Date: 07 Feb 2000
Time: 09:19:46
An interesting story ! I often wonder why Jesus forgave this man's sin before healing him. Jesus did not do this with everyone he healed - so why does he do it here ?
Is it possible, I wonder, that the man's problems were psychosomatic ? Guilt can be a destructive emotion, but I would not expect it to cause paralysis. Or was the man suffering from the thought that his paralysis was the punishment for some sin or other, and he needed re-assurance that his spirit would be healed along with his body ?
Any ideas ?
Mike, North Wales, UK
Date: 07 Feb 2000
Time: 18:39:38
Mike - I'm not sure that we can really tell all the details of this one incident but I find myself wondering -- where is the gospel in this. Perhaps it is in the faith of the 4 men that brought their friend to the roof in the first place - they couldn't get in through the door so they brought him to Jesus through the roof. And Jesus comments on their faith before he does or says anything else. What does that say to those who are around us? Are we surrounded by friends that would go to the rooftops for us? What is our community of faith all about. What motivated these men to go to the roof with their friend? Were they desperate? Were they convinced of Jesus' gifts/ministry? Or was it simply opportunity.
What lengths do we go to for bringing our friends to Jesus? What lengths do we go to for bringing ourselves before the Lord?
Just some thoughts.
Date: 07 Feb 2000
Time: 18:40:04
Mike - I'm not sure that we can really tell all the details of this one incident but I find myself wondering -- where is the gospel in this. Perhaps it is in the faith of the 4 men that brought their friend to the roof in the first place - they couldn't get in through the door so they brought him to Jesus through the roof. And Jesus comments on their faith before he does or says anything else. What does that say to those who are around us? Are we surrounded by friends that would go to the rooftops for us? What is our community of faith all about. What motivated these men to go to the roof with their friend? Were they desperate? Were they convinced of Jesus' gifts/ministry? Or was it simply opportunity.
What lengths do we go to for bringing our friends to Jesus? What lengths do we go to for bringing ourselves before the Lord?
Just some thoughts. - L I L
Date: 09 Feb 2000
Time: 03:01:41
Interesting that sin is the need that Jesus addresses in the man; however the reason they brought him was to be healed of paralysis ( it seems)! Can it be that a message in this is that Jesus deals with our sin as the most important thing, bestowing forgivenss first, and then, if he is so inclined to, he heals our bodies. Everyone he healed in the body eventually got ill and died anyway. the real healing for him and for us was to be forgiven of sin. This is "Why I came out" (see lect. text from 2 weeks ago)
-jeffy in NY-
Date: 09 Feb 2000
Time: 16:17:06
Verse 9 says, "Which is easier... Your sins are forgiven, or Stand up and walk? The point seems to be that both are equally possible with Jesus. It seems to me that Jesus' point in pronouncing forgiveness is to deliberately incite conflict with the scribes, perhaps to keep the people from railroading him to a kingly throne or from expecting him to raise a coup to overthrow the Roman government. This is at a time when Jesus' popularity is skyrocketing. It would have been so easy for him to get sidetracked from his mission and to become a hero for the popular desire, which was to gain freedom from Roman rule.
Clarence in Iowa
Date: 09 Feb 2000
Time: 17:20:47
Why did Jesus come? To be our wonder-healer (Benny Hill, et al) or to restore us to God? It seems to me that the forgiveness of sin is the true miracle, to be free from the past, to no longer live as a "leper" in your community, no longer filled with guilt from the past, but open to God's engracing. This is what this story is about.
tom in ga
Date: 09 Feb 2000
Time: 23:50:30
Can you imagine, waiting in line to see Jesus,... finally you reach the doorway of the house, and there's this big commotion, and you wonder what's going on,... then before you know what's happening, mud & plaster are falling on your head: some guys are tearing a whole in the roof!!!! Are they insane? They're tearing the building apart! And who's going to pay for this?
Is it worth it to sacrifice the building, someone's home, so that this man can be healed?
Is it worth it to sacrifice (a new air conditioner, a new sound system, new robes for the choir) so that our church can use more of its resources to help those who really need it?
What does this say about how we should respond to children running around the church, tearing up the carpet, threatening to damage the furniture, etc.?
Danny in CA
Date: 10 Feb 2000
Time: 05:58:21
Anybody interested in a great story about a "cure" of paralysis should read Reynolds Price's "A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing" (New York: PLUME, 1995) 42-43. Price -- a victim of cancer which left him paralyzed -- writes of a personal vision in which he encounters Jesus by the Sea of Galilee. Barbara Brown Taylor used it as an illustration for Matthew's version of this text at Minister's Week at Brite Divinity School, TCU. Powerful stuff!
mdd of Texas
Date: 10 Feb 2000
Time: 06:05:12
Isn't it true that guilt is one of two things we reach for when calamity happens (blame is the other one). It could be the leper had bought into the traditional view that sickness was a result of sin.
It is interesting about the intercessory tone of this text. The man is cured because of the faith of his friends.
Is it possible that sometimes when we are so overwhelmed by what life has tossed at us that we can not muster any kind of confession of faith, the community can do it for us?
I think of people in the anger stage of grief. They have neither the interest nor the inclination to turn to God so -- in those moments -- their faith community does it for them.
Date: 10 Feb 2000
Time: 06:05:25
Isn't it true that guilt is one of two things we reach for when calamity happens (blame is the other one). It could be the leper had bought into the traditional view that sickness was a result of sin.
It is interesting about the intercessory tone of this text. The man is cured because of the faith of his friends.
Is it possible that sometimes when we are so overwhelmed by what life has tossed at us that we can not muster any kind of confession of faith, the community can do it for us?
I think of people in the anger stage of grief. They have neither the interest nor the inclination to turn to God so -- in those moments -- their faith community does it for them.
mdd of Texas
Date: 10 Feb 2000
Time: 06:11:21
One thing that we cannot forget is the primacy of grace. This man was entirely passive throughout the story. He does not come to Jesus on his own, he is brought. It is not even his faith that gets him healed. I think we do better to put the emphasis on what Jesus does rather than try to turn this passage into some kind of program for us to follow.
mdd in Texas
Date: 12 Feb 2000
Time: 19:27:17
This is one of the funniest scenes in the gospels. I love to do this one in sign language.
Jesus is in the house, and the roof starts falling in! He looks up, and gets plaster in his eye! Everyone wonders what's going on, "Is the sky falling?"
But this guy really, really wants to be healed, to receive Jesus' touch. He's determined enough to get his buddies to haul him up on the roof. (Alternatively, they are determined enough to haul their friend up on the roof.)
We have a beautiful new church with a high ceiling, and our folks wouldn't much like to see someone up there with a chain saw, trying to get in--especially as we have 12 doors in the building!
Jay in Alabama
Date: 12 Feb 2000
Time: 22:55:52
As we proceed through Epiphany and the unveiling of Jesus, this passage makes a powerful statement. The thinking at that time was that sin and illness were connected. One suffered because one sinned, and one could not be healed unless forgiven by God. Since it could not be denied that the man was healed, it also could not be denied that he was forgiven - by the authority of Jesus. Here Jesus is putting himself on the same level as God, and revealing himself as God's Messiah. As Barclay points out, he is "flinging down a challenge" to the religious experts. Notice also that in the next pericope Jesus shares table fellowship with sinners and announces that his purpose is to bring good news to sinners, bringing healing to spirit as well as the body. BSED
Date: 12 Feb 2000
Time: 22:56:55
As we proceed through Epiphany and the unveiling of Jesus, this passage makes a powerful statement. The thinking at that time was that sin and illness were connected. One suffered because one sinned, and one could not be healed unless forgiven by God. Since it could not be denied that the man was healed, it also could not be denied that he was forgiven - by the authority of Jesus. Here Jesus is putting himself on the same level as God, and revealing himself as God's Messiah. As Barclay points out, he is "flinging down a challenge" to the religious experts. Notice also that in the next pericope Jesus shares table fellowship with sinners and announces that his purpose is to bring good news to sinners, bringing healing to spirit as well as the body. BSED
Date: 12 Feb 2000
Time: 23:34:32
I believe that Jesus forgave the man's sins and then healed him (in that order) not because forgiving the man's sins was somehow a prerequisite for healing him, but (rather) as a way for Jesus to announce to the scribes who he was, and what his ministry was to be about.
