Behold The King: The Priority of the King
Notes
Transcript
And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
And he arose, and departed to his house.
But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
The greatest miracle is Jesus forgiveness of sin, not the healing of the body.
While physical healing is a remarkable demonstration of power and compassion, the act of forgiving sins holds greater importance in the Christian faith. Forgiveness of sins is seen as an act of redemption, offering spiritual healing and salvation that transcends the temporary relief of physical ailments. It highlights the core message of Christianity that forgiveness and spiritual renewal are fundamental to one’s relationship with God and others.
Liberal theologian, or in other words an unbeliever, Horace Bushnell once spoke wiser than he thought and said “Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and God’s highest achievement.”
Have you recieved His forgiveness? If you have, are you walking in recognition of the new life you have been given?
Let’s look at three pivotal aspects of this record so we can understand man’s deepest need and God’s highest achievement.
The Power of the Gospel
The Power of the Gospel
The Gospel (good-news) is that Jesus is God come in the flesh to live a perfect life. Jesus died to become the final and only real sin sacrifice for the transgressions of every human being.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The man that was brought to Jesus by his friends (Mark tells us that there were four of them) had palsy, which is a gradual paralysis. Wether or not this was condition was caused due to the individuals sin is not said.
But it is clear that God was more interested in fixing the more damning issue that the man faced, his sin.
in 2013 USA Today reported: Jonathan Stelly was 22, a semi-pro baseball player aiming for the big leagues, when a fainting spell sent him to his cardiologist for tests. The doctor's office called afterward with shocking news: If Stelly wanted to live to age 30, he was told, he'd need a pacemaker.
Stelly knew it would be the end of his baseball dream, but he made a quick decision. "I did what the doctor said," he recalls. "I trusted him."
Months after the surgery, local news outlets reported that the Louisiana cardiologist, Mehmood Patel, was being investigated for performing unnecessary surgeries. Stelly had another doctor review his case. Then another. And another. They all agreed: He needed blood pressure medication, but he never needed the pacemaker.
Today, Patel is in prison, convicted of billing Medicare for dozens of unnecessary heart procedures. Stelly, now 34, still has the pacemaker – but the doctors shut it off years ago.
"Baseball was my life, and he took that away," Stelly says. "For nothing." - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/unnecessary-surgery-usa-today-investigation/2435009/
In the long run your spiritual need greatly outweighs your physical needs.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Receiving the Gospel message does not heal you physically, but it will give you new life and an eternal standing with God that will bring peace in your soul and joy to your spirit.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Jesus told the man sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
The Perversion of the Goody-Goodies
The Perversion of the Goody-Goodies
Before we get to tough on the scribes of the day, lets look at their cultural upbringing. These scribes were not bumbling idiots, they were not The Three Stooges. They were trained in the Law of God and thought rightly that only God could forgive sins.
The Jews had been commanded by God that if anyone sinned they had to bring a sin offering to the temple so that the guilty could receive forgiveness from God.
Jesus skipped all of this and claimed the power of God for this man. Jesus was not simply stating this out of compassion but out of His almighty authority to forgive anyone who places their faith on Him.
Jesus’ statement “whether is easier?” is what philosophers call an a fortiori argument. It goes like this: if something more difficult can be achieved, then this guarantees the validity of the claim of something less difficult.
Jesus is God
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Blasphemy was a crime against God punishable by death.
And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;
And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)
And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.
This is the crime that the chief priest finally falsely convicted Jesus of that ushered Jesus to Pilot and then the cross.
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
These highly trained individuals had been blinded by the devil and their own pridefulness. This blindness only grew when Jesus not only transformed the spirit of the paralysed man but to their amazement Jesus commanded that this man would rise and at Jesus’ word the man’s body was completely healed proving His authority as God to forgive sins.
These were like the snipers in the bank robbery movies, well versed in high pressure situations, just waiting for the call through their PTT’s (push to talk).
Sometimes the smartest among us are the first to speak evil of those who are trying to serve Jesus from the heart.
“wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”
Hurtful, rushed, untrue, and slanderous opinions do not glorify God.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
Are you confident enough in God’s Grace to allow Him to handle His affairs?
The Path of Grace
The Path of Grace
Jesus takes the momentum of His unprecedented teaching to further show us that with the faith that can heal us comes a complete transformation of a life touched by Grace.
“Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”
This man who was completely incapacitated was now able to move muscles and bones that he forgot he had.
What does it take to have life regenerated faith?
Norman Rockwell’s book Simple Acts of Faith has a cover that perfectly pictures the type of faith needed to see life regenerating faith.
A quote from the book: "Faith is not about believing in something you can't see. It's about trusting in something you can't see." This quote is a powerful reminder that faith is not about blind belief. It's about having trust in something even when you don't understand it.
The cover of Simple Acts of Faith is a beautiful and inspiring image that perfectly captures the message of the book. It's a reminder that even the smallest acts of faith can have a big impact.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
When you trust Christ with a simple faith, He completely regenerates you. You are now alive, free to walk in fulfilment in Him able to walk in peace because your sins are forgiven.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Conclusion:
Jesus sailed away from the sane maniacs to show people in His home town of Nazareth that He has the power to forgive sins. He is the only one that can grant a pardon of the sins that we must give an answer for.
The Son of Man has the power and authority to forgive sins!
What can was away all my sin?
The church, temple, priests, tithe and offerings, the blood of bulls and goats?
No, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS