Get Up!

Mark 2:8-11

      I would love to know what other people were thinking. But I would also hate it! Unless I was able to turn off the messages, it would drive me nuts. Sometimes people tell us what they are thinking with their faces, or their body language. We can see all sorts of emotions and understand them by being observant. This is how “psychics” and con-artists practice their trade. They have gotten good at reading other people and then they use what they learn to their personal advantage.

      But our text doesn’t say that Jesus saw their faces and knew what they were thinking. It says that Jesus’ spirit knew what they were thinking in the deepest part of them, a part so often hidden from the outside world. He was able to read their hearts. This should not surprise us. God knows all our hearts. He knows the deepest thoughts and intents of our soul. So Jesus knows us as well, just as He knew their thoughts.

      This can be a scary thing! For the religious leaders in Jesus’ day it challenged the very core of their theology. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah they were expecting. They wanted a conquering hero, not a servant, especially one that would suffer and die. They wanted one with military power able to overthrow the oppressive Roman yoke, not one that would take the yoke of sin, freeing us from its tyranny and oppression.

      And Jesus wants to demonstrate His authority over sin. He does this by setting up a simple test. If I can heal this paralyzed man, which you can easily verify with your own senses, then I can also forgive sins. Jesus recognizes that words can be cheap. Anyone can claim authority, but to really have authority you must be able to prove it in actions. Your life must reflect that authority in everyday life. Jesus has proven his authority over physical illness in the past. Mark wants us to know that His authority as the Servant of the LORD goes well beyond physical healing. It reaches to a soul’s eternal destiny.

      Three things Jesus tells the man to do. Each one important. Get up! Without getting up, the healing is not manifest. The action of getting up shows that he is healed. Then he is to take his mat. This marks the transition from the previous life where the mat carried him, to the present life where he carries the mat. And the third action is to go home. This marks the beginning of a new life in God. All three are needed. Leaving the past, embracing the present and moving toward the future.

      Jesus uses the title, Son of Man, to refer to Himself. This is the usual way that Jesus talks about Himself. He uses a title, grammatically in the third person. He doesn’t say “I” am going to do this, but “He” or “the Son of Man” is going to do this. We don’t talk this way too often. But some cultures do talk about themselves as if they were talking about someone else. This is exactly the way Jesus talked about Himself.

      But that’s not all. He uses the title “Son of Man” which is the title for the Messiah in the book of Daniel. Mark records thirteen times when Jesus used this title when referring to Himself, most in the later part of the Gospel, after Peter has declared that Jesus is the Messiah. So not only does Jesus demonstrate that He can heal physical illness, but He makes the connection between Himself and the Messiah of Daniel’s promise and the authority to forgive sins. What a powerful combination of declarations in the healing of this crippled man.