Jesus Forgives The Paralytic

A.W. Tozer is famous for writing that what comes to our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.

Now that's immediately offensive to most people today.

In fact, the world around us, the day and age in which we live,

the assertion is that the most important thing that should come to your mind is you, yourself.

Self-care is what's most important.

Self-assurance is what's most important.

Self-confidence, putting your self first.

The mantra of young people today from what I understand is,

treat yourself is what they say.

A.W. Tozer was right.

The most important thing about you is what comes to your mind when you think of God.

And of course, we can change that statement just a little bit,

and it would be just as true when we say what is the most important thing about us

is what comes to our mind when we think of Christ.

That's the whole point of the Gospel of Mark.

All the Gospels, actually.

The writing of proclamation.

This is who Jesus is.

This is what he did.

And this is why it matters.

And when we get to the story of the first 12 verses of Mark chapter 2,

Mark 2 · chapter mention

that purpose becomes abundantly clear.

It's the entire theme of the story.

There's so many different characters that we see,

so many different storylines that we can trace,

and we did that in our last study through the first four verses.

But the overarching theme of this story is not the men that brought the paralytic.

It's not the tension between Jesus and the scribes.

The overwhelming theme is the fact that Jesus is God,

and that since he is God, he has authority and power to forgive sins.

So we pick up in verse 5 today, really, is where we focus our attention.

Two weeks ago, we looked at the first four verses,

and we focused our time primarily on these four friends

that brought the paralytic man to Jesus.

The determination that they had, the focused attention that they had,

the sacrifice that they were willing to make in order to get this man to Jesus,

whom they believed was his only hope for any kind of healing.

And of course, the question that we pondered and examined was,

if these men were so determined to get their friend to Jesus for physical healing,

how much more concerned should we be to get our friends to Jesus for spiritual healing?

Which was the point Jesus was making in the reaction that he had with the man.

Today, we come to the heart of the text,

the point of the whole story and why it's here,

and why it's here not only in Mark's gospel, but in Matthew and Luke's as well.

What took place when this paralyzed man was lowered into the house

is monumentally important.

What was anticipated by these observers,

this massive crowd that's now packed into what we believe was Peter's house,

packed into the house, packed outside of the house,

what mattered here, what they expected to matter there,

was Jesus would look at this poor paralytic man

and that he would provide this spectacular miracle.

But what actually happened was not what they expected.

What came instead was a provocative statement from Jesus,

a claim of divinity,

which is exactly what that statement in verse 5 is.

When Jesus says,

your sins are forgiven,

Jesus was boldly saying,

I am capable of forgiving your sins,

which was Jesus' way of saying,

I am God.

That was provocative.

The opposition there quickly responded,

at least in their hearts,

and his claim was immediately opposed.

And then as we read through the story,

ultimately,

the claim was ignored.

This really monumental moment

ultimately is distorted

by everybody that's gathered there.

And that same distortion

has perpetuated itself through history,

even in the church,

where we would come to a story like this

and we would see the awesomeness

of all the different storylines

and the things that's happening

and the miracle of this man

being able to walk again.

And then we completely missed the point.

The point that Jesus made a bold claim,

but that he was also able to back up that claim.

Last time we looked at the four friends

and we're really just working through this exposition

by observing the various people

that are involved in the story.

Today, we'll look at the poor paralytic,

the scowling scribes,

the divine savior,

and then finally,

the curious crowd.

Let's look first at this poor paralytic.

I refer to him as poor,

not because of his financial circumstance,

though he probably was poor,

but because he had no hope.

The circumstances surrounding how this man

and when this man became paralyzed

is irrelevant to the story.

And some people have tried to guess

as to what that may have been

and whether or not this particular disability

was specifically related to sin in his life.

And of course,

the scripture doesn't tell us that.

So it's irrelevant.

What's relevant to this man

is the fact that he was crippled,

he had a devastating disability,

and he was totally dependent on others

just to survive.

His situation wasn't quite as severe

as the leprous man that we studied in chapter one,

but he still had an incurable disability

of which he hoped and believed

that Jesus could free him.

Fortunately, he had four friends

willing to go above and beyond

to get him to the help that he needed.

