He Forgives Sins
Mark 2:1-12
Introduction
There have been many controversial figures in the world throughout history
Men or women who divide people over certain issues or ideas and beliefs
Abraham Lincoln was one such figure – considered today by many to be one of our greatest
presidents
Yet – in his day he was surrounded by controversy
When he was elected president – 7 states seceded from the union before he even took office –
eventually provoking a civil war
While many loved Lincoln – many also hated him.
One of Lincoln’s haters would take his life with an assassin’s bullet
While Abraham Lincoln was certainly a controversial figure over whom people were divided –
without question the most controversial figure in world history is Jesus Christ
That was God’s intention
When Jesus was born – the aged saint and prophet Simeon spoke these words to Mary about her
baby:
“behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be
opposed – and a sword will pierce even your own soul – to the end that thoughts from many
hearts may be revealed.” [Luke 2:34,35]
Jesus will serve as a sign – those who oppose Him oppose God and are condemned
He will be loved by some and bitterly hated by others
Mary’s own heart will be pierced because of the hostility towards Him that will culminate in the
crucifixion
In this passage we will see the seeds of controversy begin to sprout up around Jesus’ ministry
What made Jesus such a controversial figure?
Why would hostility arise against someone who goes about doing good and healing people?
We get a clue as to how this occurred in our next passage in mark’s gospel - - - where Jesus
claims the authority to forgive sins
Jesus made numerous statements that were controversial
He said: ‘Before Abraham was – I am’ [they picked up stones to stone Him]
‘I am the light of the world – He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness’
‘I am the resurrection and the life – He who believes in Me shall live even if He dies.’
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A good man could not say the kinds of things Jesus said and be a mere man
He is forcing people to a crisis of decision - - - ‘Who is this person?’
If Jesus is the Son of God - - - then that has implications upon their lives / our lives / every life
Larry King – “were you indeed virgin born?”
i.e. – was the birth of Jesus a supernatural event - - - involving God Himself stepping into His
creation?
King: the answer to that question would explain history for me
C.S. Lewis shows how Jesus caused people to grapple with His supernatural identity:
‘What this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by
human lips . . . I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is
really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences
against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you.
But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he
forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? [misguided
stupidity] is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did.
He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people
whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party
chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He
really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin.’ [Mere
Christianity, p. 40]
Who is Jesus?
That controversy continues to this day
How we answer that question makes all the difference in the world for how we live
I.
The Paralytic Brought to Jesus – vv. 1-5
This chapter begins with what looks to be a simple account about another healing miracle of
Jesus
But – it will quickly shift in focus to the religious controversy that Jesus sparked around
Himself
Jesus teaching in a home – and 4 friends are trying to get their paralyzed friend before Jesus but can’t due to the crowd
Every seat in the house is taken
People are standing against the walls – some are seated in the middle of the room on the floor
- - - people are everywhere - - - you can’t even get in the door
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The four friends of this man are not easily deterred - - - they decide to take the paralyzed man
up on the roof - - - and begin digging thru the roof
Picture the scene - dust and debris has fallen on all – everyone looking up – this man is
lowered down on a pallet
Perhaps the owner of the house was shouting at them to stop wrecking the roof!
Quite the spectacle!
Focus on this paralytic for a moment - - - here is a guy so desperate for healing – he allows
his four friends to carry him thru the streets - - - dig a hole thru a roof – and drop him down
in front of a crowd of people while Jesus is teaching [making a huge scene] - - - so he can be
healed
He wants to be rid of his affliction – lameness – he’s desperate / no other hope
*** Without his physical affliction - - - he probably would have been content to stay home
that day – certainly wouldn’t allow his friends to dig up a roof – carry on like this!
In the wise providence of God - - - God often uses affliction - - - as a means of drawing
people unto Himself – to experience His greater mercies and blessings
Ps. 119:71 – ‘It is good for me that I was afflicted that I may learn Thy
statutes.’
It is the mature Christian who can say, ‘Father, thank you – even for the afflictions in my life
– because I know that you are using them to produce greater blessings in my life.’
Thank you for insults to humble me
Thank you for poverty – to show me that true riches are spiritual
Thank you for poor health – to show me the transitory nature of this life [fix my eyes on
heaven]
Thank you for removing all my crutches – to show me that Jesus is sufficient
Thank you for weakness – to show me Your strength
If you are in an affliction right now – consider that God may is preparing you to receive a
blessing – as you look to Him
We see the persistence of faith here
The four friends are persistent in their faith - - - they want to get this guy to Jesus
That reminds us not to give up on people who don’t yet know Jesus / there may be obstacles
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Keep praying / keep looking for opportunities to share / invite them to church – give them a
book / a bible - - - look for different ways to expose them to Jesus
Then Jesus does something unexpected by all here
Instead of healing the man of his physical affliction - - - he looks into his soul and addresses
his greater need: that of forgiveness
God oftentimes deals with us not in terms of what we want but what we need [that is a good
thing!]
