God's Forgiveness

Well, good morning. It's good to see you all here.

I'm glad you could join us for worship this morning.

Today we're going to talk a little bit about forgiveness.

And you know, I've been thinking about it, and the world today is wrestling with forgiveness.

Some of us, facing the fatigue of living in a fallen world and with a proper desire for justice,

have come to view forgiveness as weak, or even worse, unjust and wrong.

Something that allows evil to continue.

The attitude is, we just can't forgive that.

And yet there's a whole other strain of our culture today that's saying that forgiveness is really important.

But it's important for us. It's important for our well-being.

If you go to the Mayo Clinic, or if you go to the Center for the Greater Good at the University of Berkeley,

you will see that they see forgiveness as forsaking bitterness and resentment

to free yourself from unhealthy emotions so that you can live at peace.

Now, both of these have a thread of truth in them.

Both of these see something right and good.

And yet, it's missing something, I think, often in this,

which is that forgiveness has a relational element to it that we need to make clear.

Forgiveness is not just about us.

Forgiveness in the financial world, for example, means that if you borrowed $10,000 from me,

I would then hold you to pay that back.

I might choose then to forgive that debt.

And this is not a policy discussion, just in case you're wondering.

This is simply an illustration.

I might choose to forgive that $10,000 debt.

But if I do that, I forsake the claim to that $10,000 that were originally mine and is now yours.

I am giving up that.

I bear the loss.

I bear the cost of this forgiveness.

And so there's a relational element in this where I'm bearing something if I choose to forgive.

If forgiveness is relational, then we would say that it is forswearing vengeance or revenge of a wrong that someone has done against you.

It does not mean that you don't allow consequences to play out.

It does not mean that it's wrong to ask for restitution.

It does not require instantaneous and unquestioned trust when forgiveness is offered.

But forgiveness happens in the context of relationships.

These are just some big picture thoughts about forgiveness to get our minds thinking about the topic that our passage is going to look at this morning.

I want you to imagine this scenario that's going to focus in on what our passage this morning is looking at.

If I walk up to Alex and I say,

Alex, I forgive you.

His first response is,

Great.

What did I do wrong?

Because he probably doesn't know.

Maybe he does.

And he's like,

Yeah, I know.

I blew it.

Right?

But what happens if a stranger in the street walks up to Alex and says,

Hey, Alex, I forgive you.

He doesn't even know I ask his name.

He's like,

Hey, you.

I forgive you.

You think,

Do I know you?

If I don't,

What are you talking about?

I've never done anything wrong.

How is it that you can forgive me when we've never met and that we've never done anything?

We've never had a relationship to deal with.

This actually brings us to, I think, the passage most clearly today.

Our passage isn't going to be how we forgive one another.

This is not what it's about.

It's about who can forgive and why that's true.

So let's look at us.

We're in Mark chapter 2, verses 1 through 12.

Mark 2:1–12

I forgot to look up the page number.

Anyone want to, in the Pew Bible?

786.

There we go.

786 in the Pew Bible.

If you want to look along with me, that would be great because it's a great story.

It's a great narrative for us to look at this morning as we think about the topic of forgiveness.

So let's go ahead and read our passage together.

We'll pray and then we'll dive in.

Does that sound good?

Mark 2, starting in verse 1.

And when he, that is referring to Jesus,

And when he returned to Capernaum, after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

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.

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him.

And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

My son, your sins are forgiven.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts,

Why does this man speak like that?

He's blaspheming.

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves,

Said to them,

Why do you question these things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,

Your sins are forgiven?

Or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,

He said to the paralytic,

I say to you, Rise, pick up your bed and go home.

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.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for what you have to say to us through it this morning.

Lord, I ask for your help,

that your spirit would enable me to speak clearly as I ought.

And Lord, I pray for all of us,

that our hearts would be humbled before you

and prepared to receive and to sit under your word.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So as we continue our series in the book of Mark,

the context, chapter one tells us that Jesus has come

proclaiming the kingdom of God is at hand

and that he's calling people to repent and believe the good news.

He's begun his ministry characterized by preaching and teaching

and healing and delivering from evil spirits.

