Printer Friendly VersionWhat decisively tipped a divided nation toward George W. Bush
in the November 2, 2004 presidential election, even according to the most
‘liberal’ of media pundits, was the issue of moral values. The continued
erosion of traditional values was seen by a significant number of Americans
as of more a concern than a war in Iraq, the outsourcing of jobs, and a ballooning
national deficit. One could not help but be impressed by the electoral maps,
widely used by television news organizations, that showed the overwhelming
portion of the nation painted in red reflecting ‘traditional values’
as opposed to the blue of the more ‘liberal’ states.
It comes as a shock, therefore, to read the Gospels and find
Jesus consistently on the side of those painted in blue: that is, those who
failed to uphold traditional moral values. The unanimous witness of those
who knew Him best was that Jesus was the friend of sinners. It scandalized
the religiously and morally orthodox of His day to see that Jesus not only
accepted and freely forgave sinners before they showed the fruits of repentance,
but even fraternized with them. When He said that tax collectors and prostitutes
would enter the kingdom of God before the ‘morally correct’ (Matthew
21:31-32), He was, in effect, turning the whole hierarchy of moral values
on its head.
It is here in His ‘Gospel’ that God loves sinners,
that Jesus’ expressed His most radical ideas concerning the Kingdom of
God and incurred the sharpest attacks of His critics. Let us look, first of
all, at…
I. The Attitude of Jews toward Sinners.
The Jews were convinced that “God hates sinners.”
Therefore, to be for God was to be against whatever God was against. ‘Pharisee’
means literally, “separated ones.” The Jews divided the world into
the righteous and sinners, the clean and the unclean, the sacred and the profane,
the “children of light” and the “children of darkness,”
Jew and Gentile. They would have been very comfortable in dividing the United
States into red and blue states.
Such a division enjoyed solid support throughout the Old Testament.
The Deuteronomic code, for instance, spells out in great detail the blessings
of God that will come upon the righteous if they obey Him and keep His commandments,
and the terrible curses that will fall upon the unrighteous. Let us read some
of the curses that will fall upon sinners (Deuteronomy 28:15-16, 22-30).
Not only does God hate sin but sinners as well. Listen to Isaiah
describe the wrath of God:
Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it . . .
Thus I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity . . .
Anyone who is found will be thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished (Isaiah 13:9, 11, 15-16).
In Jesus’ day, it was common for Jews to stand in the synagogue
and denounce the enemies of God: the hated Roman oppressors, the despised
Samaritans (those half-breeds and heretics), the perverse tax collectors,
and prostitutes. To be on God’s side is to be against sinners. God’s
hatred of sin and sinners carried over into Mosaic regulations regarding ritual
and ceremonial cleanness. Moses established strict rules regarding who would
be fit to “offer the bread of his God.” The reason these unfortunates
were excluded from the temple of God or from offering sacrifices to God was
that they were under God’s curse: that is, their bodily affliction was
proof positive that they were sinners and were suffering the just consequences
of their sin. The wages of sin is disease, deformity, and death. It is against
this background that we come to, “The unclean, handicapped were excluded
from the temple and worship” (Read Leviticus 21:16-24; 22:1-6). Their
physical diseases and handicaps were proof positive that they were under a
divine curse, either for their father’s sins or their own sins. In any
case, they were beyond the boundary of God’s care and any sort of priestly
or temple ministration. Of all the exiles, excommunicated, and outcast of
the world’s people, these were the most to be pitied. Cursed by God,
shunned by society, rejected by religion, their situation was utterly hopeless.
This is the dark tapestry of ‘scriptural and traditional
moral values’ sanctioned, promoted, and enforced by the religious establishment
of Jesus’ day and against which the miracle story of the healing of the
paralytic and what follows must be read (Mark 2:1-12).
II. The Attitude of Jesus toward Sinners.
We begin with the miracle-story of the healing of the paralytic.
There are four sets of actors in this story. Let’s look at each of them.
