A very smelly Christmas (Mark 14:1-11)

To some it is the king of fruits. To others it is the world’s smelliest fruit. I am describing, of course, the durian. Smelling like gym socks yet tasting like custard, the durian is a fruit you completely love or absolutely loathe. Mmm, durian.

Imagine durian for Christmas. Instead of a tree, a durian. Instead of roast turkey, a durian. Instead of a present, a durian. Your family will disown you. Your neighbours will call the police on you.

Extreme reactions. That is the theme of today’s passage from Mark Chapter 14 - extreme reactions or responses to Jesus Christ. One of hatred and murder. But the other of love and worship. And the question is: Pushed to the extreme, what is your response to Jesus? What is your extreme reaction to Christ?

Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

Mark 14:1-2

The passage begins (and ends) with murder - with the religious leaders scratching their heads thinking of a way to kill Jesus. And it’s tempting to say, “It’s just those extremists.” Or, “Let’s skip this bit,” but we lose something if we do. Mark wants us to compare the religious leaders with this anonymous lady. To compare their reaction with hers.

It’s not as simple as saying one is bad and the other is good. Look at verse 1 and notice how secretive they are. “They were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus.” Verse 2, “Not during the Feast,” they said. Why? Because the people would riot. Because there were too many witnesses. This was a business meeting. They wanted to kill Jesus - to commit murder, yes - but to do it in such a way that they still looked respectable, that they still maintained control.

But then comes this woman who does something so public, so embarrassing yet so full of love.

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Mark 14:3

She has no words, no name, she probably has no invitation. But Mark tells us that the jar was made of alabaster. The perfume was made of pure nard. That was the centre of attention. This rare, expensive jar of perfume which was broken, which was poured out on Jesus’ head. In John’s gospel, he writes, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3). Everyone could smell the extravagance of this act of worship.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages (three hundred denarii) and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

Mark 14:4

A very Asian thing to do when we see a friend with a new phone or a new toy is ask, “Eh, how much?” As Asians, we measure everything in dollar signs. That’s how much something is worth - my clothes, my car. That’s how much I am worth - my salary, my Christmas present that my loved one gave to me. It’s interesting how they knew how much that jar of perfume cost. Three hundred denarii. What a waste - not of perfume - but a waste of money. Three hundred denarii poured down the drain.

Three hundred denarii in today’s money is twenty thousand pounds. “We could have given twenty thousand pounds to the poor.” That’s what they were saying. “We could hire a new pastor.” “We can renovate the church centre.” We can do so many things with twenty thousand pounds. But what you do not do with twenty thousand pounds is buy one gigantic bottle of Chanel Number 5 and pour it out on your pastor’s head. What a waste!

So they scolded her, “Silly girl.” But what does Jesus say? “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”

Mark 14:6-7

It’s strange. When Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you… but you will not always have me,” it almost sounds wrong. Is Jesus saying he is more important than the poor?

Well, remembering their objections in verse 5, “This money could have been given to the poor,” Jesus is quoting an Old Testament passage back at them - back at the bullies - about the importance of helping the poor. Hopefully, when I read it, you will see the connection. This is Deuteronomy 15, verse 11.

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

Deuteronomy 15:11

Jesus says there will always be poor among us - there will always be this problem of poverty in this world - but then quotes a verse that says this is why we should be generous. To be open-handed with the poor. Now, that same chapter in Deuteronomy also has this to say about the poor.

However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, he will richly bless you.

Deuteronomy 15:4

It sounds like a contradiction: There should be no poor (verse 4) and yet the poor you will always have with you (verse 11). How can that be? The reason for the poor is not lack of money, not lack of blessing, not lack of food - no, after all, God says he will richly bless the land he has given them as his people. Yet even in this special land he has given to his people overflowing with his blessing, God has to give the command to be open-handed. Why? Because we forget. We need to be reminded not to hold onto God’s blessing with closed fists. Be open-handed, God says. Be generous.

Do you see what Jesus is saying? Some of us think, “If only I had twenty thousand pounds, wow, I will donate all that money to the poor.” You know you won’t. You will be thinking, “I need twenty thousand more.” But what has this woman done? She poured out everything she had, emptied everything she owned in one single act of abandonment, one single act of worship. Notice, Jesus says, in verse 8, “She did what she could.” Meaning if she had two bottle of perfume, she would break both bottles on Jesus’ head. Well, not quite. What it means is, in her eyes, this was nothing. She didn’t think she was rich. She didn’t wait until she was rich. We give out of our excess, our spare change, but this woman she poured out everything she had in worship and in love for Jesus Christ.

