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Through the Roof, Part 3 - "Child, your sins are forgiven"

Mark 2v1-12

15th March 2024

This is our third study of:

Mark 2v1-12
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
Now some Scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

We've looked at this story from the perspective of the four friends, and from the perspective of the Pharisees and scribes who were there. This week I'd like us to think about this question: Why did Jesus say to this man, "Child, your sins are forgiven". He obviously needed physical healing. Why didn't Jesus just do that?

So far as I'm aware, Jesus never said "Child, your sins are forgiven" in the context of any other healing story in the Gospels. I think the only other time sins are mentioned in the context of a healing story is in John 9, when Jesus healed a man born blind. His disciples asked Him, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" and Jesus said "Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that the work of God may be displayed in his life". His ailment was not caused by sin. So why did Jesus talk about the forgiveness of sins to the paralysed man in Mark 2v1-12?

Firstly, we can say that the forgiveness of sins is a much greater healing and a much greater gift than physical healing. I'm sure the man on the stretcher was desperate to be healed of paralysis. I'm sure his friends were desperate for him, too. But all physical healing is temporary. That man would have grown old and died, as you and I will. He would have been taken into Paradise, as you and I will, because his sins and our sins are forgiven. One day, Jesus will return and we will receive a new, perfect body. Physical healing is the only healing that's temporary. Every other healing is permanent. The spiritual healing that comes from having our sins forgiven is eternal.

Our second answer might be that Jesus wanted to bless him with both forgiveness of sins and physical healing. But isn't that true of everybody Jesus encountered?

A third answer remains, but it must be a speculative answer. Perhaps the spiritual healing the man received – the forgiveness of sins – was the key to his physical healing. We can't know, but it seems likely that that's why this one man was told this, doesn't it? I intend to talk about this third idea next week but, before I do, I need to make it clear that I am not saying that a need for forgiveness is always the key to physical healing. It's always a mistake to make our theology of healing too simplistic. Jesus healed lots of people in lots of different ways in the Gospels, and He still does today. But perhaps this one man needed to hear the words "Child, your sins are forgiven" before he could be physically healed.

In those days, and sometimes even today, people can think that a person's illness must be sent by God as a punishment for their wickedness. Job's comforters certainly thought that. But there are lots of reasons why we get sick.

It is true that sometimes God allows sickness specifically as punishment for sins. He sent death to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. He sent blindness to Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13. But it's very rare.

Sometimes, however, our illness is a direct result of our sin, not as a punishment but as a consequence. A habitual drunkard risks developing liver disease. Of course he does. A glutton may develop type 2 diabetes or heart problems, and so on. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says people got sick and died because they sinned against the church while sharing the Lord's Supper. We also have:

Proverbs 14:30
"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones".

Maybe that's literally true. The sinful attitude of our hearts can cause us physical problems, not as a punishment but as a consequence. Romans 1 teaches us that, if people turn away from God, He will gradually withdraw His protection from them, and it's not surprising that the withdrawal of God's protection results in more sickness, is it?

Many illness just happen (or, at least, seem to). We might sit on the bus next to somebody who's got the 'flu, or eat some bad food. Infection happens in this fallen world of ours. If I trip over a paving slab on the way home and graze my knee, I won't try to repent of something. I'll think it's a pity I didn't notice the paving slab. We live in a fallen world. Things happen.

Some of our sickness is the result of somebody else's sin against us. The medical profession is finding more and more scientific proof that physical, sexual or psychological trauma, especially in childhood but at any time in life, affects our health over the long term. There seems to be particularly strong evidence in cases of autoimmune disease, heart problems and mental illness, but I believe it can affect all kinds of things. They just haven't done enough research yet. I suspect that one day, it will be acknowledged that any trauma can cause illness over time. If you've suffered trauma yourself, in childhood or later in life, God's healing is available to you, if you're able to pray about it, acknowledge its reality and give the pain of it to God. And if you do, there'll probably be physical benefits as well as emotional and spiritual benefits.

God heals, as our story reminds us. And, whatever the root cause of this man's paralysis, Jesus wanted to heal him. His illness might have been a result of his sin, or somebody else's sin, or it might be just "one of those things", he picked something up somewhere. It might even have been exacerbated as the result of psychological harm caused by the idea that God must be punishing him, when God probably wasn't punishing him. The idea that God is punishing us can make us feel guilty and rejected, and make it more difficult for us to believe that God loves us enough to heal us.

Does this speak to you? God wants to heal us body, soul and spirit; heart and mind; memories and fears; illnesses and injuries of all kinds. And God knows how to do it. Jesus, as always, responded perfectly to this man's needs. God knows what we need Him to say, and what we need Him to do.