God’s Forgiveness Mark 2:1-12

Text: “But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts...who can forgive sins but God only?”

Mark 2:7.

 

Good morning, forgiven Christian!  Being justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Atonement for us at the Cross, we have perfect peace with God; that peace emanates from having one’s sins forgiven.  Hallelujah!  Peace with God Almighty! 

 

“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...”.  (Romans 5:1) (Isaiah 43:25-26)

 

Of all sicknesses, infirmities, and diseases - sin against God is by far the most deadly and dangerous.  Why?  For God hates even “...the garment spotted by the flesh...” of man/womankind’s sinful nature. (Jude 23) (James 1:27) (Joshua 24:14-22) (Zechariah 3:1-4)

 

God’s eyes are so infinitely pure and Holy that He cannot look upon sin, in any of its vile manifestations, without punishing the sinner for his/her iniquities.  (Habakkuk 1:12-13) (Psalm 119:102-104)

 

Our filthy, daily, failings and sins took the pure and priceless Jesus to Golgotha’s Hill.  Thus, to remain a Holy Lord God, God is bound by His own Holiness to punish every sin committed.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God with sin on one’s heart and hands.  Yet, we who hear the Gospel message are not without hope.  Praise God!  He is gracious indeed.  (Hebrews 10:30-31) (Ephesians 2:11-19)

 

Today’s Bible reading reveals three main principles of Christian faith and practice:

 

          (a)  Jesus loves faith;

 

          (b)  Jesus hates sin;

 

          (c)  Jesus heals sinners.

 

Jesus Loves Faith: (V.5) Jesus loves to see faith in us - for it is His gift to us, and without faith it is impossible to please God.  (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Hebrews 11:1;6)

 

Jesus saw their faith in practical action.  True faith always inspires worthy actions. 

 

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  (James 2:17)

 

Jesus Hates Sin: (V.5) Christ, confronted by five faithful men, immediately saw their plight.  Yet, ‘...man looketh on the outward appearance, and God looketh on the heart.’  (1 Samuel 16:7)

Jesus hated the man’s disease, but He hated his sin all the more.  The man’s disease would kill his body, but his sin would damn his soul to an Eternity of separation from God’s Presence.  Jesus hates sin, and immediately forgave the man his trespasses and sins.  The creature can only sin, in the primary sense, against his/her Creator God.  Therefore, only God can forgive sins!  It’s ironic, but even the otherwise unbelieving Pharisees/Scribes knew this much truth!  (John 8:32)

 

Jesus Heals Sinners: (Vs.10-12) Disease, thorns, and sweat are the fruit of God’s Curse against sin.  We know this from our reading of Genesis 3:16-19.

 

Therefore, as our passage reveals, once Christ forgave the man’s sins - revealing He was, is, and always shall be God - He loved the man enough to also heal his disease because it was His own sovereign will to do so.  (Ephesians 1:11)

 

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“We see, in the last place, in these verses, the priestly power of forgiving sins, which is possessed by our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“We read that our Lord said to the sick of the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” He said these words with a meaning. He knew the hearts of the Scribes by whom He was surrounded. He intended to show them that He laid claim to be the true High Priest, and to have the power of absolving sinners, though at present the claim was seldom put forward. But that He had the power He told them expressly. He says, “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” In saying “thy sins be forgiven thee,” He had only exercised His rightful office.

“Let us consider how great must be the authority of Him, who has the power to forgive sins! This is the thing that none can do but God. No angel in heaven, no man upon earth, no church in council, no minister of any denomination, can take away from the sinner’s conscience the load of guilt, and give him peace with God. They may point to the fountain open for all sin. They may declare with authority whose sins God is willing to forgive. But they cannot absolve by their own authority. They cannot put away transgressions. This is the peculiar prerogative of God, and a prerogative which He has put in the hands of His Son Jesus Christ.

“Let us think for a moment how great a blessing it is, that Jesus is our great High Priest, and that we know where to go for absolution! We must have a Priest and a sacrifice between ourselves and God. Conscience de­mands an atonement for our many sins. God’s holiness makes it absolutely needful. Without an atoning Priest there can be no peace of soul. Jesus Christ is the very Priest that we need, mighty to forgive and pardon, tender-hearted and willing to save.” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

 

It is not always God’s will to immediately heal folk who suffer from disease, yet all who are saved have been healed from the infinitely more fatal disease of sin.  Christ heals sinner’s souls.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!

