Jesus’ authority extends to the invisible

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase, “God, told me to do such and such”. It’s an interesting claim. Usually, if it’s about something like “God told me to help someone or to give something to someone” It’s fine and it could very well be an impression God is laying on their heart. But sometimes people might use that phrase as if it grants them some sort of authority. They might say something like, “God told me I need to give a message to the whole church” or “God told me it’s ok for me to do this thing” and they refer to some sort of sin. Or maybe one of the worst offenders is the claim a young man makes to a young woman at a Christian college. “God told me that you and I are going to get married.” Young ladies, please don’t fall for that one. Young men, please don’t ever try to use it.

The reason these claims are so problematic is because they are claiming to have a non-falsifiable authority. They say their claim is authoritative and there is no way for me to test whether it’s true. I just have to take their word for it. It’s a difficult position to be placed in especially when they use God as their leverage. Afterall, who wants to go against God?

This morning we’re going to see Jesus make some claims that at the surface appear to be this same non-falsifiable authority. That is until Jesus proves that he has this authority over the things we can’t see.

Main Point – Jesus’ authority extends to the invisible

Text – Mark 2:1-12

Prayer

If you listened closely, you probably noticed there were lots of invisible things being made clear in this passage. Let’s observe the first.

Point #1 – The four men have an invisible faith (vs. 1-5)

Jesus has returned to Capernaum. He did a little preaching tour around Galilee and now he’s back to the first town his ministry began in. Remember Jesus was going around preaching. He wasn’t going around healing. We saw in 1:38 he said, “Let us go on to the next towns and preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And what is he preaching? His message has been consistent, “Repent and believe the gospel.” Now along the way he has been healing people. That’s part of his mission, but it’s not the entire thing. Today he’s going to show us what the connection is between his healing and his preaching.

Read vs 1-2

It says he was at “home”. In the Greek, it simply says he’s in a house. It might have been Simon’s house from earlier, or maybe a different one. We don’t know. Word gets around that Jesus is in town so all of the people come to him. And what does it say he’s doing? “He was preaching the word to them.” That’s what we would expect. What word was it? The same one. Repent and believe the gospel. It’s the message he consistently preaches.

Read vs 3-4

You’ve probably heard this story before. A paralyzed man wants to get to Jesus. After spending time tearing a hole through the roof, four men lower him down in front of Jesus so that he can be healed.

Let’s make some observations here. First, these four men love the man who is paralyzed. When they see the obstacles they have to overcome to get him to Jesus, they are not deterred because of the love they have for their friend.

Second, this would have taken some time and persistence. They spend time making a plan, looking for ropes, and plenty of time destroying a roof. It would take more than a few seconds to tear a man-sized hole into a roof that can support your weight.

Third, they are absolutely convinced that Jesus can heal their friend. They wouldn’t have gone through all of the trouble if they didn’t believe it.

Lastly, they are willing to go to Jesus. Because they are from Capernaum, they would be familiar with both Jesus’ power to heal and Jesus’ message of repentance. He was preaching it here in Capernaum earlier, across Galilee, and right now in the house. They know what they want from Jesus, but they also know what Jesus wants from them. And still they go.

Now, all of this is just a setup for what takes place in verse 5.

Read vs 5.

At first glance, Jesus’ words might seem surprising. You might expect him to say. “Son, you are healed”, but instead he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” But this shouldn’t be a surprise to us at all. Mark has been preparing us for this. Jesus is on a mission. He’s here to save souls from the kingdom of Satan by calling them to repentance.  He’s not here to heal people. His mission isn’t a visible one that you can see with your eyes as much as it’s an invisible one that takes place in people’s hearts.

When Jesus observes this situation, he’s recognizing many invisible things. Notice it says Jesus “saw their faith”. It doesn’t say he saw the man or he saw all the work they did. He sees something invisible inside of them. He sees their faith. And he responds to their invisible quality with an invisible declaration. “Your sins are forgiven”.

