With Friends Like These! -- Mark 2:1-12
With Friends Like These! -- Mark 2:1-12
By Pastor Lee Hemen
September 13, 2006 AM
What kind of friends do you have? Are they fair-weather friends? Do they stick with you through thick or thin? What about you, what kind of friend do you make? How do you lookout for those who you consider a friend? Friendship carries with it responsibilities and true friendship demands accountability as well. Friendship can mean that you have to be willing to sacrifice for those you consider a friend.
Jesus saw what true friendship means and what true friends will do for one another. Jesus has come back to Capernaum and the “people had heard He had come home.” So many began to show up where Jesus is living that there is hardly any room except for Jesus to preach from His own doorway. Here in Mark’s gospel we discover five conflicts Jesus has with the religious leaders of the day. They are not in chronological order because the writers of that day were not concerned so much with what order things happened, but rather what happened and what was taught. What occurs here is astounding and has resonated throughout the centuries because of four friends. With friends like these, anyone could say they were blessed. Let’s discover why.
READ: Mark 2:1-12
One of my friends that I hung around with while in high school influenced how I thought politically. In fact, his forcefulness in what he thought politically changed my mind as a rebellious young man to rethink what I considered important in life. Being taught by my father to critically think through every issue in life made me reconsider what this young man said and it began to make more sense than the radicalism everyone else was spouting back then. Friendship should have an impact on your life. We discover here in Mark that…
I. True friendship should influence! (Vv. 1-3)
1. Your life either sheds light or casts a shadow! Four men had a plan for their friend. Four men were willing to risk it all to make sure their plan was carried out. Four men came to the aide of their friend who could not do for himself. That’s what friends do, they help you when you are helpless. The people of Capernaum had heard about Jesus, they had seen Him in their streets, and now they were crowding around His house to see what they could see. As I mentioned before, “So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door” of where Jesus was staying. Into this throng of gawkers come four men carrying their paralytic friend. We learn from Jesus that “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) As Jesus was willing to give His life for us, we as Christians should be willing to give ourselves completely a way so that our lives influence our friends. Jesus reminds us that “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) These four men were true friends by what they were willing to do for their common friend without regard for themselves. True friendship should influence.
EXAMPLE: Visit any junior high or high school and you will experience the power of influence. Clothing, hairstyles, attitudes and even the language are all gained by some amount of influence, whether it is from commercials, fads, trends, celebrities or music. Teen and preteen children are influenced by these various factors. However, a child's friends are the No. 1 influence. Unfortunately, negative influences are just as easily accepted as positive ones. Karen Casey of Akron, Ohio, witnessed just how far the negative influences of friends can go. “My son was involved with various bad influences from age 12 to 15,” Casey says. “His bad behaviors began with staying out progressively past curfew and riding the bus home at 2 a.m. At the worst point, he would come home at 7 a.m. drunk.” The number one thing that can counteract the negative influence of bad friends are involved parents that ask tough questions and set boundaries. Parents who ask their children where they are going, who they are going with and request a meeting with their child's friends and the friends' parents have already taken the first step in taking control of the influence of bad friends and the accountability of their children. True friendship will influence you for the better. The four men in Mark’s gospel truly influenced the life of their friend!
From the lost puppies and stray cats I brought home, to the friends I came home with, I soon learned there could be good things that come from having close relationships. In fact, when I began a friendship as a sophomore in High School it eventually resulted in finding my future wife and the love of good homemade pies! The same was true for some men who brought their friend to Jesus. It resulted in some rather great things happening. We discover here in Mark that…
II. True friendship results in unexpected benefits! (Vv. 4-5)
1. Friends can lighten your heaviest load in life! Paul would later write that Christians are to “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) These men were willing to carry their friend and his burden became theirs for that moment in time. Two legs that could not walk before were now carried along by eight strong and willing ones. Arms that could not lift the littlest of children, were lifted in the arms of his friends. But they “could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,” so they do what friends do, they improvised. They “made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on!” Can you understand what is happening here? These men lift their friend to the roof, dig through the porch, and lower their friend right down in front of the unsuspecting Jesus! Wow! Here in Mark we discover that true friends benefit those they call friends. They become a blessing in the life of others. In fact, we discover that “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” This is the only time we find Jesus forgiving the sins of another because of the faith of his friends. Evidently they knew their friend had wanted to see Jesus but could not go himself. They knew that Jesus was the answer for their friend’s affliction. What occurs is not just a physical healing, but a spiritual one as well! That’s what happens because true friendship results in unexpected benefits!
EXAMPLE: "More Americans in the last 20 years say that they have fewer close friends or people in their lives with whom they can discuss important matters," says Duke University sociologist Lynn Smith-Lovin. However, those who are joined by friends to loose weight, lose more weight and tend to keep it off. People who have regular friendships live longer and healthier lives. Friends tend to keep one another accountable. In fact studies have shown that senior adults that maintain close friendships live 5 to 10 years longer than those who do not. Friendships tend to help those involved to make better decisions and to remain more in control emotionally and financially in their lives. True friendship results in unexpected benefits. For the paralytic it resulted in him not only getting his sins forgiven but his paralysis cured as well!
Not everyone will like all of your friends. It can be because people see that your so-called friends really do not have your best interests at heart and are just using you. That they are your friend because of what they can gain from having you hang around. However, sometimes true friendship is tested in the foxholes of combat during the battles of life. There can be those who throw stones at your friendship because they are jealous or insecure. In fact, we discover here in Mark that…
III. True friendship will face naysayers! (Vv. 6-12)
1. Cynics build themselves up by tearing you down! Like old hens we find that “some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” They could not even rejoice in forgiveness, instead, hey had to find fault in the paralytic’s new found friend Jesus. Jesus was a good judge of character. He “immediately… knew in His spirit…what they were thinking in their hearts.” Now some folks have a hard time realizing that Jesus sometimes used sarcasm as an effective teaching tool. Not sarcasm as we use it to degrade another but irony and a good old dose of Godly disdain to illuminate hypocrisy. Jesus sarcastically asks some penetrating questions, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” The first question reveals their narrow-mindedness and the second displays their shallow spirituality. Who would befriend a paralytic? Who in the world would tell a paralytic, who was probably a sinner from birth or his parents had sinned and that is why he was the way he was, that he was now “forgiven”!? But Jesus is not worried. He responds to their pettiness by saying, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” and then tells the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” They could not dispute the healing because of the crowd full of witnesses. To the dumbfounded looks of the naysayers “He 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!’” True friendship will face naysayers.
EXAMPLE: When I first accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord I got heat from my family, from my closest friend, and from co-workers, including my boss. He called me into his office and basically told me that he did not like Christians and was going to make my life miserable. This is nothing new and I learned that Jesus had told His followers to “make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.” (Luke 21:14-19) True friendship in Christ will face naysayers.
Conclusion:
The Bible teaches us that either we will be friends with the world or with God. Which are you? We learned today that: True friendship should influence; true friendship results in unexpected benefits; and true friendship will face naysayers.
----
This article is copyrighted © 2009 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission to use the entire article.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
September 13, 2006 AM
What kind of friends do you have? Are they fair-weather friends? Do they stick with you through thick or thin? What about you, what kind of friend do you make? How do you lookout for those who you consider a friend? Friendship carries with it responsibilities and true friendship demands accountability as well. Friendship can mean that you have to be willing to sacrifice for those you consider a friend.
Jesus saw what true friendship means and what true friends will do for one another. Jesus has come back to Capernaum and the “people had heard He had come home.” So many began to show up where Jesus is living that there is hardly any room except for Jesus to preach from His own doorway. Here in Mark’s gospel we discover five conflicts Jesus has with the religious leaders of the day. They are not in chronological order because the writers of that day were not concerned so much with what order things happened, but rather what happened and what was taught. What occurs here is astounding and has resonated throughout the centuries because of four friends. With friends like these, anyone could say they were blessed. Let’s discover why.
READ: Mark 2:1-12
One of my friends that I hung around with while in high school influenced how I thought politically. In fact, his forcefulness in what he thought politically changed my mind as a rebellious young man to rethink what I considered important in life. Being taught by my father to critically think through every issue in life made me reconsider what this young man said and it began to make more sense than the radicalism everyone else was spouting back then. Friendship should have an impact on your life. We discover here in Mark that…
I. True friendship should influence! (Vv. 1-3)
1. Your life either sheds light or casts a shadow! Four men had a plan for their friend. Four men were willing to risk it all to make sure their plan was carried out. Four men came to the aide of their friend who could not do for himself. That’s what friends do, they help you when you are helpless. The people of Capernaum had heard about Jesus, they had seen Him in their streets, and now they were crowding around His house to see what they could see. As I mentioned before, “So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door” of where Jesus was staying. Into this throng of gawkers come four men carrying their paralytic friend. We learn from Jesus that “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) As Jesus was willing to give His life for us, we as Christians should be willing to give ourselves completely a way so that our lives influence our friends. Jesus reminds us that “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) These four men were true friends by what they were willing to do for their common friend without regard for themselves. True friendship should influence.
