Please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. While you're turning there, I want to thank everybody for your prayers for the wedding yesterday and for all those who gave us help. We really appreciated that with the wedding and with the reception, putting things up and taking them down. It was a lot simpler taking it down than it was putting it up.
So again, we just really thank you for that. It was a great assistance to us. Well, Mark chapter 2, we're actually going to read a parallel passage to what Pastor Porter read in Luke 5. The synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
They often report the same events, but perhaps from a bit of a different angle. It's to bring in fullness the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to begin reading in chapter 2 of Mark's Gospel, beginning in verse 1. And again, he entered Capernaum after some days.
And it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately, many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them. Then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you. And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak blasphemies like this?
Who can forgive sins but God alone? But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise, take up your bed, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.
Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all. so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank You for the Holy Scriptures.
We know that You have given them by inspiration. We know they're profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray that by Your Spirit now You would teach us many lessons about the Lord Jesus Christ and about the forgiveness of sins. We would ask God in heaven that You would fill our hearts cause us to receive these things with joy, with gladness, and to bring glory and honor to You, our God.
We ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
on verses 1 to 12. We'll notice first the location, where this took place. Secondly, the declaration made by our Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, the examination.
Christ begins to examine those scribes who oppose Him. And then fourthly, the explanation. What Jesus says is the point of this particular passage. It's very instructive and very helpful But I think at times we might miss the simple message here.
We often focus on what God can do in terms of healing our bodies. We often focus on miraculous things like people getting up from their paralyzed state and walking home, praising God. And we miss the greater miracle that this passage sets forth. It is the miracle of the forgiveness of sins.
That is far more excellent, far more to be preferred than walking or leaping or doing anything that we might do on a daily basis. And that's the whole point of the passage. The miracle of healing was simply an evidence or a confirmation of the greater miracle that our Lord Jesus did when He pronounced this man forgiven. Now, when Jesus said, your sins are forgiven you, it's not like me coming to a believer in Christ saying, yeah, your sins are forgiven you.
This was a performative word, or a performative statement. When Jesus says, your sins are forgiven you, He is actually performing that act as well. He is removing this man's sin. He is removing from this man the enmity that exists between God and sinners.
And so what Christ does in this passage is very excellent in terms of our appreciation for His work and ministry. and hopefully instructive for us as well in terms of miracles.
The Location: Capernaum
But notice the location. Jesus is back in Capernaum. In Mark's Gospel up to this point, we notice in chapter 1 at verse 21, it says, Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. Jesus engaged in a lot of ministry around the Galilean area.
And then according to chapter 2, verse 1, he comes back to Capernaum. And he is there very specifically to preach the Word. Go back to chapter 1 in verse 38. You'll see that he defines his mission this way.
He says, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth. It is the Word of God that is primary. Jesus will heal. Jesus does raise people from the dead.
Jesus feeds people who are hungry. He restores sight to the blind. But the primary mission for which He came in His earthly ministry was to preach concerning the Kingdom of God. We know ultimately that then He died and He rose again.
And that is the way that He secures salvation for His people. His popularity was growing. If you look at chapter 1, verse 28, it says, immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. People were hearing about this even before the internet, even before email or Facebook.
People weren't twittering at this point saying, Jesus was in our town. The word was going out because He was so popular and because of the mighty power that He was displaying and because of the authoritative word that He was declaring. So that fame went out such that when He's back in Capernaum and He's in this particular house, it's crowded, it's packed. People can't get in.
And that is what brings us to these companions of this paralytic.
The Companions and Their Faith
Notice in chapter 2, verse 2. It says, Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them. Then they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. This was an amazing scene. Now in Palestine at that time, there were flat roofs.
There would be a stairway that goes up to the roof. People could sleep up there. It could be whatever you want to do up there. And the roofs were thatched and they were very sturdy and strong.
So for these men to dig away the roof and remove the beams so that they can lower this paralytic down was quite a significant event. And it evidenced certain things about these men. It showed that they were seeking after Jesus. They had a faith, a belief that the Lord Jesus was able to help their friend.
Also, they carry the paralytic. That's a blessed thing. We considered that yesterday, companionship. It's a good thing to have friends, especially friends who are concerned for you to this degree, that they will risk offending in social etiquette and move away a roof and lower you down into the presence of Jesus if necessary.
