“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”“Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God?
7 sermons cite this verse
… and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts why does this man speak like this he's blaspheming who can forgive sins but God alone 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? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. 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. A brief prayer. Father, what we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. …
… Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like this? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? 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? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, Rise, pick up your bed, and go home. 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. A brief prayer. Father, what we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. What we are not, make us. For we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. …
… we pray these things in Jesus holy name amen this evening we're going to be in Mark chapter 2 verses 1 through 12 but and you can start flipping there right now. But before we read through the text, I want to briefly give some context of where we are at in Mark's gospel. So once you flip to chapter 2, if you can flip back one page to chapter 1, we'll situate ourselves and then get going. You see there in chapter 1, verse 1, that Mark starts right away by telling you what he is doing. He says, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, And he shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah, specifically as John the Baptist is the forerunner to the Messiah. You see there in verse 9 through 12 that Jesus is baptized. He's tempted by Satan. And then in verse 14, Jesus begins his public ministry in the region of Galilee by proclaiming the gospel of God. …
… Can I give you a little Bible? In Mark 2, verses 6 through 8, Jesus says, hold on, I got it. Here it says, it says, and some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Oh, that's so good to me. I love the word. Why does this man, so it's people talking about them in their hearts. Didn't say it to his face. It was in their heart. Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? So Jesus is in the presence of those who are speaking poorly about him. But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit, you don't even have to speak it. When you got the Spirit, the Spirit will tell you what's in their heart without them even having to open their mouth. Oh, y'all better start asking God for the Holy Spirit. Not just so you can shout and speak in tongues, but I need you to tell me what's in their heart before they even open their mouth. …
… And the scribes who were there say, "'He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And so Jesus then heals the paralytic and gives evidence of the fact that He can forgive sin because He can heal, and only God can heal, so He as God can also forgive sin. We find at the end of chapter 2 a very interesting statement, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, Sabbath. He is superior to the law. Sabbath represents the law. He is over the law. He is above the prophets. He is the Holy One of God. The demons know it, and the people should know it by testimony of His miracles, which are laid out in these opening few chapters, and His power over Satan. But interestingly enough, in these opening chapters we don't have testimony from any of the crowd. Even though they were watching the miracles, seeing that He could cast out demons, there was no miracle too difficult for Him. But there is no human confession. …
He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately, Jesus, aware in His Spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "'Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?' Which is easier to say to the paralytic, "'Your sins are forgiven?' or to say, "'Get up and pick up your pallet and walk.' But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," He said to the paralytic, I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home. And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. To introduce this, I want to pose a question to you. What is the most distinctive benefit that Christianity offers? If you were to do a man-on-the-street survey in our modern culture and ask people in some random fashion what they think the message of Christianity really is, you would be surprised, I think, if you found somebody who got the right answer, because there are so many viewpoints of Christianity. …
We're going to the book of Mark. Familiar text, but hoping that God can speak a fresh word with something that is familiar that we know well. Mark chapter 2, verses 1 through 12. I'm reading for your hearing from the God's word version. Yours may be a little different, but we believe God's going to bring it all together. Is that all right? the bible says several days later jesus came back to capernaum the report went out that he was home many people had gathered there was no room left even in the front of the door jesus was speaking god's word to them and four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man since they could not bring him to jesus because of the crowd they made an opening in the roof over the place where jesus was. Then they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the man friend your sins are forgiven. Some experts in Moses's teaching were sitting there and they thought why does he talk this way? He's dishonoring God. Who besides God can forgive sins? And at once Jesus knew inwardly what they were thinking and he asked them why do you have these thoughts? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man your sins are forgiven or to say get up pick up your cot and walk I want you to know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins then he said to the paralyzed man I'm telling you to get up pick up your cot and go …