Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Authority to Forgive

Bryan Schneider · September 24, 2022

Mark 2:1-17

sharonrpc.org/sermons/authority-to-forgive

Summary

Four friends display desperate, active faith by carrying a paralytic through a crowd, opening the roof, and lowering him before Jesus.
Jesus sees their faith, addresses the sufferer tenderly as 'Son,' and first meets the deeper human need by declaring his sins forgiven.
Christ's miracles attest the truth of his person and message rather than promising universal health in this life, though Christians still pray to the sovereign Great Physician for healing.
Sickness and death ultimately enter through sin, but Scripture forbids assuming that every particular illness results from a particular personal sin.
The scribes correctly recognize that only God can forgive sins but fail to recognize that the divine Lawgiver stands before them in human flesh.
Jesus knows their unspoken reasoning and makes his invisible authority to forgive publicly verifiable by commanding the paralytic to rise, carry his bed, and go home.
Levi leaves an unrecoverable and lucrative tax post at Jesus' command, then welcomes tax collectors and sinners to hear the One who calls sinners to repentance.
Self-righteous observers grumble at grace, but those who know their sickness come to Christ for pardon, imputed righteousness, cleansing, changed lives, worship, and amazement.

What makes the four friends' faith visible and costly?
Why does Jesus address forgiveness before bodily healing?
What purpose do Jesus' healing miracles serve in the Gospel?
Why should Christians still pray for healing without expecting every sickness to be removed?
How should the relationship between sin and sickness be stated carefully?
Why are the scribes right that only God can forgive and wrong about Jesus?
How does the paralytic's visible healing confirm Jesus' invisible declaration of pardon?
What does Levi risk by immediately obeying the command to follow Jesus?
Why do self-righteous people object when Jesus receives sinners?
When did you last confess specific sins and seek cleansing from the Great Physician?

Great Physician: Jesus Christ as the compassionate Savior who has authority over bodily illness and the deeper guilt and corruption of sin.
Forgiveness: God's release of a sinner from guilt and liability to punishment through Christ.
Son of Man: Jesus' title for himself as the promised royal figure who possesses authority on earth to forgive sins.
Attesting miracle: A visible divine work confirming the truth of Christ's identity, authority, and spoken message.
Imputed righteousness: Christ's obedience credited by God to believing sinners rather than a righteousness produced by them.
Repentance: A Spirit-worked turning from sin to God that produces a changed course of life.
Self-righteousness: Treating oneself as spiritually well and acceptable without the mercy and righteousness supplied by Christ.