Picture the scene. The man is lowered down. The crowd begins to murmur. "What are they doing!? We were here first! How rude!" They begin to wonder, "What will Jesus do?" He begins to speak, and the crowd is hushed, but rather than healing the man as everyone expects, he says "Son, your sins are forgiven!" There's confusion in the room! "What did he say!? Isn't he going to heal him, like he healed the others?"
The scribes say to themselves "...Who can forgive sins but God alone?" and Jesus responds to them, "...so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." and heals the man.
The healing then, was a dramatic, visible sign to the scribes, of Jesus' power to forgive sins, something only God could do (notice that Jesus does not contradict them). To remove any doubt of who he was claiming to be, he even calls himself "the Son of Man," a title they would recognize from Daniel.
So, for the scribes, the healing was a sign that Jesus was not just a healer, but "the Son of Man!" The Messiah!
Imagine things in the other order. The man is lowered down, Jesus says, "You're healed, take up your cot and walk!" The crowd goes wild! "Me next! me! Heal me!" Would anyone have heard him say "Your sins are forgiven?" If they had, it would probably have seemed like an afterthought.
The power of his message would have been greatly diminished.
Tom, Kirkwood, NY USA
Date: 13 Feb 2000
Time: 11:56:38
I want to say thanks for some particular postings from last week's lectionary, and was too late to do it in last week's forum. First, DWR, thank you for your vulnerability and, through first person, making the story of "outcasts" sing loud and clear into this 21st Century ear. Second, Gay in IN, thank you for sharing the CS Lewis and Paul Tillich (sp?) comments that, for me, bring the high and low Christology into the one Christ -- for who is this Jesus if he is not BOTH human and divine, pissed off and full of compassion? Third is Jude in WA and the sharing of the Master's Hand --- it's been a LONG while since I've heard/read that poem, and have long since forgotten it. But it was first read to me by a 75 year old friend who is a recovering alcoholic, and he ends his life's story with that poem every time he tells his story --- thanks for that memory.
ChrisInMN
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 04:20:07
"You have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." [Is 43:24-25]
It seems to me that the above text from the first reading, has something to say in relation to the gospel [mark 2:1...] Our sins are a burden to God, they weary him. Yet for his ownsake, he forgets our sins and forgives us. It looks like he did this with the paralytic in the gospel. Was his sin a part of his paralysis? Does our sin have a paralyzing effect on us? When someone else's sin burdens and wearies me, am I called by God's grace to forgive and let go of that sin, "for my own sake" - perhaps to let go of my own paralysis - my anger, my desire to get even, my lack of foregiveness, whatever? Does anyone have some thoughts about this or know a story to illustrate such a possibility?
Phil, Toronto, Canada.
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 16:01:27
I've been thinking about the last few readings as they relate to the healing ministry of Jesus, then and now. This one reminds me of three things concerning healing. 1)We need healing in several dimensions of our lives. (emotional, relational, spiritual, and physical) This man healed physically, spiritually, and relationally (his relationship with God) 2)Jesus noticed the faith of his friends, not his. He will notice ours when we bring friends into his presence. 3)Healing on every level can be aided by medicine, counseling, aand friends but comes ultimately through Christ. Jim in SC
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 16:45:49
Folks, notice that verse 1 tells us that He is at home! I take this to mean that Jesus possibly has established headquarters in Capernaum. So he has a personal interest in the roof, that is being disassebled. I love the idea of tying this to the Yes of 2 Corintians 1:18-22. Jesus is not the least worried about his roof, but rather jumps at the opportunity to say Yes! to the request of a crippled man, and his friends. In that I find the gospel, the Yes to God's plan of redemption. Darren Grant City UMC
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 19:10:36
There is a difference between being cured (physical wellness) and healed (pschological/spiritual wellness). I can't help but think about the paralysis as being the sin itself...the block to the wholeness of this man. His friends bring him into the presence of the one who can help unblock the way to the wholeness of self. LMG in Mystic
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 19:10:40
There is a difference between being cured (physical wellness) and healed (pschological/spiritual wellness). I can't help but think about the paralysis as being the sin itself...the block to the wholeness of this man. His friends bring him into the presence of the one who can help unblock the way to the wholeness of self. LMG in Mystic
Date: 14 Feb 2000
Time: 23:22:37
Friends,
This Sunday our congregation will be taking up a major offering for disaster relief, world hunger, and, economic development accross the globe. Having said that, I am approaching the text through that particular lens.
Christ's question in verse 10 is key. "Which is easier?"
I once heard a quote that goes something like this. "Give a man a fish and he is fed for a day. Teach a man to fish and he is fed for a lifetime."
Yet, if the river is polluted and the fish are dead, or if the man has to walk accross a war zone to get to the water, or his fishing pole was lost in a mud-slide, simply teaching him to fish would be a death sentence.
"Which is easier?"
The church is good about saying we care, good about saying what matters, good about proclaiming a word. Yet only Jesus can forgive sins and heal illness.
Which would have been easier? For the friends to talk to paralytic about this miriacle healer in the house or to physically bring him to Jesus?
The ministry of the church must be about doing what is difficult. Engaging the forces that serve as barriers to healing and wholeness at the hand of Jesus Christ.
Peace,
DWR
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 01:47:46
In reply to MDD and the importance of the faith community, I have been so ill a few times in my life that I could not muster a prayer. One night which might have been my last on earth, I just had a pastor friend read Psalms to me. It is important for the faith community to be the ones to carry us to Jesus at such times. glad in Il
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 02:59:53
Because of events in the life of our church this passage hit me an entirely different way! "You can't do that in church!" is an often heard admonition. Possibly some of the group of four carrying their friend said, "We can't get in - let's go home." The Scribes were telling Jesus He can't do that. The crowd was saying, "We were here first - you can't go ahead of us." The owner of the building was saying, "That's my roof - you can't tear it up." Jesus admired their faith and, in the midst of the negatives, said they had done well and granted the healing!
Van - Mississippi
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 14:03:30
If sin was thorght to be the main reason for sickness then I would have to admire the friends who choose to look beyond the sin and love the sinned. They brought him to Christ, to be healed and he was also forgiven. They did not judge their firend they just loved him. To carry him, to lift him up and tear down the walls (so to speak) was a decision that could have cost them. His friends give us the true example of what the body of Christ (the Church) should be across all ages. MCM-PA
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 16:23:10
I'm with Phil from Toronto on the Mark/Isaiah connection. Seems that the faith of the paralytic's friends (which enables the healing) is what pushes the paralytic to the next "new thing" and allows him to leave behind the "old thing." It is often our friends and family who enable and motivate us to move beyond our past and into the next future that God has for us. We are often so close to ourselves that we get into the "can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome and need someone beyond us to clear our vision. This is what initiates healing over old wounds that helps us to be the new creation.
The other side of the coin is that we can often be the same for others.
brad in bama
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 20:38:52
Darren - Your brief comment on 2:1 rocked me and sent me back to the scripture, and to wondering. Jesus "at home"?? What happened to "the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head"?? Has anyone in studying the commentaries found information about this? I think it does indeed make a difference, to the story and to our story, if it is Jesus' house that is being torn apart for the sake of forgiveness and healing. The other element of the story that has been commented upon, the friends who carry the paralytic, speaks to American Christians in poignant ways. We who pride ourselves on our self-reliance, on our "rugged individualism" have a hard time hearing about grace. We have much to learn from this one who could not even move to go see Jesus, who is utterly dependent upon those around him, who cannot deceive himself about "choosing" to accept Jesus is blessed with forgiveness and wholeness. We never hear what happens to this man (if it were me they'd hear me in the next town!) but his most eloquent witness is simply getting up and walking out, right through that crowd that always seems gathered around Jesus to get their own needs met, to have a "personal", individual encounter with the Savior. Their response - indeed, our response - to this one saved sheerly by grace alone is as it must be: "We've never seen anything like this!"
