What is most needful in life? If someone were to ask you that, how would you answer? In this passage, we see a man lying before Jesus paralyzed, and Jesus’ comment takes everyone by surprise: “Your sins are forgiven you.” It seems insensitive that this man is dealing with obvious physical need, and yet, Christ is bringing up the forgiveness of sins instead. By placing this in the text, Christ–through Mark– is making us reckon with some big questions. Not only does this cause cognitive dissonance, it makes a bold statement about who Christ is and the coming of the Kingdom. Christ is trying to show us something. The question is: “Will you see it?”

Take your Bibles in hand still and turn to the Gospel of Mark. We start chapter 2 this morning. I’ll be reading that first section there, Mark chapter 2, verses 1 to 12. Mark chapter 2, starting verse 1, please give your full attention. This is the word of God. speaking of Jesus. 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. When they had 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 were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like this? 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, and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed, and he went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw anything like this. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but this word of the Lord endures forever. May he indeed add his blessing upon it at this time. Let’s pray and ask his blessing on just that. Join me in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, Our maker and redeemer, our comforter, we are assembled in your presence to hear your holy word as given, as preserved, as written down. And we pray that you would open our hearts by your spirit and that through the preaching of your word, we may be taught to repent of our sins, to believe on Jesus in life and in death, and to grow day by day in grace and holiness. And so we ask, dear Lord, hear us for Christ’s sake. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Well, as we hear this text, think of the scene before us. Imagine if you were there as they’re hearing Christ preach. It’s crowded. People are pressed in upon him. We’ll see this theme as we move through scriptures again. There’s just no room to move. In other places, it talks about the crowd was crushing in on him. People are pressed, and all of a sudden there’s this commotion above where he is preaching, a noise that they hear, and then pieces of dirt perhaps begin to fall from the ceiling, or chunks of matter, of mud. And then there’s these faces looking down to see what’s below, and surely what’s going on on the inside has come to a standstill. These men have made an opening large enough to lower this man down to where the people are. before Christ, and they’re kind of forced to move aside the people, and they lay, as this man is laid before Christ on the ground there. And it’s interesting, the text tells us, literally, it says they unroofed the roof. Right, they unroofed the roof, and so there he is, this man before Christ, laying on his mat, and all the eyes are on Jesus. And Christ says to him, as we read, son or child, your sins are forgiven. Clearly, that’s not what is supposed to be said at this moment. It’s not what we would think would come next in the text. The man’s friends have carried him a long way to get there, and perhaps they feel as though Jesus is not assessing the situation quite right. He can’t move. He’s paralyzed. We appreciate the forgiveness of sins thing, but we came here for something entirely different. We came here for healing of our friend, this man, on the mat, and so if you could just take a moment, take another stab at what’s going on in this situation, that would be awesome for him. And this really is an odd comment as we look at the flow of the text as we’re given it, something that would have taken everyone by surprise as it unfolded. We see that it surely took the scribes by surprise. They’re not pleased with this declaration of Jesus before them. But think of that man who’s been carried there. Think of his friends. who believing that Jesus could heal their friend, they’ve gone through all of this trouble, even destroying part of this home to get their friend before Jesus, only to hear the words, as wonderful it may be to hear your sins are forgiven, but not hear the words that they are expecting. To begin with, this man has a real human need. And it seems just a little bit insensitive to them and perhaps others that Christ declared forgiveness instead of saying, get up and walk and go on your way. Your faith has made you well. Just anything that would deal with this man’s obvious greatest need. He has a physical problem that everyone can see. And yet, Christ, you’re dealing with his sins instead. This man is a Jew, after all, and there are ways culturally to deal with his sins. Christ doesn’t need this to do this for him. So some would say he seems to be insensitive to the need, the greatest need of what’s going on from their perception. Clearly what he needs is fixing this physical issue, and you’re bringing up the forgiveness of sins, you see. And by placing this in the text here, Christ, through Mark, is making us reckon with some big questions. Questions of which deal with each of us, they affect all of us. And that is, what is most needful in life? From your perspective, what is the most important thing that you could receive from God? Of all of your needs, what is the most pressing one? What is that thing that’s pressing most? That if God came to you and said, I can deal with one thing, what would you say? How would you answer that? Now if there was an obvious problem this man had, it was clearly physical, it wasn’t his sins. And