“His Name Shall Be Called Jesus”
August 23, 2008
Sermon by Rev. Donald Van Dyken
Trinity Church of Tri-Cities
June 15, 2008
Scripture: Mark 2:1-12
Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ,
The bottom line of St. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost was in these words: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” The remission of sins. The forgiveness of sins. The entire ministry of Jesus Christ, his teaching, his preaching, his healing, all of his miracles, led to his one great act of his sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
Many years before our text this morning, while Jesus was yet in the womb of the virgin, the angel came to Joseph and said, “She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Let me then consider this passage from Mark, this miracle of the healing of the paralytic man under the theme: “His Name shall be called Jesus.”
For whatever other needs we may have, beloved, our ultimate need is to be reconciled to God and the only way that can be achieved is through the forgiveness of our sins.
First I would like to consider the faith of the friends of this paralytic.
Second, to see the relation between the miracle, the healing of this man, and the reality of the forgiveness of his sins.
Third, the power of the Son of Man to forgive sins.
“Then they came to him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near him because of he crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.” And then we read, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
When Jesus saw their faith. There are some things here that are outstanding about the faith of these men. First, I think we may say that the word “their faith” does not only mean the faith of the four friends of the paralytic, but also means his faith as well. For we later see that when Jesus told him to arise, he immediately arose. He too had faith. But it is the faith of these four friends that first finds our attention. It was a persevering faith, that is a faith that would not be stopped by any obstacles.
Jesus was preaching in a house, and the house was crowded with people listening to him. It was so crowded that finally nobody could even get near the doors of the house. Yet these four friends were determined to get their paralyzed friend close to Jesus. But we would say to them, “Sorry, you’ll have to try some other time, because right now it’s just impossible. There is no way in. There is no way you can bring your friend close to Jesus today.”
But they were not to be stopped. So they carried the man on his stretcher up the stairs on the outside of the house, onto the flat roof that covered most houses in those days, and then proceeded to break through the roof. They were willing to go through the hard labor of digging down through the soil and branches that made up the roof. They were willing to risk the anger of those below on whose head dirt and twigs were falling. They were willing to pay the owner of the house for the expense of repair. All those things counted little in their minds, if only they could achieve their objective, if only they could get their friend close to Jesus.
This gives us a wonderful pattern to follow, doesn’t it? Do you have friends, acquaintances, who you know need to come to Jesus? Yet how easy it is to put it off. How easy it is to find one excuse or another to avoid bringing the gospel of Jesus to them. How easy it is to think that perhaps another more convenient time, you will bring them to Jesus.
But how does one bring a friend to Jesus? Well, what do you do each Lord’s Day? You come to church. What is church? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that the church is the temple of the living God? If it is the temple of the living God, isn’t Jesus there? Doesn’t the apostle Paul say, “How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher.” Doesn’t Paul say in 1 Corinthians that in the presence of the preached Word of the Gospel, an unbeliever may come in, hear, and falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you?
Perseverance. . .persistence to bring your friends into the presence of the Lord Jesus that they too may receive the forgiveness of sins.
If we look back at this paralytic for a minute, we don’t know whether he was willing to come to Jesus or not. We assume that he was. But even if he wasn’t, his friends wanted him to go, and his friends carried him there, whether he wanted to go or not. They wouldn’t accept his protests. If he said, “Well, look, thanks guys, I really appreciate your coming all this way, but well, you can see it’s just impossible to get even anywhere near Jesus, so let’s give it up as a good try. What more can you do, anyway?”
But they did not give up. They would not be stopped. So they carried him up onto the roof, started chopping and digging away until they had cleared a large enough hold to lower the stretcher down before the astonished crowd. So there he was, in front of Jesus. Are you that good, that persistent, that persevering for your friends?
Let’s consider another facet. What about you? Do you have such a longing to come into the presence of Jesus, that you allow nothing to stop you? Not your tiredness. Not your feelings. Not any inconvenience. Would you show that there was no labor, no embarrassment, no effort you would not put forth to come into the presence of Jesus?
Let me ask two questions. First, do you believe that when you open your Bibles and read you are coming into the presence of Jesus? Do you believe what he said that all the Scriptures testify, reveal him? Then if I asked that all those here today who faithfully followed the Bible reading schedule in your weekly bulletin would please raise their hands, how many hands would raise? Well, forget that. Would you raise your hand? And if now, not how many excuses would you have?
Second question, do you believe that you come into the presence of Jesus at worship? Do you believe that this is what we call it in the bulletin, the Lord’s Service, that the Lord Jesus himself is here to serve you, and that his presence is first of all in the Word? How many of you then will come into the presence of Jesus this afternoon? These friends who were bringing the paralytic to Jesus could have found a ready and reasonable excuse not to try any longer. And perhaps you can find ready and reasonable excuses too.
Let’s continue about the faith of these men. Our text says that Jesus saw their faith. Of course, as the Son of God he knew they had faith, and there are some instances in the gospels where it is recorded that Jesus knew a person had faith. But our text says that Jesus saw their faith. That tells us, doesn’t it, that faith is visible.
True faith always produces visible action, a visible action, an obedience, a hope that is seen, that God in Christ can see. St. James said, as you remember, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Show me your faith without your works? James is clearly implying that that is impossible. So when he said, “I will show you my faith by my works,” he was also implying that all true faith is visible.
Jesus saw their faith. Does he see your faith, our faith?
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgive you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Arise take up your ed and walk?” But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” he said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all.
Well, that is a hard question Jesus put, isn’t it? What is easier, to say your sins are forgive you or to say arise take up your bed and walk? Well, if one’s words were to actually have that power, what would be easier? But could the scribes, could anyone say “arise, take up your bed and walk,” and expect that the words would carry the power to actually heal that paralytic man? I don’t think so.
The miracles of Jesus, his healing and all the other miracles he performed were evidence, were the testimony as we saw last week, they were witnesses to his divine power, to the fact that he was the Son of God, that he was Immanuel, God with us.
The healing of this paralytic, any healing that Jesus performed, was the witness that God was among them, and if God was among them, what was their ultimate need? Beyond physical health, beyond healing, beyond the food provided for the five thousand, beyond healing from leprosy or paralysis, what did anyone in the presence of God need? He needed to be reconciled. Why? Because that man and we too are all sinners, and our sins are a barrier we cannot cross over. We need our sins forgiven.
You may be healed of paralysis, you may be healed of cancer, you may be cured of leprosy, but you may be certain that no matter how healthy you are, no matter how many precautions against sickness you may take, you will finally die. Death will get you, and, as the apostle says, it is given to man once to die, and after that the judgment.
Christ’s healing ministry was the witness that God was present, and the need of all those there was to be reconciled to that God through the forgiveness of sins. But when people come to that realization, they need to know that forgiveness of sins is real. How would they know that their sins were really forgiven? How could they, or we for that matter, know for sure that when we stood before the judgment seat of Almighty God, all our sins had already been blotted out, had been forgiven, remitted in full with no debt left to pay. What visible evidence do we have here that our sins are forgiven? What visible evidence did this paralytic have that when Jesus said that his sins were forgiven, that they actually were?
But here we come to the point of this miracle. Through his divine power to heal this paralytic, to free him from the paralysis, Jesus is making the forgiveness of sins visible. The sign is the evidence of the reality of his word of forgiveness. The power that came into the limbs of this man was the evidence in his own body that God had forgiven him his sins.
What a wonderful assurance this man had. Every time he got up and walked in his house, every time he took up his food to eat, he could feel in his own body the power that healed him, and again he would be reminded of the great testimony he carried in his own body that the Word of Christ was true, his sins were forgiven him, and he would not only enjoy this life, but the life to come.
And that, beloved, is what Christ provides for you and me every Lord’s Day. We may take into our bodies the body and blood of Jesus, given for us, that the witness to his word of forgiveness is present with us, in our own bodies. And it is good to remember that in our passage the reality preceded the sign. That is, Christ first pronounced the word of forgiveness and then confirmed the reality of those words by the sign that followed. Without the word the sign merely prolonged his life until he died. And for us, without the Word, the sign of holy Supper is nothing.
The sign, the miracle of healing this man, the recovered strength in his body always pointed him, always directed him back to those precious and eternal life-giving words, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Is that what counts for you and for me?
Now let me take a related trail for a couple of minutes, and that is the subject of healing and faith. It’s really quite sad that some Christians seem to have the idea that health is really a matter of faith, that if you have sufficient faith you will live long and healthy. Now first of all, let’s think for a minute. No matter how healthy you are, no matter how many diseases you and your doctors conquer, you will finally die. Of what? Of old age, we say. But what are the years of your life compared to eternity? If you only live ten years, or live a hundred years, what is that time compared to eternity; and every man’s eternity will be an eternity of torment in hell or bliss in heaven. Those alternatives, heaven or hell, are determined by whether your sins are forgiven or not.
Further, let’s look at a few men of faith in the Bible. God said of Job that he was upright and blameless. That meant that Job’s faith was a visible faith, certainly visible to God and even to Satan. Shall we join Job’s three friends and say that Job must have been lacking in faith, that is, lacking in obedience, because he suffered so much? I think not, for God said that Job’s three friends seriously sinned.
What shall we say of a man like Paul? Was he lacking in faith? Paul said that he had a thorn in the flesh. He had a serious illness that he believed should be out of the way. He said that he asked God three times to remove it. What did God tell him? Did God say, “Well, Paul, if you had more faith when you asked me, then you wouldn’t have this problem anymore.” No, God told him not to ask anymore, and added these wonderful words, “My grace is sufficient, my strength is perfected in weakness.”
God was saying that it pleased him to use the very weakness, the very illness of Paul so that the power of God would be perfected, that is, that the power of God would fully fulfill its purposes through the life of Paul, not just even though he was plagued by his sickness, but through that very weakness God’s power and glory would be evident.