But all of this excitement,

all of this effort,

all this destruction

was really for the sole purpose

of him getting his legs back.

Think about this.

Everything that they're going through,

they've hurried.

As soon as they found out

that Jesus was back in Capernaum,

they've hurried themselves to Peter's house

where it would have been believed

for him to have been,

and they get there too late.

The masses have already arrived.

They can't even get to the door.

No one's letting him through.

No one cares that this man is paralyzed.

No one cares to get this man

to Jesus for healing.

They all cared about themselves

and what they maybe could get from Jesus.

They can't even get to the door,

so they get creative,

and they make their way up to the roof.

Someone makes a calculated

and sacrificial decision

to pay Peter back

for digging a hole in the roof,

and that's exactly what they did.

They create the distraction.

They create the destruction.

All of this effort

to get this man to Jesus,

and why were they doing that?

Not because they wanted

his sins forgiven.

They were getting this man to Jesus

because they wanted his legs healed,

and they knew that Jesus could do that.

They had heard.

They'd probably witnessed.

Maybe some of these four friends

had been healed

the last time Jesus was in Capernaum,

and now they're bringing this man

for the same thing.

So he must have been incredibly surprised,

maybe even confused,

when he heard what Jesus said.

Look with me at verse five.

They lowered the man down,

and when Jesus saw their faith,

he said unto the sick of the palsy,

Arise, take up your bed,

and walk.

No, that's not what he said.

That's what he wanted to hear,

but it's not what he heard.

Son, your sins are forgiven.

He heard something much more magnificent

than Arise, take up your bed, and walk.

He heard something of such greater import

than any kind of physical healing

that he might have hoped for that day,

and notice the endearment

that Jesus has in this phrase.

Son,

your sins are forgiven.

When you already know the rest of the story,

as all of us do,

this statement, my Jesus,

tends to lose a bit of its impact.

We know that he's going to be healed.

We just read it just a second ago.

When he came to have his legs healed,

Jesus' first action was to forgive his sins.

How confusing.

Maybe frustrating, even,

for his friends that had just gone

to such great lengths,

and Jesus wasn't doing anything

that they expected him to do.

What was Jesus doing here?

What was the whole point

of Jesus' statement?

Jesus was putting his finger

on what was the man's greatest need.

When he came to Jesus that day,

when his friends brought him that day,

they thought that his greatest need

was for his paralysis to be healed.

They thought that the thing

that he needed most in this world

was the ability to walk,

but Jesus teaches a powerful lesson here.

His greatest need was not the ability to walk.

His greatest need was the forgiveness of his sins.

It's not that Jesus was unconcerned

about his condition.

Of course he was.

He ultimately healed his physical condition too,

as he did many people that didn't believe.

Many people Jesus healed that he didn't forgive.

It's not that he didn't care

about his physical condition,

but he put a greater priority

on the man's spiritual condition.

More than the ability to walk

was his need to have his sins forgiven

and his relationship with God restored.

Jesus was committed to putting first things first.

People run to religion

for all kinds of different reasons, don't they?

But there's always some type of need

attached to people's decisions

when they would make these religious choices

in their life.

Some people may commit to a church

because they have a deep need

for friendship and community,

and so that's exactly why they try

to find a church to belong to.

It's not so much about hearing truth.

It's not so much about being exposed

to the word of God.

It's about,

I would like to have friends,

and I need companionship in life,

and I want community in life.

I need people around me

that will uplift me.

It's a need in my life,

and so that's why they pursue Christianity

or church or any religion for that matter.

It's camaraderie.

It's the same reason

some people would join the military,

or some people would join a fraternity

or a sorority in college.

It's to meet a need of companionship

and a friendship and community.

Others will find religion

capable of filling a need

of affirmation for them

or helping scratch a intellectual itch

that perhaps that they have.

Others come to Jesus

hoping that they may have a life

that is improved in some way,

that he will provide for them

some type of success in life

or some type of health in life

or benefit in life,

but how many people actually come to Jesus

or to church or religion

or anything for that matter

with their greatest need

actually as the focus of their life?

I don't know what brought you to Jesus.

I don't know why you are coming to Jesus

even today,

or what you hope

that the Christian religion

might do for you

or what need it might meet for you.

