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Jesus the Way of Forgiveness
Jesus the Way of Forgiveness
Mark introduced us to Jesus in chapter 1. The very name of Jesus means ‘Jehovah saves’. Saves? From what?? SIN and the Wrath of God! As we learn about Jesus and what he did, Mark tells the story of the paralytic that is healed.
Imagine yourself gathered into this house to hear Jesus. The crowd is so heavy that it spills out the door and into the courtyard. These latecomers can only get close to Jesus by digging up the earthen roof and lowering him through the hole! What a mess that would have made! What a commotion!
Jesus not only heals this paralytic but forgives him of his sins. DID HE? That is the question that all of us need to answer! Sin is against GOD. It is God that has the right to forgive. Or, as the religious leaders proclaim at this point, ‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
The healing of this paralytic was a ‘sign’, it signaled that this Jesus was indeed the Son of God! As John would write at the end of his gospel, “30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31 (NASB).
As you sit in comfort and read this story, it assuredly doesn’t make the same impact as it did upon those who were there in person, who experienced the destruction of the roof, the spectacle of lowering this paralytic, or him jumping up from his pallet and walking out of the house. Yet something greater happened here: he walks away having been forgiven of his sins!
Having read this story, what do you think about Jesus? Will you trust that He is the way of forgiveness for you?
Hugh DeLong