You don’t need to wait. Till you are older. Till you have more talents, more money, more respect. Coming to Jesus means you don’t have much but you give him everything. That’s worship. He is worth everything.

She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

Mark 14:8-9

A couple of days ago at a friend’s birthday bible study (that’s right, he had bible study on his birthday), I was reminded this was not the first time Jesus was given perfume. If you remember the magi, the wise men from Matthew Chapter 2, who followed the star and came to Christ when he was a child, you will recall how they gave him gold, incense and myrrh as gifts - gold symbolising kingship, incense which was used for worship - but then there is also myrrh. What’s the point of giving myrrh to a kid? (It’s not chocolate). Myrrh is used at funerals, as a kind of perfume to preserve dead bodies. Jesus says, “She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.” Aside from the fact that Jesus is God and Jesus is King is the fact the Jesus has come to die on the cross for our sins. He has come to save us from God’s judgement by dying in our place for our forgiveness.

And he says wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her. The cross hasn’t happened yet, it’s two days to the Passover, two days to the crucifixion, but Jesus is saying, “This is a picture of what I am going to do for you on the cross.” Think of the shame she endured - “Foolish girl”. Think of the price she paid pouring out everything she had. Think of her love measured in terms of her sacrifice.

Jesus says, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” What she did was make Jesus’ death look good. That’s the gospel. It’s pointing others to Jesus on the cross and showing them what a beautiful Saviour we have in Jesus Christ.

At that same bible study, someone said, “Loving someone always looks foolish.” Why would God give up his Son to die for you, a sinner? Why would Jesus Christ become a man, become a baby, die on the cross, for you, a sinner? Because of love. Others will say, “What a waste!” If you know this love of God, you will say, “What a Saviour!”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Mark 14:10-11

And so the story ends with the plans to kill Jesus moving swiftly ahead. Back in verse 2, they were stuck, they put their plans on hold, but here comes Judas handing Jesus to them as a gift.

I am reminded of a story a pastor once told about a bible study in prison (gives new meaning to cell group) when the prisoners were asked, “Who killed Jesus?” One prisoner said, “The Pharisees!” Another prisoner said, “I killed Jesus,” in remorse over his sinfulness. But the bible study leader wisely said, “God killed Jesus.” It was God who gave Jesus into the hands of the chief priests. It was God who made this happen.

And you have to ask: Why did it have to be this way - through betrayal, through deception? The reason is: Jesus is the ultimate poor man. When Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me,” Jesus is calling himself the ultimate poor man. You see, the poor are the oppressed, the victimised. Jesus could not save us as a rich man. The bible says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for you sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Recently, scientists in Singapore discovered the gene which gives the durian its pungent smell and the significance of that discovery opens up the possibility of creating an odourless or milder-tasting durian of the future. But one Singapore wrote back and said this, “A durian without smell is like a human who has lost his soul.” It’s the smell that’s the essence of the soul of the durian. It is the cross that is the essence of Christ, that is the essence of Christmas.

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

2 Corinthians 2:15-16

Heart attack (Mark 3:1-6)

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’

Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Mark 3:1-6

1. Two routines

What is your Sunday routine? Do you wake up late and have a big breakfast or wake up early to play football?

This passage tells us what Jesus does every Sabbath day. He preaches in the synagogue and heals the sick. Verse 1 begins with “Another time ( or As usual or Again), Jesus went into a synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there.” And Jesus heals the man. That’s his routine.

But did you notice a second routine in verse 2? “Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.” It says, “they watched him closely”. Not to hear him teach but “to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.” In other words, to catch Jesus in the act. “No work allowed, Jesus, not on the Sabbath!”

So we see two routines. Jesus teaching God’s word and doing God’s work. That’s one routine. But another thing we see is rejection. Turn back to Mark Chapter 2 and there Jesus is called a blasphemer, his friends are called sinners and his disciples are called Sabbath law-breakers - all in Chapter 2 alone. Rejection has become routine. They come every week to church but they’ve come in order to reject Jesus; to find a reason to accuse Jesus.