But Jesus was clear

that your greatest need

is to have your sins forgiven

and your heart restored to God.

Greater than that promotion or job,

greater than that healing

of whatever disability or illness,

greater than that companionship

and community,

greater than any other need you may have,

your greatest need

is to have your sins forgiven,

your life restored,

and your fellowship with God restored.

We can find clubs to meet our need for community.

It won't ever match the community

that is offered in the church,

but we can meet that need in a different way.

We can find doctors

that will meet our need for healing

in most cases.

We can find other things in life

to help give us affirmation.

We can find mentors

that will meet our needs for success.

But your greatest need,

the forgiveness of your sin,

can only be met by Christ.

Fortunately,

Jesus' greatest desire

is to meet that need,

which is the other thing

that we see over and over

and over in the scripture.

As we study through the gospel of Mark

and any gospel for that matter,

what do we constantly see?

This heart of compassion,

not just a heart of compassion

to allow the man to walk again.

That could easily be taken right back away.

But what is something

Jesus could give this man

that could never be taken away?

Forgiveness, restoration,

that's the heart of Christ.

That's why he came.

We studied at Christmas,

Matthew chapter one,

call his name Jesus

for he will save his people

from their sins.

That's why he came.

As we studied that 24 hour period

in chapter one of the gospel of Mark

and what was Jesus doing?

He healed tons of people.

But when all the people

were trying to find him,

he told his disciples,

it's time to go somewhere else.

I got to preach the gospel.

That's why I came.

His greatest desire

is not to allow you to walk.

His greatest desire

is to forgive your sin.

And the good news of the gospel

really begins to take shape

when our greatest need

is then met by God's greatest desire

in the person of Christ Jesus.

And such joy and awesomeness

comes from that.

So few people

want to recognize

what their true need is.

Believers make this same mistake.

It's evidenced in our prayers.

Many of us pray through a prayer list.

I'm guilty of this every day.

We sit down

and we write out our prayer list

and we have this massive list

of things to pray for, don't we?

And I pray for our family members

that God would bless them

and provide for them

and provide security and success.

We pray for ourselves

in all kinds of different ways.

And we pray for all the things

that we had on this list.

And how much of that list

is balanced out by confession?

How much of our prayer

actually involves confession

to the Lord of our sin?

Or even just a desire for God

to continually reveal the sin

that is in our hearts

so that we may continually forsake it

in our lives

and follow after Christ.

We fall into this all the time.

Constantly looking for Christ

to do for us

and missing what is actually

our greatest need.

The forgiveness of our sins.

For some of us,

the statement that Jesus makes here

raises some questions.

What did this man do

to deserve forgiveness of sin?

And the answer is clearly

nothing.

Nothing at all.

He didn't deserve to be forgiven

of his sin.

Neither do you.

Neither do me.

Just like there was nothing

he could do

to heal his own paralysis,

there was nothing he could do

to find forgiveness

for his sin.

He had to rely in both cases

on the grace and power of Jesus.

He wasn't rewarded

for something that he did,

but Jesus did respond

to something that was clearly

in his heart.

It's interesting actually.

Look at it.

Son,

that's important.

Thy sins be

forgiven thee.

What was Jesus responding to?

The first part of the verse.

When he saw

their

faith.

The scripture is clear

that salvation

comes by God's grace

through faith

alone.

Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

For by grace

are you saved

through faith

and this is not

your own doing,

it is the gift of God.

Not a result of works

lest any man

should boast.

John 3.16,

the most famous

verse in all the Bible

reemphasizes this.

For God

so loved the world

that he gave

his only son

that whosoever

believes in him

should not perish

but have everlasting life.

The Philippian jailer

after hearing

Paul and Silas

sing and pray

to the Lord

in the most difficult

part of their life

immediately runs

and says,

what must I do

to be saved

and what was their response?

Believe on the Lord

Jesus Christ

and you will be saved.

How does salvation come?

By grace

through faith.

That's it.

This man did nothing

to deserve forgiveness

and neither one of us

can do anything

to deserve forgiveness either.

How does it come?

By God's grace.

Received through

our faith.

When the men

arrived to the house

Jesus had been preaching.

