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When we consider the ministry of Jesus, it seemed as if everything was going wrong for Him. His ministry started out just great. He knew His mission, He knew what He had to do, and the allotted time in which to do it. He had chosen His disciples. His preaching debut in Galilee resulted in Him preaching a great and authoritative sermon. O, he was so well accepted at first. People were almost falling over each other to hear him preach, teach, watch him heal, or be healed by Him. Why they wouldn't even let Him have any rest whatsoever, He was so popular and in demand. Then something happened. Suddenly there seemed to be a turnabout in His ministry. Suddenly everything seemed to go wrong.

What happened? Was it because people no longer believed Him? Was He just a flash in the pan type preacher, with an enthusiastic following which had now lost faith in him, so soon? You know, like people who come to church for a while, all excited about their involvement, but it soon peters out. There are too many other things in life that take precedence. No, that wasn’t it; not at all. Was it then because of something He done wrong? Perhaps He had made a mistake that angered His followers? No, that wasn’t it either. Well then what was the problem? Why were some people so upset with Him. Perhaps you had not noticed that some people were upset, but Mark tells us that Jesus could no longer go into towns to preach publicly without being harassed. Harassed by whom? Why the religious “church” leaders. The very people who should have supported Him, were giving Him a hard time. Why? Not because He had done anything wrong, but because He had done everything right.

You see there is a difference between the mind of God, and the mind of man. In God's mind it was right that Jesus should do the things He did, but in the minds of people He was wrong. Do you know what was the first mistake Jesus made? As far as the Pharisees were concerned, it was healing the man with leprosy. As we heard last week, there were strict laws concerning people with this dreaded disease, and Jesus ignored everyone of them. He let the afflicted man talk to him, which was against the law, he physically touched the man, which was against the law. Why, by doing so Jesus had defiled himself. People with leprosy were outcasts, completely removed form society. They were considered unclean and not to be associated with, lest the disease spread through human contact. So laws were created to protect others from this horrible disease. In all fairness, they did not have the medical technology we have today, so they really didn't know what else to do. However, to have certain laws to deal with this illness is one thing but to make the victims of this disease less than human is quite another. Ah, but in the eyes of God, these people were still human, created in His own image, just like anyone else. And so Jesus touched the man, and healed him. It was a healing with compassion.

But Jesus paid the price. He had warned the leper not to tell anyone about his healing, remember? And what did he do? He told everyone, and now Jesus was under suspicion. Those lawyers and chief priests, now began to keep a close eye on Jesus. The former leper had set a course for Jesus which made them suspicious of Him the rest of His life. The stage was set for constant confrontation between the pharisees, and priests, the lawyers..all of whom made up the religious bureaucracy of Jesus day. And it seemed as if every time Jesus did something right it would go from good to bad. He healed that leper, and got nothing but flack from the officials due to the leper's zealous evangelism. Shortly after Jesus had healed this man, He's in trouble again with them. Once again He did something right in the eyes of God, but wrong in the eyes of people.

The passage we have read this morning from Mark is a neat story...even somewhat humourous. The Cathedrals, a Southern Gospel Quartet, sing a song called “Let’s Raise the Roof off This Place.” That’s exactly what happened here. Imagine a group of men lowering their friend through a hole in the roof. Is this for real? There is absolutely no reason to believe that its not. In fact both Mark and Luke wrote about it in their gospels. And besides, the account is rather bizarre in a way..too bizarre to invent, or make up as fiction. It really happened, as did all the other miracles and healings that the Bible tells us about.

Imagine with me that we are there as eye witnesses. We walk down a certain street in a place called Capernaum, probably the street where one of the disciples of Jesus lived, and we see a great crowd milling around a house. We wonder what is going on? What is happening? Wait. This new preacher, teacher and healer.. the one who was here just a few days ago..He’s back. When He was here before, He healed Simon's mother in law of a great fever. And then He proceeded to heal many more people. O it was a great spectacle to see so many sick people walk away, healed of their diseases. Ah, but it can't be him again. Why he wouldn't dare come back here, considering the mood of the Scribes and the Pharisees. We walk a little farther, and then we hear His voice. It is Jesus! We can't see him because of the crowd milling all around the house, but we can hear him preach the message of salvation. We stop to listen. One can't help but want to listen. Jesus preaches with authority. He has the message of salvation!

