The Amazing King

In teen church at the moment we're slowly making our way through Mark's Gospel. I'm enjoying Mark's pace and matter-of-fact way of communicating what he knows about Jesus. Tonight we're in Mark 1:40-2:17, and we'll see Mark help us to unpack what 'the Kingdom of God is at hand' means, and continue to drive us towards an answer to the question, 'who is Jesus?'

But who is Jesus to have this authority? Well, we start finding out some more of His identity in 2:1-12, as He heals a paralytic. Let’s read it together. So picture the scene, Jesus is healing people, and His house is so crowded that no one else can get in. But these four guys have carried their friend on a mat from goodness knows where, so they’re not going to let that happen. So what do they do? They come through the roof. Just imagine being inside this house for a moment. You’re in line waiting to be healed, or maybe you’re just watching, and suddenly dust starts falling on your head, and pieces of straw float down from the ceiling…and sunlight starts coming through, and then, a disabled man is basically landing on your head! It must have been quite the commotion. But Jesus doesn’t let any of that worry Him. Not the fact that these guys have skipped the line, not even the fact that they’ve taken the roof off His house. Jesus says something simple, yet profound, something that starts the fight between the Pharisees and Him that would continue the rest of His ministry.

What does He say? ‘son, your sins are forgiven.’ Who can forgive sins? Well look at verse 7 and hear the thoughts of the Pharisees? No one can forgive sins but God alone! And Jesus knows this, and He knows that He’s claiming to be God! Why does He do this? So that we might know that Jesus has authority on Earth to forgive sins!

Just let that sink in for a moment. Don’t let this become old or familiar to you. Jesus has authority on Earth to forgive sins. The leper could come close to God and be clean because His sins are forgiven by Jesus. The cripple could get up and walk home, His legs healed and His sins forgiven because Jesus has that authority. Jesus, this carpenter turned travelling teacher from the bad part of the country, has authority to forgive sins. Again, just like in chapter one, we see someone, this time the Pharisees, describing Jesus doing something that only God can do! Here comes the Kingdom of God, as sins are forgiven and the crippled walk. This is Heaven breaking out on Earth, and for the first time, we see some don’t like it. Jesus upsets the social and religious order. He doesn’t heal in the Temple, He hasn’t been to Pharisee school…and He claims to be God!

We need to be amazed, like the people watching in verse 12, who were amazed, and glorified God and said ‘we have never seen anything like this before. Does Jesus amaze you?