Jesus Forgiving

There are two important questions we must consider in this life. The first is, “Can my sins be forgiven?” And the second is, “Who can forgive me of my sins?”

These are some of the most important questions we must consider because they address our greatest problem as well as our greatest need. Our greatest problem is sin. Sin seeps from and stains every part of our being. It defiles us and defines us. It controls us and it condemns us. And so our greatest need is to be forgiven of our sins. We need the record of our crimes expunged. We need the spots and blemishes of our sin to be bleached white as snow. As deep as our sin runs within us do we need forgiveness to flow to cover our offences and clear away our iniquities.

Mark chapter 2 provides us with merciful answers to our questions. Can I be forgiven? The Bible says, “Yes!” Who can forgive me? Again, the Bible says, “God can!” Our passage this morning in Mark 2 relays to us that Jesus Christ has the authority to forgive us of all our sins. This beautiful doctrine, this merciful truth should cause us to respond in a particular way. That is to say:

Theme: Since Jesus has the authority to forgive sins, then revere and rely on Him.

It is my desire that we would rely on Jesus Christ to forgive us of all our sins and at the same time revere Him, trembling and rejoicing before Him for His great authority to do such a thing for the likes of us!

We are going to make four observations in Mark 2:1-12 today. Firstly, we will observe two actions performed which prompts two reactions we will observe secondly.

1. The faith of the paralytic and his friends (v. 1–5a, 11-12a)

The first action we witness is the faith of the paralytic and his friends. If they were a band, they might be called “The Faithful Five”!

Let me set the scene for you. We’re back in the city of Capernaum, probably at Peter’s home again. The house was packed full of people gathered to see and hear Jesus. It would have been standing room only! Except we do know from verse 6 and from Luke 5:17 that Pharisees and scribes were there sitting before Jesus. They were the distinguished religious leaders of Israel and their posture certainly gives off an aura of self-righteousness. They weren’t there to humble themselves before Jesus and be changed by the Word of God. They were there that day to critique the Lord and His teaching.

So, the house is packed, probably overflowing with people out the door, crowding in to listen to the popular Preacher of Galilee. And how did Jesus capture the crowds attention? We read:

Mark 2:2 ESV

2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.

The focus of the Preacher was the Word of God! This may not have been why the crowd had gathered that day, but it is what Jesus gave to them. As Jesus expounded the Old Testament to them, no doubt He gave to them the gospel from God, as we saw back in Mark 1:15. Jesus would have explained to them about the Kingdom of God and how to experience and enjoy this Kingdom. He would have called them to repent and to believe the gospel that their sins would be forgiven.

These are the sort of preachers we ought to be sitting under. Those who feed us the truth of the gospel week in and week out. This is a colossal need of the Church today. The Church needs men of God to take the Word of God and in the Spirit of God proclaim the Son of God to the people of God. Jesus was preaching the Word to a full house.

By the time these guys arrive they were late to the party. The crowd in Peter’s home had grown so large that it spilled out into the streets. People were shoulder to shoulder. It was practically impossible to get in through the front door to get close to Jesus. Presumably, people in the crowd weren’t going to allow anyone to budge in front of them.

Crowds play a major role in Mark. They attest to Jesus’ popularity in Galilee. In fact, Mark draws attention to the crowds 40 times before chapter 10! And the single most common attribute of crowds in Mark’s Gospel is that they obstruct access to Jesus. This was certainly the case for this group of friends carrying their lame friend to Peter’s house. The paralytic wanted Jesus to heal him. His friends wanted Jesus to heal him, but the crowd had barred them access. The door was blocked.

What were they going to do?

Mark 2:3–5 ESV

3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The action of these friends evidence to us two distinguishing characteristics of their faith.

Number one, their faith was creative. They didn’t allow a “closed door” to keep them from helping their friend get to Jesus. Instead, they thought up a different plan, they found an alternative route to get the paralytic to the Lord. One of them came up with an inventive idea: “Why not the roof!?!” An unorthodox approach, but they believed it would work.

