Who Can Forgive Your Sins?

WHO CAN FORGIVE YOUR SINS?

An Exposition of Mark 2:1-12

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   November 10, 2019

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Here is the Word of God as it is written in Mark 2:1-12 –

¹ And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.² 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. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ 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. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ 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? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² 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!” (Mark 2:1-12)

THE SITUATION

What are you doing with your sins? From the youngest to the oldest, each and every one of us is a sinner. Your sins keep you from God. Does that bother you enough to do anything about it?   

Well, I don’t know what you are doing with your sins, but I do know what you are doing with your physical maladies: you’re seeking help, just the like the paralyzed man in Mark 2.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be unable to walk? To have such limited capacity for movement and action? Or to have any other severe affliction that made it impossible to have a normal life? Then suppose that you learn about a treatment that could cure your condition. Wouldn’t you make every reasonable effort to go obtain that treatment?

This is the kind of situation we encounter in the opening verses of Mark 2. Jesus is back in Capernaum – His home base of operations. Jesus had previously ministered in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-34), but then He had left Capernaum in order to proclaim God’s Word “throughout all Galilee.” But after a season of time, Jesus “returned to Capernaum” (v. 1). News spread around town that Jesus was back at home, and the people flocked to be near Him. Jesus’ priority was always to preach the Word – to tell people about the glory of God’s kingdom and urge people to get their lives properly aligned with it. This is just what we find Him doing in verse 2: “he was preaching the word to them.”

But five people weren’t there yet. There was a man in the greater Capernaum area who was paralyzed from the waist down. He and his friends had heard that Jesus had never met a disease that He couldn’t heal, and they believed that paralysis was no match for the power of Jesus. So the paralytic laid down on a makeshift bed, and this foursome demonstrated friendship at its very best: they brought their suffering friend to Jesus.

There was one small problem, however. The crowd that had gathered around Jesus was so large, that there was no room for four men carrying a man on a stretcher to get through the crowd to Jesus. But this didn’t deter them. They played the hand they were dealt: they climbed up to the roof, dismantled a portion of it (it would have been more simply constructed than our roofs), and “let down the bed” (v. 4) through the opening that they had made. Finally, the paralytic is brought face to face with Jesus.

It was “faith” (v. 5) that brought the paralytic to Jesus. These men had confidence in Jesus, they came to Him, and they quite literally placed their need before Him. “And when Jesus saw their faith” (v. 5) – now at this point everyone expects yet another healing to take place. The people of Capernaum had previously seen Him heal many diseases, and surely He would do so again. But Jesus doesn’t perform the healing. Instead, “he said to the paralytic: “Son, your sins are forgiven.”” (v. 5)

Can you imagine? You’ve got a disease or disability that is making life really difficult for you, and all you want is to be healed. You and your friends work hard to get you transported to just the right specialist. You finally arrive and you are ready for the procedure – which in this case is the authoritative word of Jesus! – and you are ready to be well, but all you get is a declaration that “your sins are forgiven.” ‘Excuse me, Doctor, but I didn’t come to you about my sins. I came about my legs, my paralysis – I just want to walk, that’s all.’

THE CONFLICT

Jesus’ decision to pronounce forgiveness sets the stage with conflict. It is interesting to note that we are not told about the emotional or psychological reaction of the paralytic and his friends. Which is just another reminder that this passage, like the entire Gospel of Mark, is really about Jesus, not the paralytic.

As it happens, the clearest pathway to seeing the glory of Jesus in this passage, is to talk about the mental consternation of another group of people: “the scribes” (v. 6). Remember what we learned about Jesus back in the synagogue in Mark 1:22 – “And they [the synagogue worshipers] were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus possessed a level of authority that the scribes just didn’t have. In today’s passage we continue to learn about the extent of Jesus’ authority.

When the scribes saw what Jesus did, they sized Him up in comparison to God: “Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v. 6-7)

The scribes’ basic theological assumption about forgiving sins is accurate: The authority to forgive sins requires a very high pay grade – as in a divine pay grade! Only God can forgive sins! Keep in mind that the scribes are not talking about the small acts of forgiveness that we might extend to one another. If you sin against me, I can forgive you of the offense against me. If I sin against you, you can forgive me of the offense against you. But the truth of the matter is that you’ve sinned against hundreds of people. How could I possibly presume to have the ability to walk up to you and say ‘Brother or Sister, I am forgiving you for all of your sins against everyone’? You would say, ‘That’s crazy!’ There is a true story of a Nazi soldier who had a lot of blood on his hands – and as death drew hear he had a tormented conscience. He wanted a Jew to come to his bedside – and a Jewish man was brought to him – and he confessed to setting a Jewish village on fire, and he sought forgiveness from this Jewish man. How can one ordinary man extend forgiveness for a sin against an entire village? As it happened, the Jewish man just walked away and never spoke a word of forgiveness.[1]

