All right, here's Mark's account
of this event, and it is an amazing, interesting, unique, and remarkable
event in the ministry of our Lord. Chapter 2, verse 1. And again, he entered into Capernaum, after certain days, and it was
noise that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered
together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them,
no, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word
unto them. And they came unto him, bringing
one sick of the palsy, which was born, or carried, afore. And when they could not come
nigh unto him for the press, or for the crowd, or the multitude,
they uncovered the roof where he was. When they had broken
it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy
lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. For they were certain of the
scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their heart. Why doth this
thus speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived
in His Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed and walk. but that
ye may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive
sin. He said to the sick of the palsy,
I send thee, arise, take up thy bed, go thy way into thy house. And immediately he arose, took
up his bed, went forth before them all, insomuch that they
all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it
on this fashion." Now, this is just another of one of the many
works, or the mighty works, of the God-man that are written
up in the Synoptic Gospel for our edification and our learning. There are two other accounts
of this incident that are found in the New Testament, in the
Gospel. One is found in Matthew 9, verses
1-8. It's the shorter account of the
three. The other you have in Luke 5,
verses 18-26. And this may be to our advantage
that there are three records of it. And in reading the three
accounts of it, therefore, we have a fuller record of it. And in reading it, it puts me
in mind of a statement made by the Apostle Peter on the day
of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, verse 22 and verse 23. You
men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by signs and miracles and wonders, as ye yourselves
also know. This Peter says as proof that
Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah, that Jesus, mighty
in word and deed, gave evidence on many occasions that He was
no common or ordinary mortal, for His mighty works are ascribed
as the works of God as the efficient cause, and Christ incarnate is
the agent or the instrument of working the great works of God. The mighty things that He did
proved that he came from God, that he was indeed God. Just
like Nicodemus said in chapter 3 of John and verse 2, we know
that no man can do these things except God be with him. But before we consider the miracle
that is before us here this morning in this text, let us set the
circumstances and give some background that led up to it what we read
and want to study today. As the text said, this occurred
in the city of Capernaum that we have in chapter 2 and verse
1 here of the Gospel of Mark. Matthew 9 and verse 1 calls it
His own city. For our Lord dwelt there. He
lived there for a time. He made His residence there in
the city of Capernaum. Matthew 4 and verse 13 tells
us that. Now, it was a city located on
sort of the northeast shore of the Lake of Galilee, which our
Lord sailed across on several occasions. And it's interesting
that some, many of the mighty works, miracles, and wonders
of our Lord were done in this place, that is, in Capernaum,
such as Mark 1, 21 through 28. He cast an unclean spirit out
of a woman. Mark 1.29-31, it was here that
He cured Peter's mother-in-law of a fever as she was sick. And Mark 1.32-34, He healed many
in this place or city. And in John chapter 4, 43 through
verse 54, it was here that He healed the noble man's son without
ever going into his house. Now, not to press this too far
and get out of our way, But in Matthew 11, 23 and 24, the Lord
soundly rebuked and chastised Capernaum, saying that they would
be brought down to hell for their sliding of the great works that
were done in their midst, that it would be worse for them than
it was for Sodom, for they had seen many great works of the
Lord. So therefore, let us not forget,
nor take the blessings of God for granted. Let us not be a
forgetful, but a grateful hearer of the things of our Lord. Now,
the miracle in our text was on or after this wise. When, as
Jesus was in a house in Capernaum, word having spread all about
over the city that this one was there, the house was full, the
door was blocked, people were probably gathered about the door,
spilling out in the yard, and all about the house and perhaps
looking in every window. And upon this particular setting
there came four men carrying a man with palsy upon his bed
or upon his cot or a stretcher of some kind. The man had palsy,
which I understand is a sort of a paralysis a paralytic the
man may have been. John Gill described such a disease
as having weak nerves and members of the body were in tremors and
not able to walk and to navigate upon his own power and self. And when those four friends could
not get in to bring him to where the Lord was, for all of the
people. Evidently, they intended to bring
that man and lay him at the very feet of Jesus. When they could
not for the crowd, they climbed up on the roof, they removed
a portion of the roof, and when they had dug it up, They let
the man down inside, not having access by the door or window
because of the people, and therefore they let him down, as it were,
through the roof. Thus, in their determination
to bring this man to the Lord. They actually remove a portion
of the roof of the house and lower the man into the room where
our Lord was teaching, perhaps by ropes or cords of some kind. And when the Lord saw the man
upon his bed and the four roof-wreckers that had brought him in, His
reaction was not what you might expect. First of all, he took
it as an act of faith on their part. Mark 2 and verse 5, when
Jesus saw their faith. Luke 5 and 20 says the same. Matthew 9 and verse 2, and as
Gil noted, the Lord took it to be the faith of the four because
or in regard to the sick man. Now, this is a common word for
faith, found and used in the New Testament, and it has such
various meanings as a persuasion, a conviction, a reliance, assurance,
belief. And this is what they exercise.