If you'll look back

at verse 2.

Straightway when

they were gathered together

in so much

that there was no room

to receive them

not so much

as about the door

Jesus preached

the word unto them.

We talked about

two weeks ago

what he was preaching.

The summary is given

in chapter 1

in verse 15.

He was preaching

the gospel of the kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

It is near.

Speaking of himself

he was the representative

of God's coming kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven

is near.

Repent

and believe the gospel.

Faith

and repentance.

And surely

as Jesus

is preaching this

maybe the four friends

are waiting outside

behind this massive crowd

trying to determine

what they're going to do

and maybe

as they're trying

to figure out

what they're going to do

the man's ears perk up

and he begins to listen

to what Jesus

is actually saying.

And he's preaching

this gospel message.

He's preaching

this message

of faith and repentance.

Believe me

the kingdom of heaven

is at hand

and as they

usher him up

onto the roof

and they begin

to dig their hole

maybe here's

just a little bit more.

And God begins

to do a work

on the man's heart

so that by the time

he is lowered

into the house

his faith that day

his belief

though not articulated

by himself

but not even capable

of being articulated

maybe at that point

by himself.

His faith

is about much more

than just receiving

healing for his legs.

His heart

was drawn to Jesus

in a different way

a way that he didn't expect

and Jesus knew

the faith of his heart.

You say

but he didn't

say a prayer.

He didn't have

to say a prayer.

You say

he didn't

even ask

for forgiveness.

He didn't have

to ask

for forgiveness.

Why was it

that Jesus

could respond

to this man

in this way?

Because Jesus

knew the faith

in his heart.

It's the only

explanation.

Jesus didn't

shortcut salvation

for this man.

He didn't decide

that repentance

was unnecessary

for this man's

sins to be forgiven.

He didn't determine

that faith

was unnecessary

for this man

that he was just

going to make a point.

Clearly Jesus

saw the faith

in his heart.

The faith

partnered with repentance

and Jesus responded

to such faith.

The good news

of the gospel

is that Jesus

came to meet

our greatest

need.

That greatest

need is forgiveness

of sins.

He sees it,

the reality

of it,

in our hearts.

We see the poor

paralytic.

Next,

we move on

to the scowling

scribes.

The scowling

scribes.

It's here

that Mark

introduces

a new layer

to his

proclamation

of the identity

and purpose

of Jesus.

This time,

it's the layer

of conflict.

We know

that Jesus

has already

had conflict

with Satan

and his

temptation.

He's had

conflict

with demonic

powers

and casting

out demons

everywhere that

he went.

But this is

the first time

that Mark

tells us

about the

conflict

between Jesus

and the

religious

establishment.

Luke's account

tells us

that there

were scribes

and Pharisees.

Mark just

mentioned

scribes.

Luke says

it was scribes

and Pharisees

and that they

had traveled

from all parts

of Galilee

to be there.

Maybe they

were trying

to search

for Jesus.

Perhaps

they had

heard him

teach before

or witnessed

some things

before.

They clearly

knew who

he was.

That's why

they were

there.

They knew

exactly what

he had been

doing,

at least

the rumors

of it,

if they

hadn't seen

it themselves

and heard

it themselves

and they

had found

their place

at Capernaum

when Jesus

had returned.

The religious

establishment

in the

Gospels

in the

New Testament

almost exclusively

is recorded

as enemies

of Jesus,

which is

surprising.

Right?

These people

knew the

Bible.

We would

expect,

and all

of Judaism

expected,

that if

the Messiah

was going

to come,

these would

be the

people to

know at

first.

But the

Messiah had

come,

and they

had rejected

who he

was.

This event

closes into

a little bit

of that

conflict,

and this

theme of

conflict

continues on

in Mark's

Gospel all

the way

through

chapter 3.

We'll see

it over

and over

again.

But look

with me

at what

the scribes

do.

Verse 6,

there were

certain of

the scribes

sitting there,

and they were

reasoning in

their hearts.

No one made

a public dispute

with Jesus

here.

They didn't

actually say

anything.

No one else

sitting there

maybe were

aware of

their opposition,

but they were

reasoning in

their hearts,

and this is what

they were

reasoning.

