He Came to Forgive Sin and Call Sinners

[0:00] On the Thursday night, I was on a Zoom call with over 100 pastors from various places in the world, and one of the things that was shared was what they were studying through with our church, and it spanned almost the entirety of the Bible, all the different books and things they were going through, and it was just wonderfully encouraging to think that on a day like today, people across the world are opening up God's Word and various parts of God's Word and hearing the truth.

[0:48] What a wonderful thing. This morning, we are in Mark chapter 2, and I'm going to read the first 17 verses. So, Jesus was out in desolate places, and it's talking about His return.

[1:08] 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.

[1:18] 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.

[1:34] 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.

[1:49] Now, some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, Why does this man speak like that? 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?

[2:11] 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?

[2:26] 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 went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this.

[2:48] He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, Follow me.

[3:05] And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him.

[3:18] And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?

[3:29] And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

[3:46] Amen. God, please bless your word to us. As I was thinking about this passage and these encounters, I was thinking of this question.

[4:01] What is the most gracious thing that God can do for you? Think about that for a second. What is the most gracious thing that God can do for you? Imagine asking that question to other people as well.

[4:15] How many different answers and perspectives would there be? In our passage, Jesus does two things that are surprising, two things that provoke the religious leaders to question Him.

[4:28] Firstly, He declares a man's sins forgiven, which provokes the question, Why does He speak like that? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

[4:40] And secondly, He calls a tax collector to follow Him. And when He goes to His house, it provokes the question, Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?

[4:54] Now, for a Jewish rabbi to do either of these things was unprecedented and highly controversial. And although we will explore what this says about us and our great need for these things, keep in mind that it all goes back to what it says about Jesus.

[5:14] So, what is the most gracious thing that God can do for a person? It would be easy to say that what we need is forgiveness more than being healed.

[5:28] But it's not just about what we think we need. It is also about who we think Jesus is and what we think God is like. Think about your idea of who God is.

[5:41] Okay, picture in your mind what your idea of what God is like and who He is. What is the best thing that He could do for you? What would His greatest concern for us be?

[5:55] Would He think the way that we think? You see, humanity has a pretty long track record of confidently thinking that we know what is best for us.

[6:07] And yet, we have an equal track record of actively choosing things that are not good for us. We were created to be creative, but creatively come up with a million different ways to destroy ourselves.

[6:21] Yet, from the beginning in Genesis 1, when God created, it resulted in life, and it was good. Throughout the Genesis account in the beginning, God is the one who declares what is good.

[6:36] He's the one that knows what is good and what is not good. Like in Genesis 2, everything God is giving the man is good and makes for life. So, He breathes life into man.

[6:49] That is good and it makes life. Then He gives the man a tree of life, which is good and it brings life. And then He gives the man a wife, so that he can procreate, which is good and it brings life.

[7:03] The only thing that God keeps man from is the thing that would bring death instead of life. And so, the irony, and this has been like this ever since, the irony of thinking that we know what is good for us is that man decided to gain the knowledge of good and evil from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

[7:24] Man decided to gain the knowledge of good and evil by doing what was evil. And ever since, we've had a history of choosing to eat from a tree that brings death.

[7:38] Humanity, for the entirety of our history, have a track record of choosing to eat from a tree that brings death in many different ways. And so, imagine you were to ask Adam and Eve, who were initially without sin, what is the most gracious thing that God can do for you, Adam and Eve?

[8:00] If they're anything like us, perhaps they would say, well, the most gracious thing God could do is let us eat from that tree. That's what they thought.

[8:11] That's what they did. And so, this challenges us, not only what we think is best for us, but it challenges us to what we think about God. What is the most gracious thing that God can do for you?

[8:30] This passage challenges our view of God. Is God a good God? Or does He withhold good things from us? If Jesus only forgave this man, this incident where they lowered down this paralytic, and Jesus surprises everyone by instead of healing him, He says, your sins are forgiven.

[8:51] If Jesus only forgave this man and didn't heal him, would He not be doing the most gracious thing for him? So, what is the most gracious thing God can do for us?

[9:06] So, as we go through this passage, keep an eye on the development since the last time Jesus was in Capernaum. It's been a few weeks since we were there, but back in chapter 1, verse 21, Jesus goes into Capernaum.

[9:21] So, chapter 1, verse 21, He goes into Capernaum with these new fishermen disciples, and He goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and He was teaching with surprising authority.