A. The Paralytic. That this man’s physical problem of extreme
paralysis was caused by sin is obvious in the way Jesus dealt with him: first
He addressed the sin problem and then its paralyzing consequences in the body.
There is no question about the fact that there is a direct and vital link
between the attitudes of mind and spirit and the well-being of the body. The
psychosomatic link between body and soul has been borne out by modern medicine
and psychology beyond any possibility of contradiction.
Richard Young and Albert Meiburg, in their book Spiritual Therapy,
relate an incident involving a young mother sinking rapidly at Winston-Salem’s
North Carolina Baptist Hospital. Her baby had been killed in an auto smashup
but her own injuries were slight. The doctors called in a psychiatrist, saying
there was no medical reason why she shouldn’t recover, but she wanted
to die. His analysis uncovered the root of the woman’s problem: the baby
killed had been born as the result of an extramarital affair. She had been
able to live with her secret as long as the child was alive, but now nothing
the psychiatrist said could shake her guilt-ridden interpretation of the accident’s
meaning. It was only after a Christian chaplain had been called in and had
assured her of God’s unconditional forgiveness, that she could forgive
herself and find release from the terrible paralysis of guilt which was literally
killing her. After that she healed rapidly.
Physicians’ and psychiatrists’ casebooks are full
of similar cases underscoring the biblical truth that “the wages of sin
is death” (Romans 3:23). Death does not wait for the undertaker. It begins
its destructive work within the body, mind, and emotions by undermining health,
wholeness, and that vital sense of well-being upon which we depend. In such
cases, neither drugs nor surgery, neither health foods nor exercise regimens
are of much help. Only the pronouncement of Divine forgiveness and absolution
can heal the inner, spiritual cancer and break the chains of paralysis sending
the paralytic on his way singing the song of the soul set free.
B. The Four Friends. In these heroic men we see modeled the
epitome of what Christian ministry is all about. First, they cared for their
sick friend. They loved him and would not abandon him to the worst of all
fates: social isolation. Second, they took the initiative. Since he could
not go to Jesus they picked him up, bed and all, and took him. I am thinking
now of the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of boys and girls, men
and women who have been dependent upon others to take them to church. Willis
Messer, a Nazarene Sunday School Superintendent, picked up my wife and her
six brothers and sisters and took them to Sunday School for a couple of years
before finally her parents began to go. I doubt that she or any in her family
would be believers today if it hadn’t been for that kind of aggressive,
caring, Christian concern. Third, the four friends were not deterred by obstacles.
When they found the house where Jesus was teaching full to overflowing, they
exercised a little ingenuity. They removed some roof slats and lowered their
friend into the presence of Jesus. Now I submit to you, that is love! That
is servanthood! That is ministry of the highest level. Seeing the faith of
the four friends, Jesus pronounces the paralytic forgiven, and the Pharisees
are outraged! Which leads us to the third group of actors:
C. The scribes, teachers of the law, and defenders of traditional
moral values. What are they doing there in the synagogue on that particular
day? Why did they make the long journey down from Jerusalem, the center of
orthodoxy, to worship in that particular synagogue? One of the primary responsibilities
of the Sanhedrin was to deal with false prophets or heretical teachers. The
news about Jesus had filtered down to Jerusalem. So a delegation of religious
legal authorities was sent up to Galilee to check out this upstart healer
and teacher.
It is a fact that heresy hunters rarely go home empty-handed.
And this was no exception. They were knocked right off their ecclesiastical
pins by what they heard. This uneducated, untutored, non-ordained, self-proclaimed
prophet had the audacity actually to pronounce this man, this obviously sinful
man, forgiven! Horrors! Did not Isaiah 43:25 expressly say that God, and God
alone, has the authority and power to forgive sins? In usurping the role of
God, was not Jesus thereby committing blasphemy of the most outrageous sort?
Leviticus 24:16 made it crystal clear that such a heinous act called for death
by stoning!