Verse 7,

why does this

man speak

blasphemy?

who can

forgive sin

but God

only?

Jesus'

shocking

statement

was immediately

met by this

silent

opposition.

But Jesus,

being God

incarnate,

knew exactly

what was in

the heart

of both

the paralytic

and the

scribe.

It's amazing,

isn't it?

When Jesus

looked at the

paralytic man

that had just

been lowered

down into

this room,

what he saw

was repentance

and faith,

and he responded

to that,

son,

your sins

are forgiven.

And then the

scribes didn't

even have to

say anything,

but he immediately

knew what they

were thinking.

He knew what

was in their

heart,

and what was

in their

heart was

not faith

and repentance.

What was

in their

heart was

self-righteousness

and doubt.

He perceived

that he knew

it.

These weren't

ignorant men.

When it came

to knowing

the scriptures,

no one knew

it better

than them.

The scribes

were considered

the scholars

of the day.

They were the

lawyers of the

day, so to

speak,

when it applied

to the Old

Testament

scriptures,

and then,

of course,

from there,

the oral law

that had been

passed down

by tradition.

They knew it

better than

anybody else.

And their

theology in this

case was

exactly right,

because no one

can forgive sin

except God

only.

The problem

wasn't their

theology.

The problem

was their

deduction of

what was actually

happening and

what Jesus is

actually saying.

When they heard

Jesus make the

statement of

forgiveness of

sins, they

immediately accused

him of blasphemy,

at least in their

hearts.

They accused him

of blasphemy.

Blasphemy was

worthy of death.

They couldn't

believe what they

were hearing.

This man's

saying that he

can forgive sins,

but they missed

the point.

They refused to

acknowledge the

alternative.

The alternative was

that the man

standing before

them, the man

teaching with such

authority, the man

healing with

miraculous powers,

this man, they

refused to believe,

was God incarnate,

and that he

therefore possessed

the authority to

forgive sin.

Their intellectual

grasp of the

Bible, as great

as it was, did

not equate to

salvation.

It never does.

Just because you

know the Bible

doesn't mean you're

a Christian.

Just because you

acknowledge it as

truth doesn't make

you a believer.

These men knew

their Bible.

What made the

difference for them

is how they

interpreted Jesus.

Jesus.

It's C.S.

Lewis who is

famous for saying

when you come to

the gospel, when you

come to study Jesus,

there's really three

options for you to

take.

Either he's a liar,

which is clear

here.

If Jesus wasn't

God, he was a

liar.

Because when this

man was lowered in,

he immediately said,

your sins are

forgiven.

If Jesus isn't

God, he's a liar.

Lewis said he's

either a liar, he's

a lunatic, he's

crazy.

Crazy to believe

that if he was just

a man, that he

actually had the

power to forgive

sins.

It's crazy, that's a

lunatic.

The third option is

that he's actually

Lord.

That he is indeed

who he said he

was.

That's the point of

this passage.

That's the point of

this story.

It's a decision

that you're all

going to have to

come to terms

with, every one

of us.

What are we going

to do with

Jesus?

We can't take an

indifferent approach.

It's not even

possible.

Indifference is

just rejection.

Either he's

Lord, or he's a

liar, or he's a

crazy man.

But the

scripture is clear.

He's Lord.

The issue wasn't

what they knew

about the Bible.

The issue was the

deduction that they

made about who

Jesus was, which

is why Jesus

responded in the

way that he did.

Salvation comes

neither by religious

performance or

vigorous study.

It's a heart-level

work of God's

grace that's

received through

repentance and

faith, and we see

that over and

over and over.

These men trusted

their religious

conformity, their

self-righteousness

for salvation.

That's not

enough.

Their knowledge

of the scripture

should have led

them to open

the way for

Jesus.

They should have

been directing

the traffic to

get people there.

But that's not

what they did.

Over and over, we

see this question

come up through the

gospel of Mark.

Who is Jesus?

Who is this man?

That's the question

he's answering.

When the scribes

responded to Jesus

in their hearts, it

was more of, who

does he think he is,

was the spirit of what

they were saying.

Thirdly, we see the

divine Savior.

How is it that Jesus

will respond to this

silent opposition?