[9:32] and He demonstrated His authority by commanding even the unclean spirits, and they obeyed Him. And then they went into Simon and Andrew's house, and He healed Simon's mother-in-law, and it said, the whole city of Capernaum gathered at the door that evening, and Jesus healed many and cast out many demons.

[9:53] The next morning, when they found Him out in the wilderness praying, He said to them, we must move on to the next towns so that He can preach. Now, in chapter 2, He returns to Capernaum, and once again, when news of His return spreads, everyone's gathered at the door again.

[10:10] Everyone's at the door waiting for Jesus. Now, what are they gathered for? We don't get an answer as to what they're gathered for. What are they expecting? What do they want from Jesus? What do they think is the most gracious thing Jesus could do?

[10:24] We don't know why they're gathered, but they're all gathered at the door, and what Jesus is doing for them is preaching the Word. Do you notice that? It's a different thing He's doing. Of all the things that He could have given them, He is preaching the Word to them.

[10:41] Why? Friends, one of the best things that we can receive in life is the truth about God. And I wonder how many misconceptions about God were cleared up that day at the door.

[10:55] centuries worth of misconceptions about God would have been cleared up by Jesus preaching the Word to them that day.

[11:07] If we could only just hear Jesus telling us the truth about God and clearing up all these misconceptions that we in the world have about God. It's an interesting thing if you know your Bible, you'll know in Ephesians chapter 4, Paul says that Jesus gave gifts to His church.

[11:25] And it's interesting because all the gifts that Jesus gave to His church in Ephesians 4, this little bit, are Word-based roles. He gives them apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, all Word ministry based.

[11:44] And it's not because all of these people and all of these roles are particularly important or special. It's because the truth about God is particularly important. The truth about God is something the world needs.

[11:59] So love, love without truth, is not enough. Do we not have an experience of that in everyday life? It's not enough for us to love a friend, to only just love a friend who is destroying themselves with addiction and say nothing.

[12:19] See, love without truth is not enough. Jesus came to set us free and He said in John 8, if you stay in My Word, you are really My disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

[12:33] And so at the end of our passage, Jesus likens Himself to a doctor. And one of the things that a doctor has to do I'm sure many people in this room have been to a doctor's, probably recently, if you can get a hold of one.

[12:46] One of the things a doctor has to do is diagnose the condition, doesn't he? And then the doctor has to inform the patient. Imagine you went to the doctor's and you told them all your symptoms and they said, okay, thanks, see you later, next patient.

[13:01] That would be no use at all. And so they have to diagnose it and they have to inform the patient what medicine they need to take. It would not be helpful for a doctor to withhold the truth.

[13:13] But as I said before, it's not just about what we need. It's about our view of God. It would equally be unhelpful if we had the wrong view of a doctor, wouldn't it?

[13:25] Imagine a patient who just didn't trust their doctor. Well, this is what's wrong with you, Mr. Smith, and here's what you need to take. No thanks. That would be completely unhelpful to your health.

[13:40] And so, imagine going to the wrong kind of doctor for something you need. Imagine you've got a heart problem and you go to the chiropodist. That wouldn't be helpful.

[13:54] Isn't it interesting that Jesus calls himself a doctor in this account, right, we've got these two different people, the paralytic and a tax collector, and yet Jesus calls himself a doctor in reference to the second encounter with the tax collector and not the first.

[14:16] I mean, we would probably think that the perfect time for Jesus to bring up the doctor illustration would be with the paralytic, but he doesn't. He doesn't. He brings up the doctor illustration with the tax collector.

[14:29] And so, what is that telling us? I think one of the things as I pondered this, as I studied this, as I meditated on this, I think that if he used a doctor illustration with the paralytic, people would get the wrong idea about what he came to do and what kind of doctor he is.

[14:51] They would think, oh, doctor, he's come to heal our bodily infirmities. You see, even with the paralytic, he addresses something other than bodily infirmities.

[15:04] First thing he does is not address the paralytic's bodily infirmity. And then when he does heal him, he says nothing about being a doctor, but he says everything about having the authority to forgive sins.

[15:20] And then, secondly, there doesn't seem to be any infirmities with a tax collector. Just a bunch of tax collectors and sinners sitting in a house.

[15:31] And yet, Jesus chooses that moment to call himself a doctor who has come for these very people. And so, we need to ask the question, if he's a doctor, what has he come to do?

[15:43] And what does it mean to be well? And what does it mean to be sick? Well, thankfully, Jesus tells us the answer to that. What kind of doctor is he? Well, he says that being righteous is the equivalent of being well.

[15:58] Notice that in verse 17. Being righteous is the equivalent of being well and being a sinner is the equivalent of being sick. And he just happens to be the kind of doctor that specializes in that type of sickness.

[16:14] So, we see this scene. These two scenes. Let's look at the first one. Friends carrying a paralytic man and all they want to do is get this man to Jesus.

[16:25] If only they can get him to Jesus, Jesus will make him well. True, but in a surprising way. Because what they think is well is not what is a reality.

[16:41] They're expecting a healing. See, what is Jesus' idea of being well? When we understand what Jesus' idea of being sick and being well is, we will understand why he first says your sins are forgiven rather than healing this man.

[16:59] What kind of doctor is Jesus? And so, he notices their faith. The way that they're displaying their hope in Jesus was evident. However they went about it, their hope in Jesus and their faith was evident.

[17:13] I wonder if people see our faith. I wonder if we wear it on our faces and the way we act. Do people see our hope in Jesus? Is it noticeable? Suppose it depends again on what kind of doctor we think Jesus is.

[17:28] And so, in the moment Jesus' response, at least to the people there, is surprising. They were expecting a healing. They've just lowered him down from the roof and they're expecting a healing.

[17:40] But Jesus instead declares the man forgiven. remember, Jesus is a doctor who's come to make people well. But they think he is one kind of doctor.

[17:53] They think they know what is wrong. They think they know what it means to be sick and they think they know what it means to be well. What is the most gracious thing Jesus can do for you?

[18:07] Do you have faith? You see, we don't know if this man's condition was a result of direct sin or not. We don't know. Many people just have conditions.

[18:19] Our bodies are subject to these things. It's not always because of our direct sin. Jesus makes that clear with the blind man. But what we do know for certain is that this man is responsible for his sin.

[18:35] And that's what makes this beautiful. It makes this really, really beautiful because Jesus didn't just come to fix things that are not our fault. Jesus didn't come just for the things that are not our fault.

[18:49] He doesn't draw the line at things that we have deliberately caused. And he's like, do you know what, I'll deal with the things that are not your fault, but the other things, well, that's your fault. Deal with it.

[18:59] He doesn't do that. And so we do have this great need for forgiveness. We've got this need for forgiveness way more than healing. Our sin is making us not well.

[19:10] And we don't really see how desperately we need that. We sit under an insurmountable debt that is destroying us. And so think about this question, this very scary question, you don't need to answer out loud, I'm not looking for that.

[19:25] We couldn't anyway. But how many times a day do you sin? Just have a wee think about that. And I'll give you three categories, okay, in thought, in word, in deed.

[19:36] how many times a day do you sin? What is your average number of sins per week, or per month, or per year? Think about the highest paid job in the world, okay, and how much they get per hour.

[19:53] And then remember that the wages of just one sin is death. And yet, how many times have we all sinned? How many sins have we committed?

[20:04] it's uncountable. Sin makes us not well. And so whether in thought and word or deed, we do wrong in all of those categories.

[20:15] And King David said it well when he said in Psalm 40 verse 12, evils have encompassed me beyond number. My sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

[20:27] There's no way out. They are more. My sins are more than the hairs on my head, and my heart fails. We cannot count the number of our sins, and so we definitely need forgiveness more than we need a temporary healing.

[20:44] But it's not just about what we need. It's about how we view God. And so perhaps we think that if God was a doctor, maybe he's sometimes good enough to heal people because he might take pity on them.

[21:02] Poor souls, their conditions, it's just not their fault. It's not their fault they have this condition. So he'll heal us. But what about the things that are our fault?

[21:15] You see, like a doctor who takes pity. But what if the doctor, can you imagine a doctor who had this particular patient who regularly chose to drink poison every day?

[21:28] Imagine what that doctor would think. Would that doctor be as gracious with them as with other patients? You're not helping yourself. All these symptoms that you come moaning about are your own fault.

[21:41] Stop drinking the poison. But do we think about God like that? What about the things that are our fault? What about the poison that we drink? The things we choose to think and say and do?

[21:54] What about the many times that we go against God and what he has said? What is our view of God when we think about all that? Does God just want us to eat our just desserts?

[22:07] If that's your view of God, then you have an incomplete view of God. It is true that God is just and God is holy and God does not tolerate sin.

[22:18] Why? Because God is good and God is life and sin is evil and it is poison and it always brings death. God will never brush sin under the carpet yet God is also merciful and God is gracious and God is overflowing with love and kindness and he hates that we drink the poison of sin but he made us and he loves us and he works ever to redeem us.