Also, they uncover the roof, they break through the roof, and they let the man down. And notice what Mark tells us in verse 5. It says, when Jesus saw their faith. This was an act of faith.
Their works manifested or gave evidence to the fact that they believed that Jesus could help them. And I think there includes the paralytic. I don't think it's simply the four men who are lowering this man down, but the paralytic himself is included in this. Now
The Declaration: Sins Forgiven
notice, secondly, the declaration. Verse 5, Son, your sins are forgiven you. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? Probably not what they were expecting.
They lower this man down into the midst of the people. They probably expect Jesus to snap his fingers or to make a pronouncement and to get him up off his bed so that he can be healthy, happy and whole and return home. Jesus addresses the man at the most important level. He says, Son, your sins are forgiven you.
Now, the paralytic was a sinner in need of forgiveness.
Sin Is Primarily a Heart Issue
The Bible tells us a lot about sin and sickness. It doesn't always tell us that sickness is directly related to a person's sin. Let me just say that again. It doesn't tell us that sickness is always directly related to a person's sin.
In other words, if somebody's sick, don't immediately conclude that they're a gross sinner. Sometimes people do that in the church to the offense of others. Sometimes people are very unkind and very ungracious, and we see someone suffering or hurting, and we think to ourselves, boy, I bet they did something really bad to get this from God. Remember in John 9, there was a man who was born blind, and the disciples of Jesus said, who sinned, Rabbi, this man or his parents?
Jesus has neither one. He's not denying original sin. He's not denying that they were sinners. He is saying this blindness was not connected specifically to their sin or His sin.
But what was the purpose for this is so that Jesus could heal him and demonstrate the glory and the power of God Most High. Job's friends made this error when they were trying to help him. Job's friends blamed him for all of the issues and the problems that were going on in his life. Well, that simply wasn't the case.
So, the Bible tells us that not all sickness is directly related to sin. But there are times that it is. And it seems to be the case in this instance. Because Jesus says to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you.
We don't know how long he was paralyzed. We don't know how long he was in this condition. But if you're like me at this point, you scratch your head and you wonder, what kind of trouble could a paralytic get into? He's paralyzed.
He's on his bed. He has to be carried around. Is he out robbing liquor stores? Demugging little old ladies?
Is he in an internet scam? Is he an identity theft sort of guy? What does a paralytic have the capacity to do in terms of sin? We might read this and say, boy, hasn't he suffered enough?
He's a paralyzed man. He's paid for his sins. He's atoned for his sins. He has suffered enough.
Jesus, just give him that reward of being able to walk and to rise. Well, I think this is an instance where if we ask that question, we demonstrate that we really don't understand sin. I remember hearing R.C. Sproul talking about Martin Luther.
Martin Luther, of course, the Protestant reformer in the 16th century. Martin Luther was at a Roman Catholic monastery, and he used to go to the confessional, and he would be there for hours, several hours at a time. The priests would raise their eyebrows when they saw Martin coming to their box, because they knew they were going to be there for a while. And R.C.
Sproul asks the question, Martin Luther was in a monastery. What kind of trouble do you get into in a monastery? In hour three, are you saying, dear father, I coveted brother Philip's role at the dinner table? What kind of trouble do you get into there at a monastery?
What kind of trouble do you get into as a paralyzed man? The Bible highlights that sin primarily is a heart-related issue. Sin primarily is a mind-related issue. In fact, the word repentance, its basic meaning is to change one's mind.
To have a changed orientation toward God and toward His law. Sins are displayed through our actions. But sin is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It is rebellion against God.
It is a failure to think God's thoughts after Him. It is a rejection of God. It is a refusal of His authority. And it is an ultimate belittling of His person, of who He is, of what He's about.
Universal Condemnation in Romans 1
I think Paul makes this clear in Romans 1. You may turn there. Romans chapter 1 for a moment. Paul's point in Romans 1-3 is to set forth the fact that all men everywhere are sinful.
All men everywhere are under sin. That sets the stage, or that's the bad news, for the good news which is to follow. That Jesus Christ came, lived in obedience to the Father, and died as a sacrifice and a substitute so that all those sinners who look to Him in faith will receive the forgiveness of sins. But if you look at Paul's statement in Romans 1, when he begins this explanation of the universal condemnation of sin, he says in verse 18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Ungodliness there doesn't mean the wicked practices. It means what we think about God. What we think about God affects how we live in this world. In other words, when we reject God, when we refuse His authority, when we engage in ungodliness, then unrighteousness flows out from that vantage point.
So when we look at that man paralyzed in Mark chapter 2, as pathetic, as weak, as helpless as he may be, he's a sinner. I have to remind myself of that when I go into old folks' homes to teach Bible study. All these dear old ladies and men with their blue hair and their nice words, they're sinners. I know we don't like that.
I know we'd like to try and define it as a complex, as a problem, as a myth. The bottom line with man is that we're sinners. And in saying that, there's hope. Jesus came not to free us from our complexes.
He didn't come to free us from our syndromes. He didn't come to just make us a better person. He came to save us from our sins. When we preach Christ as a real Savior for real sinners, we are telling men there is hope for them.
Notice what Paul then says in verse 21. This is the root problem with man. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened." Again, Paul wouldn't win a popularity contest today. We try to symptomize all that's going on in this world.
We have all these answers. Paul says, here's the issue. They know God, but they suppress that knowledge in unrighteousness. They're not thankful to Him, and they don't glorify Him.
And based on that reality, based on that faith commitment, then all sorts of wickedness flows. That's why he goes on in verse 24, Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.
For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another. Men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
That's the problem. Christians are often accused of being homophobes because the Bible condemns homosexuality. We're not afraid of them. We want them saved by God's grace.
And we ought not to be homophobes. The issue is a lot more serious than that. The issue is that they know there's a holy God and they don't like to retain the knowledge of Him. They shut Him out.
They defy Him. They refuse Him. That's what sin is all about. What we see in terms of expression, it's going to differ and vary from man to man, to woman to woman, or whatever.
But the root cause is always defection from the living and true God. And for this cause, it says, God gave them over. But it's not just homosexuality that's condemned in this passage. Notice what he says in verse 28.
God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. God's giving them over here is a sign of His justice, is a sign of His judgment. It's as if God is saying, you want your sin? You can have it.
That's the worst place any one of us can be. Praise God that in your sinfulness He frustrates you at times. Praise God that in your sinfulness at times you get caught. Praise God that He has not handed you over because that is the last place you want to be.
Notice what he goes on to say. Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness. See what Paul is saying? Homosexuality is a sin, but so is your covetous heart.
So is your desire for those things that are not yours. That doesn't mean you see something nice. Well, that's pretty cool. It means you just secretly wish, and you've got enmity and desire, and it just goes unchecked.
Well, that springs from that same idea that we didn't glorify God as God, nor were we thankful to Him. These are all symptoms of a much larger problem. As the Puritan John Owen says, we try to convince men of a particular sin, when the problem is they're nothing but sin. Your issue is not that you do this.
Your issue is not that you do that. Those are symptoms of the issue that you don't glorify God as God or are thankful to Him. The only way that you get to that place of glorifying God and being thankful to Him is through the cross. It's through coming to Jesus.
It's through believing the Gospel. That's the whole point of the Bible, that we cannot do it on our own. Jesus came to save us from our sins. He goes on to describe maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness.
They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Children, ever think about that? That Paul in the same breath as he's condemning homosexuality, as he's condemning murder, as he's condemning all these things, says that disobedience to parents is an offense to the triune God? Again, it's a symptom of a bigger issue, that you don't glorify God as God, nor are you thankful.
You see,
Full Forgiveness Through Christ Alone
so when Jesus says to this paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, this paralytic stood in great need. And it was all of his sins. It's the beauty of Christ in the Gospel. He doesn't just forgive some of our sins and leave the rest up to us.
He doesn't atone for 90% and then say, go out and figure it out for the rest of the 10%. It's not a sort of a you do your part and I'll do my part. Jesus doesn't say, you know, I'm OK, you're OK. We just add it together and we'll avail with God.
No, the gospel is that God reconciles the world to himself through Jesus Christ. It's not through our efforts, it's not through our works, it's not through our devices. That's what he's saying to this paralytic. Son, your sins are forgiven you.