Of course, the real problem isn’t even that you have sinned against hundreds of people, but that you have sinned and sinned grievously against a holy God. How could I possibly dare to walk up to you and say ‘Friend, I am forgiving you for all of your offenses against the Most High God’? You would say, ‘Are you out of your mind? Who do you think you are?’ And that’s how the scribes were reacting to Jesus. Jesus assumed the authority to pronounce a comprehensive pardon for the paralyzed man – a pardon that effectively removed the guilt of all of his sins. But the scribes believed that Jesus was egregiously usurping God’s place and thus accused Him of blasphemy. For a mere man to speak as if he is God, is a very great sin indeed!

Although the scribes were “questioning in their hearts” and not out loud, Jesus knew anyway. Jesus perceived the very thoughts of their hearts: “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?”” (v. 8) Wouldn’t it be unnerving for someone to call you out publicly for your thoughts – thoughts that you thought were safely tucked away in your soul, thoughts that you thought were unknowable to the people around you? But Jesus is able to see through the smokescreen of silence; He knows if you are questioning or critiquing in the sphere of your private thoughts; and He has a word for you about what is going on in the unseen world of your soul.

Jesus says, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?” That is a very good question. The scribes ought to know who Jesus is and then they ought to immediately and wholeheartedly trust Him. Instead they dare to analyze and critique and sit in judgment over the Messiah, God’s Son. But they don’t know that Jesus is the divine Messiah, and therein lies the problem. They ought to recognize Him for who He is, but they don’t. This is why they are able to so quickly judge Jesus as a blasphemer. But their ignorance is not an innocent matter.

Sometimes ignorance is morally neutral. For example, you probably wouldn’t recognize the Prime Minister of Australia if he showed up here on a Sunday morning dressed in ordinary clothes. Your failure to recognize him isn’t a result of sin. But the case is different with these scribes: they claim to know the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They claim to know Him; they claim to know what God is like; they claim to understand God’s Word; they claim to be God’s righteous people – people who are rightly related to God. If someone really knew God and had a heart for Him and was rightly related to Him, how would your heart respond when God’s Son showed up? If someone really understood and loved the written Word of God, how would your heart respond when the living Word of God showed up? A truly righteous heart would respond rightly to God’s righteous Son: they would be drawn to Him, they would love Him, and they would trust Him even if they didn’t understand everything He was doing. By their critical reaction, the scribes are showing that their hearts are far from God. “Why do you question these things in your hearts?” Why do you not trust Me? Why are you acting the part of a proud judge instead of assuming the role of a humble learner?

THE LESSON

This conflict between Jesus and the scribes prepares the way for a very important lesson. That there is a clear lesson to learn is exceedingly straightforward: “But that you may know”. Here is something that the living God wants us to know. It’s relatively unimportant whether you know who the Prime Minister of Australia is. And it’s relatively unimportant whether you know that Maine is one of six states that has a state crustacean – Maine’s state crustacean is lobster, a fact I learned at the Geography Fair this past week. But when God’s voice speaking forth in Holy Scripture says “that you may know,” your spiritual listening receptors ought to be turned up to maximum capacity. Mark is writing to us “that you may know” something of great importance about Jesus and about the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus introduces the lesson with a question: “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?” (v. 9) To appreciate this question, we need to understand that there is a difference between ‘which is easier to say’ and ‘which is easier to do’. There is no question that healing a specific disability is easier than forgiving all of a person’s sins. In other words, if you have the ability to heal a disability or disease – whether because you are a prophet, an apostle, or a medical doctor – that doesn’t mean that you also have the ability to issue a comprehensive pardon for every sin a person has ever done. Forgiving sins is the harder thing to do. But if you actually have the ability to forgive all of a person’s sins, then your pay grade is so high that you must also have the ability to do the easier thing of healing people’s diseases.

However, there is a sense in which it is easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ because it is impossible for anyone to prove or disprove whether a person’s sins have actually been forgiven. When Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” how can anyone know if the man’s sins are, in fact, forgiven? It’s easy to say, right? The reason it is harder to say “Rise, take up your bed and walk” is because it is possible to immediately prove or disprove the credibility of the statement. If I tell a paralytic to ‘get up and go’ but he doesn’t, then you immediately know that I haven’t done what I’ve claimed to do – and therefore I must be either a fraud or a lunatic.

So here’s the deal: Jesus wants the people to know that He has the authority to do the harder thing, namely, to forgive sins. And He is going to demonstrate that He has the authority to do the harder thing by doing the thing that is harder to say. From Jesus’ perspective, it is easier to heal disabilities. But it’s harder to say ‘Paralyitic, be healed,’ because if Jesus is a phony, everyone is going to know it. But Jesus isn’t a phony. He is the Messiah who has divine authority to do all of Psalm 103: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, [and] who heals all of your diseases.” (Psalm 103:2-3) Jesus is going to heal the man’s disability so that everyone knows that He also has the authority to forgive the man’s sins.

Verses 10-11 say: “But that you may know that the Son of Man” – Jesus often refers to Himself as the Son of Man – ““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.”” Are these empty words? Not at all! Jesus spoke the word, and the man was healed: “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all” (v. 12).  Jesus cured the man’s disability. But Jesus didn’t do it so that you would know that He is a great physical healer. He is a great physical healer, of course, but there is something much more important than the power to confer physical healing. Jesus cured the man’s paralysis so that you would know that He has authority to forgive sins. When Jesus told the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” He wasn’t operating outside of His job description, He wasn’t usurping God’s authority, He wasn’t trying to seize a higher pay grade. When Jesus declared a comprehensive pardon for the paralyzed man, He was exercising the authority that rightfully belonged to Him. Jesus is the Son of Man, and “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – and He doesn’t just have this authority, but He is glad to exercise this authority for your good.   

As we read The Gospel of Mark we’re supposed to be putting together the various pieces into a beautiful portrait of Jesus. The scribes’ earlier theological point was not wrong: God alone can forgive sins. And yet, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So, if God alone can forgive sins, and Jesus has authority to forgive sins, then this shows us that Jesus is equal with God. Mark doesn’t say that in as many words, but by assigning a uniquely divine function to Jesus, He is helping us see that Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God who is clothed in His Father’s authority. To the Father and to the Son, be everlasting praise, glory, and honor!

Once again, the crowd is blown away by what they see Jesus doing. As the paralytic “went out before them all… they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”” (v. 12)

THE APPLICATIONS

There are two important applications that I want you to take with you from this passage.

Understand the Priority of Having Your Sins Forgiven

First, you must understand that the forgiveness of your sins is far more important than the healing of your body. There are people out there who speak as if the cream of the gospel is material blessing, whether that is understood in terms of physical healing or financial prosperity. We simply need to keep passages like Mark 2:1-12 in our mind and remember that material blessings are, at best, secondary. Of course, we can all understand the force of the temptation to get this wrong. The forgiveness of sins can seem so abstract, whereas my broken thumb or Kaylynn’s broken wrist or Velmas’s cancer seems very tangible, very weighty, very urgent. I want to affirm very clearly that God cares about the whole range of your needs, and yet I also want to affirm in the strongest possible way that God doesn’t view all of your needs equally – and neither should you. Getting your heart right with God is far more important than a knee replacement. That is not a jab at Jackie (who just had a knee replacement) and Larry (who is about to have one). I’m just attempting to be clear! The reason that physical health and other material blessings are secondary is because relationships are primary. Being rightly related to God and walking closely to Him is far and away the most important issue – and it should be your most important issue. And sin is the very thing that undermines our relationship with the Lord.

Sin by its very nature is walking away from God. Sin is finding satisfaction outside of the beauty, goodness, and truth that are found in God. So sin puts distance between us and God, and then our sin piles up in the form of guilt and shame. The only way back to God is through the forgiveness of sins: my sins need to be forgiven, my guilt needs to be taken away, my punishment needs to be removed, the death sentence that hangs over me must be undone.

When I say that the forgiveness of your sins is far more important than the healing of your body, what I am really saying is that the quality of your relationship with God is of incomparable value. I’d rather not be confined in a hospital bed, but if the Lord is with me and smiles on me, it’s going to be okay – and someday He will provide comprehensive healing, swallow up death and disease forever, and wipe away every tear. But if I’m healthy and wealthy, and success and fame meet me at every turn, and if I have a well-respected name in my community, but my sins are not forgiven and God’s wrath abides on me and my name is not written in heaven, then I am to be pitied – because after the veneer of earthly comfort is gone, I’m going to fall into the abyss with no one to help. The forgiveness of sins is the cream of the gospel because it brings me into fellowship with the living God. Therefore esteem it more highly than any earthly good.

Take Your Sins to Jesus

Second, you must go to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. At the very beginning of this sermon I asked two questions: what are you doing with your sin? and what are you doing with your sickness or pain? Well, I know what you’re doing with your sickness and pain: you’re trying to manage it, treat it, medicate it, see a doctor about it, find a better therapy for it, and avoid more of it. And that’s reasonable enough: if God permits, you might as well be physically healthy so that you can live energetically for the kingdom of God.

