The Forgiver of Sins

Introductions

In our time in Mark, we have already observed that Jesus has power to preach, call disciples, heal disease, dominate demons, overcome satan, amaze crowds, and cleanse lepers. The baptism of John which was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, which we observed in an earlier sermon, cast light on our greatest and most desperate need, namely we are sinners in need of forgiveness. To sin is to miss the mark that is set by God’s Law and Character. It is to live in a way that is inconsistent with your design or purpose. Scripture is clear that we all stand under condemnation in the first man, Adam. He was our representative and he failed. We failed in him. We by nature like Adam choose and love sin. Sin is ultimately against God. Even when we sin against our neighbor we sin against God whose image they are made in. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. So who can make us right again? Who has the power to forgive our sins?

In our text and time this morning, you will observe Jesus’ power to forgive sins in four points.

Narrative

To begin, observe Jesus’ power to forgive sins anticipated (1-2). In the passage we studied last week, we saw that Jesus and His disciples left Capernaum, so that He could preach elsewhere. He went all through out Galilee and did just that in addition to healing diseases and casting out demons. In verse one, Mark tells us that Jesus and His disciples eventually returned to Capernaum to the house of Simon and Andrew. A report of His return got around and chaos ensues. Read verse 2 with me to see, “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.” Rather than ignoring, dismissing, or cursing the crowds, as many of us would do, Jesus preaches the word to them. The word He preached was the gospel of the Kingdom of God and a call to repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

When someone has a gift at something people will come to them. Those who are gifted at speaking and teaching will have people come to them with their curious minds and needy hearts. Those who are gifted at fixing things will have people come to them with broken things. Those who are good at thinking and answering questions will have people come to them with their questions. Jesus was gifted with power to to preach and heal the body and soul. So people flocked to Him.

Do you need forgiveness?

Perhaps we may take an application and a warning from the crowds. We like the crowds should come to Jesus. We should listen to Jesus. We should believe the words of Jesus that we find in Holy Scripture. However, as a warning we should realize that though they came to Jesus, they came to Him as a means to an end and not the end itself. They may have heard Him and seen Him, but they didn’t love, listen, or stick with Him. In fact the crowds are generally portrayed negatively throughout the ministry of Jesus. Thus, a ministries success is not the crowd that it draws, but its faithfulness to God. Church, let us be careful not to follow our culture in equating success with crowds. We don’t merely want to see people come, we want to see them saved and transformed.

So, you have observed Jesus’ power to forgive sins anticipated.

Next, observe Jesus’ power to forgive sins declared (3-5). This chaos of the first scene only increases in the second. A group of four men carrying a paralytic on a mattress come to the crowded area outside of the house. They attempt to get in through the crowd and the door of the house, but are unable to get through. How would they respond? Would they just go home? We find an answer beginning in the middle of verse four, look there, “they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.” A roof on a house at that time was flat and made of compacted mud and rock. Instead of trying to come back later, these men so believed in the Lord Jesus and His power to heal that they went and dug up the roof to lower their friend down into His presence. I mean imagine this scene. Jesus is preaching to the people in the home and those crowed at the door when all of the sudden pieces of dirt start to fall from the ceiling and then a hole wide enough for a man on a mattress to be lowered in opens up. Finally, a paralyzed man is lowered before them. We aren’t told how long this took, but it would have been more than a second or two. Jesus’ response at first may seem puzzling. Indeed, we will see in a moment that it troubled some who were present. For now, read verse five with me, “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” What sweetness these words would have been to the paralytic and his friends. Jesus is who He is, but His identity is only understood by Spirit gifted faith. Though it may have been the man’s paralytic condition that he and his friends wanted remedied, Jesus dealt first with the man’s most fundamental problem. One that he shares with all the human race born in Adam, his sin.

If Jesus only brought physical healing to people then he would be like a physician who removes a cancerous sore, but fails to get to the root of the problem beneath the skin.

Since Jesus has the power to forgive sins, there is a question I must ask you. Do you need forgiveness? God has answered this question with a YES in all caps and three exclamation marks in the Bible. Case and point comes from the first three chapters of Romans. In chapter 1, Paul demonstrates that gentiles, even though God has been revealed them in nature and his moral law is written on there hearts, they still trade the worship of the creator for the worship of created things. Thus, they stand condemned. In chapter 2, Paul turns his focus on the Jews who likely thought they were superior because they had the Law, prophets, and covenants of promise. They were wrong. In fact, they are even more liable for judgement because though they had every advantage, they too sinned against God. In chapter 3, Paul concludes his case by declaring that no one, neither jew or gentile, is righteous in God’s sight, nor can anyone be declared righteous through keeping the Law. If Paul stopped there, then we would all be left without hope. Later in chapter 3, Paul transitions to the righteousness of God that was promised in the Law and Prophets and fulfilled in Christ. It is through, in, and by Christ alone that sinners like you and me are forgiven of sin. So, you may have many problems, hardships, and infirmities that you are going through. Yet your biggest problem is that you are a sinner and God is Holy and Righteous. He will judge the unrighteous with perfect justice. However, this same God in the person and work of Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, has made it possible for you to be forgiven and He to remain righteous. So, you need forgiveness more than anything else in life and death. Christ alone can give it to you.

You observed Jesus’ power to forgive sins anticipated in the first point and declared in the second.

