"Authority to Forgive" Mark 2:1-12

Introduction:

Jesus has returned to Capernaum after a time of ministry in the regions of Galilee (1).

Once home the crowds came to where He lived to the point that we are told there was no more room. The crowd was so large that no one could even get through the door (2).

Jesus was preaching the word to them. He was preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God to the people as He had been dong in His Galilean ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” This would have been the primary theme of Jesus’ preaching ministry.

As the drama of the narrative unfolds we are told that a group of people bring a paralytic to Him who was being carried by 4 men (vs. 3-4).

The crowd was so massive that there was no way to get to Jesus so they went up on top of the roof and removed some of the tile and lowered the lame man down to Him.

These events set the context for Jesus to make a controversial declaration in the hearing of the religious leaders who were present. Look back at what I am calling the Declaration in verse 5:

I. The Declaration (5).

We see here in verse 5 that Jesus saw the faith of the lame man and of those who were making the effort to get him to Jesus.

This moves Jesus to declare that the lame man’s sins are forgiven.

Jesus refers to the man as “Son” and it sets Jesus in a relational context with the man. The man is not an outcast but a child of God.

Now often the point is made that it is the faith of the man and his friends that is primarily on display that results in the man being healed. But this is not the case. Because Jesus doesn’t heal him at first but He declares that the man’s sins are forgiven.

The faith being referred to is seen by Jesus as He observes what the man and his friends are doing and this results in Jesus declaring his sins having been forgiven. James R. Edwards, in his work on Mark’s gospel says:

We know nothing of the beliefs of the four friends of the paralytic except that they take action, including circumventing crowds and removing roofs to ensure that their charge is brought to Jesus. Faith is first and foremost not knowledge about Jesus but active trust that Jesus is sufficient for one’s deepest and most heartfelt needs (James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary pg, 76).

The man is brought to Jesus because they believe in His identity as the Messiah of God and they had obviously heard of the miracle working power of Jesus and were not going to let anything stand in their way to keep their friend from getting to Jesus. But Jesus is aware that the deepest need of any person goes beyond physical paralysis or illness related to the physical body. Sickness and paralysis is a symptom of a deeper problem. And it is the one that Jesus addresses.

But this faith on display in the drama of the narrative is setting the stage for an Inquisition to take place in the hearts of the scribes who were setting there. Look back at your text to verses 6-7:

II. The Inquisition (6-7).

Scribes were those who copied manuscripts of the Scriptures and other important documents and they also held other positions in leadership in the religious life of Israel.

And they had a problem with Jesus’ declaration of the lame man’s sins being forgiven because of the implication of such a statement. The problem is seen in the rhetorical question that they are pondering, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” That is why they thought Jesus was out of line and believed Him to be blaspheming.

They knew the Old Testament and the declarations of God regarding the forgiveness and blotting out of sins. Jesus is speaking as if He was God made flesh and they knew it. But they were not saying it out loud. Their inquisition of questioning and pondering was taking place inside of their own hearts.

But Jesus knows what is in the hearts of men. He knows and He is getting ready to demonstrate His authority in response to their questions and the pondering of their hearts. Look back at the Demonstration in verses 8-12:

III. The Demonstration (8-12).

Verse 8 simply tells us that Jesus knew that they were questioning His declaration. In other words He read their mail without it being opened. He perceived it in His Spirit.

Then Jesus ask two rhetorical questions out loud that have an implication of another kind because it gets at the heart of His identity. Jesus ask, “Why do you question these things in your heart?” (8b) and “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk?” (9).

One may answer that it is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven”. Because what would be the external proof of such a declaration. There was nothing external for them to see with their senses that would lead them to believe that His sins are actually forgiven. But to tell a lame paralytic to rise, take up your bed and walk and to see it happen would be undeniable to the human senses.

But Jesus doesn’t wait for an answer, instead He simply says “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (10)

Jesus unmistakably connects the question to the implication of His identity and authority. Notice that He refers to Himself as “Son of Man” in verse 10.

This is a Messianic title that can be traced back to Daniel 7:13–14 where Daniel tells of his vision : 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. 14 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.”

So then Jesus said to the paralytic: “rise, pick up your bed and go home.” So the paralytic being healed is a demonstration, not primarily of the great faith of the lame man and his friends but it is primarily a demonstration of the supreme authority of the Son of Man to exercise His kingdom dominion and authority through the forgiveness of sin.

And the implication is evident for who can forgive sins but God.

An the objective evidence is right before the eyes of the scribes and everyone else to see. The ambiguity is taken out of their pondering because verse 12 tells us that he picked up his bed and went out right before them all. This is why everyone was amazed, it was undeniable and the one who worked the miracle attached it as a validation of His authority on earth to forgive sins.

Christian notice there is no reference to the man who was healed nor his friends. This is because they are the supporting cast as the drama unfolds but Jesus as He exercises His Kingdom authority and dominion is the star of the show. It was not the exercise of faith that healed the man but it was the one who was the object of their faith that healed the man.

They then “glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this!”

Everyone knew the miracle was a demonstration of the power of God. Jesus contextualized it into the Kingdom dynamic of the Son of Man as prophesied in Daniel 7:13-14.

Christian the Kingdom dynamic of the Son of Man is the current spiritual reality of our time. And there will come a day when the kingdom of the world will become the Kingdom of Christ. It will be a literal and eternal reign at the sounding of the 7th trumpet (Rev. 11:15-18).

The 7th trumpet is the last trumpet. I Corinthians 15:52-57 tells us that at the last trumpet there will be a transformation in the twinkling of an eye. The perishable must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality.

The Kingdom’s physical transformation is future Christian but the Kingdom’s spiritual transformation is at work at this very moment. Jesus brought the spiritual transformation with Him in His first advent, declaring “repent and believe the gospel” or stated another way to Nicodemus in John 3: “you must be born again.”

Dear ones, he power for living the Christian life is Kingdom power and it is bestowed and it operates under the supreme authority of Christ. It is Holy Spirit power that only does what is in keeping with Kingdom advancement in the world.

Christian even our faith is due to the initiating work of God by divine grace to us. But it is that faith that connects us to the ambition of living out our Christianity with a dependency upon Christ. And the best ones to have around us in this world are the ones who know that and live that out in their own lives.

The Christian life lived out in Kingdom community is lived by grace through faith in full awareness that at the core of our existence is a need so deep and rooted into such darkness that only Jesus can save us and deliver us.

Christian do you love others so much that you would take a roof off of a house to get them to Jesus? Just to see their sins forgiven by the Master, would you drop everything to get them to Jesus?

Conclusion:

To do so means that you are living the Christian life with a Kingdom priority in the world. It means that the spiritual advancement of the Kingdom in your life and in the lives of others is critical to you. Kingdom priority puts the emphasis on gospel transformation by the Holy Spirit. Both in seeing people born again and seeing them progressively sanctified through the word of God by the same Spirit.

Kingdom advancement is not seen today in building physical structure but it is by living stones that God is building His kingdom. Christian this is what we are to be about when it comes to church ministry. And it is the place of our security in Christ as beneficiaries of His marvelous grace.

Christian rest in Him. Confess and receive His forgiveness in certainty of His love and mercy towards you Christian.

Unbeliever the Master is in His house. I don’t have to take the roof off to get you in. All you need is to come to Jesus and call upon Him in His sovereign mercy to heal you from the sickness of your sin. Oh that He may open your eyes to the reality and power of the gospel. That is our prayer for you today here at Crete Church. We are just beggars telling other beggars where to find the Bread.

Only Christ has the authority to forgive! Let’s Pray!