His Authority over Sin, Sickness and Death

In the last lesson we heard Jesus speak about himself. Today we see him at work. In the Gospels, Jesus’ words are never separate from his works; what he says about himself shows in what he does for people.

Four men and an open roof

In the town of Capernaum, so many people gathered in the house where Jesus was that there was no room left, not even at the door. Four men came carrying a paralytic, a man who was paralysed and could not walk; perhaps they were his friends or relatives. When they could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, they climbed onto the roof and removed it above the place where Jesus was, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralysed man lay (see Mark 2:1–4).

Anyone who knows old houses with earthen roofs can picture the scene: dust falling, people looking up, and the man being lowered slowly in front of everyone. This is what love does when it believes: it does not stop at the crowd.

The word no one expected

Everyone expected Jesus to say to the paralysed man, “Get up and walk.” But Mark writes: “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5).

Jesus began with this man’s deepest need, deeper even than his paralysed legs. Sickness weighs down the body, but sin separates the heart from God. This does not mean that every illness is punishment for a particular sin. When the disciples asked Jesus about a man born blind, whether he or his parents had sinned, he answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). So if you are ill, or love someone who is, do not put this blame on yourself or on them. But Jesus’ word to the paralysed man means that he saw in him what others did not: a person who needed, above all, to be reconciled to God.

Some of the scribes, the teachers of the law, were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). “Blaspheming” here means speaking in a way that trespasses on what belongs to God.

In one sense their question was right: no one can forgive sins but God. So either Jesus was saying something he had no right to say, or he had an authority that belongs to God alone.

A sign everyone could see

Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were questioning like this within themselves (see Mark 2:8), so he asked them, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?” (Mark 2:9). Saying “Your sins are forgiven” is something no one can see or check. But saying “Rise” means everyone will see whether the man gets up or not.

Then he said, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, and he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (Mark 2:10-11). And the man rose, immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:12). The healing they saw with their own eyes bore witness to the forgiveness they could not see.

Notice the title Jesus used for himself here: “the Son of Man”. It is the title he used for himself more than any other in the Gospels. It is linked to a vision in the book of Daniel, in which the prophet sees one “like a son of man” coming with the clouds of heaven, and he is given dominion, glory and a kingdom, and his dominion is everlasting and will not pass away (see Daniel 7:13-14). So when Jesus says that “the Son of Man has authority”, he is pointing to this ancient prophecy. The title tells us that Jesus is truly human, like us, and at the same time that he is the one with the authority and the kingdom that Daniel saw.

A funeral procession stops

In a second story, told by Luke, Jesus went to a town called Nain, with his disciples and a great crowd. As he drew near to the gate of the town, “a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow” (Luke 7:12). We understand the weight of these words: a woman who had lost her husband was now losing her only son, and with him her support in life.

Luke says, “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’” (Luke 7:13). She had not asked him for anything, and perhaps she did not even know him. But he saw her and had compassion. Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still, and he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14). “And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:15).

What do the two stories teach us?

In the first story Jesus forgives and heals; in the second he raises the dead. The thread that joins them is that Jesus speaks with authority: “I say to you.” And alongside that authority we see his heart: he sees the faith of the four men, and he has compassion on the widow before she asks.

This lesson does not promise you that every sick person will be healed now, or that every sorrow will quickly pass. The young man in Nain came back to this same earthly life, with all its weariness and weakness; that was not yet the final victory over death. Even so, pray for those who are ill and ask for their healing, because God hears prayer and works in his wisdom and in his time. The two stories are signs of something greater: that Jesus is able to forgive sins, and that he has the last word over death. This is shown most clearly at the cross and the empty tomb, as you will read in John 20 in this week’s reading.

If you are carrying someone who is ill, or a sorrow, in your heart and would like some members of our ministry team to pray with you, you can send us a prayer request. A pseudonym is enough; we do not ask for your real name or your city.