 

Thought:  When one sins against God, God ALONE can forgive that sin.

The Power of Almighty Jesus! Mark 1:40-45

Text: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth.”

Matthew 28:18.

 

Good morning, weak, sickly, bereaved, and despairing Christian!  If any of these words describe you and I today – there is good news in this morning’s Marching In Mark’s Gospel for us.  Read on, and receive extra faith and grace to continue in the service of Christ Jesus.

 

The Healing of the Leper: (Vs.40-45) Leprosy was one of the most feared diseases to contract in Gospel times.  If one caught this deadly illness, one could neither hope to live, or live-in community with other people – the leper was a complete outcast, contagious with disease, and condemned as ‘religiously and socially UNCLEAN’.  This is the man that came to King Jesus Christ to ‘worship’ Him, saying, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” (V.40)

 

Use your ‘sanctified imagination’ for a moment, beloved Reader – SEE the scene set before us here; FEEL the hopelessness of this wretched man; EXPERIENCE to some degree, the impossibility of his pathetic request of the Lord God.

 

Now, SEE, FEEL, and EXPERIENCE the power and ecstatic joy of the Master’s response and answer to the leper’s plea: “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, and touched him (unthinkable action!), and saith unto him, I will: be thou clean.” (V.41)

 

“And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” (V.42) Hallelujah!  The power of Almighty Jesus!

 

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us try to realize, in the first place, the dreadful nature of the disease which Jesus cured.

“Leprosy is a complaint of which we know little or nothing in our northern climate. In Bible lands it is far more common. It is a disease which is utterly incurable. It is no mere skin affection, as some ignorantly suppose. It is a radical disease of the whole man. It attacks, not merely the skin, but the blood, the flesh, and the bones, until the unhappy patient begins to lose his extremities, and to rot by inches. —Let us remember beside this, that, amongst the Jews, the leper was reckoned unclean, and was cut off from the congregation of Israel and the ordinances of religion. He was obliged to dwell in a separate house. None might touch him or minister to him. Let us remember all this, and then we may have some idea of the remarkable wretchedness of a leprous person. To use the words of Aaron, when he interceded for Miriam, she was “as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed.” (Numbers 12:12)

(J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

The Leper’s Approach:  Let us note first the attitude of worship, and the sincere words of this poor leper, for they are vital to his receiving any healing or compassion from the Lord.  First of all, we clearly see the leper’s attitude of reverence and worship, as, beseeching Christ, he came, “…kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” (V.40)

 

The Leper’s Faith:  His reverence to Christ Jesus, evidenced in his humbled attitude, was mixed with that powerful ingredient of FAITH, the free gift of God’s grace to ‘His people’; a gift without which no one can be saved; and no one can ever hope to have anything of miraculous content from the Living Lord God.

 

“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is (exists!), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:1; 6)

 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us learn, in the second place, from these verses, the wondrous and almighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“We are told that the unhappy leper came to our Lord, “beseeching Him, and kneeling down,” and saying, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” We are told that Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will, be thou clean.” At once the cure was affected. That very instant the deadly plague departed from the poor sufferer, and he was healed. It is but a word, and a touch, and there stands before our Lord, not a leper, but a sound and healthy man.

 

“Who can conceive the greatness of the change in the feelings of this leper, when he found himself healed? The morning sun rose upon him, a miserable being, more dead than alive, his whole frame a mass of sores and corruption, his very existence a burden. The evening sun saw him full of hope and joy, free from pain, and fit for the society of his fellow-men. Surely the change must have been like life from the dead.” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

 

 Following this Divine manifestation of the Almighty power of Christ Jesus, we find what, in my humble and personal opinion, was a task given the cleansed leper that I personally would find impossible to obey.  The Lord Jesus said unto him: “See that thou say nothing to any man…”, concerning the miracle performed upon him.  Can you imagine it, Reader?  Trying for a moment to keep quiet about such a life-changing event?  Can you and I level blame at this poor healed man for immediately, “…blazing abroad the matter…”?

