"One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? “But, so 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, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”"
C.H. MacKintosh wrote: “There is a great difference between a man ignorant of his sins and walking in self-complacency, and one deeply conscious of his sins, yet happy in the full forgiveness of them.”
At this point in His earthly ministry Jesus was gaining great popularity among the people. So much so that He was constantly surrounded by large numbers wanting healing or wanting to hear Him teach or just coming out of curiosity to see what the hullabaloo was about.
Hence the presence of the Pharisees and the Scribes. We’re told here that they came from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem itself. So it is reasonable to assume that on this particular occasion the crowd is largely made up of these religious leaders.
In fact it may interest you to note that if not for Matthew and Mark recording this same event and specifically mentioning the gathering of crowds of people – if we only had the Luke account, we might be led to believe this was a sort of Pastor’s conference. Luke says that Pharisees and Scribes gathered from all over Judea and Galilee and from Jerusalem, and that information alone would indicate that there was a very large gathering from the ecumenical community even apart from the residents of the region who were there. No wonder the men with the stricken friend couldn’t get close!
Now I want to point out also that these religious leaders had a duty to be there. It was their responsibility to protect their nation from heretics and false messiahs, so they needed to scrutinize the teachings and the claims of any man who came on the scene and began to draw a following. (Deut 13; 18:15-22) This was still very early in the ministry of Jesus and they were there to learn for themselves the veracity of the things they had been hearing about Him.
The problem was, by Jesus’ day they had become so encumbered in their religion with empty philosophies and traditions that they were rendered incapable of recognizing the true Messiah when He came.
Had their hearts been prepared to receive Him the very proximity of Him would have been enough to shake them out of the self-complacency MacKintosh mentioned, and cause them to see their own sin and seek forgiveness.
But as I said, this is early in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and not so early that nothing was known about His teaching and His activities; yet from even this early period these religious leaders were looking for ways to discredit Him, and it would not be long before they were looking for ways to kill Jesus as a false teacher.
BELIEVERS AND DOUBTERS
So here we have a very interesting scene set. The church did not exist yet but we do have a gathering, a very crowded gathering, to hear Jesus preach the word. That is language that Mark uses. “He was speaking the word to them”.
And it was also very much like the modern day church setting, in that the crowd consisted of some believers, and some doubters, ironically the most religious being the most vocal doubters, and people who came in faith to receive help from Jesus couldn’t get in church because the regulars were taking up all the space.
Now here is something for us to consider today and take some encouragement from. The Preacher was there [note the capital ‘P’].
It was said of Him “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” Jn 7:46, and at the end of the recording of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, the Apostle observes that Jesus taught as one having authority and not as the scribes.
Now let’s sharpen our focus on that claim for a moment.
What contrast is being made here? He teaches as one having authority, not as the scribes. Well, first let’s define authority as it would pertain to teaching God’s Word.
When the writers of the Gospels say that Jesus taught as one having authority, they used the word that denotes a right or a power to speak or act. Let me tell you about another word that is translated ‘authority’ and by contrasting the two, show you what I mean.
In Titus 2 verse 15 Paul tells the young preacher to “…speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you”
The word Paul uses there is not the same that the Gospel writers used of Jesus. In this case, it is a reference to a command or an injunction. In other words, Titus and all other preachers go forth with an injunction, as it were, from the Lord of the Word – a command – to speak, to exhort, to reprove, and to speak confidently because they go with that authority behind them.
In the case of Jesus, He needed no injunction; He came to preach the Word and brought with Him his own authority.
If it helps, this might be explained in the difference between a king and his emissaries. The king speaks with authority that comes with his rank. Out of his office he speaks according to what he has determined and decreed. His emissaries, on the other hand, may be saying the things the king is saying, but they are doing it on his authority, not their own. They have a command.
And this is why it is so very important for the preacher to be careful how he says things when he is conveying God’s Word to his hearers. It is far too easy to be glib, to cave to the temptation to be clever, to want to be innovative and charismatic in personality, and deviate from the message. It is not our message. It is God’s message and He was very specific when He gave it to us to hold forth. The preacher has a solemn responsibility which, when shirked, cheats the sincere student of the Word and does much damage in the church.
But Jesus spoke as one having in Himself the right and power to speak the Word. He never quoted the Greek philosophers, He never deferred to the Rabbis or depended upon the wisdom of the ancients to make His points. He said, ‘You have heard said, but I say to you…’ and He spoke as one having authority, not as the scribes who needed all these other things and still debated and speculated much about things that kept them in a fog of doubt, misapprehension and wonder.
YET… there were doubters in the room. And this is why I began saying there was a point of encouragement for us in this; especially for preachers of the Word.
The Preacher Himself was in the room speaking the Word, and there were those in the midst who had no ears to hear and no eyes to see. They called Him a blasphemer. They disbelieved His words. Never be shy, believer, about sharing the Gospel with those around you. Your injunction, your command, your authority is to speak. It is the Holy Spirit who truly teaches. Just remember that they rejected your Lord, who spoke as no man ever spoke.
