Why Does Jesus Forgive Sins

Why Does Jesus Forgive Sins?

Mark 2:1-12

Good Morning,

Matthew 1:20 behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." NKJV

Why does Jesus heal and forgive people?

Most of us would agree that escaping the penalty for our rebellious sin is a good thing; but is that the main reason Jesus came to set us free?

Is Christianity simply receiving a get out of jail free card and then living for self until the day we go home to be with the Lord?

Last week I made the statement, “The problem we have today; we want Jesus, but we sometimes want Him to do things our way and in our time frame.”

Jesus came and saved us for so many reasons, we can never explain them all; however, there are few reasons that should not be missed.

God planned our salvation before the foundation of the world.

Jesus came not only from love; but, also obedience to His Father

Jesus wanted His own special people for relationship; and Jesus saved us to transform us, and to conform us into His image.

Most importantly, God saved us for His Glory. Ephesians 1:6 says, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. NKJV

Please open your Bible to the Gospel of Mark 2 as we continue in the verse by verse study of that Gospel.

Last week we spoke on how our timing is not always the same as the Lord’s timing.

We learned how Jesus healed many people after the Sabbath; and Jesus would not allow those demons to speak because they know who He is.

If the news of Jesus spread too quickly, it could get in the way of what Jesus needed to do; and the Lord had a plan as well as a timeline for His earthly ministry.

Then Jesus early in the morning; instead of sleeping in, after a hard weekend of ministry, went to a secluded place to pray.

If you can’t change your circumstances with God’s help; be willing to change your perspective and know God has a plan.

“Jesus said it was more important for Him to preach the gospel in other places than to stay there and heal the sick.” (Wiersbe)

Jesus told Peter healing people was not the goal; but, we learned about a leper who came to Jesus and He healed the man anyway.

This leper came to kneel and worship Jesus; before Jesus did anything for him, because the leper recognized who Jesus was.

At every stage of life we make plans, where we want to go and what we will be like when we have arrived; but, things have a way of turning out different than we hoped for, or expected

In today’s passage, Jesus is going to perform the most important miracle; but, He will be accused of blasphemy for this healing.

I. Back to Capernaum.

Read Mark 2:1-2

Remember from last week, Peter woke up and Jesus was gone so he went and searched for Him; Peter tried to encourage Jesus telling Him of His popularity, “Everyone is looking for you.”

But Jesus said, “It’s time to move on”.

(Constable) The wave of popular support that Jesus had ridden the day before threatened to carry Him into political leadership that might have made His self-sacrifice on the Cross impossible.

Now, after some time had passed, Jesus returned to Capernaum and immediately, the crowds hear of His return, and come to find Jesus.

There are so many people present; the place could not even hold them all. What were the people hoping to receive?

Wiersbe said, “With amazing speed the news spread that a miracle-working Teacher had come to Capernaum, and wherever our Lord went, great crowds gathered.

They wanted to see Him heal the sick and cast out demons.

Had they been interested in His message of the gospel, these multitudes would have been an encouragement to Jesus;

“But He knew that most of them were shallow in their thinking and blind to their own needs.” (Wiersbe)

Like some modern Christians today; these folks were chasing miracles instead of seeking the Lord.

There are two sides to the belief in miracles; Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever; many Christians fail to recognize that Jesus still performs miracles, everyday, all around us.

The flip side of the coin, are those people who manipulate things and try to turn God into a personal vending machine.