Shalom, BO in KY (USA)
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 22:40:34
I have found Psalm 41 of this weeks lectionary to be a good lead in to the Mark text. I am looking at the contrast of friends who turn against with friends who go out of their way to help, and the concept of sin and healing being what God does.
Also, the concept that Jesus could forgive sins is not the concept that the Jews had of what their Messiah could do. Only God can forgive sins. Still musing about it all. clw in co
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 22:49:41
I am looking at using Psalm 41 from the lectionary as the lead in for the Mark text. The contrast between friends that hurt and friends that do the extra for their friend and the imagery of sin and healing are in both texts.
The idea of Jesus healing sins was not what the Jews expected of the Messiah. Only God could forgive sins. So it is not unusual that this would surprise and upset those who were there. Still musing. clw in co
Date: 15 Feb 2000
Time: 23:22:51
I agree with the thoughts that have been expressed upstream along the lines that Jesus' forgiving the paralyzed man's sins was most important in his continuing self-disclosure. Healings are evidence of divine power, but they do not specifically disclose Jesus to be the Son of God. Here he gives himself the title "the Son of Man" for the first time - he is being more and more direct.
Beyond that, however, I have a note that I wrote in my Bible, a product of some lecture or seminar, that says that the question "which is easier" has a different answer for us than it did for Jesus. For us, saying "your sins are forgiven" is the easier task; in fact making the man able to walk may be impossible for us. But for Jesus, for whom both tasks were equally do-able, the healing is easier. At least it is less costly for him, since it does not require his death. So he is hanging himself out on a limb with the statement "your sins are forgiven," only for the moment he is the only one who knows what price he will have to pay for making it.
RevLauren in LA
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 05:05:51
Ched Myers in all of his books on the gospel of Mark (Binding The Strong Man, Orbis) says that this story is Jesus' first declaration of the Jubilee. The first thing he says to the paralyzed man is your sins are forgiven...you are released from debt...you are free. And to prove it the man gets up and walks out. Myers believes the gospel is about redistributive justice. We as Americans are paralyzed by our worship of the god of capitalism, and would find it easier to witness a 'healing miracle' than to release folks from their debts. The movement is to freedom, and the friends are part of the movement toward wholeness. What do you think? TLS in Olympia
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 14:01:38
Was this mans paralysis a result of his sin or the sin of his parents? We know it was neither. Sin and physical well being are seperate issues and in this passage it seems that Jesus points that out by forgiving sin and healing the man in two seperate acts. Our sin can affect our well being but they are still two seperate issues both of which need to be addressed for our wholness. This passage reminds us that Jesus has power both area of our lives and it is through him that we are able to become whole people. The fact that the four friends had to bring him reminds us that we cannot become whole on our own. At least at this point in time is how I am going to approach this text for Sunday. Terry in Nebraska
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 14:03:57
This all happens in Jesus' own house in Capernaum, and he doen't seem to mind at all that the roof of his house has just been torn up! His only concern is the forgiveness and the healing of the visitor.
What are our churches, except houses of Jesus? We forget that he doesn't really care about the scuff marks left behind by children, or mud tracked in on the carpet. His concern is not for the building itself, but the people inside it. Or, more exactly, his concern is for the people outside who need to be inside. And if you have to tear up the roof to get them in, go to it.
DR
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 15:05:55
Ah...for the love and power of faithful friends. Real friends don't let friends down.I am glad that we also have a "Friend" that is closer than a brother! I am glad someone befriended me and didn't leave me to drown in sin, but instead introduced me to the Savior! We need more of these "real friendships" in the church. --Sister Mary in NC
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 15:13:28
The Power of Friends -- I am thinking how wonderful to tell this story in the view of the paralytic. What must have it been like to have four good friends show compassion for him? What must have it felt like to have them carry him up to the roof. There is trust in even that! What must it have been like to have these friends start tearing a hole in the roof. Please don't go to so much trouble just for me? What must have those friends given as a reason for such a great sacrifice? "You're worth it?" "Friend, you just gotta know our Jesus?" I am thinking of developing a sermon around personal testimonies of how friends let them to Christ, and what a powerful means of grace "friendship" can be. --Sister Mary in NC
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 15:18:37
Maybe the real "sin" that was forgiven was not simply our alienation with God, but also with each other. What a wonderful contrast for those standing in line to see Jesus "for themselves only" and the 4 friends who were thinking of someone "besides themselves only." If people in our world would put others first, and serve them with this kind of sacrificial love, what a powerful Christian witness would abound! Instead, our church is often perceived as "taking care of our own wounds." Maybe we are the paralytic ones! The gospel of Christ is to go and make disciples...baptizing and healing in Christ's name. We shouldn't make a big deal that there were 4 good friends already doing this. This is what we are supposed to do in the first place: bring people to Jesus -- at any cost! --Sister Mary in NC
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 15:21:10
Maybe the best sermon "out there" is the most simple. Just teach your church members how to lead others to Christ! Show them how to witness and what to say!
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 16:22:29
I am having trouble understanding to of Terry in Nebraska's statements:
"Sin and physical well being are seperate issues and in this passage it seems that Jesus points that out by forgiving sin and healing the man in two seperate acts. Our sin can affect our well being but they are still two seperate issues both of which need to be addressed for our wholness."
I see the passage as Jesus simply being interrupted by the scribes before Jesus was able to pronounce the man healed. Jesus may have healed the man of his sins first, got interrupted, then announced the man was healed physically, as well.
But most of my confusion is that Terry's statements seem to be self contradictory. I agree 100% with the phrase "sin can effect our well being." But I would say quite often "sin and physical well being" are not really separate issues. Look at those who drink heavily and develop alcoholism, those who use illegal IV drugs or commit immoral sex acts and wind up with HIV/AIDS, (gay OR straight) and those whose sin is glutony, for example. These and similar sins often do get us into trouble. (I am biblical old school, I guess, to me sex outside of marriage is sin.)
Also notice we do not know HOW the man was paralized in this story. Perhaps he was caught in adultery and the irate husband beat him into paralysis. I think we error if we tell our congregations illness is not connected to sin. It might be, and it might not be. (To an alcoholic, any alcohol drinking is sin, and the sin must stop for physical wellness. To a person who is obese due to overeating, overeating is sin and it must stop before there is healing.) However, some illnesses just happen. (Like a person who is obese due to certain medical reasons.)
BUT whether an illness is sin induced or not, I believe we Christians must not discriminate. Like those who opened the roof, we must be willing to help those who are ill, whether the illness is physical, emotional or social. We should also, as Jesus did, realize spiritual healing is the foundation for the other forms of healing. Jesus announced forgiveness of sins for the paralytic first, then announced the man had also been healed physically, as well. My experience has shown very often the two, sin and illness, are directly related. revup
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 16:31:53
Just some thoughts as I start to look at this... First thought: One of the key things about forgiveness is that it releases us from the power that evil has in our lives - the power to accuse us ...and tell us that we are not worthy .. not lovable ...
In forgiveness that power is broken
This does not diminish the wrong we have done, but releases us from the power it has in our lives. Jesus has authority over evil .. rendering it powerless
Second thought ... It is in God’s nature to set free I was thinking about animal liberation activists who set animals free to live in the wild????
