This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Pattern of N.T. Authority” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, November 14, 1993.

We begin our reading tonight with Psalm 103. Give your attention to the word of God. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is removed like the eagle. The Lord performs righteous deeds. and judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the sons of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness.

He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward them who fear him. As far as the East is from the West, so far he has removed our transgressions from us.

Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place acknowledges it no longer.

But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his cover and who remember his precepts to do them. The Lord has established his throne in heaven. and his sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, mighty in strength to perform His word, obeying the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the Lord, all you works of His in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

And then, turning over to the book of Jeremiah, chapter thirty-one. Jeremiah chapter 31, beginning at verse 31. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, although I was husband to them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.” and then turning to Mark chapter two verses three through five. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Being unable to get to him on account of the crowd, they removed the roof above him And when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, My son, your sins are forgiven. Our God, your spirit’s work in the first creation brought order out of chaos. And as you are at work now in the new creation founded in Christ Jesus, your spirit again is at work to bring order.

And our Father, we rejoice in the order that is revealed to us in your word. We pray, our God, that your church may be well served. We ask, our Father, that you would grant to your church those who are especially effective in a service of mercy, and strengthen those that have that office presently. Also, Lord, we thank you for those to whom you have given the office of rule, and we have reflected upon that this evening as we have thought about the keys of the kingdom and the discipline of the Church. Again, O Lord, be pleased to grant to your Church those who are strong and faithful in the pursuit of this office. Father, we rejoice in the office of the preaching of the Word, and again, our God, we thank you for giving to your Church those who proclaim it with truth and integrity. We pray, our Father, that you might continue to bless your Church with faithful preaching. This order of your spirit is a blessing to us, and we thank you for it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tonight we come to the fourth and last of the items in Mark 2, verses 3 through 5, that have demanded special treatment from us. The fourth of these items is Jesus’ unexpected declaration in Mark 2, 5, that the paralytic’s sins have been forgiven him.

You may recall We have been over them often enough. The other three items that have brought us to this point. The first one was the specific mention of the number of men carrying the paralytic. That’s set before us in the third verse of that second chapter. Secondly, we commented on the bold move by these men carrying the paralytic. as they climbed up on the roof of the house where Jesus was with the crowds, and then removed the tiles of the roof in order to let the paralytic down through the roof. Thirdly, we noted that in verse 5, the emphasis fell upon the faith of the men who brought the paralytic, not the faith of the paralytic himself.

Now, as important as these previous matters have been, and we have endeavored to bring out the importance of these features, this last item that we will deal with this evening exceeds the other items in importance, because with it we are approaching the very center of the text that we have been studying. Here, the weightiness of the entire exchange is beginning to settle in upon us, and that quite definitely.

Jesus, then, speaking as he does in that fifth verse with respect to the forgiveness of this man’s sins, surprises everyone. He surprises everyone. No, not just the scribes, but the crowd, the multitudes that are present as well. Not just the multitudes, but the four men on the roof, and even the paralytic himself.

Now, the reason for the scribes’ surprise We know because we are told as we read on in the text, and we shall discuss their surprise in time. The surprise of the others, however, is a different matter, and that calls for our attention this evening. What about the multitudes? Why had they come in the first place?

We might look back to chapter one in Mark, specifically verses thirty-two and thirty-three. And when evening had come after the sun had set, they began bringing to him all who were and those who were demon-possessed, and the whole city had gathered at the door.” Thirty-four as well. And he healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he was not permitting the demons to speak because they knew who he was.

Why had the multitudes come in the first place? The report of what Jesus had done had gone out into the city, and the multitudes were obviously drawn to Jesus because of what they had heard or what they had previously witnessed. They naturally looked for healing as they came to Jesus that day.

What about the four men? Again, it is obvious they come bearing the paralytic, bearing their friend, in hopes that Jesus would heal this man. We are bold to say that these four friends of the paralytic expected nothing else. This is why they had come. What about the paralytic?

Certainly the friends, if they are the ones who had heard the report of Jesus initially, had been informed by them of Jesus’ miraculous power and ministry. He also comes with no other expectation than that hope of healing. But Jesus’ response now in this scene is a surprise. But even more than a surprise, his response proves to be a discipline to all who are congregated there. A discipline How so? First of all, it reminds everyone gathered there about the pattern of true biblical religion.

If you were to turn, for instance, to 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, you find there God speaking. speaking of forgiveness in connection with healing. This is what he says, “‘If my people seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and heal their land.'” Hear the mention of forgiveness in connection with healing in that text. But now I think that it is also plain why we read tonight from Psalm 103. You recall how that psalm builds to the third verse of that psalm. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thy iniquities. who healeth all thy diseases.” Again, forgiveness and healing mentioned together. In the Old Testament, then, there is a pattern that is set out for us as forgiveness and healing are brought together.

In fact, in some texts, healing becomes a metaphor in which one can see the dynamics of forgiveness at work. But you must note something further in this regard. Not only are forgiveness and healing joined together, but there is a priority between these two as they are joined. Priority, in fact, is given to forgiveness. Forgiveness is mentioned then first by design in Psalm 103, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. Not just the connectedness of the two, then, but even the priority. The priority to forgiveness and the ministry of God in forgiveness. Before healing, then forgiveness. And this, of course, because of the greater issue involved. Our forgiveness essential, our healing subordinate. Now let me ask you, what has the Lions share of your consideration and attention? Your health or your sins? your health or your sins. It seems almost uniformly that human interest lies in just the opposite direction from that which we have perceived out of the Old Testament revelation.

