Forgiveness
Notes
Transcript
ME
Forgiveness and reconciliation seems to be a hot topic these days, and I am thankful. As our indigenous friends begin to unravel the grevious sin that is committed during the residential school era of Canada’s history, we pray true forgiveness and brokenness, restitution, and reconcilation will ultimately and finally be made tangible. For the longest time governments and churches have given words of platitude and nothing more. May we as a country have the courage to face this darkness and shine a light of truth into it. Forgiveness is a heavy topic both nationally and in our lives.
WE
But as we we read today’s passage and come to the point about who can forgive sins but God, you may wonder: What does it matter with him if me and my spouse are arguing, or my sibling, or my co-worker? Well it does matter to him, but not in the way you might think.
GOD
We are into our third message in the Jesus of Galilee series, looking at the first eight chapter of the Gospel of Mark. We began two weeks ago by broadly defining the gospel which is announced. And last week, my friend Jim covered the call to discipleship, a call not just to serve at the church as an institution, but a call to a life of being a disciple where you are at.
This week, we will look at a third theme in the beginnings of the Gospel of Mark, though this theme is featured in an unexpected way. Forgiveness. I’d imagine you would think immediately of either someone who has wronged you, or someone you have wronged. But how forgiveness is brought up in chapter 2 stretches our definition of forgiveness quite a bit further.
So here’s the context.
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 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.
Jesus had returned from preaching all throughout Galilee, in the synagogues and casting out demons, until he met a leper who, let’s just say, was a little bit too enthusiastic about his healing. And why shouldnt he? To be a leper was to be cast out of community and society. But now he’s back in and he can’t wait to tell others what Jesus has done for him, except Jesus told him don’t do that.
English Standard Version Chapter 1
45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
So while intentions were good, the result was Jesus was a marked man. And as we will see today, his troubles with the religious authorities begin to intensify.
As we just read earlier, he had returned to Capernaum, at his home. This is Jesus’ home where this story takes place. So yes, for those who knows this story well, this is Jesus’ home that is going to be wrecked. But more importantly, this is also where Jesus will bring the kingdom of God into their midst in an unexpected way. So here’s the big idea:
Jesus came to forgive, so we can be forgiven and embody forgiveness.
Jesus came to forgive, so we can be forgiven and embody forgiveness.
So let’s take a look at the first point.
I. Forgiveness is first of all a God-Human Relations before a Human-Human Relations (3-8).
I. Forgiveness is first of all a God-Human Relations before a Human-Human Relations (3-8).
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.” 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?” 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?
As we said before, Mark is an action packed and fast-paced book. So while Jesus was teaching a crowd grew. In fact, the crowd grew so large that there wasn’t even standing room at the door. Then, “they came.” Four men, carrying a man who is paralyzed and unable to use his legs, on his bed. Now lest we think a bed is like what a mattress with a frame and headboard, pillows, and blankets is. Some translations may actually be more accurate in calling it a mat. Here’s a picture.
(show picture of mat)
Essentially, a bed is a place people sleep on, but in the anicent world the common or poor would not be able to afford a sturdy bed as a base, and most would sleep on what we would see as a large carpet. So you can see how easy it is for these men to carry their paralytic friend. They arrived, but as we said the door to Jesus’ house was jammed with people. So, they got up to the roof by the ladder. They need to put him in the midst of Jesus, which is how Luke recorded this story. They didn’t think through everything, but they know of Jesus’ reputation. They just know if they place their friend before Jesus, he can be healed. And so Jesus commended their faith, despite the fact there was now a hole in his roof. Jesus would probably need a handy man to fix the roof. Oh wait, Jesus is a carpenter!
(show picture of first century home)
I love how matter-of-fact Mark is, “when they made an opening,” imagine! You are Jesus, teaching the crowds that have gathered and suddenly you hear footsteps on your modest home’s straw and dirt patched roof. Then you start seeing debris falling and everyone looks up! And suddnely this guy comes out of nowhere, perhaps with ropes tied to four corners, being carefully lowered. Everyone stops chattering. Some start to chuckle. And I can just imagine the paralytic, who is being lowered, looked embarassingly at all the eyes glued onto him. It’s actually a pretty comical story, were it not for the fact that Jesus broke the silence with these words:
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Huh? Where did that came from? Does Jesus know something we don’t about this paralytic? Or as N.T. Wright mused, could it be Jesus forgives the paralytic and his friends for destroying his roof?! In ancient Jewish thought, often our sin is tied to our birth defects. But we know elsewhere in the Gospel of Luke and John that Jesus does not subscribe to this thinking whether it is the tower of Siloam which fell on “innocent” people or the young man born blind who is accused by the religious leaders it’s because of his or his parents’ sin. So what is going on here?
Perhaps, it speaks to the universality of sin. Jesus pronounces the sin of the paralytic is forgiven. There’s an assumption all have sin, and therefore all need to be forgiven. But the only problem is Jesus is very specific to who he is forgiving.
In fact the scribes’ response is telling, and since these scribes will be prominently featured in our studies, a bit of background helps.
In Mark 1:22, we were first introduce to the scribes as protagonists (or at least in comparison to Jesus’ ministry).
Scribes were a rare breed in a largely illiterate society. They were wealthy, wise, and learned in matters of law interpretations, observances, and purity. Because they can read and write, they can be employed for various means. Most likely these scribes were employeed by the Pharisees and Sadducces.
They immediately objected to Jesus’ pronouncement, though not vocally. “He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” After all, this crowd is glued to every word Jesus said up to this point. But a frown, a snarl, a body language or some mystery from the Spirit (we are not told) must have alerted Jesus, so Jesus straight out questions them with a question.
But the accusation in the hearts of the scribes are serious. Blasphemy - A verbal insult uttered intentionally and malevolently against God, revealing the offender’s contempt for Him, is a sin with deadly consequences. The scribes were not wrong in their study of Torah that God alone forgives. What is also implied is forgiveness is pronounced absent of any sacrifice offered at the temple.
But let’s dwell on this point for just a moment. Forgiveness, unlike what the world tells us, is primarily between God and you. Human can offer forgiveness and receive forgiveness from one another, but that’s only one party, and dare I say, the not as important party. Sin after all, is an affront to God’s goodness and character first before it has any moral implications. Sin is contrary to God’s goodness and creation. Sin is by definition, a rebellion against God, though often, with human to human consequences. So when we sin, the word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, brings it to our attention. Our first and most important task is to confess before God and to seek his forgiveness. Now we can easily fall for what Dietrich Bonhoeffer warns us in his seminal work Life Together. While our sin is between God and us, we would be wise to bring also another brother or sister in for this reason:
Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible (Confession and the Lord’s Supper)
In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community. The more lonely people become, the more destructive the power of sin over them. The more deeply they become entangled in it, the more unholy is their loneliness. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of what is left unsaid sin poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and closed isolation of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light. What is unspoken is said openly and confessed. All that is secret and hidden comes to light. It is a hard struggle until the sin crosses one’s lips in confession. But God breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron (Ps. 107:16). Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of another Christian, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders, giving up all evil, giving the sinner’s heart to God and finding the forgiveness of all one’s sin in the community of Jesus Christ and other Christians. Sin that has been spoken and confessed has lost all of its power. It has been revealed and judged as sin. It can no longer tear apart the community. Now the community bears the sin of the individual believer, who is no longer alone with this evil but has “cast off” this sin by confessing it and handing it over to God. The sinner has been relieved of sin’s burden. Now the sinner stands in the community of sinners who live by the grace of God in the cross of Jesus Christ.
Why indeed are they questioning these things in their hearts? What is it the scribes are not getting?
II. Forgiveness is a Sign of the Kingdom and the Authority of the Son (9-12)
II. Forgiveness is a Sign of the Kingdom and the Authority of the Son (9-12)
Mark 2:9–12 (ESV)
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.” 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!”
Jesus speaks plainly what was in the scribes’ heart. They were deliberating and expecting that Jesus would once again heal the paralytic and he would be off on his way, but instead he pronounces forgiveness of the paralytic’s sin, which can’t be seen. The easier task is to heal even though it can be seen, because prophets of old, from Elijah to Elisha have healed the sick and broken. But no prophet has ever announced on their own authority forgive sin, for they know, as Isaiah did:
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.
And this I is not Isaiah, but God. So Jesus basically attributes his forgiveness of sin on his own authority. Hence, the charge of blasphemy! However, Jesus says he does have authority on earth to forgive sin, as he is the son of man described in Daniel 7:
Daniel 7:13 (ESV)
13 “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.
So what does all this mean? He is the one Daniel saw in a vision who will come to God, the Ancient of Days, and be given a kingdom. God’s kingdom. So Jesus is saying I am the son of Man who has been given the kingdom.
Jesus by pronouncing forgiveness, says the temple, where heaven and earth meets, will be eventually superceded by his kingdom. Because sin is an affront as we said earlier to God first and foremost and his good creation, only an intermediary of heaven and earth can bring peace or shalom to this. By saying he has authority on earth to forgive, he is saying I am that intermediary. Which means forgiveness is a sign of the kingdom. Jesus is the new temple where heaven and earth meets. Jesus is God who forgives sinners.
That implication is huge!
It means whenever there is a confession of sin before a faithful brother or sister to God takes place, that’s where people will see the kingdom! It means whenever two people reconcile by one offering forgiveness, and one receiving it with a broken and contrite heart, the kingdom is made manifest! Forgiveness of sin is an otherwordly pointing phenomenon here on this world that points to a future where there is no strife, sin, disagreements, deliberately hurting someone with our words and actions. It will be accomplished in the Son of Man’s authority, his name, and it will be a mark of the presence of the Kingdom of God!
Not only that, God first offers forgiveness, the one Moses says in Exodus 34 is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness… forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. So we can be assured we come before a forgiving God. The paralytic didn’t need to confess his sin before it has already been made public. And with that, the paralytic benefited twice over, one from being healed of the conditon of the physical, but unexpectedly, also the condition of the eternal. He’s made righteous before God and gets to share in the declaration of the kingdom in the midst of the humble carpenter’s house in Capernaum. The crowds erupt into a thunderous applause and says this is God’s doing for sure. Are they amazed and glorified God because of the healing or the forgiveness of sin? What is it they’ve never seen? The healing? Or something more? Mark wants us to ponder this without giving us an answer what “this” is! And next week, Tim will pick up with the theme of healing as it is displayed in the Gospel of Mark.
YOU
By now I hope you realize forgiveness is not primarily a human-human relationship that’s important, but God-human relationship first and foremost which points to the kingdom of God where there’s no sin but peace and goodness. So as the church, the gathered believers who are also a sign of this kingdom, how ought we to live? I believe the depth of your community is determined by whether you’ve experienced either confessing your sin to someone in your small group or someone you trust in this church, or forgiveness between brothers and sisters in your community.
I remembered several weeks ago in our men’s prayer group someone did confess about their relationship with a family member and how he hopes he can be a better husband. There’s something really powerful when grown men would allow this moment of vulnerability to be shared. I remember thanking him and encouraging him for confessing, and we all prayed together. For that brief moment, the kingdom was made manifest in our midst, and we know his love for his wife will grow because of his love for his Saviour and Lord.
WE
MCBC, may we confess our sins to God, forgive one another, to our community so that we would be a tangible sign of God’s kingdom here on earth, because Jesus first forgives us and first loved us. We too can forgiven and love others.