Mark 2:1-17, Forgiveness Announced and Experienced

This is a well-known story from the ministry of Christ.  The faith of the four friends of this man was a great faith.  Jesus acknowledged it (v5: when Jesus saw their faith).  One wonders if the friends and the paralytic would have been satisfied if there had not been a healing. 

Let’s think about “forgiveness.” 

·       The need for forgiveness.  The miracles of Christ are an extension of His preaching.  The miracles were a call to believe in Christ (John 20:31).  In this case, God’s description of sinful men is that they are “spiritual paralytics.”  We are incapable of pleasing God (Rom. 8:8).  We are unable to see or enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3).  In both passages what is said is that we lick power for these things.  Like a paralyzed man, we must be carried wherever we want to go.  We cannot do it ourselves.

·       The nature of forgiveness.  There are several Hebrew and Greek terms in the Bible that speak of forgiveness.

o   Gen. 50:17; Ex. 32:32: to lift, bear up, carry

o   Num. 30:5; Ps. 86:5; Isa. 55:7: to pardon

o   Jer. 18:23: to cover, make atonement

o   Mark 2:5: to send away

o   Luke 6:37: to set free, let go

o   Eph. 4:32: to be gracious, grand forgiveness

·       The only source for forgiveness.  God is the only source for forgiveness, and there are two reasons why we say this.

o   Ps. 51:4: Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight – that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.  God is the offended party! It would be nice to be forgiven by friends and family we offend.  But the real problem is that we have offended our Creator.  We must have a legitimate basis for reconciliation with Him.

o   Ps. 32:1-2: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  God is able to provide atonement! Through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God an atoning sacrifice has been provided.  It is the ONLY such sacrifice for sin.

We know there was a lot of excitement when the paralytic was healed.  But what about long term?  We don’t know about him, but we do know about Levi (Matthew, 2:13-17).  He also was excited when Jesus called Him to follow Him.  Think about this: a tax collector, hated by most people, but one who believed in Christ.  The evidence of his experience of forgiveness was that he wanted all his friends to know the One who had authority to forgive.  Levi knew the blessedness of forgiveness!