[22:48] And so what we see here is not that the man really really needs his sins dealt with more than healing. That's true. he does need that but what we see is that Jesus has the authority on earth to forgive sins and he will.

[23:05] He is willing. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Well Jesus is the son of God. He's the son of man. He has authority and if he has authority it's because he's been given authority by God because he is sent from God and he himself is of God the father's only son.

[23:23] son. And so the paralytic has a far greater need than just healing. His sin is crushing his soul but it's not just about his greatest need.

[23:33] It's about the surprising grace of Jesus. Surprising grace of Jesus who can forgive sin and he is willing. So so willing to forgive sin.

[23:45] He loves to forgive sin. surprising thing is that Jesus is a far better doctor than we realize and we go to him for our infirmities and he has got so much more for us.

[24:01] He's far more gracious doctor than we realize and that's the big deal here. Jesus has the authority of God not just to heal not just to cast out demons.

[24:11] He's already shown that he has more authority than the scribes. He's shown that he has more authority than the spirits. He has shown that he has more authority over sickness.

[24:22] He has authority even over Satan but now now we see that Jesus has authority over sin. And what we need reminded of is that no one in the history of earth in the history of humanity before Jesus and no one since Jesus has ever been able to have authority over sin.

[24:45] No one. It is our great problem. We scramble to make the world a better place but we can't deal with the problem of sin which constantly makes the world a terrible place.

[24:57] It is the thing that kills us and yet no one ever sends the creation of the world to now bar Jesus has had authority over sin and at this moment Jesus shows even sin he has authority over.

[25:11] Yeah I know sin has a claim on you paralytic man. I know that sin has an account of all of your wrongdoings and sin will have its death in you but guess what I am over sin and I forgive you.

[25:24] Amazing. Amazing. You see Jesus is the kind of doctor who specializes in dealing with sin and so this passage gives us confidence in that because of these two people.

[25:37] The first person the paralytic what we see is that Jesus doesn't only draw the line to heal things that are not our fault. It shows us that not only can Jesus heal the injured but he can also forgive the guilty.

[25:53] Not only can Jesus renew our bodies but he can cleanse our souls. What use is being healed in this life only if our souls are lost? You see life is not gained by simply healing the body.

[26:06] Life is gained by taking away the sin that binds us to death. Sin will always destroy us so until sin is dealt with it will always end the same.

[26:20] And humans are trying, they're trying so so hard to keep us alive for longer and longer to try and beat death. But what use is being kept alive if we are still sinners?

[26:33] We will constantly make this world an evil place. we are no closer to solving the root of evil that lies in every human heart. But Jesus knows how to solve that.

[26:44] He's that kind of doctor. Jesus is able to solve that and he is willing to forgive our sins. He's willing to cleanse our souls and to redeem our bodies. Only Jesus can make humanity well again.

[26:59] What is it to be well? Only Jesus can make humanity well again because only Jesus can forgive our sins and only he can make us righteous. And that is what it means to be well.

[27:12] But how can we be sure? How can we be sure that he can deal with the sin thing? And let me tell you that probably every Christian who faces death has that question. How can I be sure as I am about to cross that river?

[27:27] How can I be sure that Jesus can deal with my sin? Well he shows that he as the authority by a physical act. Namely by healing this man.

[27:39] He shows that he can make this man well in every sense of the word. He can make him well as in righteous by forgiving his sins and he shows that by making him well physically by healing him.

[27:53] How can we be confident that Jesus can make us well? Well he shows us similarly by a physical act. Namely the cross and the empty tomb.

[28:07] His death and his resurrection is evidence of Isaiah 53 that he will make many to be accounted righteous to make us well and he shall bear their iniquities.

[28:22] He makes us well i.e. righteous by bearing our sin. Second person Levi or Matthew the tax collector we see that Jesus isn't just feeling sorry for the paralytic man.

[28:35] He doesn't just forgive sins when he feels sorry for a person. He doesn't just deal with sin when it's brought before him crashing through the roof with four friends full of faith.

[28:46] He shows us that he will actively seek out the sinner himself in order to forgive and transform. He didn't come just looking for holy and righteous people because there are none.

[29:01] It says in Romans 3 that all have sinned. No one is righteous. Not even one. That means that no one is well. Everyone is sick. And so remember righteous people are well people.

[29:12] They don't need a doctor. But there are none. The only righteous person is Jesus. And so Jesus came as a doctor who can make sick people i.e.