He perceived in his

heart what they were

believing, what they

were thinking.

But up until this

point, all Jesus has

done is preach the

gospel and tell a man

that his sins are

forgiven.

It's at this point in

the story that we see

the reality of his

divinity clearly

displayed.

Three ways he

displays it.

Number one, he read

their minds.

He read their minds.

It's as simple as

that.

Look at verse 8.

And immediately,

Jesus perceived in

his spirit that they

so reasoned within

themselves.

And he said unto

them, why reason you

these things in your

hearts?

Why question this in

your heart?

The first display of

his divinity is the

fact that he literally

read their minds.

Jesus was not assuming

what they thought.

He wasn't sitting

there and thinking, I

bet they're thinking

this over here.

I can just read it on

their face.

And he just launched

into this statement as

a response to that.

No, he knew exactly

what they were thinking.

He knew what was on

their heart.

Imagine being those

men.

You ever have that

feeling that somebody

can read your mind?

Our wives are good at

that.

You ever, imagine

you're sitting there

you're full of doubt.

You believe that this

man is blasphemous and

therefore worthy of

death.

Who can forgive sins

but God only?

His back is to you.

He's looking at the

paralytic and then all

of a sudden he turns

around and he looks

you in the eye and he

says, why are you

thinking that?

What?

That's exactly what

Jesus does.

What is that?

It's a display of his

divinity.

He knew exactly what

was in the paralytic's

heart.

He knew exactly what

was in the scribe's

heart as well.

And just like we can

be encouraged that

Jesus knows the faith

of our hearts even

though we continually

fail him, that's an

encouragement, we can

also be just as certain

that Jesus knows the

true condition of our

hearts when it's filled

with doubt, when it's

filled with wickedness,

when it's filled with

sin, when it's filled

with hypocrisy and we're

only pretending to be a

believer.

forever.

We're only pretending to

be what we have put this

mask on about.

We're only pretending to

follow Christ.

We're only pretending to

know Christ just as we can

take assurance that Jesus

knows the reality of our

hearts when we fail, we can

be absolutely certain that

he knows the reality of

the heart when you're just

a pretender.

That was true here.

He read their minds.

He knew exactly what they

thought.

Secondly, he engaged with

their minds.

This is our favorite part,

isn't it?

Anytime we see this

conflict between Jesus and

the scribes and the

Pharisees and the

Sadducees and the

Herodians and all these

people, they were

constantly trying to trap

him, weren't they?

They were constantly

questioning him, trying to

find a reason that they

could accuse him in some

way.

And Jesus was just so

fantastic at responding

to these people.

And so he turns to these

men and he begins to

engage with their minds

and he asks them a

question, an interesting

question.

Look at verse

nine.

Jesus says, is it

easier to say to the

sick of the palsy, thy

sins be forgiven thee, or

to say arise and take up

thy bed and walk?

Now I want you to think

about that question.

What is easier?

Is it easier to say your

sins are forgiven or to

say arise and take up your

bed and walk?

That's the question he's

asking.

He's engaging their minds.

And of course, for us, the

answer is clear.

Both are impossible.

I can't do either one of

those things.

I might forgive something

that you have done to me,

but I can't ultimately

forgive your sin because

sin is ultimately an

offense against God.

That's what actually makes

it sin.

I can't forgive that.

I certainly can't look at

you if you're a paralytic

and paralyzed and say, get

up and walk.

That's the question he's

dealing with.

Now Jesus is setting the

men up.

He's setting them up to

think through, to think

through this question

when he actually performs

the miracle.

But it's still an

interesting question.

The emphasis here is on

the word say.

Jesus asked, what's easier

to say?

Your sins are forgiven

or to say, arise, take

up your bed and walk?

Now that's a different

question.

And of course, it's easier

to say your sins are

forgiven.

Why?

Because I don't have to

prove it.

You can come to me today

and say, I really need my

sins to be forgiven.

And I could say, you're

forgiven.

And depending on if I'm

good enough at selling it,

you might believe it.

And others might too.

I don't have to provide

any kind of proof for

that.

But if you're paralyzed

and you come to me and

say, Jared, I'd really

like for you to heal me.

And I say, okay, arise

and take up your bed and

walk.