SON OF MAN
Now I think it will help us to look at this title Jesus uses of Himself in verse 24 when He says, ‘But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”.
But let’s not move too quickly and miss this stark contrast between the strictly religious and the one who desperately recognizes his need. This is the contrast MacKintosh was making in the quote I used in opening. It is the contrast Jesus illuminates in his example of the Pharisee and the publican, recorded in chapter 18 of this Gospel.
The Pharisee, proud of his religious piety, according to this parable, prays to himself, even though he begins by invoking God’s name. Jesus said he began praying to himself. And what do we see in the content of his prayer? We see a tallying of all the things about himself that make him feel right and good. Religion always turns the focus inward.
It makes the adherent either and alternately proud of his religiosity, or guilty and convicted over his failure to be consistent. Ironically, even when he feels badly about his own inability to live up to the code, he is still disdainful and judgmental of the other poor slob, like whom he is thankful to God that he is not.
The person acutely aware of his desperate need and his helplessness without God, on the other hand, will be so focused on God and hungry for the grace and mercy He bestows, he will hardly be aware of anyone else in the room.
So down on the ground level, shoulder to shoulder in the midst of the throng, smelling body odor and oils and dust and straining to see and hear what’s going on in the middle of the stifling room, you have the proud and dedicated adherents to dead law, judging in their hearts and missing the whole point, while up on the roof you have a handful of guys caring and loving their friend so much that social proprieties are forgotten, the law is not even a consideration, and in their desperation their only thought is to rip away any barrier to Jesus, the only one they believe can meet their need.
So He looks at them, I mean really looks at them, and sees, not the mess they made, not the damage to the roof, not their social position or rank, not the evidences of their economical condition, whether well-to-do or destitute or somewhere in between, nor the seeming hopelessness of the physical condition of the man on the cot. He looks at them and sees faith.
And friends, I am inclined to believe that when it says “Seeing their faith”, He was seeing the faith of the friends and also the faith of the man on the cot, who would be the one person least likely to have faith. It’s always harder to believe for ourselves than for someone else, isn’t it?
“Friend, your sins are forgiven you”.
Ok, what about this term, ‘Son of Man’, and why did Jesus use it here?
In the Old Testament, the term ‘son of man’ is usually employed to contrast the infinite difference between the majesty of God and the insignificance of man. A couple of examples would be:
Job 25:6 “How much less man, that maggot, and the son of man, that worm!” That’s pretty graphic, huh?
Or Psalm 144:3 “O Lord, what is man, that Thou dost take knowledge of Him? Or the son of man, that Thou dost think of him?”
So the use of the term by Jesus in reference to Himself emphasizes His true humanity. He was Man. But there can be no denying, simply due to the way He uses it and the many times He uses it, that by so doing He identifies Himself with the One from Daniel’s vision, chapter 7 verses 13,14:
“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”
And I could list a lot of references throughout the Gospels here, but let it suffice for us to look at the most crucial instance of Jesus identifying Himself this way; when before the Sanhedrin and asked by the High Priest if He was indeed the Son of God He responded, “I am, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of Heaven”. Mark 14:62
So on this occasion we are studying today there can be no doubt that in the minds of His hearers, He was making claim to be the One Daniel saw, who received from the Ancient of Days, everlasting dominion and a kingdom, and they knew that to be a reference to Messiah.
Now what is the significance for this moment? Because He had just said to the man, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you’! And they had questioned in their minds, ‘Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’ He was just answering their question!
GREAT MIRACLE
I’m going to ask you a question, but I don’t want you to answer me; because if you do you might steal my thunder and the sermon will be done early. So I’ll ask it, pause about two seconds and tell you.
Are you ready?
Why did Jesus forgive the man’s sins first, then heal him? Ok, two questions… Why didn’t Jesus heal the man to prove He had the power, then say, ‘Oh, and by the way, since I am obviously the Messiah since I can heal a helpless paralytic, I’ll also just toss in here that your sins are forgiven”?
Ok, the answer is, I don’t know either. What did you expect?
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?”
But we can still discuss it. Look. Why are all of these people here in the first place? Largely because Jesus has been doing miracles and healing people; we know that, right?
Sure! Look at chapter 4 verse 40, right after He heals Peter’s mother-in-law. “And while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them.”
And down in verse 42, “And when day came, He departed and went to a lonely place; and the multitudes were searching for Him, and came to Him…” Why? The miracles! The healings! They wanted more and they wanted to see more!
Look at chapter 5 verse 15, right after He heals the leper. “But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and great multitudes were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.”
People were no different then than they are now! People want to be entertained and they want something for free.
