Jesus Forgives Sin (Matthew 9:2–8)

Mark 2:1–12 (NLT)

v1-2b When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door.

v2b-3 While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.

v4-5 Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

v6-7 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

Is that TRUE? Can ONLY GOD forgive sins? Yes and no. We can forgive someone who sins against us, but…we can’t forgive others for sinning against God.

v8-9 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?

v10-11 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

v12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Do you need to be forgiven for sin?

Years ago one of my boys did something he thought would get him in a bunch of trouble. So, rather than tell us the truth, he lied to us. After some investigative work it became obvious we weren’t getting the whole truth. When I pressed for the truth and demonstrated I knew he was lying, my son would not submit and get honest.

Several minutes later he approached and said, “I’m sorry.”

I asked, “Sorry for what?”

He responded, “I sorry I lied to you.”

Then, as we have taught our kids, he asked, “Will you forgive me?”

I pulled him to me and whispered, “I forgave you before you asked.” You see, I was WANTING and WILLING to forgive him before he even approached to confess his sin.