This is the ideal interaction with Jesus. Jesus came to accomplish an invisible mission. When Jesus woke up and looked at the world, he didn’t merely see some hills, grass, trees, and people milling about. He sees the kingdom of Satan enslaving people. He sees what’s going on under the surface. He sees the invisible. And he’s going to enter into that invisible world and remove people from sin’s clutches by calling them to repentance.

Now Jesus sees these men who love their friend, they are persistent, they believe Jesus can heal, and they are willing to come to him whatever the cost. This is the faith that results in people being made free.

Mark writes out for us what would not have been explicit in that moment. Jesus looked at them and saw this faith. Have you ever had someone you love ask if you could do something for them? Maybe you didn’t want to do it or you were busy with something else already, but they give you that look in their eyes and you can see something. Maybe a book written about you would have said, “And when she saw their love and desperation, she said to them, ‘I’ll help you’.” Or perhaps “And when he saw their fear and frustration, he said to them ‘I’ll take care of it’.” Jesus sees the invisible in them. And he forgives.

What kind of faith did they have? It isn’t clear that they believed Jesus could save them from their sins. What is clear though is that they knew they needed Jesus and they were willing to move heaven and earth to get to him. He was their only hope. And it is to this type of desperate faith that Christ says, “Your sins are forgiven”.

A lot of people might feel intimidated to come to Christ. They think they need to come with the right knowledge. They have to be able to understand the Bible entirely. They have to be able to use the right Christian lingo. They feel like they have to be ready to answer all the questions. Or perhaps they feel like they need to have the right sort of character. They have to be clean cut and look the part of a holy Christian. They must not have any baggage. They must have an impressive reputation in front of everyone. But we don’t see any of that in this passage. We simply see men who come to Jesus in desperation. They refuse to let anyone or anything stop them. And they call on him to save them. That’s it. It’s not the impressive visible things that Jesus responds to. Rather it is the invisible desperate heart that trusts he is the one they need.

But not everyone recognizes what’s happening here. Some people have some doubts.

Point #2 – The scribes have an invisible doubt (vs. 6-8)

READ vs 6-7

The only experience we’ve had with the scribes up to this point was back in 1:22 where the people said Jesus taught with authority unlike the scribes. We mentioned then how the people viewed the scribes as authorities on the scriptures because they were the ones who would write the scriptures out by hand and they spent the most time with the scriptures and could interpret them. However unlike chapter 1, this time the scribes are actually present. Somehow they have managed not only to get into this crowded building but to get seats among a standing room only audience. How did they get seats? Well they either were the first ones there or they used their authority to push through the crowd and demand seats. After all, they’re kind of a big deal. I imagine it was the latter.

They witness this scene of forgiveness and they have some questions. Honestly, they’re some very legitimate questions because this is not how someone would achieve forgiveness in their day. If you want to be forgiven of your sins, you have to go to the temple and give a sin offering of a bull or a goat or a lamb and after the priest sacrifices it on the altar then he could announce forgiveness for the person offering. But this lame man has done none of that.

In addition to the man not doing what is required, they are more concerned with Jesus who offers this forgiveness. He’s not a priest. Jesus is not the authorized official who is licensed to provide forgiveness. And even when the priests do it, they aren’t declaring the ability to forgive of themselves. They are saying to the people, “You have done the things God requires, therefore he offers you his forgiveness.” But here comes Jesus forgiving sins as if it comes straight from him.

For a man to offer forgiveness in the place of God is indeed blasphemy. And this is immediately what the scribes think in their hearts. It’s a very strong accusation. Because the law is very clear about what happens to someone who blasphemes. Ready for another quote from Leviticus? Here’s Leviticus 24:16:

Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.

That’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t require much interpretation. The scribes are already considering if Jesus deserves capital punishment. This is the first time in Mark we’ve seen any human opposition to Jesus’ message. And it comes from those who are doubting Jesus’ authority. What happens next?