Christ is not merely being insensitive or spiritualizing his problems away, he’s stating something obvious to us. And that as great as the problem is with this man’s legs, perhaps he was a quadriplegic, we don’t know, there’s a greater problem that must be addressed first. So listen, they sought the gift of healing, and what they got instead was the forgiveness of sins. And they were not short-changed in the process. This is something important we need to understand from this text. They sought healing, not the forgiveness of sins, but this wasn’t a rip-off, so to speak, for them that this happened. While they were seeking the one thing, Christ came and gave them something much, much more needful. And why is that? Why does this take place here? Why is it that this particular lame man happens to him? Why this particular point in Christ’s ministry as it unfolds as given by Mark? Jesus is doing more, you see, than forgiving one man’s sins, though He’s surely doing that. He’s declaring something by saying, your sins are forgiven. about which, and he’s saying something about what time it is in history and who Christ is at that time, at this time in history. And by saying this to this man, your sins are forgiven, he’s making a very bold statement about the place in history as it is for Israel and for God’s people more broadly and who he is in that place in history. And when we look at Scripture, we know this very thing, right? The forgiveness and healing, they’re conjoined. They’re not separated in Scripture. We see them going hand in hand as Scripture unfolds. We see this in the Old Testament quite a bit, these two going together. And of course, we have to… remind ourselves, as we have before and we will again, we’re not saying that everyone who gets sick in the Bible is directly linked to their own personal sins, right? We’re not gonna go over those texts that show us that, but that is not what we’re saying. But it’s very clear in the Old Testament that sin has something to do with all sickness. Fallenness is what has brought about this particular lack of peace or wholeness for humanity on the whole. And so God often conjoins these ideas of your sins are forgiven and you are healed. These two things go hand in hand. You see, forgiveness is at its core, the very promise of the new covenant, right? Because of this, it’s the core, this forgiveness of sins. And now remember, as we’ve seen in the past, and most of you probably know, Mark draws heavily from the book of Isaiah. He quotes Isaiah, he alludes to Isaiah, he brings those themes in that were forecast in Isaiah over and over and over again in this gospel. And he quoted from Isaiah very early on in his gospel, you remember in chapter 1, to let us know that he was drawing from certain imagery from Isaiah. So the first thing he does in the gospel is he quotes, points back to the prophecy of Isaiah. And one of the things that the Israelites knew as they looked to their future while they’re in exile is that God began to give them promises. He gave them promises and part of their expectation in the future was that God would come and that he would bless them. We read, for instance, in Isaiah 33, perhaps read this to fill out the rest of your Lord’s Day today, but he says there that a king would come and the key would be beautiful, and the land would be restored everywhere you looked, and Jerusalem would be inhabited again. This is the longing of their hearts, and it was a promise that they’re given. And it says it will be inhabited again no more when they, will they hear foreign tongues, right, within their borders. These people who had come and taken them in exile, whether they’re the Babylonians or the Assyrians, but rather they would be hearing their own native language. And they’d be sitting in their own property. And they’d be worshiping in Jerusalem, the city of God. And Isaiah goes on there in Isaiah 33 to say that there’ll be no more violence against them. But more than that, It says that there would be so much blessing and prey, that is, food to be sought, that even the lame would take part in the process. This is a promise in Isaiah 33, 23 to 24. And it says this, no inhabitant will say during that time, I am sick. No inhabitant will say, no one there will say, I am sick. And so notice part of their expectation was that when God comes and he restores Israel, When restoring and Exodus has come back to the land, when that time of the end of days comes, God will come and He will take away all sickness and all enemies and all death and all these things that had plagued them. But the way that that came about, according to Isaiah, in other places was this. Look what it says, Isaiah 33, 24. Again, and no inhabitant will say, I am sick. The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquities. So you have right there in this line, no more sickness, and they will be forgiven of their iniquities. And you see Israel, this word comes as they are outside the land. And why are they outside the land to begin with? It’s because they’re sinful and they’re idolatrous. And because of that, they’ve been cast out of God’s presence, as it were. But God says to them, I’m gonna make a way for you to return. to the land, to return to my presence. And there’s no way that this takes place unless forgiveness comes. And one of the core promises, again, of the new covenant is, I will forgive their iniquity and that I will remember their sins no more. And so when Christ says to this man, son or child, your sins are forgiven. He’s not just saying, now listen, I decided of all people to forgive your sins, right? He is forgiving him. But he’s saying the time of that restoration is here right now. It’s come. The time of the new covenant of God has come to deliver his people. This