Third thought ... we need to focus on the objective and the subjective ... This should not just be a sermon that makes us feel good .... not just therapy ... but something about God. The objective truth of what God has done in Christ
Rev Ev in Bev UK
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 16:59:30
Last week's lectionary Jesus was asked to make a leper clean and he reached out and touched him. This week Jesus is asked to heal a paralytic and he forgives his sins. It looks like if you approach this person Jesus you are going to get more than you ask for. I think there might be a mistake in assuming that the correlation between sin and illness is causal. The reason I think its tricky is that people get causes and the will of God or the judgment of God mixed up together and the next thing you know you are saying things like Sister Sally got cancer cause of her divorce. Bumbler in NC
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 17:31:02
any thoughts on why so many have commented on Mark and so few on the other scriptures? PDB in ND
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 17:49:50
Some thoughts:
?5 When Jesus saw their faith,
saw their faith: that they were impeded in getting to him; and so went around the long and difficult way to get to him...in our efforts (not necessarily our results)...in our efforts to walk with God is our faith shown. Also shown in this persistence: hope, trust?
"Son, your sins are forgiven."
the man is paralyzed...Jesus says, “son, your sins are forgiven.” Not, Son, your limbs are given new life, but, first, son your sins are forgiven.
Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus can; but any loving heart can share the good news that God forgives sins
2:9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?
Forgiving sins more difficult? Having sins forgiven more important than walking? Having sins forgiven necessary step before we can “walk?”
But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" --he said to the paralytic-- 2:11 "I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home."
another strong indication that physical healing requires prior release from one’s sins
Bill in TN
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 17:55:29
I wanted to share a personal story that might not fit in so much with with the sins forgiven part but is a promise that God heals today too.. My young daughter at 10 years of age had a very bad ski accident - severing her leg, breaking all three bones in her leg. Fortunately doctors were able to put her back together again by pinning the bones together and waiting for the new bone to heal over the breaks (bone can regenerate itself). we understood this intellectually but the recovery was very lengthy. One night as I was listening to her concerns _ her leg always pained at night, she asked me something about God. I often did a guided meditation with her to help her sleep but this night she wanted some kind of assurance or direction from God. I told her to pray and open her bible(she'd just received from sunday school) randomly and that God would give her a word. She opened the Bible to the story of the paralytic and we read it together. She understood that it was a promise from God that she would walk again and she did and was able to return to full participation in sports after 2 years. It was this word from God that gave her so much peace and reassurance.Nina in the North
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 20:33:07
Thank you Nina! For the wonderful story - which makes me think about how we view forgiveness and healing. Earlier someone concentrated on the phrase "which is easier" -- How easy is it really for us to accept the forgiveness of God into our lives? I think we imagine it to be "easy" but in reality forgiveness is the hardest thing for most of us. We don't want to let go of the old -- because forgiveness means we have to change - our attitude, our actions, our sense of who we are as children of God and in relationship to others in our community. We don't want to change. And we sometimes don't think we "ought" to be forgiven depending on what it is we have done ( or what another has done against us ). But forgiveness does not belong to us - it belongs to God. And when we forgive, we truly live in the kingdom and act as God's children. - L I L
Date: 16 Feb 2000
Time: 21:33:17
Jesus is standing in a crowded room and sees these guys drop their buddy down through the roof. Instead of saying something cool like, "wow you guys are sure good to your friends, and guess what you were right I can fix your buddy right up" he says "Son your sins are forgiven." The only way Jesus made it three more years afer his baptism is because he had this ability to slip through the angry mob. Instead of making this about the mush and goo about what a pal we have in Jesus, who is going to dare to tell the people that Jesus was a challenge to the status quo, a real presence of God who broke the rules in order to set free the oppressed children of Isreal? Who is going to tell the folks back home if they get in the presence of this lving God chances are you will get alot more than you bargain for and a chance to play sports again. B in NC
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 00:06:15
Good contributions again! Mike in North Wales, I think that the healing in this story concerns the scribes more than the paralytic. As an ex-therapist, psychosomatic illnesses can be just as devastating as others, so it doesn't make any difference in my thinking. Jeffy in NY - yes, last week the leper was cured of the leprosy but that was incidental to the healing that resulted when he was included again in community. At least that was a point in my sermon. Sin separates us from God just like leprosey separates from "health" and paralysis separates from the ability to walk. I think that is what tom in ga is saying.
I also have wondered why we all go to the Gospel passages more than the other ones. It was frustrating a couple of weeks ago when I went to the Corinthian passage instead. I guess "demons" were more interesting than "preaching the gospel for free."
Anyway, I do have a personal story to share about healing. Early in my Christian walk, I did not believe in "healing ministries." I met a Christian friend at a social event, who inquired if I wanted to go see a "traveling" minister who had a healing ministry. I told her that I didn't believe in such things, but hastened to tell her that if I did go, I would ask him to heal a serious pain that I had in my back. The pain was so severe, that it woke me every night at 3:00 a.m. and I could not go back to sleep. I would have to get up out of bed and sit upright in a living room chair to be able to sleep more.
About one week later, I woke at 3:00 p.m. as usual, but the pain was absolutely 100% gone! I was so releaved that I was afraid to move. I had the sense that God had removed the pain, but began to doubt. Then I became afraid that the pain would come back because I doubted, and so I forced myself to "believe." It was such wonderful relief that I went back to sleep in my bed, jumped up in the morning and told my mother-in-law what had happened.
About 2 months later, I ran into my friend and after some small talk she said, "Oh! How's your back!" And immediately I knew. I said, "you are the one, aren't you?" And she laughed and said, "Yes," and proceeded to tell me how she went to the healer and had asked for healing for me.
Well, I've got to go.
Jude in Wash.
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 13:16:27
To Darren and others: in response to the question about Jesus being "at home," the Greek does not indicate that Jesus was in his own house. It is the translators who have chosen this phrase to translate the phrase "en oiko", meaning literally "in a house." The phrase "at home" simply signifies that Jesus had returned to Capernaum where he was at the end of Chapter 1 when he cast out the unclean spirit in the synagogue (1:21-28) and then went to Simon's house where he healed Simon's mother-in-law (1:29-31). It seems logical, then, that "en oiko" may simply mean that he was "inside." Perhaps it was Simon's house he was inside again. Perhaps it was another house. To assume that he was in his own house is to assume too much from the text.
Nonetheless, that he is not distracted but responds to the need at hand is a point that cannot be missed.
Jim in the Blue Ridge
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 15:14:42
In reference to MCM-PA (15 Feb 2000, 14:03:30) The paralytic's friends had great faith because even though they knew, like the scribes, that only God could forgive sins, they also trusted that Jesus could. The scribes would not have even attempted to take themselves to Jesus for healing because they knew it was impossible. The friends saw in Jesus something more than just another person. They saw in him the power of God. This is the faith/trust the Church needs across the ages! Thanks MCM! Neal in Nebraska
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 15:30:07
The word "Katatonic" (without movement) comes to mind when I think of this paralized man who was let down through the roof by his friends. Often I see patients admitted to the hospital in a katatonic state. Although not physically paralized, they are emotionally, psychologically, and I would add spiritually paralized by events which have happened to them in their lives. The lack of movement is usually by choice as a result from a perceived threat, a psychological injury, or guilt from a particular action or choice they made in their lives. I am often consulted by physicians to see these people. When I enter the room, the room is usually dark and often the patient has the covers pulled over his/her head (the covers didn't get that way by themselves. It gives you a hint that they can hear you and are able respond). I'll speak for a few moments, introducing myself, etc., then I will usually say something to the effect, "You know, if there is something bothering you or if something has hurt you, you can talk to Christ about it and He'll understand. He has the power to forgive and make all things new again." It is not uncommon to see the covers pull down and tears begin to flow. People suffer incredible guilt from power of sin over their lives. The power is so great it can paralize some individuals to the point they cannot get out of bed. (We need to redefine what paralysis really is when reading this story from Mark). As a chaplain, I can testify that finding the forgiveness of sins can be one of, if not, the greatest forms of healing in all the world. Jesus Christ can do more in a 30 minute counseling session or Bible Study than a Psychiatrist can do through medications and years of psychotherapy.
Dave in La.