The word is pistis, and the four were moved by the persuasion
or by the belief that the Lord was able to make their patient
well if they might bring him. And the man evidently consented
and held to the same view. Christ had a remedy for the men,
much of the caliber of the one who said in Matthew chapter 9
and verse 21, If I may but touch the hem of his garment, surely
I shall be made whole, and she was. But secondly, the Lord speaks
directly to the sick man, immediately, as soon as he is lowered down. He speaks directly, not to the
poor, but to the sick man upon his cot or upon his palate. Matthew 9 and verse 2 has it
this way, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. Mark 2, 5 has it this way, Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. Luke 5 and 20 has it, Man, thy
sins are forgiven. Now with all of that considered,
it is not likely, I think, not likely that the four may have
gone to all of this effort and all of this endeavor to have
the man forgiven of his sin. This perhaps had never entered
into their mind of either of the five, the four or the man. Likely they never made the connection. They were motivated by the man's
physical condition and the misery of it. Their thoughts were along
the line of the little servant maid of Naaman's wife, 2 Kings
5, verse 3. When she saw her master with
leprosy, she said to her mistress, Would God my master, wherewith
the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his
leprosy. And in their zeal here to gain
a cure from the hand of Christ, the five were concerned at that
time more about the body than they were about the soul. And they may not, as I said,
have made the connection between sin and disease that the Bible
makes and we ought to make. Just as today there are many,
even professing Christians, who do not see the connection between
sin and death as set out in the scripture, that they stand as
cause and effect. It is likely that the Lord purposely
followed this order. That is, first of all, declaring
the man's sins forgiven and then speaking the word and healing
the man as a confirmation of his healing for his physical
affliction had an expectation of this added blessing. To quote
John Gill on Matthew 9 and verse 2, this was a wonderful instance
of the grace of Christ to bestow a blessing unasked. And I want us to emphasize that.
to bestow a blessing on us." That is, the forgiveness of sin. And that it is of the greatest
moment and importance, the words of Gil. But now, let's consider,
switching our attention to the reaction of some of the scribes
and the Pharisees, who were always present, the nemesis of our Lord. And when they heard that word,
in verse 7 of Mark chapter 2. Why does this man speak blasphemy? They were reasoning in their
heart. Immediately the thought came
unto them. This is blasphemy. This man is
blaspheming. This is blasphemy was the first
thought that entered into their mind. As soon as they heard it,
they took the Lord's words to be blaspheming, to say, Thy sins
be forgiven. However, this was not the last
or the only time that they would call our Lord of blasphemer,
there is John chapter 10 and verse 30, when he claimed equality
with God. And the Jews, considering it
blasphemy, began to gather up stones that they might stone
the Lord to death. Again, in John 5, 17 and 18.
