Sermon(Lk 5:17-26): Forgiveness of sins

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286807

 

>> ... 18 And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?” 22 When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” ㅡ he said to the man who was paralyzed ㅡ “I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying God. ... (Lk 5:17-26) <<

 

The paralytic in today's text was punished for committing a serious crime and got the disease. You got some kinds of diseases only if you have committed some kinds of sins. Of course, most diseases do not have direct connection to sins. A guilty person is not necessarily stricken with a stroke. Nevertheless the paralysis does not completely have nothing to do with sins. It is God's freedom to give a sinner a stroke. The cold is thanks to viruses. This, too, is a disease people get regardless of sin. You may say, "Is the cold a disease?" But the cold is no less painful than any other illnesses. But some diseases are closely related to sins. Men are susceptible to syphilis during promiscuous sex. He who loves only the clean woman God appointed for him can never get such a disease. Both the cold and the AIDS are diseases of virus, yet AIDS is quite different from the cold. Man catches AIDS when he has sex with prostitutes or does homosex. The virus of the cold can spread through the air. But why should the viruses of AIDS spread not through air, nor through insects such as mosquitoes, but only through promiscuous sexual activity? Isn't it the evidence that AIDS is the judgement of God? Why do the homosexuals overlook that aspect and keep saying that their deeds are not sinful? They behave like that because the Devil resides in their dirty hearts, hindering them from seeing the truth of the Bible. Some wicked people may say that AIDS is not due to the sin because people can catch the disease through the intercourse with an opposit sex, or because two gays without AIDS can never catch the disease. But it is God's will that every one who with his or her sexual organ engages in filthy deeds such as adultery, prostitution, or homosexual intercourse should die in the body of only skin and bones. Therefore those who does such things die of AIDS, without knowing when they caught it. May all homosexual people who would justify and rationalize evil homosexuality catch AIDS and die leaving only skin and bones behind. Amen! Amen!

 

The friends of the paralytic in the text were publicly praised. They tried to take their friend to Jesus, but couldn't because of the crowd, so they went up on the roof and removed the tiles and let him down to Jesus. The Scripture says that Jesus healed the paralytic on account of the faith of those friends. This means that he didn't heal the paralytic on account of his faith. Instead, the paralytic was healed after he was publicly put to shame. "Man, your sins are forgiven you. (v. 20)" Oh well, Jesus says that he has got the disease thanks to his sins. My brethren, what a terrible shame on the man! He was publicly severely humiliated. The merciful Jesus could have healed the man without saying such words, but he declared to the public that he got the disease because of his sins. People emphasize only the merciful Jesus who healed the paralytic, and think of the blessing of the healing of the disease, never considering the shame the paralytic received. Of course, the forgiveness of sins and the cure of the disease are blessings. But what a shameful salvation! Jesus healed the sick man after he had humiliated him. Jesus never disregarded sins. My brethren, neither justify the sin nor wrap the sin in a plausible excuse or in a beautiful wrapper. Sin is a terrible deadly thing. Many people misunderstand Jesus' saying to a woman who had been caught in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you (Jn 8:11)," as "I forgive you." Condemn is one thing and forgive is another. Jesus had never forgiven the woman her sin (according to the biblical text itself). He did not came as a judge, but as the King of peace for the salvation of the human race, so he just declared the suspension of sentence on the woman in the time of peace and salvation. Suspension of sentence is quite different from forgiveness. Forgiveness refers to the restoration of the relationship of the two before the sinning. However, suspension of sentence means just the exemption of punishment. Sometimes the restoration of relationship is given after punishment, sometimes the punishment is exempted without the restoration of relationship. The restoration of relationship is given when a sinner has gained a forgiveness of love after he deeply repented and promised not to commit the same sin again. In fact, Jesus was not a governmental official or a leader of the national religion at the time, so he was not in a position to condemn (to legally convict) the woman caught in adultery. But people consider only the fact that Jesus did not condemn her. What would have happened to the woman after that? Her adultery had already known to many, so also later even to her family, and to the governmental officials, so she might have been executed by the governmental authorities according to the law of Judaism. Jesus even did not declare suspension of execution! Would the government and the leaders of Judaism have forgiven her if Jesus had pardoned her? I don't think they would have obeyed Jesus, considering the atmosphere of the time. Certainly Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law. Nor did he say of the abolition of the governmental punishment. Jesus had never said to the government, "Forgive criminals." Jesus' advice of unconditional forgiveness is limited to the forgiveness of individuals. Moreover, the individual forgiveness is limited to the ones who repent their sins and beg the victims for pardon. My brethren, do not spruce up the sin or ignore the evil of the sin. The paralytic in the text was forgiven sins and healed, but might have lived in shame until death. To put it shortly, the man sinned, suffered disease painfully long, was publicly known as a man who had committed sins, was forgiven his sins, and was healed. So he had to pay all the penalty of his sins in order to be forgiven and healed. People are interested in only the fact that he was pardoned, ignoring the fact that he had suffered long thanks to his sins and the fact that he was publicly disgraced because his hidden sins were exposed. Like this, people do not take sin seriously. But what was the reality? How high was the price the paralytic had to pay as a sinner? Usually, God forgives sinners and restores the normal relationship with them, after punishing them for their sins. God loved David very much, but four of his sons were killed by sword when he had committed murder. Sins give bitter consequences even to the children of God.

 

We tend to think of the restoration of relationship without punishment when it comes to forgiveness. No! Forgiveness after an appropriate punishment is definitely a forgiveness, too. However, the Scripture shows us that there are much more cases of forgiveness with punishment than those without punishment. The latter is rather exceptional, considering the fact that the former has much more cases. Forgiveness is related to the promised blessing. If a believer is not forgiven, he will not receive the promised blessing of God. But if he is forgiven, he can receive it. Those to whom Jesus declares, "Your sins are forgiven," can believe in him and be qualified to gain eternal life.