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 16:09:53
Friends- this may be too late or some of you...or you may wonder about the music.... go for it!
a number years ago i wrote a number of verses for the gospel for this sunday... four men tearing off a roof, lowering a friend down, so that Jesus could heal their friend.. love that story...don't you? I have found that the kids and the adults love the story and song too... this version is done to the tune of Mahalia Jackson's spiritual "What Matter of a Man?"
You are welcomed to use my words..... or write your own... may it bring even more joy to your ministry.... now i'll be singing it all day.!!!!!!
What Matter Of A Man?
What matter of a man is this who gave his life for me? What matter of a man is this who helped to set me free? He walked upon the water, he stilled the raging sea. What matter of a man is this, the man from Galilee?
Four friends brought a man to Jesus. Said he couldn't walk. Tore the whole roof open to hear Jesus talk. He laid his hand upon him.Their faith it made him well. O how Jesus loved him The crowd they could tell Refrain
Critics called Jesus evil complained he was a fraud Shouldn't try to forgive sins that power belonged to God. He heard their thoughts so foolish, heard their silly talk. He told the man "Get up now, take up your bed and walk." Refrain
The man stood before them, praised God, walked on home. People got excited saw what had been done. He told all about the healing How four friends loved him so This healing was so awesome praise their faces were aglow. Refrain
donhoff , elmira,NY donaldhoff@aol.com
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 16:18:17
Friends- (trying to reformat this so it makes sense) this may be too late for some of you... or you may wonder about the music.... go for it!
Ever have people in your congregation write new words to songs, write poetry, or dance or offer art work at the time of offering? you might want try it.... so many time we are too timid when we are called to be BOLD for the Lord.
I'm not sure of other denominations....but I know some Methodists who are SO shy, then look at YOUR shoes when they talk to you....can't even look at their own.
a number years ago i wrote a number of verses for the gospel for this sunday... four men tearing off a roof, lowering a friend down, so that Jesus could heal their friend.. love that story...don't you? I have found that the kids and the adults love the story and song too... this version is done to the tune of Mahalia Jackson's spiritual "What Matter of a Man?"
You are welcomed to use my words..... or write your own... may it bring even more joy to your ministry.... now i'll be singing it all day.!!!!!!
What Matter Of A Man?
What matter of a man is this who gave his life for me?
What matter of a man is this who helped to set me free?
He walked upon the water, he stilled the raging sea.
What matter of a man is this, the man from Galilee?
Four friends brought a man to Jesus. Said he couldn't walk.
Tore the whole roof open to hear Jesus talk.
He laid his hand upon him.Their faith it made him well.
O how Jesus loved him The crowd they could tell Refrain
Critics called Jesus evil complained he was a fraud
Shouldn't try to forgive sins that power belonged to God.
He heard their thoughts so foolish, heard their silly talk.
He told the man "Get up now, take up your bed and walk." Refrain
The man stood before them, praised God, walked on home.
People got excited saw what had been done.
He told all about the healing How four friends loved him so
This healing was so awesome praise their faces were aglow. Refrain
donhoff , elmira,NY donaldhoff@aol.com
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 18:42:38
Thanks for all the contributors. I come here often to give me help and new ideas. First, can anyone tell me what a typical roof looked like. Was there even a ceiling?
Secondly, I am struck by the friends. It is their faith which Jesus comments upon. They bring the man for healing. The man says nothing. We know nothing about his faith, unless he is included in "When Jesus say their faith."
This friendship which takes such actions for someone when they can not do it themselves says something about our own friendships and about the church.
Mike in Maine
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 18:50:00
Jim in the Blue Ridge writes
"Perhaps it was Simon's house he was inside again. Perhaps it was another house. To assume that he was in his own house is to assume too much from the text."
Perhaps to assume that it wasn't Jesus' house seems to assume too much from the text as well I assume
grace larry in Tulsa
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 20:08:07
So much to read!!!
I agree with Clarence of Iowa, "which is easier? Be forgiven or stand-up?" With Jesus it is both, and maybe the same as some of the rest of you are pointing out. We should remember, this was done on home turf, and we know how the homefront views their own (...a prophet, except...). Our church is just ending a seven week look at Revelation. An interesting finding is that all the dragon and beast could muster in sending forth from their mouths were three spirits that looked like frogs (16:13) but we are continually reminded in chapter 19 that Christ's words are the like a sharp sword and faithful and true. Doug in Bahamas
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:12:28
I like the adventurous faith of these friends. How do we lead others to Jesus? How do we help to move followers beyond good-feeling experiences to risky commitments? May all of our religious rituals be interrupted by human need. --Dave in MD
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:30:37
How's this for poetic... I'm feeling a bit paralyzed in my preparation for Sundays Sermon on Mark 2.1-12.
I've committed to a title: "Carried to Carry"... yeah, I know it is a bit corny, but my plan is to: lift up the movement that the man is carried to Christ, healed, then carries his mat away- and in so doing bears witness to Christ's power. Likewise, we have been/are being carried to Christ, forgiven/healed and are now to carry others to Christ.
Jeff in CF Iowa
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:35:29
Can you imagine later Jesus turning this experience into a parable about the Kingdom of God?
"The Kingdom of God is like a paralytic man who had four friends that took care of him...."
It must have been refreshing for Jesus to see such hunger and effort!
IMHO Mark includes this event in his Gospel to bring forth the point that it was both His healing ministry and prophetic ministry that testified to Jesus being the Christ. My thinking is that it's pretty much off-base to say this text teaches about the relationship between sin and illness. I really think this about who Jesus is: One who heals and forgives.
John near Pitts.
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:37:44
To Mike in Maine, From "Harpers Encyclopedia of Bible Life" I found that the roof was a favorite part of the house in Israel. The roof was supported by heavy wooden beams resting on top of the walls. Smaller beams were laid over the heavy ones, and on top of this were layers of brush, reeds, mud, grass, and clay leveled off with a roller that was kept handy for use after heavy rains. It was a cool place to go in the evening, a place where women worked, a place to dry flax, figs, dates. It was a popular place to relax. There was even a law about the safety of the roof (Deut. 22:8).
I'm tackling this gospel lesson (along with the Hebrew text) through the idea that Christians are friends to those in need(and defining what that means) and that we must be willing to do more than other folks even when it's difficult, we must be willing to be creative and to find new ways so that God can do a new thing, and that whatever we do needs to be done without a concern for cost or bottom line. So far, so good.
Judy in OH
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:39:01
Opps forgot to add: vs.12 "they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" I think that this is what the text is all about...standing in amazement at who Jesus is.
John near Pitts.
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:44:47
Can anyone share or point to this resource online?
Reynolds Price's "A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing" (New York: PLUME, 1995) 42-43. or Barbara Brown Taylor used it as an illustration for Matthew's version of this text at Minister's Week at Brite Divinity School, TCU.
Date: 17 Feb 2000
Time: 21:46:29
I wonder what kind of guilt the four who carried him bore? Do you suppose they were there when the accident happened? Had they been lousy freinds and this was their chance to make it up. What about the audicity of Jesus to presume that the man wanted forgiveness anyway--its almost like he heals him only to make a point to the Pharisees. But of course, the audacity works. It makes me wonder how many people have come to me with one complaint and what they really want and need is forgiveness. I wonder in what way the healing addresses the need of the four friends SPT in CT
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 00:05:33
It is as though Jesus said, "I've done the harder thing (forgive sins), but obviously Scribes, you don't understand that it is the harder thing. Therefore, I will do the easier thing, (heal the paralytic). That you can see! And because you can see it, you might understand that I therefore have the authority to do the other (forgive sins)."
Is this right?
Jude in Wash
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 03:44:16
According to my Online Bible, John Wesley offered the following commentary on verse 4:
They uncovered the roof-Or, took up the covering, the lattice or trap door, which was on all their houses, (being flat roofed.) And finding it not wide enough, broke the passage wider, to let down the couch.
For verse 1: Wesley offered the following:
And again-After having been in desert places for some time, he returned privately to the city. In the house-In Peter's house.