Nothing about that

statement matters unless

you actually get up off

your bed or heal of your

paralysis and go home

from it.

The point here is that

Jesus' word is action.

That's the point he's

getting across to these

men.

It's another reflection of

the display of his

divinity, his deity.

And so Jesus says,

whatever I say is true.

All of his words, his

words were never empty.

They were never misleading.

They were never lies.

His promises were always

fulfilled.

His word is always backed

up by truth and action.

So when we get to chapter

one and there's the demon

possessed man and Jesus

says that he's going to

cast him out, he immediately

backs it up with action and

the demon is cast out.

When we get to the end of

chapter one and we see the

leper that comes to Jesus

and Jesus says he wants him

to be cleansed, immediately

Jesus backs that up with

action and the man was

cleansed.

And then when the

paralytic comes and he's

seeking to be healed of

his paralysis, Jesus says

arise and take up your

bed and walk.

And then immediately it's

backed up with action and

Jesus actually does the

healing.

So when Jesus says your

sins are forgiven, he

fully intends to back that

up with action.

Because his words are

never empty.

They're never fruitless.

Now think about this.

While sin is forgiven by

God, no sin, no sin,

ever goes unpunished by God.

All sin is punished.

When Jesus told the man that

his sins were forgiven, he

did so knowing fully what he

would have to do in order for

that to be true.

His word is action.

God doesn't ignore our sins to

forgive them.

You realize that, right?

If your sins are forgiven, it's

not because you came to the

Lord and you just said, Lord,

I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have

done this.

And he just pretends to

ignore it, passes over you as

far as punishment is concerned

and just moves on.

The past is behind us, water

under the bridge.

That's not the way this

forgiveness works.

God in his grace will forgive

sin, but God in his justice

must punish sin.

What happens in salvation is not

that God turns a blind eye to

your sin and just decides to

forget about it.

He takes your sin and he puts it

on his son.

That's what's happening with

forgiveness.

How does that happen?

The cross.

Paul writing the Colossians said

it this way, that God has taken

the handwriting of ordinances that

was against us.

In other words, there's this,

there's this writing against us,

this legal justification for us to

be condemned.

We've broken the law.

And he wipes it clean.

How does he do that?

Paul says by nailing it to the

cross of Christ.

It's not that God ignores your sin.

It's that he puts your sin on

Christ.

He's our substitute.

Why did Jesus come?

Not to heal the man of his

paralysis.

He came to die the punishment

that that man deserved to die.

There's plenty of scripture for

this.

It's a substitution.

He took our place.

Second Corinthians chapter five,

Paul said, for our sake, God

made him to be sin.

Who knew no sin?

Why?

That we might be made the

righteousness of Christ.

He made him to be sin.

What sin?

Our sin.

Why?

So we could be declared

righteous.

First Corinthians 15, Christ

Jesus died for our sins.

Not that he ignored our sins in

order to forgive them.

No, he actually took the

punishment for them so that we

could be declared righteousness.

First John chapter two.

He's the propitiation for our sins.

He has assuaged God's wrath,

satisfied it for all of eternity.

Not for our sins only, John writes.

The sins of the whole world.

So great is the love of God that he

suffered at the hands of men to pay the

price for the sins of men in order that

men could then be declared righteous.

That's the whole point of this passage.

Jesus is God.

That he has the authority to forgive sins.

And that sins can be forgiven because he paid the

price for them.

Not only did he read their minds and engage with their

minds, but then he blew their minds.

Look at verse 10.

Immediately, or excuse me, but

Jesus says, but that you may know the son of man have power on

earth to forgive sins.

And he said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise and

take up thy bed and go thy way into thy house.

And immediately he arose, took up the bed and went forth before

them all.

This is ultimately the purpose of Jesus's healings.

Jesus didn't use this man as a pawn.

That's not what it was.

There was real compassion in his heart for his condition.

It's just there was a priority of purpose here.

Priority was his sin.

The man had faith and repentance.

Jesus dealt with that first.

And then he came to the healing.

And it worked perfectly in the point that he was trying to make to the

scribes and to the others that were gathered that day.

He's speaking to these scribes who haven't said a word according to

the passage.