 

What should we do to be forgiven our sins? You must acknowledge that you've sinned against God and man when you committed sins. Therefore we must beg God and the victim for forgiveness of sins when we have sinned. All human beings belong to God. So, you've committed sins against God if you've hurt a man whose owner is God. Therefore we must seek forgiveness from God if we've sinned, and God has the authority to forgive us. God is the Creator and Ruler of the world, so he is responsible for enforcing righteous laws. It is natural for a criminal to apologize to the victim and beg him for forgiveness. Some people cause others to shed tears, but ask only God for forgiveness of their sins, forgetting their victims. God never forgives such brazen people. God forgives only those who have been forgiven by others (the victims). However, God advises the victims that they should forgive the sinful brothers if they beseech them for forgiveness. God first tells the victims to forgive the sinners (the perpetrators), then he forgives the sinners. If the victims refuse to forgive the perpetrators when the perpetrators apologize to them, God will recount all sins the victims have committed, saying, "I also will not forgive your sins!" "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Mt 6:12)" "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Mt 18:35)" "So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:23-24)"

 

Then, what if a victim would not forgive the perpetrator even if the perpetrator apologizes to him? The victim has no idea to forgive the perpetrator who has hurt him, even if he is not forgiven his sins by God and has to go to hell. In that case, does the perpetrator have to go to hell for the God can't forgive him? In this case, God offsets the perpetrator's sins against the victim by the sins that the victim has committed until now. So God can forgive the perpetrator. If there are still some sins of the perpetrator left without being offset, God will offset the surplus sins by the grace he has granted to the victim. And life (the life of the victim) is a universal grace of God. Therefore the victim can't say that he will never forgive the perpetrator, considering his sins and the grace he has received from God until now, that is, especially his life. So, in principle, God can fully forgive the perpetrator regardless of the victim's will, considering his own sins and the grace he has received from God. The problem is that God can't forgive the perpetrator if the perpetrator refuses to apologize to the victim who would be willing to forgive him. Of course, the punishment the perpetrator has to meet in the world, or in the nation, is another question. It's a different matter from the forgiveness mentioned until now. There must be adequate compensation for damage to the victims and punishment by law enforcement by the governmental authority even if the victims forgive the perpetrators religiously and morally.

 

The problem is: Forgiveness can only be done by God and by the victims, but some modern people think that the government or the church or a third person can forgive sinners or offenders. This is a really unrighteous, unfair, and irrational idea. The nation should not pardon the criminals against the will of the victims. In particular, the amnesty, done against the sentiment of the people, is not right. In addition, sometimes it is necessary that the government should enforce punishment on the criminals to keep the public order, even when the victims or their family do not want the punishment of the criminals. The clergy or the church can pardon the sins of people for God has given them that authority. Nevertheless there must first be the consent of the victims. And in articular, the forgiveness of sins should not be declared to those who do not repent their sins, nor can the church or the clergy presumptuously declare what is clearly defined as sin in the Bible to be no sin. (You can't say, "Homosex is not sin." You'll be surely cursed by God if you say so!)

 

You know Azazel (Lev 16:8). Chapter 16 of Leviticus is about the Day of Atonement. All Israelite must fast and repent their sins, are forgiven sins on this day. On the day, the priest chooses two goats, one for a sin offering for God, one for the Azazel in the wilderness. The goat sent into the wilderness would be killed by wild beasts. This statute implies that you're guilty if you commit sin, that you then can fully be forgiven the sin if one half of the sin is forgiven by God and the other half of the sin is forgiven by man. The scapegoat on the Day of Atonement tells of the truth that we must pay the half of the penalty to God, and the rest of the penalty to the world. We must not neglect the compensation for the damage to the victims. For example, if a father of a family is murdered, the government should not only execute the murderer but also seize his property in order to compensate the victim's family for loss, in consideration of the loss of the family and the fair law-enforcement. The church, too, must not unilaterally force the victims to forgive the sinners with Christian love, but should mediate between the two in careful consideration of the compensation for the victims.

 

In today's text, Jesus said he forgave the paralytic's sins, but the scribes and Pharisees talked in whispers to one another, "This is a blasphemy. How can a man forgive another's sins?" They seemed to believe that only God could forgive sins. However, a human being can forgive others' sins, for God and the victim can forgive sins of a man. (But the forgiveness of the victim is confined to his part of forgiveness. The victim can't infringe on God's part of forgiveness.) However, it is definitely a sin of blasphemy for a third person to forgive other's sin. It's really impudent. Of course the parents of the victim can forgive the perpetrator, but in this case, they are not pure third persons. Then, was Jesus a third person? No, Jesus was the God himself, so he could declare forgiveness of sins. Scribes and Pharisees did not know this, so they argued with Jesus. So Jesus said, "Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? (v. 23)" In fact, both are difficult. An ordinary man, as a third person, can't forgive other's sin or let the sick get up and walk just by saying a word. But Jesus was God, so both of them were possible for him. So he accomplished both. Sadly, scribes and Pharisees couldn't notice Jesus' divinity even when they witnessed Jesus' miracle of healing the sick because their spiritual eyes ware closed.

 

Could Jesus, God the Son, have only the authority to forgive sins? Let's look at the Gospel of John. "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (Jn 5:21-24)" How happy we are that Jesus who has such an authority is our Lord!

 

Today's words of God are about the healing of a paralytic. The paralytic, who could not move, himself could not come to Jesus. There are some people in the world who can't come to Jesus by their will and strength. It is the mission of us Christians to bring them to Jesus and to save them.

 

May Jesus forgive your sins and bless you abundantly.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                                                - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -