Jesus Forgave Sins

Intro

Self-diagnosing

Have any of you ever “self-diagnosed” before?

We search the internet for answers to our symptoms and assume that we are dying of some rare disease. When we finally do go to the doctor, we tell the doctor what we think is wrong with us!

Correlation does not always equal causation!

For instance, just because every time I shake Sophie’s hand I happen to get a bill in the mail does not mean that shaking Sophie’s hand sends a bill my way and now I need to avoid her.

There is a website called “Spurious Correlations.” (spurious just means false or fake)

"Nicolas Cage movies and Pool Drownings": The number of people who drowned by falling into a pool correlates with the number of films Nicolas Cage appeared in.

"Ice Cream and Crime": Rising crime rates often correlate with increased ice cream consumption, though both are likely caused by warmer weather, not each other.

"Marriage Rates and Fishing Deaths": The marriage rate in Kentucky correlates closely with deaths from falling out of fishing boats.

"Spelling Bee and Spiders": The number of people killed by venomous spiders correlates with the winning word length in the National Spelling Bee.

"Margarin and Divorce": Divorce rates in Maine have been shown to correlate with the per capita consumption of margarine.

While sometimes symptoms lead to an accurate self-diagnosis, normally we have no idea what is really causing the problem, which is why we need a professional’s help.

If this is true for a simple cold or sprained ankle, we definitely don’t do well when attempting to self-diagnose our deeper spiritual issues.

Today we are talking about a man who showed up to Jesus with what he thought was an easy diagnosis. But what he didn’t know was that his physical problem wasn’t actually the real problem after all.

Lesson

Jesus’ Ministry

Jesus had not been ministering publicly very long, but already He had a massive crowd.

There was now a really large crowd swarming this house where He was staying. They all wanted to hear Him preach.

The house was so packed that there wasn’t room for anyone else to get in.

And they all knew that He had power to heal and deliver.

There was a man who was paralyzed; the Bible says he was “sick of the palsy.” KJV says things weird to us sometimes. His friends brought him to Jesus, believing Jesus would heal him.

When they arrived, this crowd was a problem.

But they weren’t willing to take no for an answer. So they carried their friend to the top of the roof, tore off part of the roof, and lowered their friend down to Jesus!

So this guys friends had faith that Jesus could heal the paralyzed man’s body. But Jesus knew that the sickness was not the biggest need he had. Everyone was surprised when Jesus didn’t immediately heal him.

Instead, Jesus responded with this:

Mark 2:5 NKJV

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

Yes, he needed a physical healing. But first he needed a spiritual healing; he needed his sins forgiven.

So I want to ask the question: which is the bigger miracle: healing of the body or forgiveness of sins?

One deals with a body that has an expiration date, the other deals with eternity!

The Bible doesn’t mention angels doing anything that we know of when someone is healed… but it does say that they rejoice when a sinner repents!

So everyone could see this man’s sickness, but no one - maybe not even the man himself - recognized how sick his soul was.

Jesus did heal the man soon afterward. And he walked out of the house on his own two feet.

It wasn’t wrong for the man to want healing. But by forgiving him first, Jesus was showing that physical illness wasn’t the priority.

Life is short, but eternity is forever.

We will all have problems here and there throughout life, but our main focus should be on where we will spend our lives after this one.

He will be with us through every trial, but we have to prioritize our spiritual needs over our physical ones - because that will mean everything!

PLAY VIDEO ABOUT SIN: “KHATA/SIN” BY BIBLE PROJECT.

No matter who we are, at some point, we all have failed God.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

But God doesn’t want to just write a large “FAILURE” on your life with His red marker and kick you out of His classroom. Instead, He wants to forgive you and teach you how to pass the tests life throws at you.

Back in Bible times, people wrongly assumed that if someone was sick, the person had done something to deserve it (Job’s friends). People weren’t very empathetic to people with illnesses.

The man sick of palsy was probably seen as a big-time failure—failing his family, his friends, society, and even God.

But although he had more physical limitations, he was just like everyone else—someone who at times in his life had failed God.

Jesus saw where the man had failed, but He didn’t see the man as a complete failure. Instead, Jesus saw him as someone who needed another chance.

It doesn’t matter how many times we have failed God in our lives. Like the man sick of palsy, Jesus is offering us a chance to succeed through Him.

Who Can Forgive Sins?

Now… there were some OTHER people in the crowd at the house that day. Pharisees. And they got pretty upset with Jesus’ statement that the man’s sins were forgiven. Because they believed that Jesus was speaking blasphemy and disrespecting God.

God alone has the authority to forgive sin; therefore, by Jesus telling the man his sins were forgiven, Jesus was claiming to be God!

It’s a serious offense to claim God’s power and authority… unless Jesus was REALLY God in the flesh!

And these teachers were correct: only God can offer forgiveness. But they were incorrect in their accusations against Jesus.

Jesus wasn’t disrespecting God’s power, because Jesus Himself was God! Awesome scripture:

1 Timothy 3:16 KJV 1900

16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Because Jesus was God in flesh, He had power over both physical and spiritual sickness.

Mark 2:9 NLT

9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?

Jesus revealed early on in His ministry that He didn’t just come to heal and to teach, but to offer forgiveness to sinners. This was His mission. After His death and resurrection, it became His disciples’ mission as well.

Jesus offers everyone the hope of forgiveness.

Luke 24:47 NKJV

47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

BUT - if anyone is going to be led out of their sins, it must be PREACHED.

Romans 10:14 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

No one can know about this if there is not someone who will preach it!

After Jesus’ life on earth, those first preachers were His disciples.

But now all of those people are dead and gone.

That means that it is our responsibility to tell others about Jesus’ power to forgive sin.

That might seem like a real daunting task, but as Jesus has the power to forgive, He gives us the power to preach about His forgiveness.

Right after Jesus told the disciples they were His witnesses, He said they would be “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Anybody know what he’s talking about there? The Spirit!

When we are filled with the Spirit, we are empowered to be Jesus’ witnesses, like the disciples were.

I want to tell you guys something that, if you have not already experienced it, you will very soon: there are many people who believe that Jesus was just a man who lived, and He was a good teacher and a good person.

But it isn’t enough to believe that Jesus lived.

We also must believe He is God in flesh and that He alone paid our debt and has the power to free us from sin.

And we also have to believe that we are to minister that to other people, and we will see the power of God when we move and minister.

The man sick of palsy had a life-changing experience when Jesus healed him. He no longer had to rely on his friends to carry him everywhere. He could now live his own life. But he would have missed out on the real life change if he had only been healed and then just gone his own way.

God has power to heal, to deliver, to provide, and to lead. But the most miraculous aspect of God is that He is the all-powerful Creator of the universe, yet He still wants to have a relationship with us.

The paralyzed man’s most amazing miracle wasn’t his healing; it was his invitation to know Jesus.

Our pursuit of Jesus should not be based on what He can do for us, but rather on how we can know Him.

Conclusion

Personal Experiences

An amazing part of being a Christian is that our experience is personal. We don’t just read stories of what God has done for other people. We can know God for ourselves. We can see His glory. We can feel His presence. We can hear Him speaking to us. We can experience the miraculous.

Pass out paper and pens. Instruct students to write about a time when they had a personal encounter with God, answering the following questions:

What happened?

How did you feel?

How did it change your life?

How did it change your view about God?

Encourage students to share and discuss their experiences with other students.

Announcements

Don’t forget our RISEN practice tonight!

Youth-led service is this coming Wednesday night!

Go over each person’s responsibilities.