Studies in Mark: Publicans Enter the Kingdom

Mark 2:13‑17  •  8 min. read  •  grade level: 10
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10.-Out of Weakness Made Strong (continued)
Forgiveness of Sins
It is remarkable that the Lord in His ministry in only one other recorded instance deals with the question of the forgiveness or remission of sins. To the penitent woman, in Simon the Pharisee’s house, He said definitely, “Thy sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:4848And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. (Luke 7:48)). There were thus two witnesses to His power on earth to forgive sins according to the prophecy of Zacharias (Luke 1:7777To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, (Luke 1:77)). This blessed work was hindered by the obduracy and impenitence of the people. But after His crucifixion and the shedding of the blood of the new covenant for the remission of sins, He is presented anew in this character. Peter testified concerning this: “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:3131Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:31)). And this grace is not for Israel alone, but for all that believe. This Paul declared in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch: “Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
Such was the wider and fuller tide of blessing for man which was ensured by the death of Christ. But here was a sample of this function performed by the Person deputed to forgive, the blood-basis of the act having not yet been laid. The cleansing of the leprosy and the healing of the paralytic, coupled with the forgiveness of sins, were indisputable evidence that the Servant-Prophet of Jehovah was present in Galilee exercising divine prerogatives in His own right. Was not the Psalm familiar to their ears, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases”1 (Psa. 103:2, 32Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; (Psalm 103:2‑3))? There was now an exemplification of this mercy before their eyes which could not be dissociated from Jesus of Nazareth as the One who was acting. In point of fact, Israel did not know nor consider, but this Servant of God patiently accumulated evidences of His mission which would leave the nation without excuse.
Are the Lord’s words to be regarded as a benevolent wish on His part that the sick man’s sins may eventually be forgiven? Not so; but rather as a positive declaration that they were then and thereby forgiven (“Thy sins are forgiven”); and the Lord intended that the sufferer should understand His words in this unequivocal sense. At any rate, the scribes understood the words in this sense, and they, in consequence, brought the charge of blasphemy against Him: “Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth? Who can forgive sins but one, even God?” It is evident they regarded the words as a positive expression of fact, and not a hope for future pardon, such as any one might compassionately utter on behalf of another.
It may be asserted that the disease of this man’s body was an infliction upon him in consequence of some particular sins of which he had been guilty. God sent such temporal judgments in His government of the people of Israel, as the scripture testifies in many parts. For instance, at the repeated murmuring of the nation in the wilderness Jehovah smote them with a plague2 (Num. 11:32, 3332And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. (Numbers 11:32‑33); Psa. 78:3131The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. (Psalm 78:31)). In New Testament times it was so also in the assembly at Corinth, where many were in sickness and some even slept, because of their transgression (1 Cor. 11:3030For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:30); see also James 5:14-1614Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:14‑16)). The Lord recognized afflictions of this judicial character in the case of the impotent man of Bethesda, to whom He said after His cure, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:1414Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. (John 5:14)).
If it be so, that the Lord’s declaration of forgiveness had reference only to that portion of the man’s sins for which his paralysis was a temporal chastisement under the hand of God, and not to the sum total of his guilt as a sinner, the principle still holds good. It is equally the exclusive prerogative of God to release a man from the temporal, as it is from the eternal, consequence of his sins. Sin is an offense against God, and therefore He only can remit it. By divine mercy the sins of Saul of Tarsus, the chief of sinners, were forgiven; by that same mercy alone, the thorn in the flesh could be removed from Paul the apostle (1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15); 2 Cor. 12:77And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. (2 Corinthians 12:7)).
True were the words of the scribes, “Who can forgive sins but one, even God”; but false was their assumption that He who had just spoken was not God. He was God “manifest in the flesh,” as He proved so often before their eyes. But all human reasoning founded upon disbelief in the person of Christ must not only he false but evil. He alone is the Truth, and He is also the Life, and the Way to the Father.
SPEAKING BLASPHEMY
Blasphemy in Holy Scripture, while sometimes used for evil speech against man, has reference also to evil speaking against or about God. The mental charge of blasphemy made against our Lord on this occasion was due to the assumption of the scribes that He usurped one of the attributes of Godhead by pronouncing absolution of sins. His claim to be the Son of God was so regarded by the Jews; as the Lord said to them, “Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:33, 3633The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33)
36Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:36)). At the trial Caiaphas said to Jesus, “I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou he the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said; nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is worthy of death” (Matt. 26:63-6663But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. (Matthew 26:63‑66); Mark 14:6464Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. (Mark 14:64), New Tr.).
SON OF MAN
It is to be noted that in this connection we have the first recorded use of this title of our Lord in this Gospel and also in Luke—the power of the Son of man to forgive sins. In Matthew it first occurs in the sentence, “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt. 8:2020And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20)). The title is frequently applied by the blessed Lord to Himself, but is never applied to Him by others, nor by the Evangelists themselves. Stephen testified, however, that he saw the “Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:5656And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:56)). And in the Apocalyptic visions John saw the Son of man in His capacity as Judge (Rev. 1:13; 14:1413And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. (Revelation 1:13)
14And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. (Revelation 14:14)). It does not occur at all in the Epistles, except once in a quotation from the Psalms (Heb. 2:66But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Hebrews 2:6)).
This title, “Son of man,” by its terms suggests a wider sphere than is suggested by “Son of David” and “Son of Abraham.” It implies universal headship, as Heb. 2 shows, and was adopted by the Lord in view of His rejection by the Jews as the Messiah. Son of a man He was not, but Son of man He was, and when on earth He could say, “The Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:1313And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) Cor. 15:47). In Daniel His universal dominion is prophesied of under this title: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like unto the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13, 1413I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13‑14)). As Son of man He has power to execute judgment on sins as well as to forgive them (John 5:2727And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:27)).
In the prophetic communications to Ezekiel, the title, “Son of man,” is frequently employed by Jehovah when addressing the prophet. It is also used once in addressing Daniel (Dan. 8:77And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. (Daniel 8:7)), but they never apply it to themselves. Both Ezekiel and Daniel were prophets of the exile, and ministered away from Judah, which was under the power of the Gentiles. The Lord too, as the despised Servant-Prophet, ministering in “Galilee of the Gentiles,” assumed this title, proving His authority to forgive sins, not as Jehovah of Psa. 103, or as the Messiah of Israel, but as the Son of man. [W. J. H.]
(To be continued)
 
2. The people of Israel were warned by Jehovah at the commencement of their wilderness journey that their disobedience would be punished in this way: “If thou will diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God. and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes. I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah that healeth thee” (Ex. 15:2626And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. (Exodus 15:26)).