Conversely, in the third point, observe Jesus’ power to forgive sins doubted (6-7). Amid the large crowd were some scribes. These were the respected transcribers and teachers of the Old Testament Scriptures in Jesus’ day. Jesus’ word of forgiveness to the paralytic was not sweet and nutritious like honey, but bitter and poisonous like Drano to their hearts. Mark gives us a glimpse of there inner thoughts in verse 7. Look there, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” These are not questions of a curious seeker of truth, but a hardened denier the truth in front of them. They are correct that only God can forgive sins. They are wrong that Jesus is blaspheming. Blasphemy against God was a capital crime. It was to either take God’s name in vain, ascribe to God something that is untrue, or ascribe to demons the work of God. Jesus would eventually be executed on the charges of blasphemy. The Scribes new what Jesus was saying. He was claiming equality with God. He was claiming to be God in the flesh. They didn’t misunderstand. They rebelled against the truth in front of them, as many do in our day.

Observing the doubt of the scribes leads me to ask this next question. Do you believe Jesus can forgive your sins and the sins of others? If you do, then you are claiming something quite remarkable. You are claiming that Jesus is God in the flesh. Are you willing to look foolish in the eyes of unbelievers because this great truth has been revealed to you? If so, praise be to God because you didn’t come to this understanding on your own but through the salvific work of God. Also, if you believe this truth, then you should believe that Jesus can save any kind of person. The worst of the worse can be forgiven by and in Jesus. So share our Lord Jesus and the forgiveness He offers to your neighbors both near and far. Moreover, share this truth with yourself as you reckon with your sin. You are not too bad for Jesus to forgive. You are not without hope so long as Jesus lives. Unbeliever, why do you doubt that Jesus is able to forgive sin? Why do you reject Jesus is God? Why do you doubt like the Scribes? Oh, turn from your doubt and rebellion into the loving and forgiving Savior. He will not cast out any who seek Him in faith.

You have observed Jesus’ power to forgive sins anticipated and declared. You just now observed it doubted.

Now, observe Jesus’ power to forgive sins confirmed (8-12). The scribe’s rejection of Jesus’ identity as God the Son is seen to be quite foolish in this final section. First, we see his identity in His ability to see the hearts of men. They didn’t need to speak. He could hear their thoughts and their secret doubts. His response is to ask them why they question Him in their hearts. Then we get second demonstration of Jesus identity and ability to forgive sins. It is true that anyone can pronounce forgiveness without any way to prove it wrong. However, what Jesus does next will prove His power and confirm His ability to forgive sins. Let’s read verses 9-12, in there entirety, “‘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 in response to doubt did something that no one could dismiss in there heart. He healed the paralytic of his paralysis. He did this to demonstrate He not only had the power to heal physical paralysis, but spiritual paralysis through the forgiveness of sins. As the Son of Man, Jesus is the promised Messiah King, who rules as God’s intermediary between God and Man. As the Son of God incarnate, He could forgive sins just like He could cure physical ailments. The paralytic left healed of paralysis and forgiven of sins. The Scribes left able to walk, but spiritually paralyzed. The crowds again left amazed, glorifying God, yet confused not knowing what to make of Jesus according to the other Gospel accounts.

BI/MPS

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!” Have you been forgiven?

You like the paralytic, the scribes, and the crowds need forgiveness that only Jesus can give. Have you recieved this forgiveness by trusting in Him? Have you confessed your allegiance to the Lord Jesus? Have you followed through with the public declaration and means of grace known as baptism? If so, Christian, you should not only be amazed you should rejoice in the Lord. You should praise His name and spread His fame. You and everyone who calls on the name of Jesus are living testimonies of His power to forgive. If you have not trusted in Jesus, then you have not been forgiven of your sins. You are still lost and spiritually paralyzed. You need a miracle of new birth brought about by the Holy Spirit. I pray He does that through the words I am speaking to you. Jesus alone can make you right with God and give you everlasting life where their will be no more vestiges of the fall like paralysis or disease. Come to the Lord Jesus today.

Have you been forgiven?

Jesus has the power to forgive sins, so go to Him

Jesus has the power to forgive sins, so cleave to Him

Conclusion

Jesus has the power to forgive sins, so

Conclusion

Indeed, we have learned that Jesus has the power to forgive sin because, as God the Son, He is the one whom all sin is ultimately against. We have observed Jesus’ power to forgive sins anticipated, declared, doubted, and confirmed. In the introduction I stated that forgiveness of sins is our greatest and most desperate need. Over the course of our time together, I have asked you probing questions. Also, called you to go to Jesus in faith like the paralytic and his friends who carried him.

Christian, you know the great joy that this man must have had not merely for having his bodied healed, but also his soul cleansed of the guilt he had before God. You know the glories of being united to Christ who is the gospel and power of God to save both Jew and gentile. He is your Savior, Lord, and Treasure. Take comfort in Christ. Confess your sins no longer as an enemy against God but as an adopted child who this side of eternity still struggles against sin. Furthermore, take others to Jesus like the friends of the paralytic did for He alone is hope in life and in death. He is the great physician who can heal both the body and soul.

You who have not trusted in Christ, I plead with you now. Come to Jesus and rely on Him and His work of redemption for the forgiveness of sins. Come to him this morning. Don’t wait. Don’t make excuses. Don’t ignore your greatest need which is not temporary comforts or physical healing. You need forgiveness. Jesus alone can give it to you. Apart from Him we are nothing, but in Him we have everlasting life. Trust in His birth, holy life, death, burial, resurrection, and future return to complete what He finished. Believe He is is the eternal Son of God who became man through the virgin birth. Rely on Him as the promised Messiah.

To all of you, who can make us right again? Who has the power to forgive our sins? Jesus. Jesus alone. Let’s pray.