Again, in Matthew chapter 26, 63 through 66, before the high priest, the Lord
confirmed his claim that he was indeed the Son of God and said
hereafter he should sit down on the right hand of God in great
clouds of glory. Now this those who heard considered
to be blasphemy, and it was a sin or crime punishable by death
under the Mosaic law. You can see that in Leviticus
chapter 24 and verse 16, that any who blasphemed in Israel
were stoned to death. He that blasphemes the name of
the Lord, he shall surely be put to death. That's what the
Scripture said. By the way, this was the same
charge which the Jews brought against Stephen in Acts 6, verse
11 and verse 13. We have heard him speak blasphemous
words. against Moses, and against God,
and against this holy place, and against the law." And Paul
confesses, before the Lord called him, he had been a blasphemer. Now, the word blasphemy or blaspheme,
from the word meaning to speak impiously, it literally means
to vilify. We could define it as speaking
contemptuously of God and the things of God. To speak evil
against, to criticize, to rail against, to defame, to slander,
is the meaning of this word. And James 2 and verse 7 speaks
of such as, quote, blaspheme that worthy name by which ye
are called, unquote. So let us concede these two claims
were a positive test of the soundness or the unsoundness of one's view
of Jesus Christ, that Christ in the form of a man upon the
earth, a Jew after and by the flesh, one who by outward appearance
had no form or comeliness or beauty that we should see him
or desire him, said Isaiah in chapter 53 and verse 2. He is a man, or was a man, despised
and rejected of men. He came to his own, and his own
received him not. And yet this one made two very
incredible claims, both of them the religious leaders considered
as blaspheming. Here they are. Number one, Jesus
claimed equality with God. He said that God is his Father
and that he is God's Son. He said that he came down from
heaven to do the will of the Father, and that he would return
again into heaven. And he said that he and the Father
were one. This the scribes, the Pharisees,
and a majority of the Jews considered blasphemous. That a man of his
nature, a man of his sight, would consider himself equal with God. But secondly, his claim of the
power and the right to forgive sin. This also they considered
a blasphemy. Now this is an incredible claim
when we think about it. He that can say, thy sins be
forgiven thee. That one can say, to a sick man
upon a bed, your sins are forgiven. They are remitted. They're gone. There is no condemnation on you
because of sin. And when they heard that claim,
they also judged this to be blasphemy. So let us be sure to see the
view that we have of any who come among us making these same
clean. We would take them for quacks. If a man came today and said,
I'm the Son of God, I'm Jesus, I can forgive your sin, we would
consider them to be quacks while others would follow them and
believe them and be deceived to the loss of their soul. And yet, in the case of the Lord
Jesus, these two claims stand or fall together. that he is one with God, that
he has the power and the authority to forgive sin. For he that is
God can forgive sin, and he that can forgive sin is God. And in the case of the scribes
and the Pharisees here in our text, their premise was right. We be careful here. But their
premise was right. Who can forgive sin but God only? Their premise, therefore, was
right as far as it went. But their application to it in
the case of Christ was faulty at error and off base. I think
we see this again in the three friends of Job. You remember
when Job fell into such affliction and misery, and his three friends
came, and when they saw him and when they talked to him, much
of what they said about God and about sinners was right, but
they erred in their application of it unto Job, for they were
not privy to the counsels of Almighty God. And in the case
of the Lord's words to the sick man with palsy, your sins are
forgiven. We cannot say that the scribes
and the Pharisees expressed their criticism openly or verbally,
even among themselves, expressed their criticism, whereas Matthew
9 and verse 4, Jesus knew their thoughts and the evil in their
heart. Mark 2 and verse 6. Reasoning
in their heart. Luke 5 and verse 22. Jesus perceived their thoughts. He knew exactly what they were
thinking. By the way, that's another evidence
of His deity. Though they might not have thought
it to be so, here is an evidence of the deity of our Lord. He knew their thoughts. He knew
their reasoning. He knew what they were thinking. You have another of these in
Matthew 12 and verse 25. Jesus knew their thoughts. Again, in Matthew 22 and 18,
Jesus perceived their wickedness, their intent to question Him
on whether it was lawful to pay taxes unto Caesar or not. You have it again in John 2,
24 and 25. He knew all. He knew what was in man. John 16 and 19. Jesus knew that the disciples
were desirous to ask Him about His going away. And we read in
Psalm 139, You understand my thought, O God, afar off. There's not a word in my tongue,
O Lord, but Thou knows it altogether. The Lord, in Matthew's account,