Tom in Kirkwood, NY, USA
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 08:10:33
For those that would like to comment on "the three strikes and you're out" mentality of some judicial systems: Imagine if one of the four friends was a reformed criminal with two strikes - the owner of the house complains about vandalism - the faithful friend gets a long prison term. What would Jesus say? Petereo.
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 14:14:33
PDB in ND (OFF TOPIC) I always preach on the Gospel because so few of my people actually understand it. revup
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 14:16:02
Intro -
Epiphany as the expanding awareness of God through the emerging ministry of Jesus.
I. The challenge of putting first things first -
We can live with various physical deficiencies, but we cannot LIVE without dealiing with the constant burden of sin.
II. Community as a source of strength in overcoming sin and handling our physical problems.
While many were gathered for their own self interests, the companions share in the desire to set things straight and deal with physical pain.
III. The experience of freedom.
I can imagine the celebration of all who sense that God assists us in our journey to overcome sin and walks with us in our daily challenge to allow the freedom of spirit to overcome the pain of sickness, sorrow, aging, etc.
bob in Indiana
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 14:16:41
Good Gen X fodder...
While everyone will have different musical background....I keep hearing the lines, "TEAR DOWN THE WALLS!! TEAR DOWN THE WALLS!!" from Pink Floyd's album "The Wall."
If you are unfamiliar with the album, the entire album tells the story of the life of a child and how as he grows up various experiences build walls between himself and his True nature, between himself and others, ...and I would take it further...himself and God. (don't we all do that to one extent or another?)
In the end, there is the cry to tear down the walls.....
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 20:09:08
Jesus has manifested his authority to forgive and heal. As a Christian, I am called to forgive--myself, others --so that healing can come about. If only I can recognize that I have this power as a disciple --to forgive --to say to someone or to myself "I forgive you" so much healing would happen. tony toronto
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 20:19:53
Anybody got any resources,ideas, prayers etc for a babies funeral. Six months old, cot death. If so please e-mail me bronwyn@clear.net.nz (I know this should be only for lectionary discussion, but I certainly am a desperate preacher) Bronwyn NZ.
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 20:21:59
Sorry, in last submission slight mistake in e-mail address. Should be bronwynm@clear.net.nz (Has m after bronwyn)
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 20:56:54
Hi everyone, I'm always late, but here are a few thoughts. A bible encyclopedia like Harpers will help you to get an idea of the kind of houses they lived in back then. This was not wood and shingle construction. It says that they dug through the roof. They dug through the mud and the thatch until they had a big enough hole to lower their friend through. Although it must have been quite startling to those inside, mud and thatch can be replaced fairly easily. they aren't doing a huge amount of damage to the house.
People in those days lived outside for the most part. The covered over section of the house was very small. It was a room used basically for sleeping. I picture Jesus out in the courtyard with people crowded all around him.
Jesus' home is in Nazareth. While he was in this section of Galilee, Jesus used Peter's house (actually his mother in laws house) for his home base.
If you have an interest in archaeology and biblical backgrounds, look up Capernaum on the web. They have quite a nice site that will give you an idea of the type of house that Peter lived in. Also, some info on the synagogue that Jesus preached in, or one similar to it.
Larry, cny
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 21:44:03
Here's the url for the capernaum site: <http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/sites/TScpmain.html>
Larry
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 21:44:33
Hmm. I see no posting regarding last weeks comment from Jesus telling the man with lepresy to tell no one, yet he went to TELL everyone. But this week, a paraletic is healed. Jesus tells the man to carry his cot with him. Obviously, this would be a visible sign that others would see and talk about. Where is the messianic secret stuff in this passage? Also look at what happens. The people are amazed at what Jesus has done and they glorify God, saying, "We have never SEEN anything like this!" In the last two weeks we have had a "tell and show" time"...Sorry. I could not resist. It is getting mighty late for me to not know where I am going with this yet, but maybe some of you can help me out? Peace...Preachin in KS.
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 22:33:26
Hmmm. I also just realized (For those of you who are big fans of the Messianic Secret materials) that Jesus' identity is "Uncovered" by the man who was lowered through the roof and had his sins forgiven by the messiah... Still plugging away, but with more confusion- preachin in KS
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 23:22:41
Someone I read earlier this week equated the word "faith" with "imagination". In a sense that is what it is. Having faith involves being able to imagine that something is possible.
There is a Disciples minister in Southern California named Clarice Friedline. Clarice is especially well known for her story telling and one-woman portrayals of characters in Bible. I remember her telling this story.
She began by asking us who these friends were. How do we picture them? She sees them as teenage boys or very young men. Who else, she asks, would have the imagination to go through the roof in order to reach Jesus.
Imagine for a moment a group of determined teenagers set about doing what they know must be done. Can't you picture them? They have real faces for me. I see particular young men I have known who would do anything possible for one they cared about. And this group is not about to be shut out from Jesus. So they get creative. They use their imagination. And that is what Jesus praises--their faith--their ability to find a way to get to him.
Tying this text with the Hebrew Scriptures for this week, I am caught by the image of God doing a brand new thing. Again, young believers, full of imagination are ready to participate in this new thing--whatever it may be.
I feel challenged to figure out just what is the new thing that God is doing with us. Then we can seek out those of us with enough faith (imagination) to show us how to do "it".
These are obviously unformed thoughts, but I'm getting excited about this sermon.
And, yes, doing the new thing may mean that the carpets get dirty. It may involve some risk. I know it will take imagination and much faith.
Pam in San Bernardino
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 23:46:59
Very late in the processs.....but.....
Being a late 20 something pastor, I find myself thinking of how often I use the phrase, "Whatever" When my wife tells me to make the bed, I say "whatever" When someone asks for volunteers for a community project, in my mind I say, "Whatever." When I am challenged in my life, I reply with the old standby, "Whatever."
I wonder what would happen if I would add just two more words, "It takes." = "Whatever it takes." That is what I hear in the gospel reading today, I hear the story of did "whatever it takes" to have a relationship with Jesus. Crowds keeping them out, I imagine that there were people scoffing at them as they said that they were bringing their friend to Jesus to be healed, yet they continued with the notion of "whatever it takes."
I can not even imagine my church if the people there would add to their "whatevers" to make it "Whatever it takes." When there is a person in need in our community - whatever it takes. When they need people to work towards affordable housing - whatever it takes. When someone needs someone to listen and love them - whatever it takes. I could go on.
don't know how this will all turn out.
shoveling from 3 feet of recent snow, Rky Mtn Hi Pastor
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 01:17:07
to Mike in UK
Certainly guilt can lead to a paralysis of will, paralysis of action, response, etc. Interesting train of thought.
Victoria, NC, USA
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 02:51:47
I am approaching this text from the point of advocacy. When we are hindered because of glass ceilings and stained glass ceilings, when people in our communities who are the Ochlous of our time are limited because of lack of education and opportunities, we must lift the roof, by any means necessary. Our churches are called to be the friends who had the resource of being able-bodied to walk, they took the time and extra effort to do for someone something that seemed impossible to him (the paralized man-walking), but it was so easy for them. Ie. reading may be easy for us, school forms that come home for children, tax return forms, ect. but they are not easy for someone else. Do we take the time to help someone else have access to the basic liberating powers that are within reach?
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 02:52:21
I am approaching this text from the point of advocacy. When we are hindered because of glass ceilings and stained glass ceilings, when people in our communities who are the Ochlous of our time are limited because of lack of education and opportunities, we must lift the roof, by any means necessary. Our churches are called to be the friends who had the resource of being able-bodied to walk, they took the time and extra effort to do for someone something that seemed impossible to him (the paralized man-walking), but it was so easy for them. Ie. reading may be easy for us, school forms that come home for children, tax return forms, ect. but they are not easy for someone else. Do we take the time to help someone else have access to the basic liberating powers that are within reach?
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 12:53:51
Friends- the contributions this week have been helpful. especially appreciated the Web site resource of Larry of CNY...(are close you close to elmira?)