He reads their minds, engages, makes them think for a moment.

And then he says, the reason I'm doing this is so that you may know,

know for certain that I have power and authority to forgive sin.

That's the point of his miracles, folks.

To point to who he is, to what he can do.

It's not about the miracle itself.

And then as he says that, he turns back to the paralytic.

And there's this compassionate heart again.

And he looks at the man and he says, arise, take up your bed and walk.

And immediately, just like always happens, when Jesus cast out the demon,

it happened immediately.

When Jesus healed the leper, it happened immediately.

When Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, it happened immediately.

And again here, he says, arise, take up your bed and walk.

And immediately, the man's legs are healed.

He immediately stands up.

Maybe he'd never even done that before.

We have no idea how long he was paralyzed.

And he picks up his bed.

And before everybody there, he walks out of the house and he goes home.

What's that about?

It's not so that we know that Jesus has the power to heal his legs.

It's so that we know that Jesus actually has power to forgive his sins.

Because the only person that could heal his legs is the person that could also forgive his sins.

Because Jesus read their minds, he engaged with their minds, then he blew their minds.

And then finally, we'll wrap it up with the curious crowd.

The curious crowd.

Look back with me at verse 12.

After the man is healed and he walks away.

It says, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God.

Saying, we never saw it on this fashion.

We never saw it happen like this.

Never seen anything like this before.

They were incredibly amazed.

They got what they had come for.

That's why most of them had gathered.

They did exactly what we might expect to do if this happened in our church today.

They rejoiced.

Why wouldn't they?

They even praised God for it.

And they rejoiced at what they had seen.

They were amazed.

They were awestruck.

But like so many people today, they missed the point.

And we know that because of what Matthew said in Matthew chapter 9 when he wrote about this.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

Here's what Matthew wrote.

When the crowd saw this, they were amazed.

And they glorified God who had given such authority to men.

They were amazed by what Jesus had done.

But they had refused to accept who Jesus was.

That was the problem.

The entire exchange between Jesus and the scribes was meant to demonstrate that Jesus is God.

That's exactly what he said.

I am doing this so that you will know that I am God and I can forgive sins.

And he turns around and he does it.

And everybody completely forgets about it.

They're so amazed by the miracle.

They even praised God for the miracle.

But they did not believe Jesus.

It's as if they completely ignored the fact that Jesus had forgiven the man's sin.

It's as if they completely missed the fact that his greatest need was forgiveness.

The truth is they didn't care anything about forgiveness of sins.

That's not why they came there that day.

They couldn't have cared less that Jesus forgave that man's sins.

Even if they thought he had power to do it.

They didn't care.

That's not why they were there.

They were there to see something spectacular.

They wanted to be amazed by Jesus' powerful works.

They were curious about Jesus, but they did not believe Jesus.

That's the difference between people that are enamored with the Christian religion,

but don't actually make it to heaven.

They're curious about Jesus.

They're curious about his teaching.

They're curious about what he might or might not have done

as far as these miraculous works are concerned,

but they never actually believe him.

They missed the point.

A lot of people today, it's the same thing.

They just missed the point.

I mentioned earlier that when you know the entire story,

Jesus' statement about forgiveness of sin loses a bit of its impact.

For some of us, it loses its impact

because we ultimately don't really care about forgiveness.

We don't really see a need for it, for one.

And even if we recognize that we've done some bad things,

it's not really that bad.

And so it's not at the forefront of our mind.

We don't really care about that.

We want to see the spectacular.

We want to experience the power.

But a lot of us, we don't actually care about the forgiveness.

We're amazed by Jesus.

But we don't actually believe him.

What about you?

Are you just amazed by Jesus?

Are you enamored by him for one reason or another?

What's the need that you're hoping that he needs?

Is it physical?

Is it just supernatural in some way?

Or have you come to realize that Jesus is not just a man?

There's more to him than this.

This is God incarnate.

And this whole thing is not just to record for us the awesome things that he did.

This is to tell us how he came to redeem us from our sin.

And the difference between a person that claims to be a Christian and goes to hell

and a person that claims to be a Christian and actually is restored to God for eternity

is what they end up doing with Jesus.

Do you believe him?

Or are you just curious about it?