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Mark Chapter 2 verses 1-12 Jesus Forgives and
Heals a Paralyzed Man
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1A few days later, when Jesus
again entered
2They gathered in such large
numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached
the word to them.
3Some men came, bringing to
him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.
4Since they could not get him
to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by
digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.
5When Jesus saw their faith,
he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6Now some teachers of the law
were sitting there, thinking to themselves,
7“Why does this fellow talk
like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8Immediately Jesus knew in
his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said
to them, “Why are you thinking these things?
9Which is easier: to say to
this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat
and walk’?
10But I want you to know that
the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,
11“I tell you, get up, take
your mat and go home.”
12He got up, took his mat and
walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,
saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
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Concerning the healing of the
paralytic,
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1)
Why were the four
men unable to get the paralytic to Jesus?
o
They could not
get him to Jesus because of the crowd.
2)
How did the four men
overcome the hindrance presented by the crowd?
o
They dug through
the roof above Jesus and lowered the mat the paralytic was lying on.
3)
What price in
financial terms were the four men willing to pay in order to get the paralytic
to Jesus for healing as soon as possible?
o
They were willing
to pay for the repair of the roof.
4)
What risk were the
four men willing to take in getting the paralytic to Jesus?
o
They were willing
to take the risk of
§
Digging through
the roof.
§
Getting the
paralytic up on the roof.
§
Lowering the mat
the paralytic was lying on through the opening in the roof.
5)
Did Jesus welcome
the interruption to his preaching and why?
o
Yes, because
Jesus completely stopped the original train of thought in his preaching and
started using healing the paralytic as live demonstration.
6)
How did Jesus see
their faith?
o
Their faith was
made manifest in the action they had taken.
7)
Whose sins did
Jesus forgive?
o
Jesus forgave the
sins of the paralytic.
8)
What does it take
for sins to be forgiven?
o
It takes faith in
Jesus for sins to be forgiven.
9)
For whose faith
did Jesus forgive the sins of the paralytic?
o
Jesus forgave the
sins of the paralytic for the faith of the paralytic and of the four men in his
ability to heal.
10)
Which was easier,
for a community that had faith in Jesus to overcome all the obstacles that kept
the paralytic from getting to Jesus or for one or two individuals?
o
It was easier for
a community.
11)
What was the
ultimate responsibility of the four men in assisting in the forgiveness of the
sins of the paralytic?
o
Their ultimate
responsibility was to help the paralytic get to Jesus.
12)
What does the
current situation tell us about how the faith of one party can help another
party?
o
The faith of one
party can aid in the forgiveness of the sins of another party.
13)
Did the four men
have their sins forgiven too and why?
o
Yes, because the
four men had faith in Jesus too.
14)
How did Jesus shift
the focus away from the healing of the paralytic?
o
Jesus shifted the
focus away from the healing of the paralytic to the forgiveness of the sins of the
paralytic.
15)
Why did Jesus
shift the focus away from the healing of the paralytic to the forgiveness of the
sins of the paralytic?
o
Otherwise people
would have been fixated on the healing.
16)
Did people expect
it when Jesus said to the paralytic that his sins were forgiven and why?
o
No, because
§
The paralytic and
the four men were expecting physical healing, not forgiveness of sins;
§
The teachers of
the law considered Jesus to be blaspheming and
§
The owner of the
house thought that his roof had been ruined for nothing.
17)
Who were the
teachers of the law?
o
The teachers of
the law were teachers of Jewish traditions and law.
18)
Why did the
teachers of the law consider Jesus to be blaspheming?
o
The teachers of
the law held that only God alone could forgive sins.
o
They considered
Jesus to be a mere man.
o
Therefore they
considered Jesus to be blaspheming.
19)
What was Jesus
implying when he forgave the sins of the paralytic?
o
Jesus was
implying that he is God.
20)
How did Jesus
know what the teachers of the law were thinking in their hearts?
o
Jesus knew
because he
§
Understood that
the teachers of the law held that only God could forgave sins.
§
Is God and
therefore knows all things.
21)
From a human
perspective which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’, and why?
o
From a human
perspective it is easier to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,”
because no one can tell whether the sins of the paralytic had indeed been
forgiven or not.
22)
Who is the Son of
Man?
o
Jesus referred to
himself as the Son of Man.
23)
When Jesus said
to the teachers of the law, " But I
want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . .
. .” what was Jesus more clearly pointing out?
o
Jesus was more
clearly pointing out that he is God.
24)
What connotation
does the title ‘the Son of Man’ impart as a result of what Jesus said?
o
It is a title of
divinity because only God has the authority to forgive sins.
25)
But did Jesus
actually say that he is God?
o
No.
26)
What would be the
consequence if Jesus had actually said that he is God?
o
According to the Jewish
law the Jews would pick up stones to stone him.
27)
At this juncture
did the teachers of the law know that Jesus was pointing out that he was God?
o
Yes.
28)
Did Jesus give
the teachers of the law time to respond and why?
o
No, because Jesus
immediately said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go
home.”
29)
What did Jesus
point out was the purpose of healing the paralytic?
o
The purpose was
to confirm that Jesus had authority on
earth to forgive sins.
30)
Had Jesus’
authority to forgive sins been confirmed and why?
o
Yes, because the
paralytic was healed.
31)
What did Jesus’
authority to forgive sins further prove?
o
It further proved
that Jesus he is God.
32)
What were people
amazed at, what Jesus did or what Jesus said, and why?
o
People were amazed
at the miracle Jesus did in healing the paralytic, not at Jesus’ words that the
paralytic’s sins had been forgiven, because they said that they had never seen anything like that.
33)
Did people
praise God because the paralytic had been healed
or because the paralytic’s sins had been forgiven?
o
People praised
God because the paralytic had been healed.
34)
What did people
actually miss when they were amazed and praised God because they had never seen
healing like that?
o
They missed the
fact that seeking forgiveness of sins from Jesus is more important than seeking
physical healing, because the consequence of physical healing is temporal but
the consequence of forgiveness of sin is eternal.
35)
Is it really
easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ than to say, ‘Get up,
take your mat and walk’ and why?
o
No, it is
actually easier to heal the paralytic than to forgive his sins.
o
There are records
in the bible of other incidents of people working miracles to heal paralytics,
but these people could not forgive sins; only God can.
36)
Did the paralytic
get his sins forgiven by Jesus without anyone asking for it and why?
o
Yes, because the
paralytic had faith in Jesus and therefore had his sins forgiven.
37)
Would we have our
sins forgiven if we ask Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins by faith?
o
Yes.
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Mark Chapter 2 verses 1-12 Jesus
Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
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