has just arrived. And I have authority to say your sins are forgiven. And those who are forgiven will walk in the way of holiness. So he’s declaring something that would seem in a couple of ways in doing this, at least at that time before he goes on. He’s saying this, remember number one, as they are surrounded by Roman centurions. Roman rule still is of the land. And as the man is still lying there, he’s still on his mat and he’s still paralyzed. Things that seem to be at odds with what Christ is intending to say. And if this is the time of God’s restoration, they think, what’s the deal with all of this? We’re still occupied, there’s still sickness, our friend is still paralyzed. They think, it’s fine for you to say this, that’s cool and all, but we know what’s going on here in this nation. We know the reality that we’re living in. And we see that there are still sick people, we still have enemies, we still have foreign control. It’s still a reality for us. This cannot be the kingdom that God promised, that we’ve been longing for and looking for. But Christ is saying quite to the contrary. This is the kingdom, this is the time of restoration. Things have arrived right now. And so decisions must be made as you hear this claim, this outstanding claim, outlandish even. And he says, don’t you see that it’s here right now? This man’s sins are forgiven. And therein lies the problem, right, as we might perceive it. It’s kind of hard to see the forgiveness of sins. Right, it’s something we can’t see visibly. No one there saw a change in this man as he says this. His friends would still be carrying him back home, they perceive. There’s nothing on the outside that would give them any clue. You say the kingdom has come, just come. This man’s sins are forgiven. He looks the same to us, Jesus. Everything seems the same. But it’s a gift that Christ is giving that must be received by faith. must be received by faith, you would have to believe that by faith, because there was nothing tangible for them to hold on to other than the very words of Christ that He declared. Who can believe this Christ, this one who claims such great things? But it forces us to take hold of them by faith, the words of Christ. And this is the drama of the text as given, Spirit-inspired, this text. But it’s the drama, not just of the text, it’s the drama of your everyday lives. And the question is, whether you know it or not, God is requiring you to live according to those same sorts of things. He is claiming things about himself and about you and about the time of history that you live in that will never be fully apprehended in this lifetime by sight, but rather must be believed by faith. And the question is, as we encounter the drama of this text and the drama of our lives, can we do it? Will we do it? Because there’s not only trouble in this text, that this must be apprehended by faith. The other thing is that Christ is taking upon himself a prerogative that the scribes are quite certain belongs only to God. When you read, for instance, in the book of Isaiah that the forgiveness of sins is coming in the last days, there’s only one being emphatically throughout Isaiah, that is allowed to do such things, and it’s Yahweh himself, it’s the Lord. And Yahweh comes and he says in Isaiah, I alone am the one who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will remember your sins no more. And so when Jesus says, your sins are forgiven, he’s saying something that is completely outlandish in their hearing. That he himself has authority to forgive their sins, And the scribes are what? Internally frustrated and agitated. And we’re gonna see a whole lot of conflict and controversy as we move forward into chapter two. And it really is Christ versus the authorities as we do so. And that controversy and conflict is gonna make its way even to the outside and the authorities begin to speak out as we know the story. But in this text, they’re just frustrated internally, right? And they think to themselves, who does this man think he is? God alone has this authority to forgive sins. And if Jesus, you see, would have just done things rightly, right, if he would just have done the healing, right, as he should have done, everything would be fine. The crowd would be happy, his friends would be happy, the man would truly be happy, and the scribes would have likely have had nothing to say about it. Or even if Jesus had just done the healing first, and then go on and say, and hey, by the way, your sins are forgiven. That would have surely helped his credibility. That would have removed the controversy. But instead, he heals the man, and he makes the claim, this outrageous claim for a human being to make, and he waits before he does anything else, and he lets things hang, lets things unfold. Well, they believe that the kingdom has come, and the day of restoration is truly upon them, that the day of deliverance is here, and that this particular one is God’s solution for Israel, because that’s really what’s at stake for them. God has sent his Messiah to his people. The question is, will they receive him while he’s here? And he’s just declared something that forces this issue. Will you believe who I say that I am? The question is, what is their response by faith? What’s their response? Will they take hold of this son? Or will they remain like this man, paralyzed in their own disbelief? And you may say, how could they possibly think that a man could forgive sins? And that’s a good question, because we see that no man can pay the ransom for another, right? If they knew their Old Testament, they would know that there’s a conflict here. It’s a good question, but notice Jesus says in verse eight and following, he says, and immediately Jesus, perceiving 