On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
The Pharisees and the Scribes believed in the authority of scripture. They knew that Moses had done great miracles, and that Elisha and Elijah had done things that were supernatural, even raising the dead…they did not doubt any of this. But never had any of those great men, never had any of those in their history, whom their religion was built upon, ever claimed to have the authority to forgive people’s sins.
The problem for those who watched this and heard these words, is that they did not know sin. They did not understand their OWN need for their OWN sin to be dealt with by God, and they did not understand the provision of God, in Christ, for sin to be destroyed.
But, how is this all that much different from today?
How sinful is sin to the modern Christian? How sinful is sin, to you and to me? How will such a stain be removed; can it be removed? If you think the stain is light and small, you will think a light and small remedy to be all that is needed.
The teachers of the law in the day of Jesus would of course have practiced all those things that supposedly taught them the truth of these matters. Their sacraments had built into them the truth of substitution, of blood being a requirement as the types and pictures were made abundantly clear.
“Unlike many today they still understood that salvation required forgiveness, but like many today, they thought forgiveness a much easier thing to achieve.” (RSR)
In other words, sin became no big deal, it was not the evil that God says it is, but they did still have a view of God that said blasphemy is a real category.
This is why I say we should be a bit more charitable in our judgment of them and much harder on ourselves, because we have neither. We have neither a correct view of sin, its wickedness, its costliness, and what was demanded for it to be destroyed, taking all such things for granted…The, “I will do this and ask forgiveness later…” Even if that is not said it is what is the case in the hearts of many of us.
AND, because sin is so small and not that big of a deal, Christ and our God is small and not that big of a deal, and therefore how can you blaspheme something that is not believed to be all that Great anyway, not seen to be the powerful and awesome supreme being that He is?
They thought that forgiveness would be passed out by God, as most people think it will be today. Obtaining forgiveness is not really that big of a deal, only that God has to give it, no one else can give it. No thought at all as to what the substitutionary sacrifices were pointing to. No understanding that their sin, every last one of them, every so called small insignificant, ain’t hurtin nobody sin, demanded the death of the Son of God, demanded the execution of the Second person of the Divine, holy and eternal God-Head.
As one put it, “It would never have occurred to them to say that receiving forgiveness was very like being a lifelong paralytic who was suddenly, miraculously, stupendously healed of his paralysis and granted power to walk, jump and run.” But you see, it is exactly like that! It is that much, no, it is more of a miracle, more of a wonder than is the miracle that precipitated Jesus’ revelation.
But enough about the Pharisees and the Scribes, what about us?
I was in a conversation recently with another minister. We were talking about the use of the word “sinner” in the psalms. And his point was that in the Psalms the word sinner is used to refer to those outside of God’s love and mercy; What we would call non-Christians. The sinner is the one who hates God and reviles the Lord’s teaching.
Therefore, Christians should not be called sinners. But of course, that offers serious problems in a day like ours. Because, whereas we might not be sinners in the sense of the Psalms, we all sin, and most folks do not deal with sin as we ought.
Our conversation ran down all kinds of possible solutions; See yourself in Christ and you will see that sin does not own you. But there are many who abuse that truth too. Be thankful…live with gratitude for what God has done in Christ and that will conclude with a right view of sin’s malady. But that too, finds Christians with a cheap view of grace.
The poem from Wednesday morning from Malcolm Guite beautifully sets the tension for us. If we see our sin for what it was and what it is, it might cause our spirits to fail…we might have to admit fears that we like to hide or confess that sin and its consequence haunt us…like a shadowed city…and we often find ourselves in the back alleys of our riddled heart.
We must expose the hidden ache…we have to deal with sin’s reality, its consequences, and how it lingers…but we must, as the poet says, redeem and move beyond. We must cultivate the ability to see clearly, without excuse or minimalization…the reach of sin and specifically, our own sin.
In this miracle, Jesus is teaching us that being forgiven, truly washed clean is as miraculous as a life-long paralytic, jumping and dancing! The forgiveness of YOUR sins is a momentous matter that lies far beyond the reach of any of your own efforts or the efforts of any number of people you might solicit to help you with them?
Do we see ourselves in this paralytic? Our sins having maimed us, left us unable but to be forever declared unclean and without hope? The life of Jesus and all that He did, all the miracles, all the wonders, all the stories we teach our children are in fact building and pointing us to this one main issue: It is the cross, not the healing of the sick that explains why Jesus was in this world to begin with. It is the cross that makes it clear to us, the greatness of our sin, the greatness of God’s hatred of it, and the greatness of the Love of Jesus who alone would atone for it all.
Be assured of this brothers and sisters, when you meet this man, the once paralytic man and you ask him what great work Jesus did for you, he will not first and foremost speak to his paralysis being overturned. Ask him when you have been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun…
…Ask him again, after 100,000 years of living in the reality of Glory and the perfection of God’s Kingdom, and I will guarantee you, you will hear only of the filth of his sins being atoned for, being forgiven, and being forgiven by the Only One who could do so.
If you will fix your heart to know, to understand what forgiveness is, what it has cost, what has been done by the Eternal God to secure it for His children…I can assure you, your hatred of sin will be as you have never thought it could be, because you will be seeing it aright, without the dress that we give it to clean it up and make it look respectable.
AND, God will be very great in your eyes, and being in His presence will send chills down your spine…And the mere mention of Jesus, will send you to your knees with tears streaming down your cheeks, wishing only to wash His feet with those tears as one who has been forgiven much.
And, you will know blasphemy when you hear it…You will recoil at the culture and at professing religious people who think so little of your God and King, and who could speak so lowly about the One who is exalted above all things.
Prayer: Father, help me to think about sin, ,my sin correctly. Help me to find joy in the work of Christ Jesus and may the wonder of my salvation not waver. May I see the greatness in Your calling me to serve my family, my brothers and sisters and those you bring to me, right where I am, in Jesus name, Amen.
Song: Is He Worthy