The Examination: Scribes' Objection
Now, notice the examination in verses six to nine. These four men, Mark likes to use a lot of verbs. He likes to use the word immediately. In fact, if you read the Gospel of Mark, you'll see his use of immediately.
What is he doing but displaying Jesus as a hero? He's writing primarily to a Roman audience who liked their hero stories, much like today. Everybody wants the hero. Mark writes like that.
He carries the narrative along with the Word immediately. You go from event to event to event to event, carried by these verbs, so that you can see Jesus doing, Jesus obeying, Jesus serving the Father, and ultimately Jesus dying. And so he uses these verbs of these men. These four men were coming.
They were carrying. They were digging. They were lowering down their friend while these scribes are sitting there reasoning in their minds, stroking their beards, wondering who this man thinks he is that he should ever pronounce forgiveness for sins. C.H.
Spurgeon comments here, when the roof is being dug away and the dust, no doubt, is falling down upon the audience, Spurgeon said, I always feel pleased at the idea of the dust and debris of the roof coming down upon the heads of the Pharisees and the doctors of the law. I think that's a good observation. He said, it always delights me to think that those gentlemen would have dust on their heads for once. Since they were there, they were bound to have a little of it.
It would be the only time they would repent in dust and ashes. When this roof was carved away and the dust would fall on their heads. But look at what they're doing. They're reasoning in their hearts.
They're thinking to themselves, wait a minute. You know, what they're thinking is accurate. There is only one who can forgive sins. I may tell you, when you believe the gospel, you'll be forgiven of your sins.
But that's not a performative act. That's not a performative statement. I can't absolve you from your sin. No priest, no man, no agency can absolve you from your sin.
God alone forgives sins. So in this they were right. Who? But God alone can forgive sins.
They have Exodus 34 on their side. They have 2 Samuel on their side. They have the Psalms that declare that forgiveness is a prerogative of God alone. I just want to read a couple passages out of the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 43, 25. The Lord God says, I, even I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 44, verse 22. I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. And then perhaps one of my favorite statements in the Old Testament is in Micah 7. Micah chapter 7. The prophet highlights this act of God in the forgiveness of sins.
The name Micah means, who is a God like you? That's what Micah means. Who is a God like you? Not in some speculative, atheistic sense, but in an adoring and worshipful sense.
Be like if you did something nice for your child that no other father or mother ever did, and they would say to you, who is a mommy or a daddy like you? It's a confession of happiness and of complacency in this person. And notice what it is that elicits this in terms of Micah's confession of his own name. In Micah 7, in verse 18, he says, Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. That's a picture of the God of heaven that we need to preach as the church. God doesn't just dole out mercy because He has to. God doesn't go to work in saving souls because He has to.
God's not like us. Sometimes we go about our tasks sort of half-heartedly. We go about it without great joy. Not so with God.
He delights in mercy. He delights in pouring out kindness. He delights in giving us grace. That's why the prophet says, who is a God like you?
Pardoning iniquity. passing over the transgression. He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. He says He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
The most blessed statements in terms of sin in all of the Bible. Our God goes deep sea fishing with our sin. He doesn't throw it into a shallow pond. Yesterday we were at the Coast Hotel for that reception and they got that pond out there.
Praise God he doesn't throw our sins in there. Because those ducks would bring it up to the surface. Those ducks would bring it up there and it would continually haunt us. God takes our sin and He casts it into the depths of the sea so that it doesn't come back up.
It doesn't bob its ugly head back up. It doesn't rise up and condemn us. God in justification takes our sin away. That's the idea behind the prophet Isaiah.
I am he that what? Blots out your sin. I don't just put it in my back pocket when I'm really angry, pull it out and look at it and then yell at you. God's not like us.
We've got to get that in our heads. So these men, in one sense, are right.
God Alone Forgives Sin
Who can forgive sins but God alone? Now, they rejected the idea that Jesus was the second person of the triune God, that Jesus was God incarnate, that Jesus was from the bosom of the Father, The only begotten Son. So it left them with the only conclusion that they had. That He was blaspheming.
That He was arrogating or taking to Himself a position of authority that belongs to God alone. So what does Jesus do here? Jesus confronts them.
