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.”
Two things that are taken seriously in this text that are worth pointing out for the simple fact that often these two things are not taken seriously by us: First is that there is such a thing as blasphemy and the second is the necessity for sins to be forgiven.
First, does anyone really take blasphemy that seriously? Our culture blasphemes God without reservation…that is not surprising to any of us. But what is alarming is that Christians not only fail to BE alarmed but participate.
Movies that mock God, and Jesus are legion and recent TV shows: God Friended Me, Good Omens, Preacher, Lucifer, Black Jesus and perhaps the worst, The First Temptation of Christ, which has Jesus as a homosexual.
Christians watch this stuff and some of it, without even blinking an eye, and that is what leaves me wondering if people today, Christian people, have any idea whatsoever, of what blasphemy is, or whether it concerns us!
Listen to this pastor he sums it up as well as it can be said: “Blasphemy, in the very nature of the case, must create an effect, must create an emotional recoil. Men are aghast, horrified by words, deeds and ideas that are so utterly profane because so utterly a violation of the glory of God. BUT, if the very idea of an Almighty God, wonderful in glory, who inhabits eternity and dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see, if the very idea of a God whose insupportable glory must provoke the deepest reverence in the hearts of men, if such a God no longer exists in the mind of men or the mind of the culture, how can there be such a thing as blasphemy?”
“It might be true that today we say things about the President or entertainers, public figures that are crude, disrespectful and downright mean. But those things are not blasphemous because the object of the slur is too small.
For there to be blasphemy, there must be a figure so exalted that everyone understands, commands absolute respect, reverence, fear and homage. To belittle such a figure as that is blasphemy. But, (and here is the point, God is no longer such a figure in the minds of modern men and certainly not in the mind of the culture.” (RSR)
I think he is right. We have so belittled God, we have domesticated Him, we have Him nowhere near the majestic Being, full of glory and awe that He is, therefore blasphemy is not even an issue. God, if there is one, is so small, and most have never reckoned with Him as they one day will.
I wish I could say that there was a distinct difference when it comes to the church, an antithesis, that when the culture blasphemes, you could almost literally hear the church’s collective gasp. But is that the case?
How can it be, when the church is busy participating in the same things and speaking in the same low, watered down, domesticated way about the Almighty? Do we see and know God to be the Majestic Being that He is? Do we approach Him and call upon Him as though we really see this and believe it?
But I think there is a reason for why this is missing and the reason is THE point of Jesus’ words and His miracle in this text and that has to do with forgiveness and the only One who can grant it. Are people today concerned with forgiveness?
We would say yes, people are concerned about forgiveness, concerned that you know how to forgive yourself, and maybe a few less but still a good group of folks concerned that you forgive others, and the greatest number of people concerned that others forgive THEM.
But that is not what this text is, speaking to. It might be generally assumed that God will forgive people, but it is not a matter that is pressing upon many people, even many Christians.
How many people truly think as they lay their heads down to sleep, whether or not God has forgiven them their sins? There are many people who will go to bed and worry about their ailment whatever it might be, worry about their personal paralysis or whatever other problem is theirs, but few worry about their sins.
And you see this is why blasphemy is no longer a real category or concern. Let men be convinced of the depth of his sin, his rebellion, and that it is expressly a rebellion against this One True God, and that ONLY this One True God can forgive it…
And, that He will forgive some, but He will NOT forgive others…AND, that for those whose sins He will not forgive there is nothing but the reality of judgment, hell and suffering for all eternity…let men truly see this clearly, and then all of this would be different.
The point of this event is not the miracle of the paralysis being healed, nor is the point the men who brought their friend, although those things are commendable, and worth our attention. But the real point of the text, that which struck the Pharisees and the crowd that witnessed and heard what was being said, was the fact that Jesus claims to be able to forgive sins.
Only God can do such things, and they are right! Only God can, Jesus does not argue with that. And what were these people to think; a man says He can forgive sins and to prove it, he says He will heal this man of his lameness.
The lame man is before them jumping up and down, skipping home in joy, and there stands the one who says, He forgives sin…what does all of this mean?
Prayer: Father, I pray that the chief success of my life would be to hear You welcome me into rest and tell me “well done”. Forgive me for how easily my eyes are turned to the left and to the right, how quickly I am distracted by whatever it is that glitters. I pray that I would be resolute in seeking Your kingdom and righteousness and that I would know the difference between opportunities and temptations, in Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Jesus the Very Thought of Thee