And in the last section, if you remember,

Tom preached to us last week about Jesus healing a man with leprosy.

And it said at the end of that story that his fame became so great,

he could no longer go into towns because the crowd was so great.

And so Jesus was now such a thing that there were crowds,

there were mobs happening.

And so he couldn't go into a town.

And that leads right into our story,

which has a very surprising beginning

because it says he returned to Capernaum,

which is a city on the north side of the Sea of Galilee.

It's likely where Jesus lived during his time

in doing ministry in the northern part of Israel

before he moved to Jerusalem later in his ministry life.

And Jesus was in a house.

And it seems like he was there kind of clandestinely

because it says,

and when they found out,

and they meaning the crowds,

they meaning the people,

when they found out,

the mob showed up.

And the house was full.

And if you don't know,

first century houses were usually one story.

They would have lattice roofs with mud plaster on top of it.

And often there would be different rooms.

And so even at the doorway meant that this house

was completely full of people spilling out into the hallway,

into this road outside of the house, I mean.

And so Jesus is there.

He's teaching the word,

continuing his normal ministry, right?

And then we pick up and we are introduced now

to some new characters in the story

because suddenly there's a paralytic.

And he has four friends.

And these four friends say,

Jesus is going around doing all these amazing things.

He can heal you.

Let's take you there.

So they pick up the guy on his bed

and they try to take him to Jesus.

But the crowds are so great,

they can't get there.

What are they gonna do?

They say,

we will not be put off.

We will not,

we are determined to get you to Jesus.

So they go around,

they climb up onto the roof

and they dig through the roof.

If you've ever seen The Chosen,

it's a lovely miniseries

that depicts first century life.

It's not always theologically

exactly how I would interpret the Bible,

but it's worth watching.

And the picture of this one,

we actually saw this episode.

And it's amazing

because Jesus is in this dark room

and then suddenly chunks start falling

from the ceiling above him.

And then the roof collapses

as these guys dig a hole

through the plaster

and lower this man down.

Brief aside,

what a beautiful picture of friends.

Friends who see their friend in need

and are so determined

to bring their friend to Jesus,

the one who can help them.

Oh, may we be friends like that.

And would we have friends like that?

What a beautiful picture it is.

But you wonder,

how is Jesus gonna respond

to the ceiling collapsing on him?

You would imagine

he might be a little frustrated

or a little upset at this,

but Jesus isn't.

Jesus looks at the man,

he looks at his friends

and their faith,

and he rejoices in this.

And he looks on them with compassion.

And we know what's gonna happen

in the story.

He's gonna look at the paralytic,

he's gonna say,

rise and walk,

and everyone's gonna say,

this is amazing.

Except that's not what Mark is telling us,

and that's not what Jesus did.

Look with me at verse five,

because it's shocking.

What we expect is Jesus coming

to demonstrate his power

over the fall

and the brokenness of the world

by healing this man's paralysis,

by bringing wholeness

to his spinal cord

and restoring his ability to walk.

But instead,

he looks at the man

and he says,

son,

son,

your sins are forgiven.

He speaks personally

like he's a part of his family,

showing his compassion.

And yet,

Jesus' compassion sees

greater than we do.

Jesus' compassion sees

more than we do,

because he sees

that this man's greatest need

is not healing,

but forgiveness.

And we may bristle at this.

This is not compassion.

You're looking at a paralytic man,

and you're telling him

he's got a greater problem?

You're looking at him

who suffered such great,

such loss

and has suffered

so much of his life,

who's completely helpless,

and you're going to ignore that?

And to infer that

he has a greater problem than that?

But it's clear that Jesus

is being compassionate,

not cruel.

So what is Jesus doing?

He's seeing that this man's

spiritual paralysis

of unforgiven sin

is greater than any

of his physical suffering.

Now, in the first century,

there were often,

there's lots of speculation

that sin was connected

to physical suffering.

And so,

if someone was suffering physically,

people would often think,

well, what sin did he do?

This is a common question.

It would have been an assumption

in the first century.

But there's no reason

in this text to believe that.

