If you would please stand as you open your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. Mark's gospel, chapter 2, we'll be reading starting in verse 1. Hear now the good, gracious word of our Lord. And when he, that is Jesus, 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. 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. And 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. 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? 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, 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. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Lord, come before you only bringing more sin. Lord, our desire is for you to meet with us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, please wash us. Please cleanse us, O Lord. Please do a work in us, Lord. conform us to the image of Christ Jesus. Lord, help us to hope in the right things. For your name's sake, amen. Please be seated. The sermon is entitled, The Greater Miracle. the greater miracle, and I have to say right up front, this division is not my own, but it's one which I could not outdo. And so, what we have before us is a greater miracle performed. And we see this in verses one through five. Then we see this greater miracle questioned in verses six through 10. And then the greater miracle vindicated. Also verse 10 through the end of the section in verse 12. So I wanna start by just asking this question. If you were to take a poll right here in the Treasure Valley and ask people, what is your biggest problem? What do you think would be on the list? What do you think would consist of the top 10 items After, say, polling 100 or 1,000 people, what would comprise that top 10 list of biggest problems? How would you answer that question? What is your biggest problem? Well, how many of you said, well, my biggest problem is a sin problem? Do you think that sin would break into the top 10 list here in the Treasure Valley? You're right, I think not. It sounds like... We have difficulty enough in our own hearts, those of us who are falling under the regular preaching of God's word, when we go out and about, whether we're at the Boise Bike Project or anywhere else, the very last thing that we as humans tend to think about in terms of our biggest problem is our own sin. Well, up to this point, Jesus has been demonstrating his authority over various realms, over various circumstances of human existence. And in our last passage, we saw that Jesus is not only a capable God, but that he is a willing God, that he is moved by compassion and love, that he is not a sovereign who's merely able to exercise his sovereignty over these various domains of human existence and circumstance, but that he is a willing God, that he takes joy, he finds pleasure in exercising his sovereignty over these realms, and this is out of compassion for sinners like you and like me. Well, Mark then brings us into first century Capernaum here in our passage by telling us that after a few days of Jesus being back at his home base, word gets out that he was back. And so, As a result of this word getting out in verse one, we see in verse two that this house that is his residence, we don't know exactly how temporary or permanent, but this house that he is making his abode quickly fills up, so quickly, and so many people that it becomes a packed house, a sellout crowd. standing room only, and the people are jockeying and jostling about, and the crowd size then is limited only by the architecture, the size of the building. People are out at the door and beyond the door, beyond the practical range of even hearing what Jesus was preaching. And Mark records then that to this crowd, Jesus is preaching. And this is, after all, what Jesus stated was his business, just a few verses earlier in verse 38 of chapter one, to preach. This is the point of his public ministry during this season. to preach. And Mark records that Jesus is preaching what to them? The word. And you better believe if there was a word that was more effective or more perfect, better in any way, Jesus would have been preaching it, but there isn't and therefore he wasn't. He was preaching the word. And this of course is to say that Jesus is preaching the gospel to the crowd. He is preaching himself to the crowd. Jesus was giving to the people that thing that they needed the most. He was kindly teaching them what this word was all about. And while Jesus was engaged in preaching, an object lesson appears. Now, we don't know exactly who they were, but Mark records that they came. So take note that you have a crowd spoken of in verse 2, and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. He was preaching the word to them. So there was a crowd that was already assembled. And so when we come to verse three, there's a different they in view. And they came in the midst of Jesus already preaching, and they come. And this group brought with them this paralytic. And of the group, four men had the duty of carrying this paralytic. So perhaps this group that shows up kind of late to the party was an extended family or a clan, It could have been from Capernaum or maybe a neighboring village, but either way, it's likely that one or more of the people in this group had been a firsthand witness to the preaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ. And at very least, those in the group would have heard the reports. And so they, slowed and encumbered by their heavy cargo, arrived too late to just walk in the front door. Mark records that this group, much less the paralytic of all those who were in this group, could get no nearer to Jesus, get this, because of the crowd. Note the behavior of the crowd here. Mark says that they couldn't get closer, any closer than the door, because of the crowd. They wouldn't have it. They no doubt would have thought, well, better luck next