 

Thought:   If men and women getting saved by Christ today would only be as instant in, “…publishing it much…” to the greater glory of our beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ.

God Does Not Heal Everybody! Mark 1:32-39

Text: “And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him.”

Mark 1:34.

 

          “And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in His own country, and in His own house.  And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Matthew 13:57-58.

 

Good morning, dear ill Christian!  So often you have heard of the risen Jesus Christ Who is endowed, as the Son of God, with all power and all authority, over all things – and furthermore, you and I fully believe this truth.  However, your illness does not receive healing, and neither does mine, no matter how much you and I, and the church group have prayed for such a healing – and this fact has sometimes been permitted to detract from our most Holy faith in the Lord. 

 

Please do not let this situation cause us to doubt, or turn away from the One Who has saved our never-dying souls.  God’s will is a Sovereign will, and His will shall be done at all times. 

 

It is not taught in Scriptures, or recorded in the historical evidence of church history – that the Lord God heals, or delivers, everybody. 

 

We who are not healed, must still trust in God’s will, for when God’s Sovereign will is done – you and I, and every other unhealed Christian believer, are fully assured of the very best Eternal outcome.  Hallelujah!

 

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain my own ways before Him.  He also shall be my Salvation: for an hypocrite shall not stand before Him.”  (Job 13:15-16)

 

Verse thirty-two of our selected Bible passage for today, informs us of the fact that, “…they brought unto Him ALL that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.”  However, Scripture does NOT record the fact that Christ Jesus actually healed them all!  God, the Holy Spirit, the Divine inspiration of all sixty-six canonical (accepted as legitimate, orthodox Scripture) books of our KJV Bible, inspires precise truth to be written by chosen writers.  Thus, while God inspires His writers to inform us that the people brought ALL needing healing before Christ – He is also most precise to reveal unto us that the Lord Jesus, of all that were brought before him for healing, only actually healed “…many…” from among them.

 

“And at even when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.”  (V.32)

 

Yet, we see what happened when all this group of sick and possessed people came to Christ – some were healed; some were delivered from demon possession – but not ALL!

 

“And He healed MANY that were sick of divers (various) diseases, and cast out MANY devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him.”  (V.34)

 

The Sovereign Lord Jesus in this Gospel account of Mark, is clearly seen exercising His Sovereign will towards the people that came to Him in Galilee.  Some went home ill; some went home still possessed of devils – God’s Sovereign will was clearly done then, and shall always be done, or the Lord God will cease to be a truly Sovereign Lord God.

 

“What shall we say then?  Is there unrighteousness with God?  God forbid.  For He saith unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”  (Romans 9:14-16) God’s Sovereign will is always done.

 

The greatest healing, we can receive from Christ Jesus is His perfect healing from all our sin.  The greatest deliverance we can receive is Christ’s deliverance from Hell.

 

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“We may see in this case a lively emblem of Christ’s dealing with sin-sick souls. That blessed Saviour not only gives mercy and forgiveness; —He gives renewing grace besides. To as many as receive Him as their Physician, He gives power to become the sons of God. He cleanses them by His Spirit, when He washes them in His precious Blood. Those whom He justifies, He also sanctifies. When He bestows an absolution, He also bestows a new heart. When He grants free forgiveness for the past, He also grants strength to “minister” to Him for the time to come. The sin-sick soul is not merely cured, and then left to itself. It is also supplied with a new heart and a right spirit, and enabled so to live as to please God.”  (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

 

Let us look with a Divinely revealed logic on this issue of being healed, or not being healed; being delivered from sin, and not being delivered from our sin:  Think for a moment on this subject with the eye of Eternity, and let us ask ourselves this question: What would be the point of God healing a body, mind, etc. if that person wanted none of His Salvation from sin?  Why, the Lord would be merely making souls comfortable that were on their way to a Christ-rejecter’s Hell of Eternal torment!  A complete waste of His Divine and Holy time.

 

Salvation is a gift of God given only to those souls whom He has elected (chosen) from before the foundation of the world to give to His Son, Jesus, who will save us in His time.

 

“All that the Father hath given Me shall come to Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.  For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” (John 6:37-38)

 

Thought: One day, we who are healed by Christ from sin - shall be Eternally free from all our illness, and live forever in glorified bodies that shall never be ill again.  Glory…