[29:24] sinners into well people i.e. righteous. And so that's why at the end of this passage verse 17 it says those who are well have no need of a physician.

[29:38] I can't always say that word for the life of me. That is my nemesis word. Those who are well have no need of a doctor. But those who are sick need a doctor.

[29:50] And Jesus said I came not to call the righteous but sinners. And so let me ask you in your experience of doctors does a doctor ever draw the line and say you're too sick.

[30:06] I'm sorry your infirmity is too sick. I'm not giving you any help. Now maybe you've had a bad experience but generally people who train in medicine take an oath to help.

[30:19] To help anyone who is sick. It's their job. If you are sick you're sick. No ifs buts about it you're sick.

[30:30] And if you're sick you need a doctor. And likewise if you're a sinner you're a sinner. Whether you're a fisherman or a tax collector you're still a sinner and you still need a savior.

[30:41] And so if Jesus came for sinners and this is a really important thing for us to remember if he came for sinners he didn't just come for nice sinners. Let me ask if there's any nice sinners in here today.

[30:56] Maybe there are. But I wasn't one of them. And so he calls this tax collector he's not a nice sinner. He is not a nice sinner. If he can forgive sin and save the sinner then he can forgive the worst of us.

[31:11] And if he can call a tax collector not only to be forgiven but a tax collector to be one of his disciples. There's only 12 spots. And he calls a tax collector to be one of his disciples.

[31:24] Then what that tells us is that not only can he forgive the worst of us he can also transform the worst of us. Isn't that good news? And so these two encounters with Jesus show us two very important things.

[31:40] Firstly Jesus really does have the authority to forgive your sin. And he is more than willing. More willing than you could possibly realize. Regardless of whether you're a Christian or not we all need that more than we know.

[31:55] Our sin is making us sick and we need righteousness to be well. The great news is that Jesus is the only one with that kind of righteousness to give. And he is the kind of doctor that is both able and willing to forgive your sin.

[32:10] And secondly with the tax collector we realize that it is not just about forgiving our sin. It is not just about forgiving us.

[32:21] It is not like he just lets us off with it and then leaves us to it. His purpose is not just to clear our debt but to credit our account with righteousness and call us into new life with him.

[32:37] You see the first account with the paralytic he shows us that he can forgive sins. But the second account with the tax collector he shows us that he actually calls sinners to be disciples into new life.

[32:52] His purpose is not just to forgive sins. His purpose is to call sinners into new life with him. And it's one thing to be forgiven of all your sins.

[33:03] If you have experienced that you know how amazing, how incredible, how liberating it is to have that crushing weight of guilt lifted from you, the record cleared, the slate wiped clean, your soul cleansed.

[33:16] How amazing is that? That's one thing. But then it's another to be renewed in Christ, to be given his righteousness, to be reconciled with God, his father, to know your creator again, to have your eyes open to the world and to have this relationship and connection with your creator restored and experience this new life.

[33:38] how amazing is that? Because in him we live and move and have our being. He is our light and he is love and in him is life and knowing him is eternal life and no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no heart has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

[34:02] Yet in each of these two encounters there will always be some who question Jesus. Why does Jesus speak like that? Who is Jesus to forgive?

[34:15] Why does he welcome people like that? All of these Christians are sinners. Why does Jesus welcome people like that? That's these two questions. I don't know about you but I used to question Jesus.

[34:30] I used to say who are you Jesus? to think that you can do this. We can either doubt that Jesus can forgive us and question why Jesus would welcome such people as ourselves or we can have faith that he truly can forgive our sins and that he is more than willing and that he can declare us righteous and forgiven.

[34:55] and we can even dare to believe that Jesus would call even us even you even me to follow him and be with him in his kingdom.

[35:09] Jesus is that kind of doctor. He's the only one who can make us well and the good news is he is able he is more than willing and he is calling each one of us.

[35:22] So you can either question it or you can believe in him. Let me pray. God I thank you so much for your word.

[35:35] I thank you that it was saved sinners who recorded the words and deeds of Jesus our saviour.

[35:47] Thank you that we can trust in these accounts to be reliable and true and more than that these saved sinners would want us to know that we can trust in Jesus.

[35:59] We can trust in Jesus to declare us forgiven to declare us righteous and to give us new life with him. Help us to know that for sure.

[36:12] Help us to believe in Jesus and help us to experience the amazing liberating freeing grace that he gives us. In Jesus' name Amen.

[36:22] Amen.