time, or come earlier next time. I got to this place fair and square. And so this man's friends and family come up with a plan. to come in through the roof and or in ceiling instead of the front door. Well, there's many circumstances that Mark does not record, many details that we just don't have, but we know that it was common in that day because of archeology. that many of these dwellings had a way to get up to the flat roof via the outside of the building, some sort of a staircase or most of the case, just a ladder. And so, Jesus is preaching the word when a sort of commotion breaks out on the roof And then the ceiling starts to literally part, giving way to a very confident group of men who then lower this man down. Now that it was the same thing that brought the crowd, the witnesses to this, the very same thing that brought the big crowd, brought this smaller late group to the party, that had the paralytic. And so, no doubt, this is where everybody would have thought, okay, this is the part where Jesus heals the guy, and then he gets up and walks away. Jesus' playbook was, by this point, well-known, it seemed, that even the scribes Those religious experts and authorities of the day, they wanted to see what was up. And so they were in attendance. But Jesus, seeing the faith of those who brought this paralytic, this helpless man, Jesus declares not an end to his physical malady, but it ends to his spiritual affliction, his spiritual malady. Jesus says, son, it's the same word for child. Your sins are forgiven. And just two grammatical notes here on Jesus' pronouncement. The first is the use of this word son or child, technon. the lexicon says it is used in, this is just one of several uses of the word, but here it is used in affectionate address, such as patrons, helpers, teachers, and the like employ. And so it's used by those who have some degree of authority, teachers over pupils, patrons over the benefactor, but it is also used as an affectionate address and this is a little bit perhaps difficult in our own culture because anytime you're using any kind of address that implies a sort of difference in status that is in our culture a de facto red flag for condescension or a lack of affection but Jesus rather as he is he is actually proclaiming by using this very term that he is the teacher in this situation that he is the superior but it is at the same time a Oh, so affectionate. And so he says, child, even though this is likely a grown man, if it took four men, if it were only a child, it would likely have only taken a couple on a stretcher, but we have four. So there's good reason for us to believe this is a grown man. But Jesus says, son, as a kind teacher addresses this man's son, and then says, your sins are forgiven. And here the eminent Greek grammarian Daniel Wallace notes that here the act itself is completed at the moment of speaking. And of course we have this in our own language, we might say I plead the fifth. Now in that case, it's the words themselves that are doing the action. The act doesn't necessarily have to proceed from the words themselves. Here it certainly is not. It's not the higher and lower regions of air pressure that are forgiving this man. The washing does not come through the sound waves, but it's at the same time. It's at the declaration that the act of forgiveness of sins is conveyed. Paul says, I appeal to Caesar, right? So that the appeal is made at the same time the words are uttered. And so Jesus forgives the sins of this man and declares this forgiveness for what appears to be the first time in his public ministry. Now, if you're like me, you may have caught this and you may have thought to yourself, wait a minute, how does that work? And that is this. I thought that it was upon the basis of my own faith, of one's own faith, that sins could be forgiven a person. How is it that the faith of another could confer or could cause God to forgive the sins of someone else? Well, though it's not a primary lesson here in our text, I think it's important. Well, the answer is that indeed, yes, you as an individual must have saving faith, but it's also true that God delights to use the prayers of saints. When you are dead in your trespasses and sins, you're incapable in and of yourself to cry out even. And so it looks something like this, that somebody, somewhere, perhaps it's your mother, perhaps it's your father, a grandparent, somebody begs that God would be gracious to you. And God hears those prayers and delights to answer them, and then gives the gift of faith. Faith is never absent from the believer, but God absolutely delights to use the faith and the prayers, the intercession of believers instrumentally to bring about faith, the new birth, forgiveness of sins in somebody else. And so what we have here is the greater miracle has been performed. that thus far in Jesus' public ministry, we have all sorts of things dealt with, but now we have, dare I say, the greatest miracle, that Jesus performs and declares publicly. This brings us, of course, to this miracle being questioned in verse six. And thus far in Jesus' ministry, He has been unopposed. But it's here in these 12 verses that all of that changes. This is the first of five passages, and then later on in Mark, there's another series where Jesus is challenged and opposed. And that is, of course, that opposition comes from the scribes and the Pharisees, the authorities of the day. And right here, Mark gives us a view right into their thinking. It's almost real time. And so here in verse 6, we have that these scribes, first, they question in their hearts. So as this pronouncement is made, It's almost like you know something's wrong, but you can't put your finger on it. That's where the scribes find themselves. Except, of course, nothing's wrong. They just think that something's wrong. So they're thinking to themselves, wait