Mark 2:1-12 - So That You May Know

Are your expectations of God high enough?

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Gospels: Week 3 - Jesus' authority to call, heal, forgive, and welcome sinners

Mark 2:1–12 (NASB95)

¹ When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ² 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.

³ And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. ⁴ 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.

⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 

⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ 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? 

⁹ “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 

¹² 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.”

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 125

Q. What does the fourth request of the Lord's Prayer mean?

A. “Give us today our daily bread” means,

Do take care of all our physical needs

so that we come to know

that you are the only source of everything good,

and that neither our work and worry

nor your gifts

can do us any good without your blessing.

And so help us to give up our trust in creatures

and to put trust in you alone.

Q&A 126

Q. What does the fifth request mean?

A. “Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors” means,

Because of Christ’s blood,

do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are,

any of the sins we do

or the evil that constantly clings to us.

Forgive us just as we are fully determined,

as evidence of your grace in us,

to forgive our neighbors.

Summary

What kind of expectations do you have for our Triune God? The four men carrying a paralytic to Jesus came with higher expectations than most, along with a faith that stands out.

Lots of people were coming to Jesus in theses early days of His ministry, flocking around wherever He went. So when they hear that He was at home, the crowd showed up there so that there was no longer room, not even near the door. All sorts of people came, even a key element of their society's elite establishment class: the scribes.

Mark doesn't say in today's passage what the crowd's expectations were, but the previous passage makes clear that they'd heard about Jesus' miracle working power, and they wanted to see - and maybe even experience - more. Jesus, for His part, doesn't miss the opportunity to speak the word to them. We'll see this tension grow as we read through the gospels: the crowd wants one thing - miracles - but Jesus simply wants to teach and prepare them for the kingdom of God, which He's been announcing has come near.

Suddenly the ceiling opened up, and has now become famous, the paralytic was lowered down. It seems pretty clear what the unspoken expectation for Jesus to do was, but instead Jesus stuns everyone by ignoring the presenting problem - paralysis - and treating the man's much more pressing problem by announcing to the man that his sins are forgiven. Even the high expectations of these men for Jesus to heal their friend were too low.

  Dig Deeper  

So again, what kind of expectations do you have for our Triune God? A good way to quantify them is to analyze what you've been praying for. No prayers whatsoever indicates you have no or very low expectations. Maybe you've simply been asking Him to give you each day your daily bread the way He commanded us to. But your actual expectations are likely a bit higher, in that you probably assume that God is obligated to provide you that daily bread with a generous topping of butter and in a nicely appointed and air conditioned dining room.

And maybe your expectations - and even your faith - soar even higher than the men in today's episode as you boldly present your requests to God as Philippians 4:6 commands us (requests could even be translated as demands!). And it's not wrong, having aligned your life with God's will, to ask Him for whatever you need - and even want! He both invites us and commands us to do so!

But if your requests are limited to things under the Sun (as our Teacher in Ecclesiastes taught us a few weeks ago), your expectations for God are too low. Even if you present your requests as boldly and as faithfully as these men did in Jesus' home that day so long ago.

Jesus wanted those gathered together in His home, and He wants you, to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And this is the greatest thing you can expect and ask from Him! Forgiveness is what you need to repair the broken covenant relationship you have with God so that you can live with Him in the communion He designed you for.

So keep asking God for what you need under the sun. These things are important, and as Jesus teaches elsewhere, your Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:32). But don't aim too low. Jesus wants you to know that you can have the highest expectations for Him. So always make your request for your debts to be forgiven primary - in Jesus' words, seek first His kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son has authority on earth to forgive sins;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit would help raise your expectations of our Triune God;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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