Congregation, as we hear God’s word now, our text is Mark chapter two, verses one through 12. Listen to God’s word. And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door.

And he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven.

Now, some of the scribes are sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, why do you question these things in your hearts?

Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they all were amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray. Lord, as we have heard your word and as it is to be proclaimed to us now in preaching, we pray that you give us reverence and holy attention. Assure us of the forgiveness in Christ and awaken in us bold faith to bring our needs to Jesus. By your spirit, illuminate our minds, convict our hearts, strengthen our faith in Christ. Grant that we would not be hearers only, but doers of your word. Through Jesus, our Lord, we pray. And again, God’s people say amen.

Please be seated. Congregation, There are many needs that press on our lives. We feel the weight of bodily weakness, the strain of circumstances, the burden of responsibilities, the quiet anxieties that just follow us throughout the day. And if we’re honest, much of our praying, much of our seeking is directed towards relief from these things. We want help. We want change. We want healing.

But beneath all these things, there’s a deeper question. One we often avoid is, what will be done about my sin? Not merely my struggles, but my guilt. Not merely my pain, but my standing before a holy God. Scripture is clear. Our greatest problem is not what has happened to us, but what we have done before God. And our greatest need is not simply to be helped, but to be forgiven.

Now here, as we’ve read in Mark chapter two, we are brought into a crowded house in Capernaum. The room is filled, the doorway even is blocked. People have gathered from every direction because Jesus is there and he is speaking the word to them. Among them, is a man who is visibly broken, a paralytic. He’s carried by others. He can’t come on his own. His need is obvious to everyone. But what happens next is not what anyone expects.

Before a word is spoken about healing, before any visible change occurs, Jesus looks at this man and says, son, your sins are forgiven. With that one sentence, everything’s laid bare. Who Jesus is, what he has come to do, and what our greatest need truly is.

This is not merely a story about a miracle. It’s a revelation of divine authority. It’s a confrontation with unbelief. It is an invitation to grace. And it presses upon every one of us this morning a searching question. Have you come to Christ merely to improve your life? or to have your sins forgiven. So let’s start where the passage starts. This desperate need and a savior who meets it in a way that’s far deeper than expected. Notice here in verses one through four, I’ll read this again.

And when he, Jesus, returned to Capernaum, this was his base of operations in his ministry in Galilee, after some days, It was reported that he was at home, and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them, and they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.

You know, this is something that gets acted out in vacation Bible school and Sunday school and so forth. All kinds of things take place in that. I heard a story last night of being acted out and someone was stepping on the hair of the person who was to represent the paralytic and that made things quite difficult in carrying out that.

Well, we see Jesus here. He’s returned to Capernaum. Word is spread. He’s at home. The house is packed. There’s no room left. They can’t get in, of course, with this litter with the paralyzed man on it. But we find that Jesus is preaching the word to them. when these fellows are bringing the paralytic, they can’t reach him because of this crowd. So they go up on the roof, they remove tiles, they dig down through the roof and lower the man on his bed through the opening.

That’s quite an effort. These guys are not gonna be undeterred in bringing their friend before Jesus. But the emphasis here is in verse two, he was preaching the word to them. That’s what we see him doing before any miracle, before any healing. Christ is proclaiming God’s truth. His primary ministry is preaching the word. The kingdom advances not first through spectacle, but through the word spoken and received. And we need to learn from this. We’re often drawn to the dramatic, to visible. Christ shows us, look, the great instrument of his saving work is the word.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the word of Christ. He confronts sinners. He summons them to faith. He calls them to repentance through the means of the preached word. Do we value the word as he does? Do we place ourselves under its preaching eagerly and reverently or only casually? Many were physically present there in that house that day, but outward nearness is not inward faith. A person can sit in a crowd, they can hear the words and still remain unchanged. Mere attendance is not spiritual submission.

And then Mark introduces his paralytic. He’s carried by the four guys. He can’t walk. He cannot come on his own. His helplessness is total. It’s visible. And in this picture, Here, this represents every one of us by nature. Spiritually apart from grace, we are helpless. We cannot raise ourselves. We cannot repair our ruin. We cannot overcome sin by our own strength. We are dead in trespasses.