READ vs 8

Just like Jesus was able to look inside the invisible hearts of the four men to see their faith, he is now able to look inside the invisible hearts of the scribes and see their doubt. As far as we can tell they haven’t said or done anything that betrays their skepticism outwardly, but it is clear that God recognizes their hearts. He’s already expressing he has some authority over their invisible hearts by telling them he can see what’s inside them.

And this is the theme of our passage. Jesus’ authority extends to the invisible. We’ve already seen that he has authority over things that are visible, but now we see that extended to the realm that we can’t see. Let me remind you what Jesus’ mission is. He’s walking into the kingdom of Satan and saving people from it. He pulls them out by preaching repentance and places them in his kingdom where he cleanses them entirely. All of this is invisible.

When you look at someone on the street or at your work or in your home or even in this church, you cannot see what kingdom they are a part of. You cannot see these invisible realities. They may have hearts filled with faith or they may have hearts filled with doubt. We simply cannot see it. But Jesus demonstrates that he can. He sees exactly what is inside every heart. He sees what’s inside your heart.

You may sit in this crowd listening like every other person, but in your heart you’re not interested. In your heart, you doubt. You hear all of this talk about forgiveness and miracles and a man who dies and rises from the dead and you think, I’m not so sure about this. There is a strong temptation for everyone today to doubt. Not simply to doubt Jesus’ authority over the invisible, but to doubt that there is anything invisible at all. Is there really a supernatural God that created the universe? Am I really his subject and under his reign? Have I really rebelled against his kingship through my sin? Does this sin against an invisible ruler really earn me eternal punishment and separation from God? Am I someone like the paralytic who needs this God’s forgiveness? It’s easy for us to not feel the weight of any of that at all because we spend our time in the visible and give little thought to the invisible if it even exists at all.

But Christ is about to demonstrate to the scribes and to all of us that there is not only an invisible realm where these things are all true, but that he is the one with authority over everything that takes place there.

Point #3 – Jesus has an invisible authority (vs. 9-12)

Jesus continues his line of questioning toward the scribes.

READ Vs 9

Now this really comes across as one of those rhetorical questions where we’re supposed to know the obvious answer. Obviously, of course, it’s easier to say… umm… I’m not sure. I don’t know which one of these is easier to say.

To speak the words out of our mouth, it’s just as easy to say one as it is the other. It’s not like one of these two is a tongue twister. But which of these two is easier to perform? Is it easier to forgive a man’s sins or to make a man walk? Again, I’m not sure. Both of them would be a miraculous work that only God can do. Neither of them is easy for me. So I still don’t know what Jesus is getting at.

The only conceivable interpretation of this question that makes sense to me is that Jesus is asking them, “Which one of these is easier for you to verify that it actually occurred?” Anyone can tell a man your sins are forgiven and because we can’t see the invisible, none of us would know if it actually happens. But if you tell a man to stand up and walk, everyone is able to look and confirm if it actually happens.

READ Vs 10-11

In order for Jesus to prove the invisible, he performs something very visible. The crowds and the scribes included had their doubts about whether Jesus could actually forgive sins. So to prove that this man’s sins were actually forgiven, he heals the lame man as well.

It’s important for us to recognize that again, Jesus’ goal isn’t to heal people. His mission is to preach repentance and to save people. But here we see why Jesus heals people at all. He heals to prove his authority over the invisible kingdoms that he preaches about. The healing is a way to verify his message. He goes around preaching that people must repent of their sin and they must have faith in him to be saved from Satan and death and from the eternal consequences of hell. But how would they know that Jesus can genuinely save them? After all it would be foolish to just believe anybody who goes around saying “Trust me”. So Jesus demonstrates his authority.