*** What the paralytic wants is to walk - - - what he needs is forgiveness
He could be coming to Jesus: ‘Man - If I could just get up and walk’ - - - that is what I really
need in life
Jesus says, ‘no – what you really need is forgiveness’ – you need to be reconciled to God
Hell will be populated not just with sinners - - - but sinners who are unforgiven
Jesus is the means by which God forgives sinners
Acts 13:38-39 [Paul at Antioch – said of Jesus:] ‘ . . . thru Him forgiveness of
sins is proclaimed to you. And thru Him everyone who believes is freed from all
things, from which you could not be freed thru the Law of Moses.’
Eph. 1:7 – ‘In Him we have redemption thru His blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.’
The very fact that Jesus grants forgiveness here looks forward to the cross – which would be
the basis of our forgiveness
With this act of forgiveness – the opposition to Jesus begins to surface
II.
The Controversy Begins – vv. 6-12
Here we see developing hostility to Jesus
Why would people become hostile to one who goes about healing people and doing good?
It has to do with who Jesus is - - - and who He claimed to be
Jesus threatened the authority of the religious leaders - - - just as He threatens our own
individual autonomy - - - our ‘right’ to rule over ourselves
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He comes to us and says, ‘I am the Lord Thy God . . . deny yourself – take up your cross and
follow Me.’ – enter My kingdom
Sinful man says: ‘I don’t care what God says - - - I do as I please – it’s my life’ - - - He wants
to be his own king.
Timothy Keller: ‘If you want to be king, and someone else comes along saying, he is the
king, then one of you has to give. Only one person can sit on an absolute throne . . . Jesus
came to us claiming to be God, the King.’ [Hidden Christmas, p. 67]
The scribes have been bystanders up to this point - - - but now Jesus will expose their
thoughts – to refute them
If Jesus is not God – then they are correct [this would be blasphemy] - - - only God can offer
ultimate forgiveness of sins - - - because He is the one ultimately sinned against
*** All sin is ultimately against God – so God is the one who can forgive it
There is also a kind of forgiveness that takes place on the human plane – when we forgive
those who have sinned against us - - - but that does not mean the offender is forgiven by God
[that is another matter]
In such cases – we recognize - - - you only forgive those who sin against you
If I see Bill and Bob at Walmart and Bob gives Bill a slug - - - breaks his nose
If I then turn to Bob and say, ‘Bob – I forgive you for that’
Bill [who is a philosophy major] would protest – ‘you can’t forgive him - - - I am the one
whose nose he broke - - - you can only forgive a sin if it’s against you’
*** When Jesus looks at the paralyzed man and says, ‘Your sins are forgiven ‘ – He is
saying, ‘your sins have really been against Me.’ - - - I forgive them
It’s a claim to deity
This makes the Scribes furious
Timothy Keller: ‘If Jesus Christ is really Mighty God and Everlasting Father, you can’t just
like Him. In the Bible the people who actually saw and heard Jesus never reacted
indifferently or even mildly. Once they realized what He was claiming about Himself, either
they were scared of Him of furious with Him or they knelt down before Him and worshiped
Him. But nobody simply liked Him. Nobody said, “He is so inspiring – He makes me want
to live a better life.”’ [Hidden Christmas, p. 13]
Jesus moves to expose their flawed thinking
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Jesus seems to say, ‘Do you think this is all talk? / Let me give you a display of my authority
you can’t deny.’
Jesus moves from the unseen realm to the seen
In the unseen realm – He can say, ‘your sins are forgiven’ - - - but nobody can see that
However – if He tells a paralyzed man to get up and walk - - - that they can see
The miracle of healing confirmed the authority to forgive sins - - - validated the whole
message of the kingdom of God
Lo and behold – the lame man got up and walked out with his pallet
The miracles generated fame and interest – wonder – but not always faith - - - some respond
with hostility that will grow into a desire to destroy Jesus – Mark 3:6
Conclusion
Jesus sparked controversy
A man cannot say the type of things He said and do the things He did and be a mere man
C.S. Lewis: ‘I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often
say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His
claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and
said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a
lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the
Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God: or
else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and
kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not
come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left
that open to us. He did not intend to.’ [Mere Christianity, p. 41]
Lewis – you have 3 choices of what to do with Jesus and His claims [The trilemma]
Liar, Lord, or Lunatic
There are no other options – that is why the figure of Jesus is so controversial
My prayer is that you come to see Him as Lord - - - you become reconciled to God thru His
shed blood
Communion table
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