You know, our spiritual helplessness is often hidden. A person may look respectable, that they see that we look at them, this is a competent person, they’ve got it together, but they’re far from God. So the pressing question is, do you recognize your own helplessness? Have you seen that you cannot come to God in your own strength or righteousness? Until a sinner knows he’s ruined, he will not prize the Savior or cast himself upon his grace.

And notice these four men who are carrying this paralytic. When the crowd blocks the way, they don’t give up, they go up on the roof, they make an opening, they lower the paralytic down before Jesus. This is bold, it’s disruptive, it’s costly. And they risk criticism and inconvenience because they believe that getting the man to Jesus would change everything.

This is a persistent, determined faith. It does not stop at obstacles. It does not retreat because the way is difficult. It presses through because it is persuaded of Christ’s sufficiency. Well, this is one of those applications you should go, duh, it’s right here.

What obstacles keep you from Christ? Busyness, fear of man, apathy, or love of sin. True faith does not make peace with barriers. It says whatever it costs, I must get to Christ. And who are you bringing to him? These men didn’t merely feel sorry for the paralytic, they bore the burden, they embraced the inconvenience. They labored to bring him to Jesus. Who is it in your life, your family, children, friends, neighbors who is spiritually helpless? Are you persevering in prayer and witness for them? Love does not remain idle. Love acts. Love persists. So the contrast here is striking.

The house full of people near Christ, many were listening, yet only one man was brought in evident desperation and laid at Jesus’ feet. So nearness to Christ is not the same as saving faith. It’s possible to be in the crowd, familiar with the gospel, and still be lost. This paralytic shows us that conscious need joined with faith brings a sinner to the Savior. So here we are, this man lying before Jesus. Visible problem’s obvious, he’s a paralytic. But Christ doesn’t first address the paralysis. He goes to the deeper invisible need of the soul, the greatest need that we all have before God. Notice here in verse five, this priority of forgiveness. Hear him.

And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven. Well, you expect, you know, as the digging through the roof has taken place and the four are bringing, are lowering the man. through the roof and setting before Jesus, everyone’s filled with expectation. They see the paralyzed man. They see Jesus. They’ve heard of Jesus. They’ve maybe seen some of his miracles and so forth. And it’s easy for them to put that one and one together to equal two. Surely Christ is going to address the obvious physical need first. But then Jesus does something astonishing. When he saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven. See, he doesn’t speak first to the body, but to the soul. He teaches us a vital truth here. Our deepest need is not always that one that we feel the most urgently. Christ addresses not merely our felt needs, but our fundamental need before God.

Mark notes here that Jesus saw their faith. He saw this persistent obstacle overcoming trust of the friends and the paralytic in this. Their faith is not vague or passive. It’s active, it’s directed toward Jesus, it’s confident in his sufficiency. See, true faith always has Jesus as its object. not just as airy fairy kind of faith and whatever, it is in Christ, in Jesus as he’s offered to us here in the gospel. As the word brings him before us, we believe in him, we trust in him. And so it is an active faith, it’s directed toward Jesus and it’s confident in his sufficiency.

It comes, it rests upon Christ and it cannot remain idle. Do our actions flow from genuine faith and dependence on Christ or merely from habit or outward religion? Many perform religious duties while their hearts never truly rest in Him. Faith is measured not by movement alone, but by reliance on Christ. So listen to Christ’s word.

It comes full of authority and tenderness. Son, your sins are forgiven. He’s not praying for forgiveness, nor does he hesitate. He declares it as a present reality. Not son, your sins are going to be forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. They address this word son he calls This is a compassionate nearness, a term of endearment.

Before any outward change, Christ grants peace to the man’s soul. In the Old Testament, forgiveness required sacrifice, priests in the temple. But there’s no ritual here that occurs because Christ himself is the true priest, the true sacrifice, the true temple. He is a fulfillment of all those shadows of the Old Testament. In him, God’s saving purpose reaches its fullness.