Most houses in the Capernaum were only a single story with an outdoor staircase that led to a flat roof, which was typically comprised of wooden cross beams overlaid with reeds, branches, and dried mud with maybe some tiles to cover it all. The roof would have been comparable to a deck or porch on our houses. They were used more for entertaining guests, enjoying the weather, or even dining. So, the roof was sturdy enough to support the weight of a handful or two of full grown adults. And because of its composition, it would not take any power tools for the four friends to dig a stretcher-sized hole in the roof! Their faith is very much the embodiment of that saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”!

Well, you can just imagine the faces of the religious leaders as they sat critiquing Jesus’ preaching! Dirt began to sprinkle their laps and eventually shower down on them! Quickly people would have backed away to the edges of the room. Imagine also the horror of Peter and his wife! And I can’t imagine the distraction this all was to Jesus’ preaching! Yet, Jesus wasn’t frustrated or even flustered by the creativity of these men. Instead, as we read in verse 5, Jesus favored their faith.

Number two, their faith was cooperative. That is, the four men worked together as a team to get the paralytic to Jesus. It took a team of them to help and carry this man. One member of the group may have had the ingenious idea of digging a hole in the roof, but it took all four of them to gently carry him up the stairs and lower him through the roof before Jesus. No one person was more worthy of the credit of getting the man to Jesus. All were equally accredited as faithful by Jesus. The text says, “Jesus saw their faith”. Not just the paralytic’s faith and not just the faith of one of his friends. They all worked together by faith.

These are the sort of friends and family members nonbelievers need. Are you this sort of friend or family member to someone who is without Christ? If you can’t reach someone one way, have you exhausted all options? Are you willing to accept some “outside the box” advice from another believer and then act on it? Is your faith flexible enough to be creative?

Do you go the extra mile to bring friends and family members to Christ? What won’t you do in order to support lost sinners to make sure they come to the Lord? Perhaps you’ve tried to reach someone with the gospel for years by yourself, but to no avail. Have you asked other believers to team up with you and help? Don’t be a ball hog! Enlist other brothers and sisters in Christ to help you reach the lost.

Then there was the faith of the paralytic himself. We could say that he practiced two sorts of faith in this account. Obviously, he first believed that Jesus could heal him of his paralysis. That is why he called on his buddies to carry him, to cut a hole in the roof for him, so that Jesus would heal him.

However, by the end of Mark’s account we can see that a different faith is at work in this man; a faith that was not present at the beginning.

Mark 2:11–12 ESV

11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

He hears Jesus say to him that his sins are forgiven. But then, to verify that Jesus truly forgave this man of his sins, Jesus healed him of his paralysis. It’s at this point do we see the gears shift in the man’s faith. Before, the man had believed Jesus could only heal him. Now, after listening to the exchange between the religious leaders and Jesus, the man believes that Jesus truly did have the authority to forgive his sins. Initially, he came to Jesus with faith for a miracle. But by the end of his encounter with the Lord, the man leaves on his feet with faith in Christ’s power to forgive.

Is this the sort of faith you have in Jesus Christ? Not just faith that Jesus can do the miraculous, but a faith that He can save your soul from sin, death, and judgment through His forgiveness?

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love, and pow’r.

2. The forgiveness of the Physician (v. 5b)

Now onto the second action in this account which is the forgiveness of the Physician; or the forgiveness that comes from the Physician.

Forgiveness is a familiar concept to us, isn’t it? Over the past two weeks we have looked at forgiveness from various angles. On Easter, we saw in Colossians that Paul used forgiveness to describe how Christ’s atoning death on the cross is the objective means of forgiveness and His resurrection is the verifiable proof of that forgiveness. God has cancelled the debt we owed to Him because of our sin through the death of His Son and that is confirmed by His resurrection. Then last week, at the end of Mark 1, we saw how Jesus cleansed a leper, which is a beautiful picture of the forgiveness of God, who washes, cleanses our leprous, sin-stained hearts.

And so, as the paralytic was lowered through the roof before the Lord, we read:

Mark 2:5 ESV

5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

This would have come as an unexpected surprise to the paralytic, his four friends on the roof, and everyone else within earshot! Here this paralytic lay hoping to receive healing. His friends above were hoping for the same result. Instead, this man received something he did not ask for, nor probably thought he needed!