When you’re sick, when you’re lame, when you’re dying, you have a very strong sense of desperation. You know that you need help. Someone must save you. It is clear to you and everyone around you that you are helpless. You don’t have strength or ability to save yourself. There are times when this helplessness and desperation are a gracious gift from God. He will graciously put us in a state where we can no longer ignore the truth that we are mortal. That our life will one day end in death.

God does things like this so that we can no longer ignore the existence of the invisible. The reality that we will stand before God some day and some day soon becomes painfully clear. The truth that sin and hell are real becomes painfully clear. And it’s a gracious gift from God that he uses sickness to open our eyes to see that truth that we never cared to recognize when we were well.

It’s easy to ignore the fact that you possess extreme financial debt. For a long time, you can ignore the fact that your bank account is empty and your credit card bills are skyrocketing. You’re still spending money. It feels like things are fine. After all, those debts, those bills, they're just numbers on a screen somewhere. They’re not even a real thing. But when your lights get turned off and you’re in the cold with no heat, when the dealership comes and repos your car, when the credit card starts being denied, and the period of graciousness ends, you can no longer deny the reality of your debt. You cannot deny the fact that you're ruined and you need saving.

The lame man recognized he was ruined. He was experiencing the truth of that invisible reality. The scribes did not recognize their ruin. They were still ignoring its existence. And so Jesus demonstrates it. Here’s our final verse.

READ Vs 12

They had never before seen the truth of invisible realities made so clear to them. Jesus was not only making claims about authority he had, but he was demonstrating it. It says he did this “before them all” or you could say “in the sight of them all”. Everyone could see it with their eyes. The healing itself was miraculous enough, but what it represented was even more phenomenal. That’s why they walk away saying “We never saw anything like this”. They had seen Jesus heal people before. This wasn’t his first trip through Capernaum. But never had they seen the forgiveness of sins proven with a sign. It’s interesting that they glorify God here right? Their response isn’t to spread the fame of Jesus like in other places. Here they glorify God. It’s as if for the very first time, the forgiveness for sins they had been hearing about was proven. Maybe they had gone to the temple before. Maybe they had offered sacrifices before and they had heard those words, “Your sins are forgiven.” But as they walked home they could think, “I sure hope that’s true.” It had never been proven to them that it was true.

It’s like someone walks into your home and says, I’m from the bank and someone has graciously paid all of your debts. You no longer owe us money. All of your bills are paid. Your car is paid off. Your house is paid off. Your medical bills are paid off. It sounds great. It sounds too good to be true. You’re not sure if you believe him, but then he walks over and flips the lightswitch. The power has been turned back on. You look out your window and your car has been returned. It’s proof that the forgiveness is real.

How long these people must have waited for proof that their sins could actually be forgiven. How often had they offered a sacrifice and said, “I hope that really worked”. But with this sign it was all proven to be true. The invisible reality of forgiveness was made visible.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could experience a sign like that? If God has blessed us with the ability to recognize our sins and he has blessed us with the faith to cry out to him for forgiveness, wouldn’t we love for him to just bless us with a sign that confirmed it really happened? God, can’t you make a lame man walk in front of us? God, I want to believe that this is real, so won’t you perhaps heal me of my sickness or heal my friend of their sickness? That would be the proof that I need.

But church, he doesn’t need to give you a new visible sign today of his ability to forgive sins. He’s already proven it. You see when Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross, he uttered the words, “Father forgive them”. And then he breathed his last. Did the forgiveness work? We’re told that our sins were placed on his shoulders and that he died in our place, but did it actually happen? Were these invisible realities true? And the people wandered home wondering if any of it was real.

But then, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he rose, got out of his tomb, and walked. He proved it then and there that the forgiveness he had been offering was real.

There are invisible realities. They’ve been real all along. We are desperate. We are in debt. Our death is approaching quickly. But be amazed and glorify God, because Jesus has authority over all of it. He has risen from the dead and he has proved that his sacrifice was effective. If you place your faith in him, you can really be forgiven.