SPEAKER_00: All right, good morning, church family, and happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: Happy Mother's Day to mom who's online and obviously to uh the mother of my children.
SPEAKER_00: Um glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest with us this morning, let me introduce myself.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Jason Smith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the pastor here of First Baptist Bernie.
SPEAKER_00: If you do not have a Bible, there is a Bible in the Purec in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: You can keep that Bible as a gift from us to you.
SPEAKER_00: We would love for you to have that as a copy, have a copy of God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: Hold your spot there in Mark chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take a quick trip down memory lane.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see this picture.
SPEAKER_00: This picture is my family uh in uh uh in December of 2019 when we came in view of a call.
SPEAKER_00: This is right around that time frame when we came in view of a call.
SPEAKER_00: You as a church had been without a pastor uh for about two years, and we were finally coming in view of a call, and I show you this because we were meeting in the fellowship hall, um, and it was a chance for you, the congregation, to meet me and my family for the very first time.
SPEAKER_00: And there was there was a breakfast that morning with uh hundreds of you kind of jam-packed in there, uh, and there was a stage set up, and Dan Gorham was the was the uh chair of the search committee, and so he got up and he wanted to introduce my family first and then enter into a time with me.
SPEAKER_00: And so put yourself in my shoes.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's a little bit of uh feeling like a caged animal, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh you gotta you got a hundred, two hundred people that are just kind of staring at you and they're like, there they are, I think that's them.
SPEAKER_00: What do they look like?
SPEAKER_00: All those sorts of things, right?
SPEAKER_00: So the the kids uh go up first, and Dan calls Lily the youngest.
SPEAKER_00: He starts with the youngest and goes in order.
SPEAKER_00: Now she is six at the time, and she wants no part of this at all.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, wants no part of this.
SPEAKER_00: She hides behind his leg, and Dan just stands there and politely and encouragingly, uh laughingly, just tells a few stories about Lily, and she cannot wait, and she gets to sit down.
SPEAKER_00: Could not wait.
SPEAKER_00: Next is Eli, but his countenance is completely different.
SPEAKER_00: Never seen this look on his face before.
SPEAKER_00: He walks up there with a puffed-out chest, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And he's standing there serving the crowd, and Dan is telling things about Eli, and he's standing there, and he starts to tell some things too.
SPEAKER_00: And then this is this is this was the mistake that Dan made.
SPEAKER_00: He reached down and he handed him the microphone.
SPEAKER_00: Eli is nine.
SPEAKER_00: He had just turned nine.
SPEAKER_00: He surveys the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: There is a hush, a silence.
SPEAKER_00: He grabs it and he says, I watch PG-13 movies.
SPEAKER_00: This was a declaration.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: A statement of maturity, of authority.
SPEAKER_00: He needed to let you know who he was.
SPEAKER_00: And what was going on in our home behind closed doors.
SPEAKER_00: In fairness, he said he only gets to watch Marvel movies, but no one heard that part.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, my wife was mortified.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's cute because he's trying to make a statement that is bigger than what he is.
SPEAKER_00: In our passage today, Jesus is going to make a declaration.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not funny at all.
SPEAKER_00: With a house filled with hurting people, religious experts, and teachers of the law, Jesus is going to say something so shocking, so absolute, that it forces right there everyone to make a decision about him.
SPEAKER_00: Because he claims an authority that only God has.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus claims to have the authority to forgive sins.
SPEAKER_00: And once he says it, there's no middle ground.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Either he is who he claims to be, or he is a blasphemer and a madman.
SPEAKER_00: But he cannot be a good teacher whose advice we kind of chew on and selectively keep and push aside the things we don't like.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, as I read Mark chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: When he came back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home.
SPEAKER_00: And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer any room, not even near the door.
SPEAKER_00: And he was speaking the word to them.
SPEAKER_00: And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
SPEAKER_00: Now being unable to get to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: But some of the scribes were sitting there and were reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak this way?
SPEAKER_00: He is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_00: Who can forgive sins but God alone?
SPEAKER_00: And immediately Jesus, aware in his spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
SPEAKER_00: Now, which is easier to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and pick up your pallet and walk.
SPEAKER_00: And so 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, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.
SPEAKER_00: And he got up and immediately picked up his pallet and went out of sight of everyone.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, this morning, as we come to your word, Father, we we beg that your Spirit would allow us to see and to understand that you have sent your Son to walk as we walk, to be tempted and tried as we are, yet without sin.
SPEAKER_00: And that Father, through his death and resurrection, you have now made him the ultimate authority, the judge, the one who can forgive sins, the one that every one of us will stand before and face at the end of our days.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray right now, if there is anyone here under the sound of my voice that does not know you, Jesus, as Lord and Savior, I pray that today you would save, that today would be the day of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now recall back to uh with me to Mark chapter 1, verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus entered a synagogue, and he was a guest rabbi, and he was invited to teach.
SPEAKER_00: But immediately the scene feels different because Jesus does not teach the way that the rabbis taught.
SPEAKER_00: See, the scribes in their day got their authority from tradition.
SPEAKER_00: They would say, you know, Rabbi so-and-so says this.
SPEAKER_00: Or the long-standing teachers of the law taught this, but they did not ever speak with original authority.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus steps into their world, okay, and bypasses the entire system.
SPEAKER_00: You have heard it said, but I say to you, he speaks with an authority of the lawgiver himself.
SPEAKER_00: And the people are stunned.
SPEAKER_00: And if his teaching wasn't shocking enough, right there in the synagogue, he casts out a demon.
SPEAKER_00: Now, news about him spreads rapidly, especially amongst the religious leaders.
SPEAKER_00: And by the time that we get to Mark chapter two, the scribes are no longer simply curious about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Luke tells us that Pharisees and scribes, teachers of the law, came from every village, all through Galilee and Judea and even Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: This has now become an official investigation.
SPEAKER_00: And they are seated before Jesus, listening to him teach about the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: Now the fact that the scribes are seated is a very important detail because in that culture, sitting was the posture of recognized authority.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They are not casual observers just kind of standing in the back around the room.
SPEAKER_00: The fact that they are seated is because they are the theological experts, front and center, evaluating Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so now Mark brings us into the scene.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has returned to Capernaum, most likely to Peter's home.
SPEAKER_00: This was home base.
SPEAKER_00: Now houses in the ancient world were a bunch of small units built around a common courtyard, and they would create a family compound.
SPEAKER_00: So all of Peter's family lives around, and it actually became pretty large.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the moment that people hear that Jesus is there, the crowd floods in.
SPEAKER_00: They want to hear him teach.
SPEAKER_00: Some are hoping to be healed.
SPEAKER_00: Many of them just want to be near Jesus, near all the action, everything that's going on.
SPEAKER_00: And the house is packed.
SPEAKER_00: The scribes are seated front and center, and everyone else is kind of crushed together, trying to hear and to see, trying to get just a little bit closer, when suddenly the entire scene is violently interrupted.
SPEAKER_00: Bang! Bang! The sound of digging suddenly on the roof, directly above Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then dirt starts to fall on the crowd from the ceiling, and everyone looks up, right?
SPEAKER_00: And then pieces of the roof begin to be pulled and broken apart.
SPEAKER_00: And then before long, a man-sized hole is created right above the scribes and Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: The room erupts.
SPEAKER_00: Some are laughing with the absurdity, while others are shouting in protest: hey, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: The scribes are horrified by the disrespect.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, Jesus is not irritated at all.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, he delights in the scene.
SPEAKER_00: You see, four men who loved their paralyzed friend heard that Jesus was back in Capernaum.
SPEAKER_00: And they were desperate to get him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So when they carried him through the crowded streets and then suddenly turned that corner and saw the crowd, saw it overflowing, saw that there was no way in, their hearts sank.
SPEAKER_00: They said, What are we gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: But they weren't gonna give up.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they had heard about the healings, they had heard about Jesus casting out demons, and that hope made them bold.
SPEAKER_00: What if we get them on the roof?
SPEAKER_00: The roof.
SPEAKER_00: You mean you want to tear up somebody's roof?
SPEAKER_00: Tear up their house?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: We'll put it back together.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see any other way?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse five.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus seeing their faith.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss that.
SPEAKER_00: Because everyone else finds this scene a disruption.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus sees it as desperate faith.
SPEAKER_00: These men risk embarrassment, criticism, public anger, all of that.
SPEAKER_00: But they have to get their friend to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus loves it.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly, as he's being lowered, the room freezes.
SPEAKER_00: Right there in the middle of this chaotic scene.
SPEAKER_00: Dirt still falling, the crowd pressing in, a paralyzed man now laying right in front of Jesus, because Jesus says something shockingly unexpected.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse five.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, um, that's not why they came.
SPEAKER_00: They tore apart this roof, they lowered a paralytic man right in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: The crowd is pressing in, and your reply is your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is doing something so much bigger than healing a paralyzed man.
SPEAKER_00: He has chosen this moment of faith to force the entire room to confront who he is.
SPEAKER_00: Mark tells us that the scribes sit silently, reasoning in their hearts.
SPEAKER_00: They are the theological authorities in the room.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus knows exactly what they're thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8 tells us immediately Jesus, aware in his spirit that they were reasoning within themselves.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he perceives their thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: Because this moment is not ultimately about paralysis, it's about his authority.