In His words to the paralytic, Jesus confirms two truths about this man and about all mankind. Jesus confirms firstly that this man’s greatest problem, that our greatest problem, is not physical, but spiritual. More than physical paralysis, the deeper problem of this man was spiritual paralysis. His true problem, our true problem is sin. Thus, Jesus confirms secondly, that this man’s greatest need, as well as ours, is not physical restoration, but spiritual. Every person needs their sins to be taken care of. Everyone needs their guilt for sin removed, their debt to God cancelled, and their transgressions against a Holy God blotted out.

The Bible tells us that God is holy, but we are not; that God’s law demands perfect obedience and righteousness, but we are rebellious and unrighteous; that God’s judgment for our sin, our rebellion and unrighteousness, is death; so we are, as Paul points out, “dead in our trespasses and sins”. Therefore sin is our greatest problem and our greatest need is the forgiveness of our sins!

The gloriously good news in Scripture is that our sins can be forgiven and that Jesus Christ can forgive our sins. We catch this in Jesus’ words to the paralytic. Observe two facts about the forgiveness Jesus gives to this paralytic.

Number one, observe that Jesus forgives authoritatively. Jesus does not merely pronounce forgiveness of this man’s sins, but He actually promises and provides it. In the Old Testament system, a priest could pronounce forgiveness as the mediator between God and man. But, a priest could only do this on the basis of repentance, restitution, or a sacrifice from the sinner. Additionally, the priest could only announce that a person’s sins were forgiven, but only God was actually able to apply forgiveness to the sinner.

Jesus Christ does not merely pronounce that this man is forgiven by God. He actually applies forgiveness to this man. He divinely and authoritatively forgave this man of his sins.

Number two, observe that Jesus forgives abundantly. Look carefully at what Jesus said to the paralytic. “Your sins [plural] are forgiven”. Jesus forgave this man of not just one sin, but all his sins! Jesus forgave this man of every sin he had committed!

Mark uses the present passive verb form of “forgiven” to say that this is a definite fact. “Your sins are forgiven”. If you turn to Luke’s account for a moment, in Luke 5:20 you’ll see that Dr. Luke seems to record Jesus’ words in the same way. But, looking at the Greek grammar, where Mark used the present passive verb to indicate a past fact, Luke used the perfect passive, which speaks of a past event that has ongoing results. Put differently, Luke’s use of the verb “forgiven” indicates the abiding state of forgiveness. Jesus’ declaration would sound something like this, “Your sins are forgiven and will continue to be forgiven from now on.”

What wonderful news for this paralytic and for all sinners! Jesus’ forgiveness covers a multitude of sins! Not just one sin. Not just some sins from the past. But all sins!

We can picture, at this moment, the confusion of the paralytic. His friends had brought him to Jesus to be healed! That’s what this man wanted. But, Jesus gave the man forgiveness first. This tells us something about the patient/physician relationship. The patient is ultimately not the one who determines what their treatment is for their malady. They may think they know what they need. And they may want a remedy to a particular symptom. But it is the physician who gets to determine, to prescribe the treatment the patient really requires. The paralytic wanted healing, but Jesus essentially says the paralytic needed forgiveness more! Jesus, the Great Physician, gives this man the treatment he needed authoritatively and abundantly.

In the words of the “theologian” Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want; you get what you need”! Praise God that through Christ we get what we need: Forgiveness.

3. The fury of the Pharisees (v. 6–11)

Of course, not everyone was impressed with Jesus’ forgiveness. Some were infuriated. That brings us to the first of two reactions in this account to Jesus’ forgiveness: the fury of the Pharisees. Listen to how they respond to Jesus’ claim.

Mark 2:6–7 ESV

6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Now, these men were the biblical scholars and doctors of theology in Jesus’ day. And all things considered, they did have a proper understanding of Scripture when it came to this particular situation. Despite being self-righteous, these religious leaders had sound theology and were orthodox in their beliefs about the character of God. They knew and believed that only God can forgive sins.

The Old Testament teaches this exact thing. I’ll show you four prime examples starting in Exodus, where the LORD first declared His very nature and attributes to Moses, telling him that He “keeps steadfast love for thousands:

Exodus 34:7 ESV

keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Go to 2 Samuel where David has committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah to cover it up. Eventually, David understood that he has not just sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba, not to mention David’s other wives, but ultimately David had sinned against the LORD. So, David goes to speak with the prophet Nathan.