It’s interesting how this happens again and again in Mark’s gospel. The more they knew Jesus, they more they rejected him.

2. Two responses

But something different happens in Mark Chapter 3 and verse 3.

Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’
Mark 3:3

Remember, they are watching Jesus closely to catch him in the act. But Jesus says, “Stand up in front of everyone”. Meaning, he wants them to see. To see this man with his shrivelled hand. To see his miraculous healing. Even to see his obedience. It’s not Jesus who is hiding something but those who have come with a hidden agenda; those looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.

Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.
Mark 3:4

What is a mark of a good bible study leader? Good conversation. Everyone says something. If that is true, Jesus Christ is a lousy bible study leader. No one is saying anything! What is worse, Jesus gets angry with his bible study group for keeping quiet!

He looked around at them in anger and (was) deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.
Mark 3:5

What’s going on? Jesus sees their stubborn hearts - literally, their hard hearts. If you remember the book of Exodus; you will remember how Pharaoh hardens his heart against God each time he meets Moses. The same thing happens to us when we reject Jesus, again and again. We are harden our hearts, making it harder to hear him. Making it harder to respond to his grace. That’s why they remained silent.

Do you choose good or evil? Do you save or kill someone? It’s not a hard question, is it? You don’t split the group into two and discuss the merits of doing evil versus doing good. Of course it’s better to do good and save life!

But to be fair, verse 4 begins: Which is lawful on the Sabbath? Meaning: He’s not asking, “What do you think?” but, “What does God say?” And this is where they got stuck. They knew what God said not to do: Don’t work on the Sabbath. Hence, healing on the Sabbath was breaking the law. But Jesus asked them what God wanted them to do. He rescued them from slavery from Egypt and gave them the Sabbath so that they could serve him.

And if look back to the end of Chapter 2 to the last verse, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Connecting the dots, Jesus is saying: The Sabbath is about me. I have come to do good, to save life, to bring salvation. But all they were thinking was, “I don’t care.” They hardened their hearts against Jesus.

Silence can be a very useful thing in a bible study. It can mean people are thinking. It can also mean that people are hardening their hearts. Either way, silence is a response. You are repenting towards God or rejecting God. You can hear God’s word or harden your heart. Most of you are silent right now. I wonder which response is happening in your heart?

Two routines. Two responses.

3. Two results

Finally, two results - life and death.

(Jesus) said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Mark 3:5-6

That’s ironic, isn’t it? They accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath yet immediately after church, they planned to kill him. The experts condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath but didn’t see anything wrong with killing on the Sabbath.

Jesus says (in Mark 2:17), “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Who are the sick? Obviously, it’s that old auntie in hospital. Obviously, it’s my friend who’s struggling with sin. I’d better pray for them.

Friends, if that’s what you think, you’ve missed the point. When Jesus tells the sick man to stand up, everyone could see he needed help. None of them thought, “I need Jesus to help me.” Yet Jesus was filled with anger and grief when he looked at their hearts.

To have a doctor tell you, “You are sick,” is bad news. But for Jesus to show me my sin is good news because Jesus came for sinners. That’s the wonderful news of the gospel. At the cross where he suffered and died, I can see how much God hates my sin and how much God loved me while I was still a sinner. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Conclusion

What does this mean for us? Routine, response and results.

Routine means it’s not just that one big decision to follow Jesus but your day by day, moment by moment living for Jesus. Why not have a daily routine, weekly routine of prayer and reading God’s word. Always start small. The point is to keep going and to keep growing.

Response is always, always talking about the gospel. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He rose for our justification. I must never be too old or too proud to bow my knees before the cross and say, “I am sorry, Jesus. Please forgive me. I am a sinner saved only by your amazing grace.”

Finally, the result is life or death. Eternal salvation in the fullness of God. Or eternal condemnation under the wrath of God. Friends, do you know the difference? More importantly, do you know Jesus?

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Romans 5:8-9

Ultimate Sunday School (Mark 4:1-34)

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.

Mark 4:1

My church in Singapore has eight hundred children. Can you imagine Sunday School with eight hundred kids? That’s a lot of lesson plans and toilet breaks.

Here, Jesus speaks to a crowd so large they almost crush him (according to Mark 3:9) so he gets into a boat and speaks to the crowd from the middle of a lake. And verse 2 says, “He taught them many things by parables.”

I call this Ultimate Sunday School. It’s Jesus plus a crowd by the lake and he’s teaching them parables. And verse 3 begins with Jesus telling them to listen.

‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.’

Then Jesus said, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’

Mark 4:3-9

Notice, there are four soils. It’s the same seed but four different soils.

First, there’s the seed along the path. It’s like food you’ve dropped on the floor - the birds come and eat it up. Second, there’s the seed on rocky places, meaning, there’s a layer of rock underneath the soil. The plants spring up quickly but then dry up in the heat of the sun. Thirdly, there’s the seed amongst the thorns. The plants fight against the thorns for soil, for sustenance, but the thorns win. The fourth soil is good soil. It multiplies thirty, sixty and a hundred times, producing more seed than was sown in the first place.

It’s a parable about growth. We’ll see how every parable in Mark Chapter 4 talks about growth in God’s kingdom. How it grows slowly. How it grows surely. How God’s kingdom grows surprisingly.

1. Slow growth

Jesus explains in verse 14: “The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” The word. The word. The word. Jesus sows the word but Satan snatches the word from our hearts.

Verse 16: “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.” “But,” verse 17, “since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” Notice, it comes because of the word. When trouble comes, will we hold on to the word or fall away?

Verse 18: ”Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word,” but, “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” The number one excuse for missing church or coming late for bible study is, “I’m busy.” Jesus says the problem is deeper than that. We have given our hearts to other things - career, money, happiness - things which look more attractive than the bible. Things which choke our love for God’s word.

Verse 20: “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Seeds that produce more seeds. That’s the mark of good soil. Believers who encourage growth in others, not just themselves.

The question is: Which soil are you? Jesus warns us: Three out of the four soils are bad. Not because there’s no growth. There’s lots of growth - of Satan, trouble and weeds - but there is zero growth in God’s word. When we are tempted to look at a megachurch and wish we were like them, remember, what makes the good soil good is maturity, not numbers. Seed producing more seed. It is long-term gospel growth of mature believers growing in Christ.

That takes time. It is no accident that Jesus uses plants in his parables. Growing in God’s word is slow. As he looks at the vast crowd before him, it is no accident he tells them a parable where most of the seed die, most of them fall away, most of them bear no fruit. It’s a warning to them and to us.

Even to his own disciples he says, “Don’t you understand?” Yet, there is a big difference between the disciples and the crowd. Verse 10: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables.” He explains it to them, again and again. He keeps sowing the word.

Which soil are you?

2. Sure growth

Verse 21:

He said to them, ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.

Mark 4:21-22

It sounds foolish. Like turning the TV backwards or microwaving ice-cream. But Jesus says we are that foolish when it comes to God’s word. When we ignore God’s word. The problem is not with the pastor or the PA system. The problem is we don’t like hearing God’s word preached to our ears.

‘Consider carefully what you hear,’ he continued. ‘With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.’

Mark 4:24-25

Elsewhere, the bible condemns false teachers but here Jesus condemns false hearers. Remember the first parable? Jesus doesn’t say to the farmer, “Why are you throwing seed on the pavement, rocks and thorns?” Instead, he condemns the soils. “Consider carefully what you hear.”

To hear is to obey because in the bible we meet a speaking God. We meet God in his word. Hearing is a mark of obedience. When Jesus begins his parable with “Listen!” (Mark 4:3) it reminds us of Moses who said, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one,” (Deuteronomy 6:4) commonly known as the shema (Hebrew for “Listen!”). Jesus is saying: God will hold us account for the attitude in which we listen to his word.

He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. As soon as the corn is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’

Mark 4:26-29

It’s the same parable this time from the perspective of the farmer. He wakes up, scatters the seed, then takes a nap, has lunch and watches TV. Yet all this while, the seed grows. Verse 28: “All by itself the soil produces corn.” Elsewhere, Paul writes, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) I wonder if Paul was thinking of this parable. Paul did the easy bit - sowing the seed of the gospel. It’s God who causes the seed to grow and bear fruit.

If you are a Sunday School teacher, this means you can sleep! Even if you have to get up to teach eight hundred kids at Sunday School. Why? Because God gives the growth. Your job is to scatter the seed. It’s God’s job to grow his kingdom. What an encouragement to invest in this word!

3. Surprising growth

Verse 30:

Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?

Mark 4:30

Jesus goes, “Hmm, which parable should I use next?”