Look! Look up there on the roof. What are those four guys doing up there? What are they carrying? Why its someone on a stretcher. Oh my! They are raising the roof! And we watch as these four men dig a hole in the dirt roof. They had simply climbed the stairs on the side of the house that leads to the flat roof. Carefully they pull away the brushwood and clay that made the roof rainproof. Then they tie ropes to the four corners of the stretcher, and gently lower it.

The passage tells us nothing of the reaction Jesus might have had. David L. McMena describes the scene in this way. “While He is preaching in a crowded house in Capernaum, Jesus is startled by the debris falling on His head as a hole is being opened in the ceiling. Certainly his preaching is interrupted by the sight of a stretcher being lowered through the hole by four pairs of willing hands, and guided by four pairs of mischievous eyes. In response Jesus speaks to the helpless creature, 'My son, your sins are forgiven.'” (The Communicator’s Commentary, Mark; Waco TX, Word Books, 1982, p. 61)

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, and Jesus is in trouble again. Can He forgive? Can He do that? His response is so spontaneous, so immediate, that it almost sounds as if had said it without thought. If there is anything that can create a whole mess of problems for a person, it’s speaking first, and thinking later. “Your sins are forgiven." Was that really an appropriate thing to say? By saying that did Jesus imply that somehow this man's personal sins have cause his paralysis? Was he playing into the hands of the Priests and Pharisees who were convinced that sin and illness had a direct connection? They agreed that one could never be healed of any sickness unless forgiveness of sin took place first, but it was only they who had the legal right to forgive sin. The leper should have gone to the Priest to be declared whole, but didn’t, remember? And that's why Jesus was in trouble, and now was again. Jesus forgave this man his sins, which according to these officials, was blasphemy. They gave credit to God, alright, but in the end, this was their responsibility, not this new preacher’s. There is something here that needs to be considered. Jesus never does anything frivolous or trivial. Whatever he does is for good reason, as it was this particular day. Here was a man brought up in world that was steeped in the legalistic teachings of the religious bureaucracy. No doubt he had been told over and over again that his illness was caused by some sin he had committed. Now while this may true in some cases, most often its not. But if a person has been convinced of this, there is no way that healing could ever take place.

Bruce Larson, pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle Washington, and author of several books, offers a great illustration. He writes about a patient of a Christian psychologist, a veteran of the Vietnam war, who for several years, had been unable to live a normal life. He had been responsible for the deaths of many people, which of course was at the heart of his problem. The hospital staff felt convinced that his illness was the result of his inability to forgive himself. One day the doctor came in to see him. He sat down beside him and said, “I want you to know that your sins are forgiven.” “What did you say?” asked the patient. The doctor continued, “I tell you that through Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.” (The Communicator’s Commentary, Luke; Waco TX, Word Books, 1983, p. 109) It was only after that assurance that this man's recovery could take place.

Do you see the connection here? It was important for Jesus to tell the man, that his sins were forgiven. O, Jesus could have healed him without that, but it was for the man's peace of mind. For the healing was to be a complete healing, both body and soul.

The man brought before Jesus was totally helpless. He needed to be rescued. I remember when I was a small boy of perhaps four or five. Some of us were playing in an area where there some new houses being built. There was a long plank standing upright against the side of one of the new houses. I wanted to see the top end of this plank and in order to do so I had to step back several steps. As I stepped back, I fell into an uncovered, rather deep well. There was just enough water in the bottom to break my fall. This was a long time ago, but I still remember that awful feeling of helplessness. There I stood, in the bottom of that well, waist deep in water, and no way to get out. All I could see was a small blue circle above me. I was all alone, and helpless. I was very much aware that I needed to be rescued if I was to survive, and that I could not do it myself.

So it was for the paralytic man. O it was easy for Jesus to heal him, but what good would it have done if He had not forgiven His sins..rescued him from sin! So it is with our spiritual life..yours and mine. Only God can forgive sin, and He does so through Jesus Christ our Lord. We cannot do it ourselves. He rescued the paralytic from the bonds of paralyses, but more than He rescued him from the bonds of sin. The man was helpless physically, and he was helpless spiritually. The only way out was by Jesus saying, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Forgiven! The man was forgiven. You and I are forgiven! The only thing left to do now is to accept this forgiveness. And then, like those in the biblical account, with all your heart praise God for the healing of forgiveness. AMEN