I remember my first visit to Capernaum... at first I wasn't sure where i was as i had been raised in churches where they put in all extra letters in that name.... Capernium, Caperneum. As you may know, this is a good size town right on this small(5x13 mile) tear drop lake of Galilee. It is the only town in the Holyland named for a prophet. Caper mean "town" and Naum was a Minor prophet (although his mother didn't think he was minor).... so the pronunciation is Caper Naum.. as in copper-noum.
I don't see the inference in this text on the feeling guilt on the part of his friends...... no more than we are primarily motivated by guilt to help each other.. these are FRIENDS... they are willing to get up in the middle of the night and carry their FRIEND somewhere..... powerful! Midnight Taxi Service... how they have helped us!
The faith of the community is significant...there is the power of the community to lift us up.... or tear us down. We can testify in our own experience as part of this DPS community, of the encouragment we find... and how it adds to our strength.
As for forgiveness of sins.... recall that these persons, many being poor... never got to Jerusalem to pay the to purchase an animal, and make an offering, and have their sins forgiven... That was the only place where such sins could be forgivness... the rich priests seemed to have cornered the market on that commodity..... Many therse people had never heard before that their sins were forgiven....
Now what happens?... this other "prophet" from a minor town of nazareth..... not only heals, but starts to move in on another spiritual territory... the forgiveness of sins...... Ohhhhh OOOhhhh. "They had never seen anything like this before.." is a slight understatement.... if you preach it, you'll not be able to make too much of that!!!
This is a sermon which is Upbeat. I invites us to speak and teach out of our experience.... it's not heady and needing to be analyized. What if after recognizing the power of Christ in our lives and forgiveness, our people stood up and said " I have seen anything like this before!" What a day for the Lord!
donhoff, elmira,ny donaldhoff@aol.com
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 13:20:51
I know this is very late in the day, but the more I have got into this, the more it has grabbed me. As you will see, my thinking is still pretty much all over the place.
First .. I don’t know what commentaries others are using, it seems to me it would be useful to share that as well. The ones I find helpful for Mark’s Gospel are Morna Hooker (Black’s NT series) and Larry Hurtardo (New International Bible Commentary series)
Bill White I think it is who talks about narrative preaching ... this episode in the gospel seems to have that structure par excelence. The story line
Setting the scene(Bringing the man) followed by complication(the way to Jesus is barred) followed by ... .... critical point ( your sins are forgiven) followed by reorientation (the healing) followed by redirection (he stood up and went out)
I might preach a narrative sermon based on the lives of the congregation. Thus:
I’m thinking of asking the congregation dircectly ‘Are you aware of anyone who prayed for you before you became a Christian?’ My guess is that the vast majority will have had friends like the four friends who brought the man in the gospel. We might stop at this point and pray with thanks for those who brought us to Christ.
I might then ask them to think about the obstacles that stood in the way, the things that stopped them from getting to see Jesus ...Unbelief ... the church itself ... their upbringing ... circumstances ... we might even share some of these together in an interactive way.
I might then move on to the subject of forgiveness ... It seems to me that this passage is all about the authority of Jesus to forgive sins. Something only God could do. This claim sets Jesus against the teachers of the law ... this passage is the first to bring in direct conflict for Jesus.
God’s Forgiveness is not just about cancelling the penalty for sin, it is about making us clean. So we receive pardon and cleansing. Pardon alone does not remove the sin, it simply lets us off the penalty. We are still guilty of the sin. But forgiveness is not just abpout pardon, it is also about removing our guilt. Isn’t that amazing!
And ... lastly ...and this may not be part of my sermon, what does this passage have to say to me ... I am from a non conformist background (Open Brethren) similar to baptist in theology ... but am now a priest in the Church of England (Like the Episcopal church in America) So how do I cope with this passage. No one can forgive sins except God alone !!!... So what exactly is happening when I pronounce the absolution - absolving the congregation from their sins. I am the only one in our congregation ‘allowed’ to do this. It’s a tension for me. I guess I deal with it by seeing myself as the focus for the whole church and representing Christ in some way.
Grace and Peace
Rev Ev in UK.
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 14:04:17
There is a significant amount of paralysis in this story. There is the paralysis of thought and understanding by the teachers of the Law, whose minds cannot move freely anymore. Then we can ask where else paralysis might lie. If we were asked to be one of the four friends, could we move?
If we are asked to pray are we incapable. We are commanded to love by Jesus, how often do we find ourselves,again, incapable?
Other than that, faith in and the authority of Jesus are paramount here, I think. Denis Nineham (Pelican Commentary) suggests that v.1-5 & v.11-12 (ish) are the core the story. Though 6-10 are important we shouldn't be distracted by the thoughts of others when the action of Jesus and faith of those who believe are what count the most.
Gooders in Edinburgh
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 16:28:23
Not only did Jesus pardon and cleanse, he changed the man from the inside out. He became "a new thing" (OT) For my children's time I am going to use the experiment with making pennies shine using salt and vinegar. We can wash the pennies with soapy water and they will be clean, but if we put them in the salt and vinegar their internal structure changes. When Jesus forgives us, the effect is a whole change of who we are. We not only become clean, but we are a new creation. Fisherfolk in OH
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 17:33:35
What would lead to a paralysis of the spirit? The answer is shame. Psychologist make a distinction between guilt and shame.
Guilt arises within us when we do something that goes against what we believe to be right. Guilt arise in relation to particular actions we have taken that betray the code of ethics we carry. There are some things we have done that are bad. If the code of ethics you are living by is sound, then guilt can be a pretty health thing. Guilt says we’ve gone off course with these actions and we need to get back on course.
But the man on the stretcher had gone way past guilt. He’s full of shame. Shame goes deeper than guilt. It is a generalized sense that I myself am bad -- unworthy, undeserving. At the core of my being I don’t really deserve to live. Shame renders us paralyzed, unable to live.
When shame is at work in our life it renders us absolutely terrified of ever actually making a mistake, or doing something that could render us guilty, because that would stir up our shame, our sense of being totally unlovable that we simply cannot bear. (Last week a 16 year old boy in a town nearby who was an Eagle Scout killed himself. Apparently he had had some kind of involvment in a computer hacking ring at his High School. He killed himself after he was informed that the police wanted to question him. Evidently this young man was so shame-based at the core of his being that this one mistake, this one variance from the straight-arrow over achieving path he had taken,was enough for him to judge himself unworthy of life itself.
So if shame is driving us to avoid guilt at all costs, then it makes sense that we might embrace a kind of paralysis, a life that never takes any risks, any chances, never investigates any new paths, a perpetually "play it safe" life, because this way at least we may be able to avoid provoking shame’s worst assaults.
And to some extent all of us struggle with shame. Because shame is a consequence of having been loved not unconditionally but "conditionally" in life, and since, as the Bible says, we’re all "sinners",we are all in some sense "wounded birds", to some extent the love we are capable of is to some extent conditional.
There were faces with "No" written on them in that house in Capernaum. They were worn by the teachers of the law who were present, passing judgment on Jesus for daring to forgive sins, accusing him of blasphemy. (They were, of course, driven by shame themselves. One of the most common defenses against the onslaught of shame is to go on the offensive. Judge others before the judgment is turned on me. Inevitably people who are hightly critical of others have the capacity of being the most condemning of themselves.)
This past week on Frontline on channel 13 there was a powerful program on homophobia and violence towards gays. They interviewed these two young men from Alabama who had brutally murdered a gay man. What struck me was the paralysis these two men lived under. Like so many young men in this country, they lived by this very rigid definition of what it mean to be a "real man." Clearly, for these two young men, to fail to measure up to this rigid, macho definition of what they thought it meant to be a man was simply intolerable -- the basis for an incredible onslaught of shame. Things like showing feelings, sensititivity, compassion, tenderness, creative expression were all suspect. And one way they had dealt with their own shame was to lash out at others, lash out at gays.