It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’

Mark 4:31-32

It’s Mother’s Day today. What does growth look like to a mum? Suffering! You suffer today so your children will be happy tomorrow. You invest today for your children’s tomorrow.

Jesus points to the smallest of all seeds and says this is God’s chosen investment. He connects the smallest seed with the biggest result: The word of God with the Kingdom of God. “It grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants.” If God sent us a photograph of heaven, we would say, “That is what I want - the Kingdom of God!” Instead, God sends us his word and says to us, “This is what you need - my Word.”

God’s growth is surprising. Surprising not just because it will big and awesome in the future. Surprising because it looks so small today.

Jesus once said, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) Jesus calls himself a seed (same word used here for mustard seed/grain) - a seed that dies so that there might be many seeds. Meaning: We come to him at the cross in order to be received by him in his kingdom. We come to him in his death in order to receive from him eternal life.

To many, this looks foolish, small, insignificant. But Jesus says this is God’s chosen investment.

Jesus’ Ultimate Sunday School

How does God’s kingdom grow? Slowly, surely and surprisingly.

It grows slowly - not through popularity or programmes - but through the preaching of God’s word. It grows surely. God gives the growth. Our job is to keep planting the seed.

It grows surprisingly. One day, we will see the results but today, what he hear is his word. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Yes, it would be marvellous to have eight hundred children in Sunday School but can you imagine eight hundred children walking away from Christ? Friends, that’s what happened to Jesus. Everyone in the crowd that day left him at the cross.

But Jesus kept planting the word. Sowing the seed.

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Mark 4:33-34

This was Jesus’ Ultimate Sunday School. A small bible study with his friends gathered around his word. “Alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”

What about you? Which soil are you? The one that never gets it or the one that falls away or the one that bears no fruit? Or the one that receives the word, grows and encourages others to grow in the word of our Lord Jesus Christ?

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Coming home (Mark 2:1-12)

[Preached at the Chinese Church combined service on Sunday, 8 January 2017. Translated into Cantonese.]

When Jesus heals the man, he tells him to get up, take his mat and go home. Every day after work or after school when we pack our bags and go home. What is so special about this man? Why does the crowd go, “Wow! We have never seen anything like this.”

Because he cannot walk. Because, if this man wants to go home, he has to be carried home. The word for this is “stuck”. To be “stuck” means you want to go home, but you can’t. Like this Chinese New Year: You want to go home, but you are stuck at work. Or here in church, you want to go home but you are stuck because my sermon is too long-winded (cheung hei)!

But Jesus heals the man and he goes home! And everyone goes, “Hooray!” Yet, Jesus says: More important than going home is being welcomed home. More important than going home early or quickly is being loved in your own home.

Look with me to verse 1.

Jesus goes home

Verse 1: “The people heard that he (Jesus) had come home.” It’s like when Along comes home. Or when David comes home. Everyone says, “Let’s have tea in Wetherspoons!”

Jesus has just come home after travelling the villages. And everyone says “Let’s go and see Jesus!” Verse 2: “They gathered in such numbers, there was no room left.” “Not even outside the door.” So many came that some were standing outside next to the rubbish bins.

And Jesus “preached the word to them.” (verse 2) They wanted to see Jesus. Jesus wanted them to hear God’s word. Those standing outside couldn’t see him. But everyone could hear Jesus preaching God’s word to them.

Imagine your house full of people. That’s stressful! Is there enough food? Are there enough chairs? Imagine every Chinese person in Cambridge came to CCCC on Chinese New Year. Two thousand people! What should we do?

What we should do is preach God’s word. That was Jesus’ number priority. “That is why I have come,” Jesus says in Mark Chapter 1 (verse 38), “so that I can preach there also.”

Whether we go out to them or they come to us. We want to preach God’s word to our friends. That’s our number one priority.

Faithful friends

Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. Since 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.

Mark 2:3-4

These are good friends.Tam Wing-lun (Alan Tam) wrote a song about good friends. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUMA8g3-lnM)

Nei wai liu ngor / 你为了我 (You’re there for me)

Ngor wai liu nei / 我为了你 (I’m there for you)
Kung foo wan nan chuit mong lui
/ 共赴患難絕望里緊握你手
(In times of troubles to the end, I’ll hold your hand)

Kan nap nei sau

… Pang Yau!!! / 朋友 (My friends!)

