fallen humanity, attempting to exalt our humanity to godlike status. I have heard it said that an excuse is a lie disguised as a reason. What would be the result if some of the most powerful people in public life would humble themselves and take responsibility for their sinful actions? It would bring radical change.
Christ sent the forgiven man back home. A radically changed man went back to what would be a radically changed home. He was a restored man. Home would be a new place. His family and friends would have a new experience with this healed man. Things are different when Christ changes our lives. Do you want a changed home environment? Learn to practice biblical forgiveness.
Practicing forgiveness in our Christian homes overcomes paralyzed relationships. Unforgiveness in our Christian homes turns joyful service into tedious duty. This is what happened in the elder son’s heart when the prodigal son returned in Luke 15. The elder son was a dutiful son. He resented the prodigal wasting his father’s wealth while he slaved away at home. All those years dwelling on his duty and thinking of his brother’s frivolity hardened his heart. Forgiveness was alien to him and his heart was far from his father. Perhaps Christians don’t really know how to practice forgiveness. For example, one person says, “I was wrong. I sinned against God and against you. I have no excuse for my behavior. Will you forgive me?” Then the other person says “Yes, I forgive you. I will not hold this against you. I will not allow my mind to dwell on the sin. I will not speak about this occasion again to you or gossip about it to others.” When forgiveness is practiced, it humbles all parties involved, gives the Holy Spirit room to work in the heart, and binds us to God and one another. Whether you are the offender or the offended, you can make a choice to practice forgiveness. But didn’t I just hear you say that only God can forgive?, you may be asking. Yes. God forgives. And God in us forgives. And because His forgiving nature abides in us, we have the ability to forgive and for the child of God, forgiveness is required. It is not an option. Any unforgiveness in the heart of the Christian is rebellion against God. Sin cripples the Christian.
Mount Olivet will be a radically changed church if we continue to practice forgiveness. In our journey together, there has been conflict. There is bound to be more. Forgiveness has been practiced. And there is room to practice it more. We can resolve to resolve our conflicts by seeking and granting forgiveness or we can be afflicted in our walk with God, and restricted in what God will do through us. Let’s choose to grant and seek forgiveness. Let’s take up our pallet and walk.

III. THE DEITY OF JESUS IS PROVOCATIVE. (5-11)

Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming...who can forgive sins, but God alone?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…

God asks the questions for which He already knows the answers. Adam, where are you? Jonah, do you have good reason to be angry? Who do men say that I am? These are some of the questions God asks in His word. Here the God-man asks a question about a question that was never even asked out loud. He heard the heart of the scribes. That is awesome. That’s the God with whom we have to deal. He hears our heart. He knows our mind. If the scribes were concerned at all about the paralytic, they would have made room for him to get to Jesus. His friends would not have had to climb up on the roof! But self-righteous religious people never make it easy for the sinsick to get to Jesus. Their unconcern for their fellow man reveals their heart condition and exposes the reason they were there…not to gain wisdom, but to guard their tradition. Their concern was a biblical one. God was the only one authorized to forgive sins. It was in their prophetic writings. So were the prophecies of Messiah. Their religious philosophy did not include a Messiah like this. Their Messiah must be a man made in their image. One like them. But here was One like the Son of Man. They missed that prophecy. God revealed Himself to mankind in His word. Jesus was the revelation of the Old Testament prophecy. We can read the Word of God and totally miss its interpretation. God is always revealing Himself. We may be too self-focused to notice Christ in plain sight.
The Son of Man is a term associated with judgment. This is a favorite term that Jesus often used for Himself. Some think that he classified Himself this way because it tied Him to His humanity. I think it was all about authority. We read about this in Daniel’s vision:

I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)

This prophecy gives great comfort to the Christian. God is in authority. My judge is Jesus. And He is also my Savior. How can He judge against the work of salvation that He has done in me? He cannot. But the non-Christian is in another category. The Son of Man has absolute authority and dominion in an everlasting kingdom. The non-Christian abides under the wrath of God. He or she is judged already. What their greatest need is mercy and forgiveness. They need to know their need. We have already seen that Jesus knows what is in the heart of a man. He can rightly judge because He has all the evidence to do so. If I did not know Christ as my Savior today, I would plead for mercy until I was judged forgiven and in right standing with God. The Son of Man was there to judge the sinner, of which the scribes and the paralytic fell into that category. One Judgment Day happened at the cross. All of humanity was judged guilty of sin. The Last Judgment Day is coming where all of humanity will be sentenced. Our Judge is the Honorable Jesus Christ.
Secular humanists do not care what you believe about Christ…just don’t go public with it. The new mantra today for public consumption is, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” These words are spoken by secular humanists and minimal Christians who claim that the worse sin in any of us in intolerance of another’s views and lifestyles. Never mind that they take these words of Jesus out of context and in any other argument would discredit the words of Christ as irrelevant. Our challenge as Christian disciples is to live out our public lives as students of Christ. Our witness about Christ will always be public, whether we are speaking or silent. Our silent witness speaks volumes.
The Christian should be provoked to defend the honor of the name of Jesus; is the name of God. I have tried to temper my temper when it comes to the assault on the name of Christ. When His name is brought down to the level of swear words, I try to remain calm. One of my favorite tactics when I hear someone exclaim, “Jesus Christ!” is to ask “Where?” very excitedly. Then I get to see the look of disdain on the face of some folks while I comment, “I’ve been waiting and waiting for His return and the day when we hear the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord! That will be the day we’ll be alright! I thought that day was this day!”
In the church we must constantly be on guard to exalt the deity of Jesus. Beware that some things you can buy in the Christian book store do not magnify the deity of Jesus. Now the name of God may be on almost every page of some books, but the deity of Jesus hard to find in the purpose of the author’s writing. Why do you think this could be so? Could it be the spiritual, as well as the secular, marketplace is being targeted? Jesus does not sell so well in the world. The problem is that we see that attitude oozing into the Christian church. We will be tempted to adopt the non-offensive marketing approach to attract new church members. Exalting Jesus and acknowledging Him as God may not draw a huge crowd, but it will be the basis for making disciples. This is our strategy.

His word is curative, His deity is provocative, and His forgiveness is restorative.

IV. FORGIVENESS OF SIN RESTORES MEN’S LIVES AND GLORIFIES GOD. (12)

...they were all amazed and were glorifying God...

The healing of the paralytic was not God’s primary way to display His glory.
Paralysis was only a symptom of the man’s sinsick condition. Jesus demonstrated that the healing of the paralytic was symbolic of His authority to heal the greatest affliction. The issue was authority. He said the easier thing while He was doing the harder thing. The scribes were right. Some things only God can do.
When God is working through His word, we cannot manage it or explain it. We can only marvel at it, and praise Him for it. Do you marvel at what Christ has done with your sinsick heart? Are you more aware of your need for His authority to heal your sinsickness?

At Mount Olivet we can answer the call to surrender to the authority of Christ over our sinsickness. Rise, take up our pallet and walk.

Here’s our “so what” for today's message:

We are all sinners who have fallen and can’t get up.
Our greatest need is forgiveness and restoration.
Our marvelous God glorifies Himself in our changed lives.
The practice of faith in our public and private lives is on display before God and man.

Faith takes a walk with God. Don’t be paralyzed in the journey by unforgiveness.