And so Jesus here is addressing the root issue, sin, rather just than the symptoms of paralysis. Sin condemns the soul with eternal consequences, while physical suffering is temporary. Now that’s not to say the suffering of this man is trivial. No, he is paralyzed and all the frustrations and the trials attendant with that are to be seen and understood here. But Christ’s priority here is reconciliation with God is greater than physical relief.

Forgiveness is more important than mobility. Why do you seek Christ? For relief from troubles? Or for forgiveness and reconciliation? Many want a better life or eased burdens, but few tremble over their guilt before a holy God. Christ did not come merely to improve circumstances. He came to save sinners and forgive. And forgiveness is possible only because of the cross. What is declared here in Capernaum is purchased at Calvary where Christ bears sin and satisfies divine justice. He does not forgive lightly, but at the cost of his own blood. This is grace to the undeserving.

And notice here, the paralytic says nothing. He offers no promises, he presents no worthiness. He’s simply laid before Jesus in need and he receives mercy. Don’t wait to become worthy before coming. If you’re waiting on that, you’ll never come at all. Your hope is not in what you bring. As the old hymn puts it, simply to thy cross I cling. Your hope is in Christ, in who he is. He alone has the authority to forgive you. Now, there were others in the room. Of course, they’re observing all of this. They’re seeing this. Respectable, religious. They’re near Christ, but they feel no burden of their own sin. They’re not desperate for mercy.

It is possible to be outwardly religious and concerned with doctrine and propriety, but inwardly untouched by guilt and hardness of heart. Do you feel little urgency about your sin? Have you grown comfortable with outward religion while no longer sensing your need for grace? Until you see your need, you’re not going to prize forgiveness. Till you come as a sinner, Christ will not be precious to you as a savior. So the tension rises.

Christ has spoken forgiveness with authority and grace, but not all receive it with joy. What is hidden in their hearts is soon going to be exposed. Notice here in verses six through eight. Now, some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like this? He’s blaspheming, who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves said to them, why do you question these things in your hearts? So this gracious word, son, your sins are forgiven, as soon as that uttered, just the atmosphere changes. kind of sucks the air out of the room in a sense. And Mark turns our attention to the scribes who are sitting there, and they’re questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like this? It is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Now, these are not pagans. They’re not scoffers from the street. They are scribes, subject matter experts trained in the law. regarded as experts in theology, guardians of orthodoxy. And that’s what makes this moment so solemn. The resistance here doesn’t come from the openly irreligious. The resistance here, this pushback, comes from the religiously informed.

Their presence tells us this is not merely a pastoral scene, it is also judicial and confronting. Christ is not only ministering to the needy here, he is being silently examined by those who think themselves competent to judge him. And the problem is not only what they know, the problem is what they refuse to see. They were questioning in their hearts, Mark tells us. Their objection isn’t spoken aloud. Outwardly, they’re composed, they’re silent, they’re restrained, but inwardly, they are resisting Christ. They’re weighing Him, they’re judging Him, they’re rejecting Him.

Look, the heart can oppose Christ long before the mouth says anything against it. Unbelief doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it just sits quietly in the pew. It dresses itself in respectable questions and cautious reservations. But beneath it, that silence hides resistance. Now, their theological premise is sound.

Forgiveness belongs to God. And to claim authority, divine authority, falsely could be blasphemy. And so their conclusion, though, is fatally wrong. They reasoned, only God can forgive sins. Jesus claims to forgive sins. Therefore, Jesus blasphemes. Well, they failed to consider what should have startled them into worship. If Jesus forgives sins, then Jesus is not a blasphemer, but God in the flesh. That very truth that they rightly affirm should have led them to recognize his identity.

Instead, they use correct doctrine as a weapon against the Son of God, the very word himself. So they’re doctrinally accurate, biblically informed, yet spiritually blind and inwardly opposed to Christ. They know the truth in part, but they do not bow before the one to whom that truth points. they won’t go there.

What a warning to us. It is possible to affirm true doctrine and yet lack true trust. To know the right answers while resisting the claims of Christ. To care about theological precision while withholding personal faith. Orthodoxy is precious, it never must be spoken of lightly, but orthodoxy alone will not save. The devil himself knows much true theology. What is needed is not only accuracy of statement, but submission of heart to Christ.