Christ Perceives Their Hearts
Notice in verse 8. It says, but immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit, some try to Say, well, he probably saw them, you know, agitated. He probably saw them getting a little bit irritated with him. No, he perceived it in his spirit.
He's the searcher of hearts. He knows the inner man. Jesus didn't have an identity crisis when he was on earth. He was fully God, fully man.
When men sat in his presence, questioning his authority, he points it out. Notice, he says, why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Who can do that but God alone? I may suspect you're unhappy with me.
I may suspect you're happy with me. But I really don't know what's in your heart. You may have a smile on your face while you're saying, I hate your guts. But I'm looking at that smile saying, boy, they really love me.
They just think I'm peachy, or to use Pastor Tan's word, they think I'm swell. Swell's such a great word. We need to pull that out of the past and bring it into the present. Jesus knew their hearts.
There was no question here. They're not saying, oh, you misjudge us. Oh, you've wrongly accused us. You've impugned evil where there is none.
No, He perceived it, He knew it, and He investigates it now. And He asks this question. He says, which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise, take up your bed and walk? Now, I don't know if you've actually ever asked yourself, what is easier?
Sometimes we read our Bibles and we're happy and we check off our list that we read Mark 2, or Luke 5, or Matthew 9. Those are the other places where this passage is. But do we really stop and think about Jesus' Word there? Which is easier?
To say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, or to take up your bed, rise and walk? What is easier? There's two approaches to this question. The first is this, that it's easier to say your sins are forgiven you.
We can't quantify that. We can't demonstrate that. We can't falsify that. We can't verify that.
If I say to you, your sins are forgiven you, it's not like you're now wearing a big badge or your heart is opened up for everybody sort of to examine. We don't know. The physical eye cannot see it. But if you tell a man to take up his bed, rise, and walk, well, we can see that.
We can touch it. We can taste it. We can feel it. We see it with our eyes.
We can verify it. We know it's not falsifiable. So which is easier? The one approach says that.
It's easier to say your sins are forgiven you. The other approach might be this. These were doctors of the law. These were teachers of the Old Testament.
They knew that God alone could forgive sins. So maybe in their mind it was easier to tell a paralytic to take up his bed and walk before you can forgive him of his sins. You see that? Which is easier?
Well, whatever the answer is, I think it's somewhere in there. I leaned one way and now I'm sort of leaning the other way. Whatever the answer is, I think what Jesus goes on to tell us is the main point.
The Explanation: Christ's Authority
And that brings us to his explanation. Notice verse 10. He says, but that you may know. That's a purpose clause.
He is telling us this is the purpose for this event. Up until this point in Jesus' ministry, recorded in Mark's Gospel, He has engaged in authoritative teaching, verses 21 and 22 of chapter 1. He has cast out demons, chapter 1, verses 23 to 28. He healed Peter's mother-in-law.
Peter was married, he had a mother-in-law, she was sick, and Jesus healed her. He healed multitudes, according to chapter 1. He preached and cast out demons, chapter 1. And He healed a leper, chapter 1, verses 40 to 45.
Here, the scribes are questioning His authority to forgive sins. That's the point. That's what Jesus wants to display. That's what Jesus wants to demonstrate.
That the Son of Man has power. He has authority to forgive sin. And by doing this, he is putting himself on equal footing with God the Father. He is asserting His divinity.
He is asserting His deity. He is demonstrating the fact that He is very God of very God. That this man who stands in this little place in Palestine, as this paralytic is lowered into the room, is God Himself. That's why in Luke's Gospel it says they were afraid.
Later on in Mark's Gospel, Jesus calms the wind. He calms the sea. And it says that His disciples, those closest to Him, were exceedingly afraid. Why is that?
They said, what manner of man is this? We're standing in the presence of One who shares our body. He shares our blood. He has a respiratory system.
He has eyes. He has a nose. He has ears. But He stops the wind.
He raises paralytics up from their beds. He forgives sin. So the point of the passage is to declare that Jesus not only has ability over the physical man, but He has authority to forgive the sin of the inner man. That's why he said, that's where this narrative is moving.
But that you may know, he says, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house. Here's the point. I want you to know that I have the ability and the power and the authority to do the invisible.
And I'm going to prove it by doing the visible. When I tell this man to take up his bed, to rise and to walk out of here, when I heal him, it confirms and evidences the fact that when I declared, your sins are forgiven, it was a reality.
