Welcome to Grace May Bank Holiday!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,

faithful in prayer.Romans 12:12

Mark 2:1-12• IntroductionAccording to Richard Dawkins: God is “a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniac“

… really?

Mark 2:1-12• IntroductionAccording to Richard Dawkins: God is “a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniac“

… really?God is WRONG to deal decisively with sin?

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction– Sin leads to suffering

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction– Sin leads to suffering– Sin leads to death

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction– Sin leads to suffering– Sin leads to death– Sin affronts no-one?

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction– Sin leads to suffering– Sin leads to death– Sin affronts no-one?– Sin should be judged

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5– Jesus and a house at Capernaum

“Now after some days, when he returned to Capernaum,

the news spread that he was at home.

So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the door,

and he preached the word to them”

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5– Jesus and a house at Capernaum– A sick man gets brought

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5– Jesus and a house at Capernaum– A sick man gets brought– He gets lowered through the roof

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5– Jesus and a house at Capernaum– A sick man gets brought– He gets lowered through the roof– ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7“Now some of the experts in the law were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds:“Why does this man speak this way?

He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7– ‘Scribes’

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7– ‘Scribes’– ‘Reasoning within their hearts’

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7– ‘Scribes’– ‘Reasoning within their hearts’– Their serious charge against Jesus

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12– He KNEW they were having these thoughts

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12– He KNEW they were having these thoughts, v. 8– He didn’t reach for thunderbolts, but reasoned, v. 9

“Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’?”

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12– He KNEW they were having these thoughts, v. 8– He didn’t reach for thunderbolts, but reasoned, v. 9• V. 9 Gracious reply

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12

– He KNEW they were having these thoughts, v. 8– He didn’t reach for thunderbolts, but reasoned, v. 9

• V. 9 Gracious reply• V. 10 Gracious demonstration of truth

“But so that you may know that

the Son of Man

has authority on earth to forgive sins,” – he said to the paralytic

“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.””

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12– He KNEW they were having these thoughts, v. 8– He didn’t reach for thunderbolts, but reasoned, v. 9f.– A sinner forgiven & healed (and not crushed!), v. 12

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man

has authority on earth to forgive sins,” – he said to the paralytic

“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

Mark 2:1-12• Introduction• The event, vv. 1-5• The objection, vv. 6-7• The reply, vv. 8-12• Conclusion“ And immediately the man stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”