YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to His own town. Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home.

When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Matthew 9:1-8

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home.

They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Mark 2:1-12

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Luke 5:17-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have seen over the past week’s worth of devotions, Jesus was extremely busy, proactive in His ministry as He taught, healed the afflicted, and drove out evil spirits. His acts were so miraculous that more and more people came to hear Him speak and witness His amazing acts of power.

In today’s scripture passage, we find the Jewish religious authorities, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, showing up to see what was going on, to see for themselves what they were hearing about the Galilean who was teaching with special authority and performing such incredible feats. I’m going to focus in on Luke’s account but will inject and incorporate any distinctions from Matthew and Mark into the devotion as needed. Look again at these verses from Luke 5:

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”  Luke 5:17-26

If you only read Matthew’s account of this event and read that Jesus entered a boat, crossed over, and “came to His own town”, you may interpret that as meaning He was in Nazareth but Mark’s rendition quickly clears up that misunderstanding by letting us know that Jesus was indeed in Capernaum, the city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the place where He was calling home for the time being. It was there that the particulars of this event took place.

It started like other gatherings with Jesus, especially of late. The scriptures tell us He was teaching and preaching to a very large audience composed of people from “every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem”. As mentioned prior, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were among those in attendance.

Now although Jesus was teaching and preaching, the scriptures tell us that Jesus had the power of the Lord upon Him so as to heal the sick. This came into play when a group of men entered the scene, four of them carrying a “paralyzed man on a mat”. Unable to “take him into the house to lay him before Jesus”, the men got creative, going onto the roof and digging a hole in it before lowering the man “into the middle of the crowd” and “right in front of Jesus”.

Jesus was so impressed with the faith the men showed, a faith that believed Jesus possessed the power to heal the paralyzed man, that He blessed the man in two ways, not one.

You see, everyone watching expected Jesus to simply speak a word or two and amazingly heal the man. But He did much more than that, making a statement that left people bewildered and the Jewish religious authorities judgmental.

What did Jesus say?

Simply:

“Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

God’s word tells us that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to think internally about the gravity of Jesus’ words. In their eyes and spiritual understanding, only God could forgive sins and they certainly didn’t see Jesus as one with God (even though He was) thus all they could think was Jesus committed blasphemy with what He said.

Well, these Jewish religious leaders were about to discover another astounding talent that Jesus possessed, the power to read minds and hearts. For the Pharisees and teachers of the law had barely finished thoughts they believed were done in secret when Jesus calls them out asking:

“Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And with that, He commanded the paralyzed man to:

“Get up, take your mat and go home.”

And that’s just what the man did, immediately standing up before the crowd of onlookers, picking up his man, and left the scene to return him, praising God all the way. So did the crowd who were buzzing with amazement and praise themselves from what they had witnessed.

You see, the paralyzed man had not just been healed. He had his sins forgiven, pardoned by the only One (Jesus) who could save Him.

Today, Jesus is still forgiving people of their sins, pardoning them when they place their faith in Him. In fact He tells us Himself that He is the only way to God the Father (John 14:6). This is because only sin can separate us from God and if someone rejects Jesus, then they reject the forgiveness of their sins. They willfully bypass the opportunity to be washed white as snow by His blood. And they willingly turn their backs on being justified which simply means being changed in such a way that they will appear to be without sin when they stand before God on judgment day.

If you have yet to receive Jesus as Savior, I pray that you will choose to do so right here and right now. Don’t miss your opportunity to be forgiven of your sins.

If you are in Christ, rejoice and be glad today and every day for you are pardoned and assured salvation, guaranteed eternal life when this temporary life ends. Now and forever, praise the Lord for His incredible mercy and grace and love, a love that doesn’t want us to perish but rather to have the chance to live with God and Jesus forever.  

 Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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