Examine yourself. Do you affirm true doctrine, yet lack true trust? Have you substituted theological knowledge for living faith? Do you speak rightly about Christ while inwardly are keeping him at arm’s length? These scribes remind us that a man may sit under the word, evaluate intelligently, and still reject the Savior secretly. Mark then tells us that Jesus, perceiving in his spirit their inward questioning, confronts them. Why do you question these things in your hearts?

Now, you know, did these guys not have a poker face and it was just kind of evident that look or whatever? Or Jesus knows what’s in man’s heart. He doesn’t wait for them to speak or infer their thoughts from outward expression. He knows immediately and fully what’s taking place in them.

First Kings 839, the knowledge of the human heart belongs uniquely to God. You, you only know the hearts of all the children of mankind. Yet Jesus exercises that very divine prerogative. What belongs to God alone is now exercised in Christ. So the miracle in this passage is therefore not only a paralytic healed. There’s also this searching revelation of the divine son who knows every heart in that room. They are not evaluating him. They are before him for his evaluation. And his question reaches us as well.

What objections to him Do you nurse inwardly, but never voice? What resistance do you preserve behind a composed exterior? What others may see no sign of struggle, but Christ sees doubt concealed, pride unconfessed, unbelief hidden beneath outward forms. He brings the hidden into the open, not merely to shame, but to confront and to call to repentance.

And notice these scribes never interrupt aloud. They simply question inwardly. And yet this inward posture is enough to place them in opposition to Christ. Hardness rarely begins loudly. It begins with inward reservation, holding back, inward criticism, an initial refusal to bow. And if it’s left unchecked, it grows. You may be close to Christ externally, if we said, familiar with truth, accustomed to worship, comfortable with religious language, and yet inwardly unmoved.

That’s a dangerous place to be. So we’ve got this contrast in the room. The paralytic’s friends act, press forward and trust, the scribe sit, question, and withhold. In that same room, faith moves toward Christ and unbelief holds back. which describes you. There’s no true neutrality before him. The heart’s either coming to him or shrinking back. Now the scribes have raised the right question, though not in the right spirit. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And that question hangs in the air.

Christ is now going to answer it, not merely with argument, but with demonstration, proving in the visible realm, what he’s already declared in the invisible. Notice here in verses nine through 11, he says, which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk. 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. Now, at first hearing this may sound a bit puzzling in one sense, both of these things are impossible to man, but Christ’s point concerns what may be outwardly verified. To say your sins are forgiven invites no immediate visible test.

But to say rise and walk is at once exposed as true or false. Either the man rises or he doesn’t. So Christ is pressing them. If he can do in the physical realm what none but divine power can do, then his claim in the invisible realm must also be received as true.

This is no evasive answer. It is a demonstration. And then the central declaration here, but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Everything in this scene is moving towards that moment. The issue is not merely where they’re a paralytic is going to walk.

The issue is whether Jesus possesses divine authority to forgive sin. And notice the title he’s using here, the son of man. That’s not a merely humble way of saying I, it reaches back to Daniel 7, where one like a son of man comes with the clouds of heaven and receives dominion and glory and an everlasting kingdom, a figure human and yet more than human. When Jesus is using this title, he is not only identifying with humanity, he is claiming to be that promised ruler, the one invested with heavenly dominion, the one through whom the kingdom of God comes in power. And he says, this son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

Forgiveness is not distant. It’s not locked in temple ritual. It’s not postponed to another age. It is present and near, exercised by Christ here and now. And the authority of heaven has broken into this world and in His person it exists. And this authority is not arbitrary.

It is grounded in His work. He has authority to forgive because He will bear sin at the cross. He will endure the curse due to His people. He will rise victorious over death. His word of pardon is not an empty sentiment. It is grounded and the redemption that He secures.

He turns to the paralytic and He says, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. What majesty there is in that command, isn’t there? Christ doesn’t attempt. He doesn’t suggest. He commands. And behind that command is power. What Christ commands, He enables. God speaks and it is done. He commands and reality changes. The Word of Christ is not mere instruction. It is effective power that creates what it commands. And in that sense, this healing points beyond itself. It is a display of kingdom power, breaking into a fallen world, anticipating the resurrection of the dead and the new creation. So don’t miss the order of this passage here.