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 and 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, and go home.” Christ said, He’s saying, if I wanted to do something invisible, unverifiable, wouldn’t it be easier for me to say, your sins are forgiven? You can’t prove it. You can’t not prove it. I can just keep saying this all day long. How are you going to show that I’m wrong? But if I say to you, rise, take your mat and walk, Well, all of a sudden, that requires a visible change. There’s an obvious component to it. And either the man is going to get up and walk after I say this, or he’s going to stay there on his mat. I will either be shown true, or I’ll be shown a fraud. So he says, in order to prove the empirical reality of this, that I just forgave this man’s sins, let me do what you can see. And so He says to the man, rise, take up your bed, walk, and go home. And He says this and He proves two things. Christ says, the fact that I’m willing to do this is going to prove, number one, is that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. It’s the sin-forgiving authority of the Son of Man. He has authority on earth to forgive sins. This, of course, reference to the Son of Man comes from Daniel, the book of Daniel. And we see there one like the Son of Man who is given dominion and authority and power in a kingdom that would know no end. And Christ very intentionally uses this phrase of Himself. And He says, if I have this man get up and walk away, it’s going to prove that the Son of Man, me, has authority on earth to forgive sins. And that my kingdom and my dominion and my rule extends even this far to giving men release of their sins, release from their iniquities. And he says, with that we are told he has power, the power of the forgiveness of sins, and that he is the son of man. Both of these things are true. And we’re told next in the text, immediately this man rose, took up his bed, and he walked. Our story begins with this paralytic being carried by others on a mat. Carried on a mat. And it ends with him walking home, carrying his mat, and returning home. His whole reality has been reversed. He’s been made whole. But notice carefully what Jesus has done. This is not just another healing for the sake of healing in the story. This is not just to show that he has power, which of course he does. The sign of the man walking away was to prove the first sign, which was the forgiveness of sins. That was the verification of the first thing that he said that they couldn’t see. And Christ has drawn us into the story to show us something as his people, to show us something. And the question is, will you see it? Will you see what he’s showing? This man’s rising didn’t happen until his sins were forgiven. And so the first, the forgiveness of sins, and then he rises up and he walks. And the break between is intentional to build this drama and to emphasize, amplify the conflict that is going on. He could have done the opposite, right? Because sunrise, and by the way, your sins are forgiven. He didn’t do that. Instead, he did it in this way in order that he might emphasize his point. And what does that mean? Well, notice this man is paralyzed. And that might mean much to us, right, in our world, but in the Greco-Roman world, the context in which this happens, being paralyzed, remember, as we saw last week, is tantamount to being dead. It’s being near to death, or being on the path to death. Remember the words of Josephus that talked about this. They were treated, even in Israel, even after the time of Christ, as a corpse. They compared it to remaining like a corpse, like a dead body. someone who’s dead. Now think of the story again briefly. These four men are carrying their friend, this lifeless or limp body, to a house, almost as if they were pallbearers. And they dig a hole in this mud roof to lower the man down. And as they lower him down before Christ, very specific words are spoken, are used of his healing. It says, child, arise. Rise is the same word that Christ uses with reference to his own resurrection. It’s the same word that Paul uses with reference to our resurrection, that on that last day, we will rise and be made new. And so notice, you see, what Mark is doing, the spirit through Mark, rather. He’s trying to show us, yes, this man’s sins are forgiven, and then he is healed. But he’s not just pointing to this man. He’s pointing to all of us, all of us that name the name of Christ. He’s saying that there is a specific order that is of utmost importance to us in what He’s doing. The forgiveness of sins received by faith will proceed and must proceed the physical act of arise, of being healed fully and wholly physically, of our physical maladies and ailments. And why does this matter? What’s the crux to this? What’s the point? The point is that Mark is showing you your life in this story. Christ’s kingdom will require of you faith to take hold of it. The kingdom will not give to your naked eyes and all that you desire. This kingdom is not given to that. You will need, in this present existence, indeed you will experience suffering and pain and sickness. There’ll be times when you experience poverty and turmoil. And all of those things seem to scream against the claims of Christ that he’s made and what he has said he will be for you. But what he has promised first and foremost to you, what he has made sure is that you know that your sins are forgiven. And that’s not some little trite cop-out that God can’t really do anything for your life here, it’ll be okay in the next life. We know some of you struggle mightily with physical pain and issues. Some of you are in great unrest emotionally or financially or fill in the blank. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy to say, well, at least you have the forgiveness of sins. And oh well, that’s a great thing. But Mark is trying to push you to reveal to you that your greatest need, even whether you know it or not, is this, that Christ has come to grant you the forgiveness of sins now in this present age, and that must be apprehended by faith. And that forgiveness of sins guarantees something later, namely the healing of all of, yes, your physical ailments and maladies in a supply for all of your needs, This doesn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t care about those things. And that his kingdom is simply about the forgiveness of sins. No, that’s the utmost importance, the forgiveness of your sins. Because it’s what brings us back, right? What is the problem? Being removed from the presence of God. And so this very thing is what brings us back into the presence of our God and our Lord. And when we see and live in that presence, we will be restored fully and finally. So Christ did not just come to give you a spa day or a physical booster in this life. He came to give you a new creation and to be part of that new creation. And he came to give you what Isaiah 33 talks about. There’ll be no more enemies. No more enemies to surround you. Where death will be no more. There’ll be no more claim at that time. There are sick people here. but rather all of those things would be removed and you would be given back life and life in true abundance, right? And not just in some kind of mystical spiritual way, but a whole body resurrection existence. But here’s the mystery of this age, right? Paul in the whole New Testament divides reality into this, the former age and the age to come, right? Two ages. And the mystery of this age, is that it doesn’t all happen now. It doesn’t all happen now. And we have those running around today that promise that it does. And I would commend you to run the other way when you hear people saying that. It doesn’t all happen here in this age. Christ is making this plain from the story that we’re given. I will give you this now in the kingdom, the forgiveness of your sins, he’s saying. And at times that will mean that you have plenty, and I will supply greatly for your needs. And at times there will be great wants, and at times there’ll be physical prosperity and wholeness. But each of you ultimately go to death’s door. And yet the forgiveness of sins is the guarantee, it is the ticket, you see, into God’s presence, where there is fullness of life, where there is new creation. You see the sign here of his rising up and his walking convinces us that the invisible is true. It convinces us that there awaits a day for us when we too will rise again. When all of those things, whatever you answered to the opening question, what’s your greatest need? You may have not said your greatest need is the forgiveness of sins, but you know it’s the right answer. What does that mean that whatever you answered, it doesn’t mean that those things are meaningless. Your children matter to the Lord. Your marriage matters to the Lord. He cares about your physical body, your ailments. He cares about the things that are broken in this world. And that is why Christ has come. That’s why he came. Yet in his coming, he comes to grant you first and foremost the forgiveness of your sins, that you might finally be restored to God. Your presence is restored to your Heavenly Father because it was the falling away from God that all of these things were brought into your life. Your sickness is in effect in your life because of the fall. Your broken relationships are because of the fall. The issues that you have, whether they’re physical or emotional or financial, whatever it is, your worries and your stresses are because of sin. And Christ has come to deal fully and finally with those things. And you know, if your biggest problem is employment or certain hurts and pains that you have, God could easily rectify those things. He has the power to change and to do whatever He wills. And yet the cross of Christ proves to us that the greatest problem is much deeper than you ever thought. It required the crucifixion of God’s own son. And it may be one thing for Christ to say, what is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or rise up and walk. But know in saying this, and in healing this man, Christ sealed his own fate. It may be easier to say your sins are forgiven, but what it required was the life of God’s son on the cross. And He willingly gave that to secure your full and glorious future for you who belong to Him. And the question is, will you trust Him in the present? Will you trust Him now when you can’t see all of those things? Will you have the faith to believe Him? You can know that His words are true, not because this man walks, as wonderful as that was, and it was wonderful. but because God displayed his commitment towards you in the cross of Christ his son, and the resurrection of his son, which secured for you the forgiveness of your sins, and the sure resurrection that will follow, and a brand new body and life in the new creation. May we long for that day, but as we long, may we hold on to our Savior, our dear Savior, and not fail or fall in unbelief, and may we pray for the faith increased belief to trust him in all that he says. Amen. Let’s pray. Our dear heavenly father, we praise you. We praise you for the sacrifice of our savior, Jesus. Give us faith to believe what you tell us. Lord, give us hearts that long to grow more and more in the truth and knowledge of our savior, in obedience to your will and your way, joyfully, knowing that we have been freed from the condemnation of the law and to follow our Savior, united to Him in walking newness of life. Bless us, we pray, Lord. We ask this in Christ’s name, amen.