And yet there was a sense in which these two men were to be pitied. Watching the tightness in their faces as they talked, their lack of expression, the rigidity of their speech, it was as if their spirits were stretched out on a stretcher, unable to move.
And this shame dynamic is something that effects every single boy growing up in America and every single female that relates to boys.
There is a terrible need for a healing of all this shame.
Jeff in NJ
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 18:35:12
to mdd in Texas: your contributions are insightful and helpful. I appreciate your helping me write tomorrow's sermon!
Bill in TN
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 19:16:24
O.K., here goes(and where it will end , who knows?)-
Bo in KY(USA) started the line of questioning on whether this was Jesus' house.Wasn't he the Son of Man with "no place to lay his head"? Short answer- he said that later, after somebody TORE HIS ROOF OFF! Better answer by Jim in blue ridge-home probably refers to Capernaum. Not doing Greek or Hebrew, I'm left to trust English translations, but of those I have several.KJV and NKJV both say "in the house", which sounds like Gen-X jargon for "here". RSV, NRSV, NAS, TEV,& NEB all say "at home". NIV says he "had come home" and Jerusalem Bible says word got around Capernaum that he "was back". All indications are home refers to town, not house. With only the information given in Mark, it was most likely the only house mentioned in Capernaum, that of Simon and family, including Simon's mother-in-law and probably several other members of the extended family, the same house He snuck out of after dark so He could "go preach the word in other towns also". Note- He is now surrounded and preaching(not healing)which is what He wanted in the first place. Now, having healed all, He has time for the Word. But wait- not every one has been healed. There is one more, a paralytic. Too late, the house is full, elbow to elbow, so as no one can move to let them in with him. Is there only the one paralysed? What's their excuse? No matter, we'll raise the roof!
Here is an interesting mistake we ALL make-Mark(nor Matthew nor Luke)ever refers to the men who brought him as FRIENDS, yet we all do (and preach endless sermons on "the faith of the friends"). Why do we call them friends? Because that's what friends do? Indeed! But were they long time pals? We don't know. I raise this point because of a curious item I found this week at sermonillustrations.com concerning how biologists rate life on the basis of ability to feel pain. Worms don't feel much pain so they are a low form(order) of life. Dogs, on the other hand, not only feel their own pain but can empathize with, and even greive for, their masters- a higher order of living. To paraphrase Jesus, "even heathens and pagans will take care of their own,why be proud of that? But praying for your enemies, that is high living!" How about bringing strangers to Jesus for healing? That's a little easier, but still a good step toward following Jesus to the high life.
This is fanciful fiction I admit, but imagine- Healed the same day as Simon Peter's mom-in-law, these four have banded together to retell the amazing things Jesus did for them, first to one another and then to whoever would listen. Now that He's back in town they go, as a self-appointed evangelistic committee, to the streets of Capernaum telling one and all to go to the house for healing. As they turn a corner they see him, lying on a mat, unmoving, his bowl before him begging alms. They kneel around him, testifying of Jesus' power. He doesn't respond, cannot even move. They look at one another and nod. Words alone are not enough. They each take a corner of the mat and lift.... It is their faith in God through Jesus, not their loyalty to a "friend", that moves Jesus to act on this man's behalf. How good a friend am I; how high am I living? Questions for us all.
This is too long and too broad, but there is one other idea I must get off my chest, for it is heavy on my heart. Rev Lauren(above)asked "Which is harder-'Your sin's forgiven', or 'Get up'?". The first is easier, if it is only words being said. But if someone has to die for sins to be forgiven, and forgiveness is a prerequisite for this healing, then Jesus is paying a high price for this man to walk out. Jesus here at the beginning is agreeing to the end, his crucifixion.(Was the paralysis "Katatonic", as the chaplain above suggests? I know in a small town, or one where word travels fast, as Capernaum apparently was, or in a family or a workplace, that others' opinions of your sins can be crippling, at least emotionally and mentally. Fear and confusion can "freeze you in your tracks" as can a sense of guilt. Did someone have to declare in front of the community, "This man is free from his past which has bound him. His slate is wiped clean. He gets a do-over." Perhaps He pointed to the "friends" as a sign that not everybody was trying to hold him down. "See, your sins are forgiven. Grace has come and now your neighbors lift you up. Now, get up and go. It's over and it's O.K.") I wonder- at the end, in Gethsemane, as he prayed "Can't this cup pass from me?", did God gently deny him, saying "No, son.Remember Capernaum, the paralytic, the forgivness? You know the wages of Sin is death. Someone has to pay. You took on his debt, will you now renege?". "No",Jesus whispers,"I will make good my promise." "You are a good friend, and a good son. I am proud of you. I will be with you all the way."
Thanx to all for the quality posts this week. I'm still reeling, and sorting, and it's Saturday again! Peace to all the desperate, tom in TN(USA)
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 19:17:41
to Chris in MN:
I don't have an example. But I believe that I am less than I can be -- part of me is not "alive," functioning at its fullest -- when I am living with sin -- my own guilt, or justification of that for which I should and need to feel guilt, etc. etc. In that sense I would say that sin does bring paralysis, and repentance/forgiveness frees that part of me to "be all I can be."
Bill in TN
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 21:02:18
Douglas Loving, pastor in Chicago reflecting on this passage shared about his own longing for healing: “The doctor explained that a liver transplant offers the only treatment for my rare disease. . . . Due to a shortage of organ donors, only about one-third of those needing livers will receive them, the others will die.
“In the aftermath of that nearly paralyzing news, I was awed to find spiritual companions gathering around me, bringing great blessing. Their faithfulness lifted me, carried me toward the Healer when I couldn’t find my way alone. A wise counselor helped me to quiet my spirit, so I could listen to and cherish my errant liver, instead of feeling betrayed by its failure. A faithful spiritual friend guided me toward the rich promises of scripture and the written wisdom of the saints. Many folks joined in continuing prayers for healing. Together, each in his own fashion, they have buoyed me up and continue to transport me into the transforming presence and healing power of Christ.
“Their faithfulness has helped me experience a reality that I suspect the paralyzed man discovered as well. Even without being free of physical disease, we are offered God’s transformative gift of love that can mean more than healthy bodies.” (Twice Healed by Douglas R. Loving in Christian Century Feb 2-9, 2000 p 117)
Date: 19 Feb 2000
Time: 22:39:06
Thank you all for your contributions. As I read these passages, my mind's eye sees Susan --- a woman in our congregation who is confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis, due to a medical disease (spina bifida). I can't quite move myself to this passgae being a hope for physical healing, nor, on the other end, blaming people with disabilities on their parents (or generations before)for illness on sinfulness. So, illness/paralysis as derived from sin holds little or no meaning.
Having said that, the other direction is to psychologize this passage --- I agree so much with Jeff in NJ on guilt/shame material. However, I think that such a move would minimize the importance, and the core message of this story.
My sense is that this story is about the Kingdom of God ---- the love of God. Jesus' mission in the world is to participate in God's mission in the world which is that all might be reconciled with God. This might be too large of a leap for some, or a mental gymnastic feat only possible for someone with a brain the size of a pea (like me!!), but the only way in which we can be reconciled with God is by reconciling ourselves, one with another. Which means that we all have to be friends, and work with eachother to help all be reconciled with God.
To that end, I am also in a denomination that is taking up an offering for One Great Hour of Sharing, or what we call Week of Compassion ----- of which most of our funds go to Church World Service/CROP. I think that what I want to do is talk about being friends, and putting our faith into action to help our friends ---- to be reconciled with one another with our eyes on the larger/greater prize of being reconciled with God.
ChrisInMN
Date: 20 Feb 2000
Time: 16:03:53
Hi Chris in MN. Just wanted to thank you for your contributions this week - they were uplifting. Hope your Sunday goes well, mine is very full- OGHS is scheduled later, but today we have much on the agenda.
Thank you everyone for your contributions. I am discovering that after reading all of your insights and ponderings, that my commentaries seem rather dry. Until next week,
Jude in Wash