speaks of the evil in your heart, which was not evil to think that
sin can only be forgiven by God, but their evil was in counting
the Lord a blasphemer, proclaiming the authority to forgive sin. And in the process, they ignored
clear evidences of His deity and considered Him an ordinary
man and just a Jewish teacher. This in the face of the many
mighty works that our Lord had done. Now, let's consider another
case of the Lord forgiving sin, but not in connection with a
bodily healing. This one is Luke 7, that I mentioned
earlier, of a woman who came into a house where the Lord was
a guest at a meal in the house of a Pharisee, the account you
have in Luke 7, 36 through 50, if you care to turn there. It
will not take time to read it, but we will give a short summary
in order that we might get the heart and the meat of the event,
which is this. As Jesus sat at meat," and again,
no doubt the house is full of people, of guests, and of spectators,
and as Jesus sat at meat with the Pharisee, a sinful woman
came in. The Scripture calls her a sinful
woman. and a sinful woman came in bringing
some perfumed ointment with her. She came up behind the Lord,
and the Scripture says, was weeping profusely, the tears flowing
out of her eyes down her face. And the tears fell upon the feet
of our blessed Lord, and she actually washed his feet with
the tears of her eye, and dried them with the hair of her head,
and anointed the Lord's feet with ointment. Now, there is
nothing at all sensuous about this, but a contrite repentant
has come to the Lord. And in verse 39, notice, the
Pharisee which hosted the meal was amazed at what he saw, that
the Lord would let such a woman. And the Pharisee reasoned it
in his heart. If this man were a prophet, if
this man were of God, then he would know what kind of woman
this is, for she is a sinner, and he would not allow this. Note this. This Pharisee is about
to make a judgment of the Lord based upon what he had just seen
and what he had heard. He was not, however, the run-of-the-mill
Pharisee, for he was not a violent, open enemy of our Lord, but had
invited him into his home. The Lord, however, knew the heart
of the Pharisee. And he said to his host who had
invited him and at whose meal he sat, Simon, I have something
to say unto you. Simon, there's something that
I want to tell you. And Simon congenially said, Say
on, Lord. What is it? Tell me what you
have to say. And in verse 41 and 42 of Luke
chapter 7, the Lord gives a parable, remember? The parable of a creditor
or a lender, as we might say, and two who were in his debt. A creditor or lender and two
debtors. Now, the one owed the creditor
a large debt. Five hundred pence was his debt. The other owed a smaller debt.
And the scripture said fifty pence. Neither had, however,
anything to pay. Neither one of them could pay
or could settle their debt. But then the creditor or the
lender, did an amazing and an almost unheard of thing in the
world. He frankly, that is the Scripture
said, he freely and fully forgave them. He forgave their debt. He canceled out their debt. He wrote it off. He took it off
of the book. He blotted it out. He required
nothing from either of them, even though he might have held
them responsible and cast them into the debtor's prison. When
the Pharisee had the picture of this in his mind, the Lord
then asked him a question. He said, Simon, which of the
two will love him more? Which of the two will love him
more, will be the most grateful? The Pharisee answered, I suppose
the one for given the largest debt. And the Lord says, Yes,
you have answered correctly. That is the correct answer. Then
in verse 44 through verse 47, the Lord compares the act of
Simon and the woman toward the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 44. I came into your house You never
gave me any water that I might wash my feet, but this woman
hath washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair."
Water to wash the feet when a guest came in. Look at verse 45. You gave me no kiss. That is
a greeting, a gracious greeting. But this woman hath anointed
me and kissed my feet. with her own lip. Verse 46, You
did not anoint my head with oil, as was done at such feasts, but
this woman hath anointed my feet in contrast to what you did.
Now in verse 47, the Lord makes further application, applying
the parable of the debtors to the woman. The woman answers
to the debtor who was forgiven the greatest sum or debt. As the Lord said in verse 47,
and you need to look at it, her sins which were many, her debt
greater than she could pay. She loved much because much was
forgiven her. Now consider, back in the parable
of the debtor, the cause and the effect. The creditor did
not forgive them because they loved him first. The creditor
did not forgive because they loved him. Rather, they loved
him because or as a result of his freely forgiving of their
debt. Even so, this woman in Luke chapter
7, her great love for God and her humbling action is not what
procured her forgiveness. She loved much because forgiven. And look at it again in verse
47. Her sins answering to her debt
was great, but is forgiven. And therefore, she loved much. Then look at something else.