Good friends will do anything for you especially in times of trouble. “We will get you to Jesus.” They climb up the roof. They dig a hole (in Jesus’ house). Everyone is looking at them but they don’t care. Like Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible, they lower their friend down from the ceiling.

Parents don’t approve of these kind of friends. So naughty! But these friends are the best friends because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Mark 2:5

What did Jesus see? Their faith. Not: Oi, what are you doing to my roof? No, the bible says he saw their faith. They were trusting Jesus to help their sick friend. “Only you can help him, Jesus.”

When my father was sick, for a long time he didn’t want to see the doctor. One day, he friend drove an hour to the house, put my father in the car, drove him another hour to the hospital and admitted him. For every check-up, he drove my father. He drove four hours each time. Not to the restaurant or to sing Karaoke, but to hospital to get the help he needed. What do you call that? A good friend.

Jesus sees our faith. When you pray. When you share the gospel. When you pick people up to come to church. Don’t give up bringing your friends to Jesus. But more importantly, keep trusting Jesus with your friends and family. “Jesus, only you can save them. Only you can change their lives.”

Secret enemies

Finally, we see some secret enemies.

Now 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?’

Mark 2:6-7

I call them secret enemies is because they are undercover. On the outside, they look good. Firstly, they were sitting there, meaning, they came early - not like those four friends who came late and the house was full. Secondly, even though they were saying bad things about Jesus, they said it secretly in their hearts.

But Jesus could see into their hearts. Verse 8: “Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these thing?’”

What were they thinking? Jesus cannot forgive sin. He is not God. He is insulting God because only God can forgive sin.

And Jesus asks them a question. “Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’” Or put it another way: Which is cheaper? When we buy something we often compare the prices? This brand is cheap, but that brand has a big discount. Jesus offers two options: Which do you choose?

The first is Brand Forgiveness. “Your sins are forgiven,” and we say, “OK, let me think about it.” But the second brand is Brand Fortune. Get up: Meaning, Immediately! You are healed immediately. Pick up (your mat): Meaning, No need for your friends to carry you. You are strong enough to carry your mat. Go home: Meaning, Life is back to normal. And Jesus says: Which is better?

If I am honest, I want Fortune more than I want Forgiveness. When I pray, I ask God for health, for happiness, for my exams, for my job, for more time, for more money, for more people to like me. I pray for fortune more than i pray for forgiveness. And Jesus says, “Why are you thinking these things?”

But then Jesus says, “I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” and he heals the man. He gets up, picks up, goes home. Everyone goes “Wah, so amazing!” and he goes home. But what should they have said instead? They should have said,  “Wah, his sins have been forgiven.” They should have said, “Wah, Jesus has authority to forgive my sin.” Maybe even, “Wah, Jesus is God!”

Going home is important, but more important is being welcomed home. Why go home if you are only going to argue with your parents, to boast about yourself, to fight with your friends? Why go home if you are not welcome in your own home? We are stuck. We want to go home but we can’t, not because of money. Because we are not welcome.

But if you are welcome home, it means you are going back to a family who loves you. To friends who want to see you (Paaang Yaauuuu!!). And when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” he is saying, “God is welcoming you to come home.” “Son,” he says, “Your sins are forgiven.”

There is a story of a man named Paco who ran away from home. His father put an advertisement in the newspaper - “All is forgiven. Paco come home.” 800 sons named Paco came home. Why? Because all of us want to be forgiven. All of us want to go home.

At the cross of Jesus Christ, where he died for our sins, God is saying, “All is forgiven. Come home.”

All is forgiven

We have seen three things. Jesus comes home to preach God’s word. That is his number one priority - that people hear God’s word in the bible. Secondly, Jesus sees our faith. Don’t give up bringing your friends to Jesus. Jesus sees your love and your sacrifice.

But finally, Jesus sees our hearts. He offers us the most expensive gift God could ever buy - forgiveness. On the cross, Jesus died to pay for all our sins, for all our hatred towards God so that he can say to us, “Come home. All is forgiven.”

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We pray for our friends,

Who are sick,

Who are in trouble,

Who don’t yet know you as their God,

We pray, most of all, for them to be forgiven of their sin.

And to hear Jesus saying to them, “All is forgiven. It is time to come home.”

In Jesus name, we pray,

Amen.