The Greater Miracle Identified
The miracle in the passage is the forgiveness of sins. The demonstration or confirmation of that miracle is this paralytic rising, taking his bed and walking. We miss that. We focus on the outer man.
I remember several years ago going to a healing service at a charismatic church, me and a few brothers of mine. And the healing man looked in our direction and he said, I've been in other countries. I've been in other continents. And when people come here, they don't want doctrine.
They want a healing. That's bad doctrine. That is damnable doctrine. If they don't get the doctrine that God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and all who look to Jesus in faith will live, they aren't learning anything of biblical religion.
See, we want the physical. We want the healing. We want the health. We want our arms to work and our feet to work.
And I'm not saying that's bad. Brethren, if I got my arm lopped off in a piece of farm machinery, I'd want it back. I'd want a prosthesis. I'd want a bionic arm.
I'd want all my limbs. I'd want all my digits. I'd want a healthy respiratory system. But more importantly is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
What did Jesus say? It's better to enter into eternal life maimed and lame than into hell with all your digits. That's the point of the passage. Christ raises the man up.
The physical healing was a demonstration of the spiritual power of the Word of Jesus Christ to forgive a sinner of all of his sins. Let's not miss that. We hear it today. Oh, we need to return to the book of Acts.
We need to see those miracles. We need to see the healings. We need to see the tongues. We need to see the miraculous.
We need to see sinners converted by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We need a revival and a reformation of justification by faith alone. It's every bit as miraculous when a young man, a young woman, a boy or a girl in this place believes the Gospel and that grace transforms their lives as if their arms grew back. We are carnal people that are pleased and spectacularized by the parlor tricks of our age.
That's not how Jesus operates. That's not what Jesus is about. Jesus is about healing the inner man. Now, that's not to deny.
Jesus doesn't heal people. It's not to deny. God, in His grace and in His mercy, blesses a medical procedure. God, in His grace or in His mercy, takes away a tumor.
God, in His grace or in His mercy, restores a man to health. I'm not denying that. But I'm suggesting that to put down the miracle of forgiveness is to do damage to the text of Scripture. You may not read this literature, brethren, but there's a whole group, a whole whack of people.
We've got to get back to the book of Acts. I say, yeah. We've got to go preach justification by faith alone. No, we've got to have prayer cloths, and we've got to have handkerchiefs.
We've got to lay them on people. And we've got to see people get up from their wheelchairs. And again, if people get up from their wheelchairs, praise be to God Almighty. But I've got to tell you, and I hope as God is my witness and you people as well, I would rather be in a wheelchair with my sins forgiven than running marathons dead in trespasses and sins.
And I think any thinking man, woman, boy or girl who's come to the Scripture, who's wrestled with sin as it's biblically defined, would say the very same thing. Yeah, it'd be nice to be whole, healthy and strong. But it's nicer to be forgiven. It's nicer to be cleansed.
It's nicer to see God take that pile of sin and throw it into the depths of the sea. It's nicer to see God use that sin as bait for rock pot. It's nicer to see God take that sin and obliterate it, remove it for all eternity, never to rise against me. That is much to be preferred by those who have come face to face with a holy God and with the fact of their own sinfulness.
It is much to be preferred to believe the Gospel and to have everlasting life. Brethren, the implication of our passage is this, that miracles, the signs and the wonders, they continue through the preaching of the Gospel, through belief in the Gospel. You believe God is doing a miracle. It is an extraordinary event.
I went to dictionary.com. What's a miracle? It's an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. An arm growing back is a great thing.
But a sinner like me, a sinner like you, somebody's offended that holy God. I mean, I just read a portion of Romans 1. You're there. You may not be the homosexual.
You may not be the murderer. You're there, though. In the military, in the United States, there's a general article, UCMJ, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 134, is a catch-all. If you didn't get caught somewhere in Articles 133, 134 is going to get you.
You're done. You've done something. And they will apply that. We read Romans 1.
We read these vice lists. We go through the Scriptures. We find ourselves. We see that Paul is absolutely correct.
There is none righteous. No, not one. There is none who seeks after God. There is none who wants God.
God in His grace seeks us out. God in His grace finds us. God in His grace removes our transgression. God in His grace forgives us through Jesus Christ the Lord.