Before they could gather up their deadly missiles to hurl at
Jesus however, discerning what was in their hearts, He healed the man! Just
like that! Right before their eyes, this paralytic got up, took up his pallet,
and walked out the door. Just like that, the scribes’ ironclad case against
Jesus unraveled. According to their theology of sin and suffering, only the
actual forgiveness of sins could bring about healing. Only God could forgive.
Yet here was this paralytic springing up to health right before their eyes,
which, according to their theology, could only mean the man had indeed and
in fact been forgiven by God through the Word of Jesus! They cannot answer
Jesus with one word! They left that house that day muttering to themselves
in a rage—a rage which, according to William Barclay, had signed Jesus’
death warrant and He knew it. And now, commanding centerstage, is:
D. Jesus, of course the most important actor in this story.
This dramatic miracle of the paralytic’s healing opens a tiny window
that allows us to look out on a vast horizon of truth about who Jesus is,
and gives us a shocking and breathtaking view of the God reflected in and
refracted through Jesus’ words and deeds. What do we see?
First, Jesus is the Son of God. Because of the unique relationship
He enjoys with His heavenly Father, He not only speaks His Father’s words
and does His Father’s works, but He extends to sinners His Father’s
forgiveness and acceptance. Clearly, someone greater than Moses, greater even
than the Messiah of prophetic expectation is here, for there is no hint in
the prophets that the eschatological figure of the ends times, God’s
anointed, would have the power to forgive sins. No one other than God’s
only begotten Son could do that.
Second, sinners are not the object of God’s wrath but love.
He reveals some things about God which even Moses and Isaiah never saw. He
put a face upon God, as John writes, “full of grace and truth,”
which humanity had never seen before.
Third, God’s forgiveness is extended as a gift, freely and without preconditions.
Did you notice something about this miracle story? Jesus never utters a word
of condemnation to this paralytic. He does not face him with his sin or pry
into his past life. Surprisingly, Jesus does not ask the paralytic to confess
or repent of his sins. As a matter of fact, the paralyzed man does nothing!
Nothing at all! He is entirely passive in the whole salvation process, except
that he does allow his friends to bring him to Jesus, and he obeys the command
of Jesus to rise, take up his pallet, and go home. We read in verse 5, “And
Jesus seeing their faith” . . . whose faith? The four friend’s faith.
It was their faith that initiated and released the divine flow of forgiveness
and healing on behalf of the paralytic, to which he in turn responded in the
obedience of faith.
What we see here is the radical revelation about God, that we see evidence
of in the Old Testament, but which becomes crystal clear in Jesus; a revelation
that scandalized and deeply offended the pious of Jesus’ day, namely:
III. God Loves Sinners.
Notice how Jesus addresses the paralytic: not as a sinner but
as a son! Look at v. 5: “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Literally,
in the Greek, “My little child, your sins are forgiven.” Just like
that! The implication is that the paralytic had already been embraced by God
as a son because of the faith of his four friends even before the word of
forgiveness was pronounced. In other words, God accepts sinners as sinners,
in their sins, before they have taken even one step toward God in terms of
repentance and confession. This was a radical and utterly blasphemous idea,
not only to the scribes then but to us now as well. The catalyst in salvation
is not confession of sins but faith. This is not to say that confession of
sins is unimportant, but only to say that it is not a prerequisite to saving
faith. It may well follow the awakening of faith rather than preceding it.
What we have here is a marvelous example of John Wesley’s
doctrine of prevenient grace: it is the ‘grace that goes before’
the sinner does anything meriting salvation. Or as theologian James Denny
put it, “Everything of importance in salvation begins from God’s
side,” the side of Amazing Grace.