Remember a short time back when Denny’s without prior notice just announced through the news media one morning that they were going to be serving free Grand Slam breakfasts all day? Remember, no prior notice, no commercials, no newspaper ads or fliers; and the lines at Denny’s restaurants all over the country stretched around the buildings and down the block until mid to late afternoon! For a free breakfast – and many of them were in the parking lot waiting through the lunch hour, to get inside to eat a four dollar breakfast!
Jesus was already healing people. That’s why they were there. Were they believing unto salvation? Were they trusting in Him as the promised Messiah? Were they there to have their sins forgiven? No! Some of them were even there to critique and criticize.
Some years back I was filling in as interim at a little mission church, where every Wednesday evening, as was the custom before my tenure there, free bread and chips and canned items were brought in for those who attended to take home after the mid-week service.
I will tell you that in 10 months I witnessed little or no evidence from any of the attendees that they desired spiritual growth or a deeper knowledge of the scriptures. One day I decided to stop putting out free food on the Wednesday evenings, and within two weeks the meetings were being attended by my family and two or three faithful others only.
It was the same in ancient Israel – no different. Listen to John 6:2 “And a large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick”.
Right after that He feeds the five thousand, and then toward the end of that chapter, after He has gone to Capernaum, the crowds follow Him there also and when they find Him they ask, “Lord, how did you get here?” and seeing right through them Jesus says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Jn 6:26-27
So bring it back to Luke 5. Why did Jesus forgive first? Well, my guess, and based upon His response to the people in John 6, is that He saw forgiveness as the higher priority.
He showed in Matthew 18:8 where priorities ought to be set between the temporal and the eternal; between the physical and the spiritual, when He taught:
“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.”
But here is what I really want you to see today. Which one is the greater miracle; the healing, or the forgiving?
My friends and family, it is the forgiving. Think about this. God actually identifies Himself as a forgiver in the way you or I might cite our occupation or our status in the family unit.
Exodus 33:19, to Moses:
“I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
“Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”
THE GREAT FORGIVER
Sadly, they are angered that He would say ‘your sins are forgiven’, but only glorify God with their praises when they see the healing.
Men are always distracted by the visible and tangible, when they should have been more ‘astonished’ that God forgives sins!
God wants to forgive sin. That is a powerful statement. Not because I said it, but because of what it means. Sin is an affront to God and no one else. Do you know that?
The evil I do might have consequences for you, especially if my actions are deliberately aimed at you to do you wrong. But sin is an affront to God’s holiness. And because He alone is holy, He is the only one to whom sin is truly an offense.
Now, I read one commentator who supposed that this man’s paralysis was at least partly a result of some past sin, and that’s why Jesus forgave him first.
I think that’s off base. I think it’s more likely that the man had been paralyzed all or most of his life, and I think it behooves us to consider that we don’t have to have physical capabilities in order to sin.
Sin is in the heart and in the mind, my friends, and no matter how good you think you are, no matter how generous or helpful or kind or religious you are, you are a sinner and apart from the grace of God and His desire to forgive, you are destined for eternal hell.
So much does God desire to forgive, that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
I want you to consider today that this was before the cross. Jesus had not atoned for the sins of mankind in history. This was early in His earthly ministry. But He forgave here and He forgave in other places we read about in the Gospels.
The woman taken in adultery. The prostitute who cried on His feet and dried them with her hair.
How could He do this? It is His authority to do so – not by injunction, but by Divine right.
He will have compassion upon whom He will have compassion, and He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. He is God.
He forgave, for the man’s sake. He healed for the onlooker’s sake. In both cases, the recipient of the forgiveness and the witnesses of the healing, they were being given an opportunity to believe and begin anew.
That’s what God does, you know. He gives second chances. He begins things anew. He makes things new. He begins with forgiveness, and by His own declaration He will show compassion and mercy upon whom He wills to, because He is the Great Forgiver.
“They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen remarkable things today’.”
Indeed, they had. They had been there, whether they were aware or not, to see with their eyes, the Son of Man, who had been granted from the Ancient of Days, authority on earth to heal and to forgive.
Was this forgiveness extended arbitrarily, capriciously, irresponsibly? Does anyone ever have the right to be jealous of another who has been forgiven or can we accuse God of favoritism or inequity?
No. Because the Son of Man was made sin on our behalf, and received in His body on the tree all the fiery wrath of Holy God against sin, and now forgiveness flows perpetually from His throne, purchased in full, and extended to all who confess and believe.
Have you done that? Have you ever done as these men in this account did? Have you, in your heart, recognized your desperate need that outweighs and over powers any religious thought or deed and run to tear down any barrier between you and Jesus, so that your need might be met?
I have an injunction to tell you with authority that He is the Great Forgiver, who with His own blood purchased forgiveness for you forever, and as the response to faith He will give it freely… because He wants to.
If that is your need today, take it. Don’t allow any barrier, real or imagined, religious or pagan, to stand between you and Jesus.
Freely He gives, freely receive.
“Continue to seek God in seriousness. Unless He wanted you, you would not be wanting Him.”
- C.S. Lewis