There's nothing in here

that gives us a sense

that you see anything

in this man

but his need

and his friends.

They bring him,

they lower him,

because they've seen Jesus

heal people with touch.

Jesus looks and he sees

at this paralytic's

greatest need,

and he looks at our hearts

and he says,

I see all of you

in your greatest need.

And your greatest need is,

in fact,

the forgiveness of your sins.

How can this be?

Well, biblically,

we need to recognize

that sin is never merely

a horizontal thing.

Oh, surely,

we will sin against one another,

and we do so

in our selfishness,

in our pride,

in our anger,

our jealousy,

our ingratitude,

our self-pity.

We are always being selfish

and therefore sinning

against those around us

by asking them to change

and work according

to our plan

and our world.

But sin,

biblically,

is more than that.

It is fundamentally

a rebellion

against our creator.

It is fundamentally

a rejection

that God should be

the center of our lives

and instead putting ourselves

in the center of our lives.

God who created us

to flourish under him,

and yet we have rejected him

and said,

we're going to go our own way.

This is what happened

in the Garden of Eden.

God provided everything

for Adam and Eve

and said,

live and receive my provision

so you can flourish.

And they said,

no,

we would rather try

to be like you

than receive from you.

And tellingly,

when one of the greatest stories

of human sin and failure

in the story

of the life of King David,

after David's sins,

horrifically,

against a woman,

against her husband,

against the nation.

Psalm 51,

when David writes

about his sin,

he says this

in Psalm 51,

three and four,

for I know my transgressions

and my sin

is ever before me

against you,

speaking to God,

against you

and you only

have I sinned

and done what is evil

in your sight.

See,

the Bible

and what David

is saying here

is though he has sinned

terribly against Bathsheba,

terribly against Uriah,

and he's not denying that,

I don't believe

in this passage,

but he's saying,

deeper than that,

I have sinned

against my creator.

I have sinned

against my God.

And this is the greatest fault

and the greatest problem.

And Jesus sees

in the life

of the paralytic

and he sees

in our own hearts

that this too

is our greatest need.

Jesus comes,

Mark is painting

this picture

of the kingdom

of God on earth.

And this passage

reminds us

that the forgiveness

of sins

and the restoration

of a relationship

with God

is the very centerpiece

of it.

Friends,

we need to recognize

if we gain

all the healing,

all the righteousness,

if we overthrow

evil in all of society,

if we eradicate

sickness and disease,

poverty and oppression,

but do not have

the forgiveness

of sins from our God,

we have nothing.

We know that Jesus

and his kingdom

is more than just

forgiveness of sins,

but it must be based on

and centered on

this idea.

So I ask you,

do you think

this is your greatest need?

Do you think

it's the greatest need

of the whole world?

So you look at

your neighbors

and your family

and your friends,

even your enemies,

do you see

that their greatest need

is for forgiveness

from God

for their sins?

So verse 5,

Mark brings us

to this point

where we're expecting

healing

and we get something

very different.

But the story goes on

because it doesn't just say

this is the greatest need

that you have,

but verses 6 through 12

tells us that there is

a help that will meet

that greatest need.

And the narrative continues,

right?

So we have this man,

the scribes haven't even

been mentioned until now,

but now in verse 6,

the scribes show up.

And remember from

a couple weeks ago,

the scribes are the teachers

of the law.

They're the experts

who would act

as both moral advisors,

as judges,

and as teachers

and rabbis.

And so this is what

they do,

this is what

the scribes are,

and they look at Jesus

and they think

in their hearts,

you can't do that.

Why are you doing that?

Who do you think you are?

Only God can do that.

And of course,

they're right.

In the Old Testament,

what we see in multiple places

and in critical places

in the Bible

is that we see

God as the one

who forgives sins.

So when God reveals

himself to Moses,

when Moses demands

on Mount Sinai,

God, show me your glory.

And God responds

and says,

well, you can't see

my glory and live,

but you can see

the backside of my glory.

So I'm going to show you

just a little bit.

And so he hides Moses

in the cleft of a rock

and he passes,

the presence of the Lord

passes by

and the words come out,

the Lord,

the Lord,

a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love

for thousands,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin.