We underestimate the paralyzing power of sin to imagine that the sinner has
the capacity to jump through the hoops of all sorts of pre-conversion spiritual
exercises. Paul indicates, in Ephesians 2:1ff that “we were dead in trespasses
and sins.” Dead people don’t repent, much less do they confess their
sins. Spiritual deadness often means the sinner has no consciousness that
he/she even is a sinner! For example, Paul evidenced no consciousness of sin
in his pre-Damascus road experience, nor did he confess his sins in that encounter
with Christ. To the contrary, he speaks of himself prior to the Damascus road
encounter with Christ as one who was, according to the righteousness which
is in the law, “found blameless” (Philippians 3:5-6). Paul does
speak of himself as the “foremost of all sinners” (I Timothy 1:13-15)
until 30 years after his conversion. Furthermore, he says, “I was shown
mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.” What he now understood
as the grossest of sin in the light of Christ, he formerly regarded as obedience
to the will of God. In other words, we are not in a position to understand
truly what constitutes sin until after we have been enlightened by the Gospel
of Christ.
Further, we underestimate the magnitude of the grace of God,
who has already forgiven our sins in and through the sacrificial atoning death
of Christ, a forgiveness which does not wait until we have measured up, or
performed certain rites of spiritual contrition. “God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses against them” (II
Corinthians 5:19). Reconciliation is 100% God’s activity. Forgiveness
is 100% God’s gift, which we can do nothing to merit. Forgiveness is
a free gift which we receive in the obedience of faith. This is the great
Lutheran principle of sola fide, sola gracia: by faith alone, by grace alone.
Jesus not only pronounces a sinful paralytic forgiven but invites
a Notorious Sinner to be a Disciple (2:13-14). There was no group of people
more universally despised or more rigidly excluded socially than tax collectors.
Why? First, they were in the employment of the hated Roman Oppressors. Second,
because they could charge taxes at whatever level they thought people could
afford and keep the difference, they became very wealthy in the process. Consequently,
they were hated both for being traitors and for being cheats. So when Jesus
had the audacity to call a tax collector deliberately to be one of His intimate
associates, He offended the sensibilities, not only of the religious leaders,
but of the common people as well. Politically, it was not a good move.
More than that, Jesus fraternizes with sinners (2:15-18). In
Jesus’ time the settled principle was to love whomever God loves and
to hate those He has rejected. The publicans (tax collectors) and sinners
were completely beyond the boundary. To have any dealings with them at all
was to declare oneself to be a sinner: guilt by association. No wonder the
scribes and Pharisees were incensed when they saw Jesus eating with tax-gatherers
and sinners. First, He invited a notorious sinner, an odious cheat, a swindler
grown rich in the service of the occupying power—yes, a tax collector—Levi,
to join His inner group of disciples. Then Levi throws a great party in which
He invites many of His fellow professionals and other sinners to come and
dine with Jesus.
That Jesus would become personally involved with moral failures,
with obviously irreligious and immoral people, absolutely scandalized the
“holy ones” as we read in vs. 16. It is striking to note that the
Gospels mention by name no less than three tax collectors among Jesus’
followers: Matthew, Levi, and Zacchaeus. It cannot be denied that Jesus was
in “bad company.”
Jesus rejected all attempts to categorize and then disqualify
particular groups of people because they failed to embrace what was considered
then to be traditional moral values. He not only preached but practiced love
for all humans regardless of their lifestyles and nasty addictions. Certainly
He did not seek to ingratiate himself with these guests at Levi’s house
by participating in their activities or giving His tacit approval to their
lifestyles. Jesus did not sink down to their level, but drew them up to His.
Jesus not only talked with these notorious people but sat down
with them and ate with them! “Did He not know what He was doing?”
complained the Scribes and Pharisees. Did He not realize how much sharing
a meal—then as now—can compromise a person? Fellowship at table
meant more than mere politeness and friendliness. It meant peace, acceptance,
and fraternity. Considering the fact that Jesus undoubtedly pronounced a blessing
over the food and for those eating, as has always been customary around Jewish
tables, it meant He believed God approved of His fellowship at table with
sinners. The morally upright felt this was an assault upon the very foundations
of moral norms: after all, he who eats with sinners undoubtedly approves of
sinner’s ways.
In His acceptance of the poor, the sick, the crippled, the moral
reprobates, the social outcasts, and women, there is no question about the
fact that the very foundations of religion are being shaken. The purity of
the faith of the fathers is being irreparably compromised on every hand. What
kind of naive and dangerous love is this, which does not know its limits?