a minute, something's wrong. They question their hearts. And then perhaps they're genuinely asking themselves, why does he speak this way? They're very unsettled. But of course, and this is probably happening in the span of milliseconds, they then conclude, and they say in their hearts, he's blasphemy. He is blaspheming. And then they play back their conclusion. They're asking the rhetorical question in their own minds, who can forgive sins but God alone? And of course, the implication is certainly not this man. They're right, of course, that God alone can forgive sins. but they have a faulty premise. Well, if we had any doubt that Jesus was God up to this point, which of course Mark is labored to establish, Mark records here that Jesus perceived in his spirit that they questioned thus within themselves. So Jesus, in his divine nature, is discerning not only that they're questioning, not only that they maybe are not so pleased, which somebody could say, well, you know, Jesus could just read their facial expressions. They had a sour look on their face. But the text actually says that he perceived in his heart or in his spirit that they questioned thusly, that it was this exact This was their thoughts to a tee. And so if we had any doubt that Jesus had a divine nature, Jesus is reading people's mail. Jesus is shown again by Mark here to be God, which is, you know, People who want to deny the deity of Christ, they go back and they say, oh, later on when he takes the title Son of Man, oh, that wasn't part of the original text. But it's just everywhere. You'd have to redact the whole gospel if you want to get rid of the deity of Christ. So Jesus responds after reading their mail. He's read their thoughts. He knows exactly what they're thinking. And so, of course, Jesus does what he does best. he asks a question, and he says, which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven or get up and walk? Now, of course, the point is, it's very easy in one sense, it's easy to say. For example, if I am a false prophet, I could tell a person, your sins are forgiven. And there's no immediate way to judge or to ascertain whether or not I have any credibility. And so Jesus is saying, okay, I get it. You think it's easy for me to say that. You think I'm blaspheming, but it's very hard to say, stand up and walk. It's very hard to say that. And why? Because we know instantly whether or not this person is a false prophet. If this person stands up and walks out of here, this paralytic man who we know from our own town, whether his whole life or decades of being in this condition, he just gets up and walks off. We would know that this man is no mere mortal. So this is Jesus, he's saying, I get it, you're saying easy for you to say, but at the same time, being accused of blasphemy. So it's hard to heal somebody, exceedingly difficult to heal somebody so they can go from this paralytic state to walking. But of course it's, so saying one thing or saying something is one thing, but doing is a totally different thing. And so to actually heal someone, to cause somebody to get up and walk, that's some hard stuff. But to actually forgive sins, God alone can do. So the power, perhaps, could be vested in a mere human to be able to pronounce the words, get up and walk. You know, which doctors and various people have tried or even done these things, right? But to actually forgive sins is reserved for God alone. And so what Jesus does then is vindicate the greater miracle. To validate the authority to forgive sins. His identity as God, he said, but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Of course, this title, Son of Man, it is a messianic title, one that comes from Daniel chapter seven. And then he says, I say to you, to the paralytic, so that those watching would know that he is authority. He says to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And then of course Mark records what they had expected all along, that 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. Friend, do you believe that forgiveness is the greater miracle? Would you say that sin is your greatest need? This man's rising is a vindication, just as Christ's own resurrection was the final, the last vindication of His work, His perfect life, His substitutionary death, so that He might forgive sins. And when the Father caused the Son to rise up from the grave, That was the most final and full vindication of Jesus' work, of His ability to forgive sins. But here we get this beautiful foretaste. Where is your hope? One of our problems is that we don't even think that sin is a thing, that it exists at all, or that it's really that big a problem. We look at our pocketbooks, we look at all sorts of other struggles, struggles with our health, struggles with relationships, and we think, that's a big problem. Sin is our greater problem, but the beautiful, glorious gospel is that as big as our sin is, Jesus Christ forgives sinners, that he delights to do so, that he's not only able, but he is willing. notes that the crowd who was arms crossed, maybe, I'm just going to pretend that I don't see this paralytic guy back here trying to get through. Note that they part just like the Red Sea before Moses. In no way could he make his way in. But in the face of the miracle, they were Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your beautiful, magnificent, glorious work through your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we confess. that though we believe, we need you to help us, Lord, with our unbelief. Lord, we thank you that you take sin, and not just part of it, but all of it, that we can be reconciled to you, that we can enjoy you, that we can press into you, that we can call you Father, that Jesus Christ calls us his bride, His chosen people. Lord, help us by faith to press into this glorious Savior for your sake and for our joy. Amen.