And what might we say with respect to those who have gathered expectantly in the presence of Jesus, and this scene described for us in Mark 2. The crowds have gathered around Jesus, not in hopes of a ministry of forgiveness. Nothing was further from their minds. They gathered before Jesus in hopes of seeing or receiving healing for themselves or for others. In this context, we note specifically that Jesus is not healing up to this point in the story, but rather he is teaching.

He is teaching, giving them a ministry of the Word. Note verse 2 again in that second chapter of Mark. Jesus, then, is exerting a discipline on those who have gathered. It’s a discipline with respect to the priority of the Word that he is ministering to them, but now in this context, as the story continues, it is a discipline with respect to the priority of forgiveness over every other consideration.

Jesus, therefore, is calling all those who have ascended, be they the multitudes or the four on the roof or the paralytic himself, to the heart of the biblical faith. At the center of it is sins forgiven, consciences cleansed by the justifying presence of God through the declaration of God’s Son, where sins are forgiven. It is not merely the priority of forgiveness to healing that Jesus is interested in setting out in this incident. For Jesus labors self-consciously.

He labors self-consciously in light of Old Testament promises. which he fully realizes are being fulfilled in him and in his ministry. You note, then, the specific promise that is given in the announcement of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31, the supreme and exalted blessing of the New Covenant? As the shining grace of the New Covenant shines forth in this event, God has already given his word that stands behind these events in his promise of the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31-34, “…they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor. and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.” Now, Jesus is laboring self-consciously in light of this promise. And by his ministry and through his declaration, he is making it plain that the great and unprecedented day of the New Covenant has arrived. It comes in the appearance of God’s Son.

But I want you to take special note now of the dynamics involved as the Son presents himself in this scene, for this very scene is not divorced from the signs of his own deep condescension and humiliation. Now, I realize that this is a bit of a leap, and I ask you to Just hang on with me for a while while we set this out. I am suggesting to you that even as Jesus here speaks about the forgiveness of sins, he does not speak in this manner, divorced from the manner in which he appears in the scene played out before us in these verses. and at the heart of it there are signs of his condescension and his humiliation at play. These signs are perceived as we take account once more of the descent of the paralytic into the presence of Christ. Consider what’s going on.

This man must descend to meet the God who forgives sins. This man must be lowered to meet the God who forgives sins. Not only does this suggest to us the humility necessary for us all, we who would be ministered to by Jesus, as we lose all pretense and are literally lowered into the presence of our God. But as well, when the truth is told, when faith grabs the full import of what is transpiring here, it recognizes in Jesus, God Himself, who has Himself descended to man in his condition in order that man might be redeemed and justified. Preceding the descent of a man has been the descent of God. And now man is lowered into the presence of God, the One who has made himself well.

And it is out of, you see, that humility and condescension of God that the forgiveness of sins is accomplished. The terminus of the whole affair, of this magnificent and magnanimous descent by God, is the cross and the grave. But we ask ourselves, what is the specific focus of the descent of God into this circumstance? The focus is the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus’ words, then, to the paralytic in this marvelous day in which the blessings of the New Covenant arrive. Jesus’ words to this paralytic are not concerned with one subject among many of which he might these words, from Jesus to the paralytic, strike to the very soul of his mission. In fact, as such, these words specifically test and discipline the faith of those who would come to Jesus.

It will not be a miracle that we can all see, then, that specifically focuses our faith. It will not be miracles in our physical bodies that specifically focus our faith, that first of all define our faith for us. In fact, such miracles in our physical bodies, as Jesus performed them and as his apostles after him performed, will disappear altogether from the experience of the Church. Therefore, it is not the miracle The miracle that is apparent to all, that focuses specifically the faith necessary of disciples of Jesus Christ.

It is specifically, instead, the miracle hidden from view. The miracle that can only be perceived by faith. the miracle of the forgiveness of sins in and by Jesus, the miracle of justification, the miracle of divine declaration with respect to our sins that they are forgiven for the sake of Christ, who perfects his humiliation and his love for us through his crucifixion.

Here, then, is the faith that is being defined in this setting on that day so many years ago. Here is the faith being drawn out of God’s people by Jesus. Here is the faith that He would discipline within us that he would shape and form, to the end that we would walk more perfectly by faith, not by sight.

Until that day, when he is pleased to heal all our diseases, we being raised up in our bodies into glory. of the messages that we have been engaged in over the last couple of months. The pattern of New Testament authority. View them seeing that the life of the church is virtually in this text, and the faith which the church is to have is being specifically laid out for her here. Listen to the text.

May all of us be disciplined in our faith by it. Let us pray. we would run with the crowd. Our interest would be in our health above all else. We ask our Father for the training and instruction of Jesus as he would set before us the heart of his ministry in the forgiveness of sins through an act of condescension and humiliation on his part. Be gracious to us, Lord, forgive us, for we continually find ourselves wishing to live and even with the Jews crying out for signs and wonders. We ask, our Lord, that we might get to the heart of the biblical faith, trained well by our Savior as he, in such texts as this, sets before us his purpose and our life. We ask, Lord, that you would also deal with your church. We love the church. And we ask, Father, that this day which has come to the church in which your people seem to run after signs and wonders, seem to run after miracles and manifestations in the flesh, even for the purpose of exalting the flesh. May you deal graciously with your children, drawing them back, our God, disciplining them and us by your word. We ask it for Jesus’ sake. who continues to teach us. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.