The frontiers are being obliterated between fellow countrymen and foreigners,
party members and non-members, between neighbors and distant people, between
honorable and dishonorable, between moral and immoral, good and bad people,
male and female, Jew and Gentile. What kind of Kingdom is this where not only
the lame, the blind, the deaf, the leprous are welcomed into the inner sanctum
of God’s holy Kingdom, but also the immoral, the profligate, the wastrels,
the swindlers, the outcasts, the reprobates, and even the Gentiles are recipients
of God’s mercy, God’s forgiveness, God’s acceptance, and care
as well?
No wonder the “righteous” objected! No wonder they
were scandalized at this gross heresy, at this doctrine which profanes and
even desecrates the whole idea of the Kingdom of God. No wonder the guardians
of holiness doctrine and holiness standards made up their minds very early
on that they had to get rid of this dangerous heretic, as we see in Mark 3:6.
They simply could not grasp the depth or dimensions of God’s love as
Jesus saw it, nor could they understand the inclusiveness of the Kingdom!
In throwing open the gates of the Kingdom of God to all who will simply believe
the good news and turn so as to enter, Jesus does nothing less that redefine
who God really is, and what constitutes His will for humanity!
Gary asked if he could talk to me following his first visit
to our church. He had come as a guest of one of our young single ladies. I
went to the muffler shop where he was the manager. It just so happened that
I needed some muffler work. So as he welded I inquired about his spiritual
life. He told me of his Lutheran background but also confessed that he had
committed the unpardonable sin. And what was that? He had killed a man. He
had been married only a short time when he came home unexpectedly one day
to find another man in bed with his wife. A fight ensued. It was no contest
since he was a blackbelt Karate expert. The man died of internal injuries
from the kick he delivered. He spent five years in prison on manslaughter
charges and had only recently been paroled. I asked him if he had ever asked
God to forgive him. He whipped around so suddenly with that welding torch
in his hand that it frightened me and said, “Asked God to forgive me?
I’ve asked him day and night for the last seven years! But He hasn’t
and He will not. He has turned away from me forever.”
I asked him, “Do you believe God lives in me?” He
said, “Yes.” Then I said, “Well, you’ve told me the worst
about yourself and I haven’t turned away from you. If God lives in me,
that means He hasn’t turned away from you either. He never will!”
Gary stopped welding, yelled at one of the other mechanics to take over, and
took me to his tiny office. I shared God’s great grace and forgiving
love with him. He hung on every word. I had my New Testament with me and read
him John 20:21-23 where Jesus conferred upon His disciples authority to forgive
sins. I asked him, “Do you believe that I am a true disciple and minister
of Jesus Christ?” Once again he said “Yes.”
I asked him to kneel by his office chair. I laid my hands on
him and prayed, “Gary, in the name of Jesus and on His behalf, I do pronounce
that your sins are forgiven. I do declare on the authority of God’s Word
that God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you of all your sins, that they
are removed from you as far as the East is from the West, and that they will
be remembered against you no more. Amen!”
As if hit by lightning, he jumped up and began to do a little
dance in that tiny office, raising his hands toward the heavens, weeping and
laughing and exclaiming, “I feel so free! I feel so clean! It’s
gone! That heavy black lump in my heart is gone!”
He was in church again the next Sunday. After pronouncing the benediction,
as the choir sang the postlude I walked down the center aisle toward the vestibule.
Gary slipped over and intercepted me and asked, “Could I go up to the
front and pray?” Could he ever! I turned on my heel and with my arm around
him walked back to the altar, had the congregation sit, shared with them what
had happened in Gary’s life that week, invited the men of the church
to come down, gather about him and pray for him.
“Heaven came down and glory filled that sanctuary that morning,” as the earlier private pronouncement of forgiveness was repeated publicly in the church. He went on to marry the girl who brought him, joined the church by profession of faith, and became a strong layman.