2 Samuel 12:13 ESV

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

In other words, the LORD forgave David for his web of sins.

Later, David will write in Psalm 103:

Psalm 103:2–3 ESV

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

The first benefit from the LORD that David desired to recall was the forgiveness from God for his sins!

Finally, jump to Isaiah 43, where the LORD makes a beautiful declaration to His sinful people.

Isaiah 43:25 ESV

25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

All this to say, the Pharisees and scribes were absolutely correct. If Jesus is not God then He is blaspheming. He would be claiming to possess and to do something that only God is ascribed to possess and able to do according to the Scriptures. Jesus’ words to the paralytic leaves the people to draw only one of two conclusions. Either He is deceiving everyone or He really is divine.

Here then was the logic of the religious leaders:

Only God can forgive sins

Jesus claims to do what God alone can do.

Therefore, since Jesus cannot possibly be God, He is a deceiver and is of the devil.

By all accounts, if Jesus is not who He claims to be and cannot do what He claims He can do, then He is blaspheming the Holy God. This is why the Pharisees and scribes were so livid.

However, Jesus, in verses 8 to 11, responds to the fury of the religious leaders with some proof of His divinity.

Mark 2:8–11 ESV

8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”

We see here the proof of His divinity through omniscience. Jesus “perceived” and stated to know what these men were questioning within their hearts. Only God can do this. God alone is able to discern the inward thoughts and intentions of a man’s heart. Jesus does this right here.

There is also the proof of Jesus’ divinity through omnipotence. Jesus “has the authority on earth to forgive sins”. And so, Jesus poses a question to the leaders. “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk?’” In other words, since forgiveness is an invisible act done within a person, how can we prove Jesus actually forgave the sins of the paralytic? Jesus proved His authority to forgive sins by healing the paralytic. This visible miracle was validation of the invisible forgiveness He gave to the man.

And then there is also the proof of His divinity through title. Jesus referred to Himself as “the Son of Man”. By far, this was Jesus’ favorite way to address Himself in all four Gospels. This title occurs 14 times in Mark alone and each time it comes from the lips of Jesus Himself. In some respect, any one of us could call ourself a “son of man”, meaning human one. But, with respect to Jesus, this title means so much more than that He is human. Let me show you what I mean.

In Mark, Jesus refers to Himself as “the Son of Man” in three distinct ways. There are three usages of “Son of Man”.

The first usage of the title is found twice here in Mark chapter 2. Both times in this chapter the title is connected to His authority. As the Son of Man, Jesus has authority to forgive sins, verse 10, and in verse 28, the title is connected to His authority over the Sabbath. “The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” So, the first usage of the title is a reference to His authority.

The second usage of “Son of Man” is used 9 times throughout Mark with reference to Jesus’ agony, or suffering, as well as His betrayal. For instance, in Mark 8 we read:

Mark 8:31 ESV

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And in the key verse to understanding all of Mark’s Gospel we read in chapter 10:

Mark 10:45 ESV

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

And then the third usage of “Son of Man” by Jesus is used three times in connection to the apocalyptic, that is the Son of Man’s glorious second coming and final exaltation. In chapter 13, Jesus taught:

Mark 13:26 ESV

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

And in chapter 14, at His trial before the high priest, Jesus confirmed the priest’s accusation:

Mark 14:61–62 ESV

But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

The importance of this apocalyptic use of the title has to do with fulfilling Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7 concerning the Son of Man.

Daniel 7:13–14 ESV

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Each of these three usages either refer to a divine attribute that the Son of Man possesses or, as is the case with His suffering, the fulfilling of a divinely ordained purpose. By addressing Himself as “Son of Man”, Jesus is in effect claiming that He can do what only God can do; that He has the authority that belongs to God alone; that He and His kingdom are eternal just as God is eternal; and although Jesus never explicitly says that He is deserving of glory, that is what the Scriptures say the Son of Man receives: “dominion and glory”, “coming with great power and glory”, “coming in the glory of His Father with the holy angels”. The clear testimony of God in Scripture is:

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 43:11 ESV

I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.

All this to say, by using the title “Son of Man”, Jesus is claiming for Himself attributes that belong to God alone, actions that can be done by God alone, and glory that belongs to God alone. Either He is lying and is blaspheming or He is Lord of heaven and earth. Either He is a deceiver or He is divine. As C.S. Lewis so succinctly said,

“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. [Jesus] has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So, this then is the logical flow of the text according to Jesus:

Jesus claimed to have the authority to forgive sins.

According to the Bible, only God can forgive sins.

Jesus demonstrated that He is omniscient, omnipotent, and called Himself the Son of Man.

Therefore, Jesus is God and truly does have the authority to forgive sins!

Either He is a blaspheming demon or He is blessed deity. The reaction of the scribes and Pharisees indicates they took Him to be the former.

4. The fear of the people (v. 12b)

But, the rest of the crowd’s reaction indicates they had just tasted the reality of the latter truth. The second half of verse 12 pictures the fear of the people. Now, by fear, I am of course talking about godly and holy fear. Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it impacts the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to Him, and worshiping Him in awe. Or an even more basic definition of this sort of fear of the Lord is summed up in two words: trembling and rejoicing. Both elements are evidenced by the people. Look at how they reacted to Jesus’ forgiving and healing of the paralytic.

Mark 2:12 ESV

And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

They reacted with amazement. You’ll recall from our time in chapter one that this word amazed means “to become astounded to such a degree as to lose one’s senses; to be struck in the mind which results in one becoming overwhelmed; or to be paralyzed with panic”. Poetic, isn’t it? A man has just been healed of his paralysis, but now it’s the audience who is paralyzed! They don’t know what to make of what has just taken place, what they’ve just witnessed! Just as Isaiah was filled with dread and trembled while standing in the thrice holy presence of the LORD, so these people, standing in the presence of the omnipotent Son of Man, quaked in their boots momentarily dumbfounded at the awesome revelation of deity.

But their panicked paralysis lasted temporarily. Immediately they were compelled to glorify God. This is the other half of the fear of the Lord. They trembled as ones not worthy to witness such greatness, but then they are moved to rejoice in what Jesus has done. These people react as all people should react when in the presence of the Almighty! They stood amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and they worshipped.

You can just imagine the paralytic and his friends leaping and skipping down the streets of Capernaum with a host of witnesses behind them lifting songs and shouts of praise to God! They probably didn’t grasp the deity of Christ, but they without question had a close encounter with it that day in Peter’s home. The encounter left the paralytic and these people changed. You cannot have such an encounter with divinity and be left unchanged! The authority of Jesus and His forgiveness should do that for us!

Conclusion

In Mark’s retelling of this event in Capernaum, we’ve seen that Jesus preached and provided forgiveness that day. However, this forgiveness would only be possible because of what Jesus Christ came to earth to do. The forgiveness He provides to sinners came at a cost. The story of the paralytic points us to Christ purchasing forgiveness on the cross, giving His life as a ransom for many. At the cross, God forgives the sins of all who place their faith in Jesus Christ. God accomplished this for us by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This God set aside on our behalf, nailing it to the cross of Jesus.

Furthermore, God verifies that all who believe are indeed forgiven by the death of Christ through His glorious resurrection in power from the dead.

Jesus did not merely pronounce that your sins can be forgiven. He promises it, purchased it, and provides it to all who put their hope in Him. Jesus is the God who forgives sin.

Are you fully relying on Him for forgiveness of all your sins? Are you in awe of Him and His authority?

If that is the case for you, then go out glorifying His name so that others may hear of the forgiveness Jesus can provide for them.

An African proverb says, “There is only one crime worse than murder in the desert, and that is to know where the water is and not tell.” We know where the Water of Life is! We’ve got the greatest news in the world: God forgives every sinner who trusts in Jesus as Lord and Savior! We’ve got to tell everyone!

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isaiah 55:6–7 ESV

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Prayer

Merciful and Forgiving Lord,

To you do we come

that our sins may be blotted out

our guilt removed

and our lives changed.

Strengthen our faith to bring others, carrying them if need be,

to the Lord Jesus

that He would treat their greatest problem: sin

with their greatest need: His forgiveness.

May we never lose our reverence

nor grow lax in our rejoicing

of Your authority

and abundant forgiveness.

We glory in You, our amazing God and King.

AMEN

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