Again, look at the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 57: “The righteous perishes, And no man takes [it] to heart; Merciful men [are] taken away, While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, [Each one] walking [in] his uprightness.” (Isa 57:1-2 NKJV)
What does the 11th chapter of Hebrews say about faith and healing? Nothing. But that is what we call the great chapter of faith. What does it say about faith? Listen: “who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, (Yes, out of weakness) became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented–– of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, [in] dens and caves of the earth.” (Heb 11:33-38 NKJV)
Was Martin Luther a man of faith? Would anyone doubt that? And yet he was plagued by illnesses that finally took him down at the age of 63. What about John Calvin? Was he a man of faith? And yet he died at 55.
Did his strong faith mean that he was free from sickness? Medical doctor Charles L. Cooke, examines Calvin’s illnesses in order to understand their impact upon his work and to appreciate more fully his accomplishments. All of Calvin’s diseases—chronic tophaceous gout, (a chronic form of gout, nodular uric acid crystals forming in the soft tissue of the body, extremely painful), chronic pulmonary tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, hemorrhoids, spastic bowel syndrome, and migraine headaches—“are capable of causing severe pain or severe difficulty in breathing. All are capable of producing severe weight loss, anemia, and weakness”. He probably died of septicemia, brought about by renal failure or uremia Calvin’s “illnesses were not alleviated, they were not cured, nor were they controlled. Notwithstanding the tremendous drain on his energy, Calvin became one of the most productive and influential thinkers in history”
So we need to put the lid once and for all on this nonsense that physical healing is what faith in Jesus is all about. What faith in Jesus is all about is believing in his promise that all our sins are forgiven for the sake of his one sacrifice on the cross, and that through faith in him, they will never more be imputed to us, and that we are heirs, not just of a few more years of health, but of an eternity with never a hint of sickness to darken our lives.
I’m going to skip the unbelief of the scribes and only comment that they were those who took well enough to the signs Jesus performed, for we read that on one occasion they asked him for a sign, but they refused to believe the testimony of the signs, they refused to believe that Jesus could forgive sins, they refused to believe really, that they had sins to be forgiven. And that is tragic, and that is a warning.
Our text says, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins…”
Let’s ask what I hope is an obvious question that comes to your mind, Why did Jesus say, “The Son of Man?” Why didn’t he say, “The Son of God?” The scribes had just commented in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins but God alone.” We know that Jesus said in John 5 that he did the works of his Father, and in saying that he made himself equal with God. We know that Jesus was the Son of God. So why didn’t he say, “That you may know that I am the Son of God and have power on earth to forgive sins,”
First let’s note that Jesus wasn’t the only man on earth to pronounce the forgiveness of sins. The prophets of the Old Testament did so. Here is just one example: Isaiah 40:1,2 “”Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.”” (Isa 40:1-2 NKJV)Isaiah was to pronounce that the iniquity of Jerusalem was pardoned.
Consider what Christ said to the apostles when he left, “”If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any, they are retained.”” (Joh 20:23 NKJV)
Yet both Isaiah and the apostles could never say that they had authority to forgive sins, but only that they could relay, could pronounce the forgiveness of God upon those who repented. It was meaningful, it was real, but it was delegated, it was given to them. But Jesus said that he had authority, he had the authority. And that means that he had the power, he was the source, the origin of forgiveness. But again the question comes, Why did he say, “The Son of Man.”
Without pretending to give you all the reasons, I believe there is an important one that Jesus is bringing to us here. To understand we need to return to the Old Testament. When Israel sinned against God at Mount Sinai, how could they know that their sins were forgiven? God spoke through Moses. But God himself was not there personally to give them assurance that truly their sins were forgiven. When God gave the promise through Jeremiah that the day would come when God would remember their sins and iniquities no more, the assurance that Israel had was only through Jeremiah, who of course, soon died.
But with Jesus Christ, God had come in the flesh. God took upon himself our flesh and blood. So God doesn’t come down to you and to me as he did to our fathers at Sinai. He doesn’t come down in fire and thunder, in a mighty blast of the trumpet, with terrible majesty, with blinding brilliance, with consuming fire.
But he came to us in the flesh, lowly and humble, taking the form of a servant, and yet in that form, the eternal living God, who came near to his people, who touched them, who was touched with the feeling of their infirmities, and who pronounced to them, and who pronounces to you today, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
The reality and the sign. The reality is the Word of Christ pronounced by his ministers, “To all those who truly repent of their sins, to all those who place their trust in the one sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the Cross, to all those who believe that God himself in the person of his Son, not only took upon himself all our infirmities, but took upon himself the cause for all our infirmities, took upon and into his own flesh and blood, our sins and nailed them to the cross, to all those then, I may pronounce what Christ has asked me to pronounce, That almighty God forgives all your sins, and you are righteous in Christ, and an heir to eternal life.” That is the reality. And the sign our Lord Jesus gave to confirm that reality.
The sign of the Son of Man, in our flesh and blood, the complete sacrifice, given to us in the Holy Supper, that we may, as that paralytic so many years ago, receive in our bodies the strength of bread and the joy of wine, that we are whole, we are saved, our sins are indeed forgiven.
Amen.