First, your sins are forgiven, and then rise and walk. Forgiveness precedes transformation. Pardon comes before restoration. We don’t obey in order to be forgiven. We are forgiven and therefore enabled to obey. Acceptance with God is not earned by our improvement. It is granted in Christ. And from that pardon flows a new life of obedience. All true Christian walking begins with forgiveness. The root of new obedience is not self-repair, but divine mercy. Do you doubt Christ’s authority?

There’s a word here for you. Notice what he’s doing here. He ties the unseen with the seen, giving visible proof of invisible authority. Not that you may merely wonder or speculate, but that you may know. Often we hesitate because we seek some assurance beyond Christ’s word. We want a private sign, an inward feeling, a further proof tailored to ourselves. But Christ has already given sufficient proof. The question is not whether he has authority. The question is whether you will believe him. And for us as believers, there’s a word here, Those of us who live beneath our privileges. We’re still lying on the mat as it were bound by guilt long after pardon has been declared paralyzed by fear when Christ has spoken peace. Hear the command rise. Take up your bed. Go home. Why remain where Christ has raised you from?

If he has forgiven you, You are no longer under judgment, no longer enslaved to sin. His word is not weak. Rise and walk in the newness of life He gives. And at the center of all of it stands His truth. Christ speaks and reality changes. Sin is forgiven. Bodies are restored. Lives are transformed. His word is living and powerful, still calling sinners to himself, granting life where there was death, enabling obedience where there was only inability.

The authority has been declared, and the proof is about to appear before every eye in the room, and the response of those who witness it reveal yet another layer of the human heart. Notice we’re told in verse 12, and he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all. Well, of course, this is the result of the work of the Savior, this declaration. And here, this man receives this, he believes, he goes because the reality is there.

But the others so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this. and glorify God. When you hear the word preached, when you see the marvelous working of God in Christ Jesus, does it move your heart to glorify God, to praise His name? When you hear a prayer answered, when you see those things occurring that only God can accomplish, These things are exceeding abundant, more than we could hope or even ask. Does it cause an upswelling in your heart of praise to the Lord?

We’ve never seen anything like that. I has not seen even the smallest drop of the overwhelming tsunami of His glory and power and might. There is so much more that he shows forth his glory. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let us pray.

Lord, what would it profit a man if his outward circumstances improved and yet his sins remained? What would profit a woman if her earthly burdens were lightened and yet she still stood guilty before God? The greatest mercy Christ gives is pardon. The greatest gift you bestow is reconciliation with you, O our God.

We thank you for the glory of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ who has authority on earth to forgive sins. We praise you. These not merely a teacher of truth, but at the savior of centers, we thank you that in him, mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other. We confess before you that our deepest need is not merely relief from earthly troubles, but forgiveness of sins and peace with you. We acknowledge that by nature we are helpless. unable to raise ourselves, unable to cleanse our own hearts, unable to make ourselves right with you. We thank you that what we could never do, Christ has done. We thank you that he bore our sins in his body on the tree, that he satisfied divine justice by his obedience and blood, that he rose again in triumph, that sinners who trust in him might be fully and freely forgiven.

Grant, Lord, that none of us would remain merely in the crowd, near the things of Christ, and yet unchanged. Keep us from the silent unbelief of the scribes. Deliver us from outward religion without inward faith. Save us from being merely amazed and yet never converted.

Give to each one of us the grace truly to come to Christ in humility, in need, and in faith. Cause the guilty to hear the word of pardon. Cause the fearful to hear his word of peace. Cause the sluggish and hesitant to hear his command to rise and walk. For those who do not know and love the Savior, grant that we may no longer live as though condemned, but as those forgiven and restored and made new. Teach us to walk in grateful obedience. to bear witness to his power and mercy, to bring others to him with loving perseverance.

Glorify your son in the preaching of this word. And by your Holy Spirit, make the truth effectual to the salvation of sinners and the strengthening of your saints. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And again, God’s people say, amen. Let us stand and sing in response to God’s Word out of our Trinity Hymnals 181, We Come, O Christ, to You.