He says more than that,

but he's saying

this is the God

that has revealed himself.

And so these scribes

are not wrong

when they see,

when they say

only God can forgive sin.

And Jesus looks at them

and he knows their hearts.

This is one of those

little windows

where you realize

Jesus,

Mark is just assuming

that we understand

that Jesus is someone special,

that Jesus has the ability

to understand

our hearts

supernaturally.

We didn't have to tell him that.

He wasn't super insightful

in guessing that this was true.

He knew what they were saying

in their hearts.

And he looks at them

and he says,

he challenges their thinking.

He says,

why are you questioning

in this way?

Let me ask you this.

Which is easier?

To say,

I forgive you

or to say,

rise and walk

to this paralytic man?

Now,

think through the logic

of this for a minute.

if I say,

I forgive you,

it's easier

in a way

because

you can't disprove it.

Right?

There's nothing to see.

And so I can say

whatever I want

and there's nothing

actually that happens.

Right?

But if I say,

rise and walk

to a paralyzed man,

it either happens

or it doesn't.

Right?

And you can see

the outcome.

And that's Jesus' point.

He's saying to these scribes,

you don't think

I have the ability

or the authority

to forgive sin.

Well,

what about the authority

to do something

that you can watch me do

and see me do?

I also think Jesus

is suggesting

that actually

forgiving of sins

is way,

way,

way harder

than actually healing

the paralytic.

And he's going to show us

that from the arc

of his whole life

because he's going to go

to the cross

for the forgiveness

of our sins.

So I think that's also

what Mark is doing here.

But in the middle

of this,

Jesus says,

okay,

you're asking a question,

who do you say I am?

Well,

let me show you.

Watch this.

So that you may know

that the Son of Man

has authority

to forgive sins

on earth.

And he turns from them

and he turns

to the paralytic

and he says,

rise,

pick up your bed

and walk

and go home.

the man picks up

the mat

that he'd lived

his life on

and he walked home.

And the crowd responds

with amazement.

We've never seen

anything like this.

And Jesus is sitting there

with a crowd

and Mark is looking

at us,

the audience

that he's writing to

and he's saying,

who do you think

Jesus is now?

And this is the point

of the story,

right?

This is the point

of the narrative arc

is Jesus alone

has the authority

to forgive sins.

He,

as the Son of Man,

has the authority

to forgive sins.

and we see in this story

a response

of awe

and joy

and wonder

because the greatest

need that we have,

even greater than

our personal suffering,

even greater than

our circumstances now,

even greater than

the global trials

that we are facing

and enduring

as a world,

even greater than

all of those things,

our greatest need

is met

by the greatest help

we could ever imagine,

the Son of Man

who comes

with authority

to forgive

our sins.

And we see the crowds

responding in awe

and wonder,

the man walking home

with joy.

Friends,

we who are now,

and of course Mark

is writing to Christians

who know the end

of the story,

they know where

Jesus is going,

the gospel itself

tells us

that Jesus has

authority to forgive sins

in a unique way

because it's baked

into the logic

of the gospel.

And I want to spend

just a few minutes

thinking with you

for a minute

about how is it

that God can

forgive sins,

right?

Because what we see

in the Bible,

and we're just going

to walk through,

this is going to feel

familiar to a lot of you,

but Romans 6.23

tells us that

the wages of sin

is death,

right?

That our offense

against our creator

is so great,

it is a capital offense.

We have rejected

the Lord of life,

we have turned

from life to death,

and God is going

to bring his judgment

upon our sin

with the condemnation

of death.

This is what happened

in the garden,

it's what we see.

So Romans 6 says

the wages of sin

is death.

Then Hebrews 9.22

tells us,

without the shedding

of blood,

there is no forgiveness

of sins.

This is the outworking

of Romans 6.

Somebody has to die

for sin.

In God's economy,

it must be atoned for.

Either the one

who committed the sin

must die,

or perhaps someone

might be able

to die in their place.

But who could do that?

Who could die

for someone else's sins,

since we know

that all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

in Romans 3.23?