Forgiveness Preached in Acts
This was a message that was picked up by the apostles in the early church in Acts chapter 13. We'll close in just a minute. Acts chapter 13. The apostle Paul is preaching in a synagogue in Pisidian, Antioch.
Again, a synagogue. They would associate the forgiveness of sins with Jehovah, with Yahweh of Israel, with God. And notice what Paul says in this synagogue in Acts chapter 13. He has highlighted the death.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he gets to application. He brings his message home. He doesn't want to just inform his hearers.
He doesn't want them to just say, boy, that was a good Bible lesson. Now let's go home and do whatever we want. He wants them to be affected with the truth. He wants them to come face to face with God.
He wants them to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice, we'll go to Acts 13, verse 33. picking up the resurrection. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.
And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus. I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore, he also says in another psalm, you will not allow your Holy One to seek corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption.
But he whom God raised up saw no corruption." Talking about Jesus. Therefore, he says, let it be known to you. Remember, Paul's in a synagogue of the Jews. They characteristically rejected Jesus.
He's taking a big chance here. He's not concerned about the delicate sensitivities of His hearers. Well, they might reject this. They might not like this.
They might not want me to associate forgiveness with Jesus. He wants them to be saved. So, He tells them the truth. He says that through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.
And by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. This is a recurring theme in the book of Acts. Preaching forgiveness through Jesus Christ the Lord. That's the emphasis of Mark chapter 2.
And then when we ask the question by way of closing, which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you. We look at that and we say on the one hand, forgiveness is easy. Isn't it?
That was something else Luther found, Luther learned. Luther tried to deal with his sin in a whole host of ways. Luther used to make treks and journeys and pilgrimages on his knees until they bled. Luther tried to atone for his sin.
When did paradise open up for Luther? When he understood Romans 1, 16 and 17. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." Luther found that statement to be peace because he understood the righteousness of God there was not necessarily the rightness of God, the justice of God, but the righteousness that God demands and that God gives.
That's what the gospel's all about. God gives us what we don't have. God takes away our sins and he gives us the righteousness of Jesus. It was then that paradise opened up.
I've talked to people, I said, you mean all you got to do is believe the Bible, believe the gospel and go to heaven? Yes. That just sounds too easy. It's just too easy.
Don't have to do something? Your doing got you into the mess. Believe on him and he'll get you out. Well, if you preach that, then people will be unholy and live like the devil.
No, because when they believe that, God the Holy Spirit takes up residence and sanctifies them. Beautiful system. So on the one hand, it's easy to believe. But on the other hand, it's difficult when we consider the rest of Mark.
Which is easier? He said that to a bunch of scribes, reasoning in their heads. What would it take for the Son of God to secure our salvation? It would take Him, again, meeting those scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all the religious leaders in Israel, in Jerusalem, rejecting Him, trying Him, sending Him over to Pontius Pilate, sending Him over to Herod, belittling Him, treating Him like garbage, spitting on Him, slapping Him, putting a robe on Him and mockery, taking a crown of thorns and embedding it into His head.
Which is easier? Well, for the Son of Man, it cost a lot. It cost Him everything. never mind the ultimate banishment from His Father. Remember on the cross, He said, Why hast thou forsaken Me?
Why did the Father forsake the Son for our sin? Jesus said, Why hast thou forsaken Me? So that all those who believe in Him will never have to say that. God will not forsake those who look unto Jesus in faith.
On one hand, it's easy. On the other hand, it cost Jesus His blood. But praise be to God. He rose again.
He ascended on high. He led captivity captive. He gives gifts to men. One of those gifts is faith.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for this account in Mark chapter 2, and we pray that you would help us to understand these things, help us to understand the miracle in this passage is not that this man rose up and walked, but the miracle is that he was restored with you, that he was reconciled unto God through Jesus Christ. And I pray that this gospel would be preached throughout the world. We pray, Father, that the nations that are steeped in false religion would hear the truth of Jesus Christ and many would come to know Him as Lord and Savior.
We thank You for this beautiful day. We thank You for Your grace displayed in our lives. We thank You for the mercy that has brought us together. We would ask now that You would go with us and watch over us and protect us.
And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.