EXAMPLE: Visit any junior high or high school and you will experience the power of influence. Clothing, hairstyles, attitudes and even the language are all gained by some amount of influence, whether it is from commercials, fads, trends, celebrities or music. Teen and preteen children are influenced by these various factors. However, a child's friends are the No. 1 influence. Unfortunately, negative influences are just as easily accepted as positive ones. Karen Casey of Akron, Ohio, witnessed just how far the negative influences of friends can go. “My son was involved with various bad influences from age 12 to 15,” Casey says. “His bad behaviors began with staying out progressively past curfew and riding the bus home at 2 a.m. At the worst point, he would come home at 7 a.m. drunk.” The number one thing that can counteract the negative influence of bad friends are involved parents that ask tough questions and set boundaries. Parents who ask their children where they are going, who they are going with and request a meeting with their child's friends and the friends' parents have already taken the first step in taking control of the influence of bad friends and the accountability of their children. True friendship will influence you for the better. The four men in Mark’s gospel truly influenced the life of their friend!
From the lost puppies and stray cats I brought home, to the friends I came home with, I soon learned there could be good things that come from having close relationships. In fact, when I began a friendship as a sophomore in High School it eventually resulted in finding my future wife and the love of good homemade pies! The same was true for some men who brought their friend to Jesus. It resulted in some rather great things happening. We discover here in Mark that…
II. True friendship results in unexpected benefits! (Vv. 4-5)
1. Friends can lighten your heaviest load in life! Paul would later write that Christians are to “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) These men were willing to carry their friend and his burden became theirs for that moment in time. Two legs that could not walk before were now carried along by eight strong and willing ones. Arms that could not lift the littlest of children, were lifted in the arms of his friends. But they “could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,” so they do what friends do, they improvised. They “made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on!” Can you understand what is happening here? These men lift their friend to the roof, dig through the porch, and lower their friend right down in front of the unsuspecting Jesus! Wow! Here in Mark we discover that true friends benefit those they call friends. They become a blessing in the life of others. In fact, we discover that “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” This is the only time we find Jesus forgiving the sins of another because of the faith of his friends. Evidently they knew their friend had wanted to see Jesus but could not go himself. They knew that Jesus was the answer for their friend’s affliction. What occurs is not just a physical healing, but a spiritual one as well! That’s what happens because true friendship results in unexpected benefits!
EXAMPLE: "More Americans in the last 20 years say that they have fewer close friends or people in their lives with whom they can discuss important matters," says Duke University sociologist Lynn Smith-Lovin. However, those who are joined by friends to loose weight, lose more weight and tend to keep it off. People who have regular friendships live longer and healthier lives. Friends tend to keep one another accountable. In fact studies have shown that senior adults that maintain close friendships live 5 to 10 years longer than those who do not. Friendships tend to help those involved to make better decisions and to remain more in control emotionally and financially in their lives. True friendship results in unexpected benefits. For the paralytic it resulted in him not only getting his sins forgiven but his paralysis cured as well!
Not everyone will like all of your friends. It can be because people see that your so-called friends really do not have your best interests at heart and are just using you. That they are your friend because of what they can gain from having you hang around. However, sometimes true friendship is tested in the foxholes of combat during the battles of life. There can be those who throw stones at your friendship because they are jealous or insecure. In fact, we discover here in Mark that…
III. True friendship will face naysayers! (Vv. 6-12)
1. Cynics build themselves up by tearing you down! Like old hens we find that “some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” They could not even rejoice in forgiveness, instead, hey had to find fault in the paralytic’s new found friend Jesus. Jesus was a good judge of character. He “immediately… knew in His spirit…what they were thinking in their hearts.” Now some folks have a hard time realizing that Jesus sometimes used sarcasm as an effective teaching tool. Not sarcasm as we use it to degrade another but irony and a good old dose of Godly disdain to illuminate hypocrisy. Jesus sarcastically asks some penetrating questions, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?” The first question reveals their narrow-mindedness and the second displays their shallow spirituality. Who would befriend a paralytic? Who in the world would tell a paralytic, who was probably a sinner from birth or his parents had sinned and that is why he was the way he was, that he was now “forgiven”!? But Jesus is not worried. He responds to their pettiness by saying, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” and then tells the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” They could not dispute the healing because of the crowd full of witnesses. To the dumbfounded looks of the naysayers “He 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!’” True friendship will face naysayers.
EXAMPLE: When I first accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord I got heat from my family, from my closest friend, and from co-workers, including my boss. He called me into his office and basically told me that he did not like Christians and was going to make my life miserable. This is nothing new and I learned that Jesus had told His followers to “make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.” (Luke 21:14-19) True friendship in Christ will face naysayers.
Conclusion:
The Bible teaches us that either we will be friends with the world or with God. Which are you? We learned today that: True friendship should influence; true friendship results in unexpected benefits; and true friendship will face naysayers.
----
This article is copyrighted © 2009 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission. You now have my permission to use the entire article.
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