And Jesus comes,

and he was without sin.

And he says,

I have come

to offer my life

a ransom for many.

I have come

to give myself

to die

so that you

might live.

And so Romans 3

tells us this,

there is no distinction

for all who sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

and are justified

by his grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by his blood

to be received

by faith.

This was to show

God's righteousness

because in his divine

forbearance,

he had passed over

former sins.

It was to show

his righteousness

at the present time

so that he might be

both just

and the justifier

of the one

who has faith

in Jesus.

Paul uses

some fancy words here,

some theologically

loaded words.

Justification

means being

made right

before God

and it requires

the removal

of the penalty

of sin

and the curse

of sin.

Propitiation

is the satisfaction

of God's judgment

against sin

and Jesus

is the one

who accomplishes

that propitiation

through his death,

making possible

the forgiveness

of sin

because Jesus

comes

and dies

in our place

so that our sins

might be judged

in Jesus

and so that forgiveness

might be extended

to us.

This is the logic

of the gospel.

You see,

because God doesn't

forgive sin

the way we do.

Most of the time

when we forgive sin,

we pretend

that you really

didn't do anything wrong

or we say

it wasn't really

a big deal

or I've gotten

over it.

It's okay.

But God

can't do that

because God

is perfectly just

and he can't

overlook our sin.

He can't overlook

evil

and we don't want

him to

when someone else

is evil

but we really

want him to

overlook our evil

in our own hearts

but God

can't do that

nor will he

simply

condemn the whole

world

with no chance

of forgiveness

because he is

a God

loving and merciful

slow to anger

and abounding

in kindness.

So how can God

be both just

and the justifier

of the ungodly?

Well because

a perfect man

came

and in love

offered himself

for us.

He did not

deserve to die

said I will

die for you

so that the wrath

of my father

against your sin

will fall on me

so that you

can be forgiven

and your slate

wiped clean

and restored

to a relationship

with your creator.

And this is what

the gospel is about

and this is

ultimately why

Jesus says

I have the only

authority

to forgive sin

because I alone

am the one

who will do

what is necessary

for you

to have your sins

wiped away

so you can be

restored

in your relationship

with God.

Now Mark

doesn't spell this out

but this is for us

as we think about

what is it

how is it

that it is good news

that Jesus

as the son of man

has authority

to forgive sins.

So coming back

to this story

in Mark

Jesus looks at us

and he says

yes I can heal

your paralysis

I can heal

your leprosy

I can cast out

the demons

but more than that

I can forgive

your sin

come to me

in repentance

and faith

come and believe

and trust

in me

come

to me

the only one

who can meet

your greatest need

and if you're here

this morning

and you're not sure

whether Jesus

has forgiven you

of your sin

if you're feeling

like

he can't

or he won't

or he doesn't

Jesus invites you

to come

come

and receive

his forgiveness

as you repent

of those sins

and turn

and put your faith

in him

and if you're here

and you've been hearing

this story

for a long

long time

and this is

the good news

I pray

I pray that you

would be renewed

this morning

in your awe

and wonder

and joy

like the man

who walked home

with his bed

under his arm

for the first time

in who knows

perhaps his whole life

may we have

that same

sense of joy

that we

who are crippled

by our sin

can now walk

and rise

and live

and worship

because Jesus

can forgive

our sins

let's go ahead

and pray

together

oh Lord Jesus

we

come to you

and

Lord

we confess

that we

often

don't see

the world

the way

you do

Lord

we don't

often

understand

things

the way

you have

arranged

them

and Lord

how often

we lose

sight of you

and who you

are

and what you

have done

that you

alone

are our

hope

in being

reconciled

with God

you alone

are the one

who can

wash away

our sin

Lord

I pray

this morning

that you

would be

with us

as we

go to

the Lord's

table

Lord

that as we

celebrate

communion

together

Lord

that you

would renew

in us

joy

that you

would

Lord

draw those

who are

here

who

maybe

haven't

taken

that step

Lord

to put

their faith

in you

and the

forgiveness

that you

offer

in Christ

we pray

this in

Jesus name

Amen