The Surprise of the Story: When Jesus Doesn't Fix It | Retelling Mark 2

In the story from Mark 2 (or Luke 5) of the friends bringing the paralyzed man to Jesus, the storyteller uses a surprise to highlight something important in the story.
 
 My retelling episodes focus in on certain story elements, either of the story we discussed in a previous episode, or the overarching story that the Bible tells.
 
 This episode is a follow up to my conversation with Kelly Needham in the episode, "How to Live Like it's True that You're Forgiven."

Bible Passage: Mark 2:1-12 CSB

Referring back to the story from this Episode:

"How to Live Like it's True that You're Forgiven." with Kelly Needham

Freebie:  Live Like It's True Workbook  

Mentioned Resources:

·       Friendish by Kelly Needham

·       Comparison Girl by Shannon Popkin

Music: Cade Popkin Music 

Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Transcript

The Story of the Paralytic

Shannon Popkin 0:01

So , on today's storytelling episode , i will retell the story that we just talked through in a recent episode so that it's fresh in your mind .

Shannon Popkin 0:11

I'll use my own words and I'll use my own way of telling the story , and then I'll circle back and talk about some of the story elements that we find in this particular story from the Bible . So we're going to look at this biblical narrative , asking you know what devices was our storyteller using , the person who told the story or the author , and why were they using these particular story elements ? And then , at the end , i'll retell the story once more , and this is where I'd love for you to try and tell the story to yourself , either after you listen to me or pausing along the way . You know , stories are so easy to store up in our hearts . They're designed that way and they're packed with rich theology . So as you store up these stories in your heart , what's going to happen is you're going to be able to retrieve them for yourself and you're going to be able to give them away . So let's jump into our story for today . Here's the story of the paralytic found in Luke , chapter 5 , 18 through 26 . So Jesus was teaching inside somebody's house and there were so many people packed in the house that there was standing room only . Well , there were some men who had carried their paralyzed friend there on a stretcher hoping to get him to Jesus . But since they couldn't even get him through the door , they climbed up on the roof , dug through it and then lowered the man right down in front of Jesus . Jesus saw the great faith of these friends and he said to the man your sins are forgiven . The Pharisees and the religious leaders who were in that room began thinking to themselves what Who does this guy think he is ? Only God can forgive sins . Jesus knew what they were thinking and he said to the religious leaders do you think it's easier to forgive sins or to heal somebody ? I want you to know that I have the authority to forgive sins . So then he turned to the paralyzed man and said get up , take your mat and go home . And the man did so . He stood up , he picked up his mat and he went home praising God . And all of the people in that room were amazed . They kept saying to each other we have never seen anything like this before . Okay

The Surprise of the Story

Shannon Popkin 2:37

, so let's talk about our story elements here .

Shannon Popkin 2:39

Luke , our storyteller , inserts a surprise into this story . Every good story has a surprise . You know . If everything just goes exactly along according to how you're expecting it , well it's not a good story , right ?

Shannon Popkin 2:52

But the surprise that Luke gives us here is the order of things . So these friends , they're bringing this man to Jesus , and it's obvious . The problem is obvious . So the man can't move . He had to be lowered on a mat . You know , i mean , picture him being lowered down through that roof and maybe one of his limbs falls to the side , and I mean it's got to be horrible and embarrassing . But everybody's willing to take the effort to get this man in front of Jesus because it's obvious . The problem is the paralysis , right , we all know that's a horrible problem to have . And yet Jesus ignores that problem for a moment and he tells the man that his sins are forgiven . So the surprise in the story is the prioritization of the spiritual health of this man over the physical health . Kelly and I talked about that in our conversation . But because Jesus forgives the man's sins , it prompts this next part of the story .

Shannon Popkin 3:52

So this order , it's really important because the next part of the story is where the Pharisees are saying well , who does this guy think he is , and that's really what this story is getting at . Luke wants us to be asking this question who is this ? Who is Jesus ? Think of it this way If Luke had told the story so that Jesus healed the man first , like we were expecting , and then forgave his sins , we wouldn't have that little moment between where everybody's surprised and where the religious leaders are saying to themselves who is this guy ? So , because of the order , we have this little teaching moment where Jesus shows us the reason that he's healing people . He's using these miracles to show them who he is . He is the one who can first heal us from our sin and who will one day heal us from all of the effects of sin and death on our physical bodies . If you are a follower of Jesus , if he has cleansed you of sin , then you're going to live with him forever in his kingdom , in the new creation . The story That's who Jesus is . So see how the surprise order of things here calls our attention to this . Don't miss that order when you remember this story or when you share it with others .