But what are you doing with your sin? That is the question. Mark 2:1-12 raises the question ‘Who can forgive sins?’ But I titled this sermon ‘Who can forgive your sins?’ because the answer must be personalized to you. If you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, but you don’t go to Him for this most excellent and gracious gift, what good is that theological knowledge of yours? What you should be doing with your sin is taking it to Jesus – trusting Jesus to speak the authoritative word of grace: ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’; ‘Daughter, your sins are forgiven.’

There is a lot of sin represented in this room. But the critical question is how much unforgiven sin is there in this room?

Sadly, foolish people like us do a lot of unhelpful things with their sin. Some people deny their sin. Sin is always the thing that the other person is guilty of, but it is never the thing that you are guilty of. Do you remember the high-nosed Pharisee who walked into the presence of God and congratulated himself on how blessed God was to have such an ethical and prayerful Pharisee in His presence (Luke 18:11-12)? But the tax collector stood afar off, beat his breast, and cried out for mercy (Luke 18:13). Which one are you like?

Other people attempt to atone for their sin. They don’t deny that they have sinned at times, but they think that if they just get around to doing enough good things, enough moral efforts, enough religious activities, enough admirable sacrifices, then their good deeds will come to outweigh their bad ones. They think that they will saved because they are good enough and because they did enough. They think that their self-improvement efforts will win God’s favor. 

People who deny their sin don’t think they need a Savior.

People who attempt to atone for their sin think that they are their own savior.

Finally, there are people who claim the authority to forgive their own sins. Be very cautious when you hear yourself or someone else say, ‘I know that God forgives me, but I just can’t forgive myself.’ It sounds so innocent, but I assure you it is a toxic way of thinking. This person says, ‘I know that God forgives me,’ but apparently God’s forgiveness means so little to you that you’re all tied up in knots because you can’t forgive yourself. Who do you think you are? If God forgives your sins, then it is an act of great pride to keep holding onto your sins and to keep beating yourself up for your sins – because you’re too proud to rest in God’s grace. You are not God. Let God be God! If He has forgiven you, let His Word be decisive, let your conscience rest, and take comfort in your identity as a forgiven sinner. I fear for people who claim that their big spiritual turning point is when they were finally able to forgive themselves – because that’s not the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a gospel of self-forgiveness, it is a gospel of divine forgiveness that sets the sinner free. You do not have the authority to forgive your sins, but Jesus does. Go to Him! The big spiritual turning point in your life ought to be when Jesus says to you, ‘Son or Daughter, your sins are forgiven’.

And do you know the deeper reason why you shouldn’t beat yourself up for your sins? Because Someone Else already was! Do you understand? 

Human beings spend huge amounts of money on health care – something like $3.5 trillion in the United States in 2017.[2] King Jesus can simply say, “[Rise], pick up your bed, and go home.” Talk about reducing health care costs! The cost for Jesus to heal the people of Capernaum would have appeared to be approximately $0. But the cost for Jesus to forgive the people – that’s a different matter entirely. In God’s economy, the forgiveness of sins is costly. Sin renders us guilty before God. Sin weighs us down with a debt that must be paid. God is holy and just, and He will not wink at your sin and then just let you off the hook. He will not show you grace just because. That’s not how it works. If He’s going to show you grace, it’s only going to be because Someone Else made a payment in your place. The conversation could rightly have gone like this:

“Son, your sins are forgiven.”

I believe, replied the man. But if you are releasing me from the weight of my sins, who is going to bear their weight? If you are taking away my guilt, where is my guilt going to go? If you are not going to require me to pay the debt I owe, who is going to pay it? And if it is not I who must die for my sins, then who will? Where is the sacrifice?

The Son of Man is the sacrifice. He will bear the weight. “[The] Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Do you take your sins to Jesus? Do you rest in His authoritative, blood-bought word of grace?

Jesus didn’t just want the paralytic to walk home with a healthy pair of legs. Jesus wanted the paralytic to walk home without the burden of guilt. Jesus wanted to the paralytic to walk home in fellowship with the living God. 

And Jesus wants the same for us today.

ENDNOTES

[1] See Jill Carattini, “Wasteful Love.” Published online by RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries). Available online: https://www.rzim.org/read/a-slice-of-infinity/wasteful-love.

[2] See Kimberly Amadeo, “The Rising Cost of Health Care by Year and Its Causes.” Published online by The Balance, June 25, 2019. Available online: https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs-4064878. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark.” In Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (The Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.