The Authority over Forgiveness

REFLECTION QUOTES

“…if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legend or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I’ve read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff.”

~C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), British academic and literary critic

“Who knows what true loneliness is—not the conventional word but the naked terror? To the lonely themselves it wears a mask. The most miserable outcast hugs some memory or some illusion.”

~Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), Polish-British writer

“Our sins are many, but his mercies are more: our sins are great, but his righteousness is greater.”

“We cannot be so evil as he is good.”

~John Newton (1725-1807), Anglican clergyman and writer of the hymn “Amazing Grace”

“Prayer…, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is…not a matter of informing an ignorant deity of what needs to be said or done…. Prayer is a time when our wills are not merely to be expressed but also conformed to God’s will.”

~Ben Witherington, contemporary biblical scholar

“To believe that God must take away certain sinful affections for you to serve Him fully is self-centered at it’s core. You are commanded to serve Him because of who He is, not because of how you feel. The commands to kill the flesh, flee youthful lusts and take up your cross all reveal a major component of Christianity which is that you don’t have to feel obedient to BE obedient.”

~Jackie Hill Perry, writer, poet and hip-hop artist

“Religion says earn your life. Secular society says create your life. Jesus says, ‘My life for your life’.”

~Timothy Keller, pastor in New York City

SERMON PASSAGE

Mark 2:1-12 (ESV)

1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”