Shannon Popkin 5:04

This story puts a spotlight on forgiveness . Kelly and I talked about that . So who is Jesus ? He's the one who has the authority to forgive sins . I mean , just think about that right now . Jesus has the authority to forgive your sins , and I don't know about you .

Shannon Popkin 5:22

But forgiveness is a concept that I need to be reminded of constantly And one that I need to remind others of quite a bit . In my family , relationships with my kids or my friends . We need to be reminded about forgiveness , and we've talked about how , in the Bible , some of the richest theology about forgiveness and other deep truths of God , they're wrapped up in stories . The story is what holds the theology together in our hearts and in our minds . So I want to invite you to be like these people who were crowded in that little room , who probably went home and told it to everybody they knew , and in moments maybe in a dark , quiet moment when they were feeling guilty about their sin or they worried that God was going to punish them because they had sinned I imagine that they returned to this story about this man who was considered by everyone to be sinful and how Jesus started with forgiveness . I mean , the fact is , we're all sinful , we all need to be forgiven And , just like this man , it might be something else , some other problem or pain or struggle that first causes us to turn our attention to Jesus .

Shannon Popkin 6:33

You know , as I'm recording this , i have two friends who are my own age and who are in the hospital with COVID , and I'm praying for them all throughout the day , and I can imagine that COVID has caused many of us to pray more and to turn to God more . And as we approach God either for the first time , or maybe we've been coming to him for years and years sometimes we worry that our sin makes God unavailable to us . You know we're too dirty or our sin is too severe . We feel like we can only come to him when we're cleaned up . But that's when I want you to remember this story about this man . He was paralyzed . He couldn't do anything to fix himself up , either physically or spiritually , to make himself presentable to Jesus , and the fact is he didn't have to .

The Healing and Forgiveness of Jesus

Shannon Popkin 7:21

In just a short interaction , jesus forgave this man's sin and healed his body . Now we have to keep in mind the overarching story too , because it's true we've been forgiven in a moment , but it's also true that while God can heal us in a moment , he might not completely heal us in this moment . I'm sure that there were other paralytics that didn't get healed during Jesus' day . And this one who did get healed eventually probably got sick or hurt in some other way , and we know he eventually died . So Jesus didn't eradicate all sickness and death when he came , but one day he will .

Shannon Popkin 7:59

When Jesus came and walked the dusty roads of Galilee , it was people's physical needs which drew them to him , but once they got there , jesus was most interested in talking to them about their spiritual need and inviting them into the kingdom . One day our King Jesus will return and there will be a new earth And those of us who are forgiven by his blood , by the blood of the Lamb , we will enter that kingdom and experience no more sickness , no more pain , no more sin . So as we continue talking about the story of the paralytic , i hope you'll be treasured it up in your heart , learn the story well enough so that you can retell it to yourself or to somebody else who needs to hear it , who has some physical ailment or who is struggling over the sickness of sin . It only takes one minute or so to tell this story , but it has such rich theological truths packed into it . Imagine the impact it could have if we stored this story up and reminded ourselves and others of it . So the next time you or somebody else is feeling just overwhelmed with grief over your sin , remember this story

Retelling the Story of the Paralytic

Shannon Popkin 9:13

about the paralytic . Let me retell it to you one more time . It's from Luke , chapter 5 , 18 through 26 .

Shannon Popkin 9:24

So Jesus was teaching inside somebody's house and there were so many people packed in that there was standing room only . And there were some men who had carried their paralyzed friend on a stretcher , hoping to get him to Jesus . But since they couldn't even get him through the door , they climbed up on the roof and they dug through it and lowered the man right down in front of Jesus . The saw the great faith of these friends and he said to the man your sins are forgiven . Well , the Pharisees and the religious leaders who were in that room began thinking to themselves what Who does this guy think he is ? Only God can forgive sins . Jesus knew what they were thinking about and he asked the religious leaders do you think it's harder to forgive sins or to heal someone ? I want you to know that I have the authority to forgive sins . So he turned to the paralyzed man and he said take up your mat and go home . And that is what the man did . He stood up , he picked up his mat and he went home praising God , and everyone there was amazed . They kept saying to each other we have never seen anything like this before .

Shannon Popkin 10:40

If you're interested in a Bible study that looks at more stories of Jesus , I hope you'll check out my new study Comparison Girl Lessons from Jesus on Me Free Living in a Measured World . I hope you'll also take a look at Kelly Needham's book Friendish reclaiming real friendship in a culture of confusion . There's a chapter in Kelly's book called Ripping Up Roofs which talks about the very story we're discussing today . Come check the show notes at ShannonPepkincom for a link to Kelly's book , her website and her social media contacts .