Look at verse 48. It says the Lord directly unto
this woman, your sins are forgiven. And those other guests in the
house thought to themselves, Who is this that forgives sins
Also, who is it that even forgives sin? I think of Paul, or Saul,
who came to see himself as such a sinner, yea, even the chief
of sinners, for having persecuted the church of God and wasted
it. In Galatians 1.13, 1 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 13, and he said, But then I obtained mercy. Think of the woman in John chapter
8. Her accusers brought her and
flung her down before the Lord, charging her with adultery and
saying to the Lord, Look, the law of Moses said that she ought
to be stoned What sayeth thou?" In other words, what would Jesus
do? He looked at the woman and He
said to her, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. But now let's go back to the
Pharisees' house how the Lord responds to their calling Him
a blasphemer for claiming to be a forgiver of sin. He puts this question to them
in simple form and written upon in all three of the Synoptic
Gospel, a question which Charles Spurgeon calls unanswerable. He gives them an unanswerable
question, and it's this. Which is the easiest to say? Thy sins are forgiven, or take
up thy bed and walk? Which one is the easiest to say? Which one is the easiest to say
and it be done? Or could we say, which is the
most difficult? Which the Lord did not say. Anyway, anyone could say these
things by outward words, and some have. and claim to cast
out devils and claim to be healing the sick. But saying it and doing
it are two different things indeed. So the Lord asks them, which
is easier to say, your sins are forgiven or take up your bed
and walk? The Lord does not wait for them
to give an answer. But look at verse 10 and 11 in
Mark chapter 2. But that you may know that the
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sin. He said to the
sick of the palsy, I say unto you, arise and take up thy bed
and go thy way to thy house. That you may know that the Son
of Man hath power, and watch this, on earth, that the Son
of Man hath power on earth to forgive sin. And all three of
the synoptic gospel make record of this, that it is on the earth. Now the word power there is the
word exousia, which has the meaning of authority, or privilege, or
liberty, or freedom, or competency, or right, or delegated influence. It's the same word that you find
in John 1 and verse 12, that He gave them power, exousia,
to become the sons of God. And the Lord has a dual right
and ability to forgive sin. Listen to me. He can forgive
sin on two accounts. Number one, by being essentially
God, eternally having been a partaker of the divine nature, dwelling
in eternity, very God, uncreated, the Son of God. Number two, our
Lord had the power and authority to forgive sin as the incarnate
mediator upon the earth. as the God-man, for the Father
hath committed into his hand whatsoever is to be done. He hath committed unto him that
whosoever and whatsoever the Son forgives are forgiven, and
the Father recognizes them as being forgiven. Now, to confirm
this authority, the Lord healed the man with palsy, telling him,
Arise, take up your bed, and go home to your house. And we
read, Immediately the man took up his bed, he rolled up his
little pallet, and walked out in the sight of them all. You remember what our Lord did
and said at the grave of Lazarus? Lazarus come forth, and he did
after being dead for four days. Now this man in our text came
from his home lying up on a bed, a cripple, a paralytic. carried by four who had compassion
and concern to bring the man to one that they had heard was
able to heal. This man came on a bed, but the
text tells us very clearly that he left walking and carrying
his own bed back home. Now seeing this, who is there
that would challenge the Lord's right to forgive sin? For both
of these are impossible with men. He that can raise Lazarus
when he was on the very brink of corruption can certainly forgive
sin. He that commends demons to depart
out and they depart can do the same with sin. He that can die
for sin can certainly forgive it. He, the Lord Jesus, has all
power in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28, verse 18. And if
you read John 5, you'll see over and over the Son is equal with
the Father. That the Father has given all
judgment into the hands of the Son to quicken the dead, for
He is the Son of God. He is the one and only that can
abolish the Old Testament system of worship and override Moses
and bring in the new covenant and dispensation. He is greater
than Moses, greater than Abraham, greater than David and wiser
than Solomon. He is greater than all of them. Now quickly consider an incident
in Luke 18, verse 18 and 19. You'll find it again in Matthew
19, 16 and 17 and also in Mark chapter 10 and verse 18 and 19. A man came running up to our
Lord. Scripture said he was a ruler.
He was a young man and he was rich. And he bartered out. Good
master! What must I do to inherit eternal
life? Good master! And the Lord responds
to that man's use of the word good. That none is good but one. That is God. Our Lord takes this
occasion to teach the man. Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, and
that is God. That God is the supreme goodness,
and that it belongs to Him and to Him only. Now, I have met
scripture called some men good, like Barnabas and others. We
sometimes say, he is a good man, she is a good woman, and yet
we do not equate their goodness with that of God or of Christ. Thus Christ, in answering that
man, why do you call me good, since there is none good but
God? Christ was there even. asserting
his deity and equality with God, as if to say, don't call me good
unless you recognize me as God. Thus, none can forgive sin but
God only. Jesus, forgiving sin, is an evidence
of his deity, that he is God come in the flesh, that he is
God manifest in the flesh. He therefore may be prayed to,
he may be worshipped, and he may be applied to for the forgiveness
of sin, for he is one and equal with God the Father. And his
forgiving sin is a proof of his being divine and equal with the
Father. And none else can claim that. None else can claim it but the
Lord Jesus.