SPEAKER_00: Authority to forgive sins.
SPEAKER_00: Why does this man speak that way?
SPEAKER_00: He is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_00: Who can forgive sins but God alone?
SPEAKER_00: Friend, you know they're not wrong.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the scribes understood something our culture has almost completely lost.
SPEAKER_00: Because we live in a world that thinks so shallow over sin.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Sin is treated like, ah, it was a mistake, you know, it was a weakness, a bad habit.
SPEAKER_00: This is just part of my impulsive personality.
SPEAKER_00: But the scribes understood that every sin is ultimately against God himself.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's against your spouse or your children or your neighbor, every sin is first and foremost against God.
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember King David?
SPEAKER_00: When he abused his authority and he takes Bathsheba and he arranges Uriah's death.
SPEAKER_00: When David finally breaks in repentance before God in Psalm 51, he cries out, what does he say?
SPEAKER_00: Against you and you only have I sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Not because David had not harmed anyone else, but because all sin is ultimately against God.
SPEAKER_00: So when the scribes say, Who can forgive sins but God alone?
SPEAKER_00: They are right.
SPEAKER_00: Because forgiveness is not God casually saying, you know what, this is no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just move on.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't we just pretend none of this ever happened?
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness is costly.
SPEAKER_00: Every sin says, my will over yours, God.
SPEAKER_00: We dethrone God in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: You see, God doesn't simply overlook evil.
SPEAKER_00: He is a just judge.
SPEAKER_00: So he established a sacrificial system with lambs and bulls and goats and blood spilled out on the altar.
SPEAKER_00: Because forgiveness requires a life, a life to pay the justice that is due.
SPEAKER_00: Which means the scribes are now staring at Jesus, thinking, who does this man think he is?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's simply a man standing in front of them, not in the temple, not offering a sacrifice, not standing beside any altar, and he simply declares, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: So this is either blasphemy or God Himself has entered the room.
SPEAKER_00: And friend, Jesus has now set the stage.
SPEAKER_00: Because the scribes are silently accusing him of blasphemy in their hearts, and Jesus turns to them and says, Which is easier to say to the paralytic that your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, pick up your pallet, and walk.
SPEAKER_00: Now think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Because, well, both are impossible for man to say.
SPEAKER_00: Both statements man cannot say.
SPEAKER_00: No man can forgive sins except for God.
SPEAKER_00: And no human being can simply speak away paralysis.
SPEAKER_00: But one is visible.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone knows that this man is paralyzed.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't come limping into the room.
SPEAKER_00: He came carried in by four friends.
SPEAKER_00: His muscles are gone.
SPEAKER_00: His body does not function.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus essentially says, look, you think it's easy for me to claim authority to forgive sins?
SPEAKER_00: Then I will prove my authority in a way that you can see.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, so 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, get up, pick up your palate, and go home.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly, strength resurges back through his body.
SPEAKER_00: For the first time in decades, his fingers move.
SPEAKER_00: And his ankles tighten.
SPEAKER_00: And he gets up.
SPEAKER_00: And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out of sight of everyone.
SPEAKER_00: So that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine the scene?
SPEAKER_00: The crowd parts.
SPEAKER_00: And the same man who was lowered through the roof now walks out carrying the mat that he was carried in on.
SPEAKER_00: But this was more than a healing miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus healed the man so that they could see, so that he could prove to them that he has the authority, he alone, to forgive sins.
SPEAKER_00: You see, our account is not ultimately about paralysis.
SPEAKER_00: The point is that Jesus has the authority of God Himself, the authority to forgive sins.
SPEAKER_00: And friend, that is a completely different Jesus than the Jews or the Muslims or the Hindus, any of them say.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to the claim of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not one spiritual opinion among many.
SPEAKER_00: He is the only one to reconcile sinners to God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Colossians 1:19.
SPEAKER_00: For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see it?
SPEAKER_00: The authority that Jesus claimed in this house, he knew he would purchase on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew whenever he said to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, that it would cost him his life.
SPEAKER_00: Because forgiveness is never free.
SPEAKER_00: And God does not simply overlook sin.
SPEAKER_00: The forgiveness spoken in Capernaum would eventually lead Jesus to Jerusalem, to the shedding of his own blood.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus was the sacrifice that the entire temple system was pointing to all along.
SPEAKER_00: Which is why in John 14 Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
SPEAKER_00: And no man comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_00: Not because Christianity is arrogant, but because the Father has given all authority to the Son.
SPEAKER_00: That the Son is now the judge.
SPEAKER_00: That the Son is now the one who declares whether you are forgiven or not.
