Untitled Sermon

Jesus was in the area of the Gadarenes, a gentile region, and after He sat the two men possessed by demons free He has gotten back into a boat, and sailed back across the sea to His city. Does anyone remember where His headquarters of His ministry is? It is Capernaum.

Jesus is doing what Jesus does, teaching and healing, and word of His return spreads quickly. The friends of a paralytic man find Jesus, and they bring their friend to Him in order that He may be healed. They had him laying on a bed because he was so bad off that this man could in no way carry himself. He was completely paralysed.

Faith = Blind Trust

Now I do not know if this man could talk. I have no idea, but Jesus does not look on the mans condition. He looks on the faith of the ones who brought him. Faith is believing without seeing. These men heard about Jesus, they heard about what He could do, and they placed their blind faith in the thought that this random man that they have been hearing about could heal their dying friend. It takes faith to get anything done. If you do not trust something, then you will never place anything into action. You trusted your chairs to hold you, you trusted those stairs to hold you, you trust that this building will not fall. You trusted your car to get you here. You trust the food you eat to sustain you, and water you drink to hydrate you. You put your trust in everything in order to live.

These men put their trust in Jesus that He could heal their friend, and He did. But His response was not first “get up and walk” but rather “Your sins are forgiven.” I don’t know what he did in order to be punished with being crippled. I have no idea. But Jesus forgave them completely and gave this man a second chance.

Do you know who gives second chances? God does. God is the only one who can forgive sin. When Jesus said that the mans sins were forgiven He was saying that He was God Himself. God can judge us because He is perfect.

Isaiah 33:22 “For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” God is the one who creates the standards by which we live, and not only that but He protects us as we live out our lives following them.

Psalms 75:7 “but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” God, in His judgement, builds one up while He brings another down. God blesses His children. We may not always understand His blessings in the moment, but He works everything out to the good of those who love Him.

Psalms 50:6 “The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah”

God has the right to judge because He is perfect. Did you know that God will not judge you if you are perfect? No judgement whatsoever will come to you…if you are perfect. But are you? Neither am I. We stand imperfect in front of a perfect God. We stand prepped for judgement. Deserving of judgement.

For some reason, this man was laying suffering from the consequences of sins in his life. Do you guys know the consequences of sin? It is death. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A wage is something that you earn for a service rendered. The minimum wage across the united states is $11 an hour. You work one hour, you make $11. If you commit sins, as all do, your payment is death. But if you will notice in this scripture “the free gift of God is eternal life”, eternal means forever. Life means joy and happiness. Death means sorrow and physical destruction at the very least of this body. This shows us that God is not talking about a the end of life. He is talking about eternal death. Hell that is. Eternal punishment.

But again we have physical punishments here in life as well.

This man was suffering consequences. His friend placed their faith in Jesus for his healing, and because of their faith in Christ, Jesus healed the man. But Jesus did not simply say “you are healed” or “Get up and walk” (not right away anyways), Jesus said “Your sins are forgiven.” Only God can forgive sins. The scribes standing around watching this miracle happened were up in arms because Jesus elevated Himself to God status by forgiving the man Himself.

But they never said anything out loud. Jesus read their minds. He read their minds and said “is it easier to forgive sins or is it easier to heal the man?” Healing the man required supernatural powers, but forgiving sins required Jesus living a perfect and then dying for our sins. It was easier to heal the man than it was to remain perfect and then die, but Jesus forgave the sins.

Why do you think that Jesus forgave the sin rather than just healing the man?

Because it is more important to be spiritually healed than it is to be physically healed.

Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Picture God as a good Father. No, not YOUR dad, but everything that anyone could ever want in a Father and a friend. God is saying “Hey. I see you. I see what you have done, and it is not that great. But regardless of what you have done, I want to talk to you. I want a relationship with you. I want to forgive you. As rough as you might have been I will make you perfect, sinless.”

Psalms 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

How far is the east from the west? Can the points be reached as you go across the globe? God has removed your sins permanently. Gone forever. Unable to be found.

Jesus is God. Jesus has the power and authority to forgive you of your sins. Not only can He, but He wants to. If you want forgiveness of your sins eternally, all you have to do is believe that Jesus lived a perfect life, sacrificed His perfect life to replace your imperfect life, and paid the price for your sins. You place your trust in the sacrifice that He made for you, you place your trust that He is good enough (Just as these men did with their friend) and you will have your salvation.