SPEAKER_00: Because he is the only one that was able to bear the cost.
SPEAKER_00: So now think with me back to that shocking moment.
SPEAKER_00: The roof torn open, the dust still falling from the ceiling, the paralytic laying in front of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus locks eyes with him and says, Son, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Friend, what Jesus was telling him was that your deepest problem is not the fact that you're paralyzed.
SPEAKER_00: It is your separation from God.
SPEAKER_00: Now don't misunderstand the kindness of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus cared that he was suffering, right?
SPEAKER_00: He healed him, didn't he?
SPEAKER_00: But the legs that Jesus strengthened that day would one day grow weak again.
SPEAKER_00: That healed body would eventually die.
SPEAKER_00: But forgiveness, forgiveness reaches beyond the grave.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is not being cold or callous.
SPEAKER_00: He is addressing the infinitely greater need.
SPEAKER_00: So, friend, I now lovingly but urgently say to you, your greatest need is not physical.
SPEAKER_00: It's not financial.
SPEAKER_00: It's not relational.
SPEAKER_00: It's not circumstantial.
SPEAKER_00: That your greatest need is to be forgiven and reconciled before a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: Has there ever been a moment when Christ's forgiveness became real to you?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about religious activity.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about coming to church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even talking about dedicating your children or doing any of those.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about any of the promises that you made to God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking, has there ever been a point when the settled peace of God through the Spirit of God has made you known that your sins have been nailed to the cross of Christ, that you have been cleansed before a holy creator, that Jesus has ever said to your soul, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Because you know that can be today.
SPEAKER_00: You know that can be right now.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see?
SPEAKER_00: Do you see how Jesus responded to faith?
SPEAKER_00: Now you may be a believer.
SPEAKER_00: But you're equally discouraged.
SPEAKER_00: Because you say in your heart, Jesus has to be exhausted with me.
SPEAKER_00: My failures have to have worn out his patience.
SPEAKER_00: The darkness that is within me has to make him recoil.
SPEAKER_00: But friend, believer, do not miss the heart of Jesus in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the scene carefully.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not irritated whenever the broken come to him in faith.
SPEAKER_00: He is not repelled.
SPEAKER_00: He is drawn to them.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved, your remaining struggle does not surprise your Savior.
SPEAKER_00: His sins are why he came.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, your sins are why he came.
SPEAKER_00: And he died for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: All of them.
SPEAKER_00: There is more grace in him than there is guilt in you.
SPEAKER_00: So, friend, come to him.
SPEAKER_00: Again, come to him.
SPEAKER_00: But finally, Mark forces us to see another response in the room.
SPEAKER_00: The scribes sit there with their arms crossed and a hardened heart.
SPEAKER_00: The men who are the most theologically trained, have the greatest religious knowledge, have sat in more church services than anyone else, completely miss the Son of God that is standing right in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: And that should sober every single one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Because it is possible to study Jesus, it is possible to do so many religious things and still refuse to surrender to him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there is no neutral response to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This miracle forced everyone in the room to make a decision.
SPEAKER_00: Either he is who he claims to be, or he is a blasphemer.
SPEAKER_00: But he cannot be a good teacher that you get to chew on what he says and selectively decide what you're going to obey.
SPEAKER_00: And tragically, the scribes harden their own heart against the very God that they claim to serve.
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the revelation of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Father, that you have sent your son, and we bow before you right now.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we beg for your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Allow us to see with clarity.
SPEAKER_00: Stir our hearts with affection for you, Jesus, for what you have done, that you are the judge.
SPEAKER_00: That you are the one that we will stand before.
SPEAKER_00: And that you are the only one who can declare our sins forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Father, if there is anyone here under the sound of my voice, I pray that today, right now, they would hear the story, this story of faith.
SPEAKER_00: They would see the urgency and they would cry out to you, save them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, forgive their sins.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that everyone hears your voice say, Son, I have forgiven your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Father, may we not be hard-hearted, stiff-necked, like those scribes.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Church family, we're gonna give a time of response at the end of this sermon for you to respond to the Spirit of God however he has spoken to you.
SPEAKER_00: I am certain that you have heard God's word and God's Spirit speak.
SPEAKER_00: So the question is what is he calling you to do?
SPEAKER_00: In faith, in obedience.
SPEAKER_00: We'll have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: If you need someone to pray with you so that you can accept Jesus as your Savior, come.
SPEAKER_00: Today is the day of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be ashamed of him.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be filled with fear.
SPEAKER_00: Step out in courage and in faith.
SPEAKER_00: See the faith of those friends that said, I've got to get to the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I would love to pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever God has placed on your heart, you be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: Church, would you stand and single?