Evening star., 1918-01-27
JESUS FoRGIvINa SIN.
Mark, 2.1-12.
Golden Textile Son OF man
hath authority on earth to for
give sins. Mark, 2.10.
BY REV. HUGH II. STEVENSON.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum
| from His second itinerary of Galilee His
popularity as a preacher and physi-
| clan was revealed by the assembling OF
| a crowd of people at the house of Simon
Peter. This evidently was the Masters 8
headquarters in Capernaum that had
become His own city" Pharfsees and
doctors of the law were present In the
crowd from all parts of Galilee as well
as from Jerusalem and Judea. Their
presence marks the commencement or
an Irresistible conflict between the
formal religious leaders and the Christ
Their cold, cynical attitude was In
marked contrast with that Of the Cap
ernaum citizens who welcomed the
Healer's return.
Jesus never failed when in the pres
ence of a crowd to take advantage of
the opportunity to preach unto them
the word Of God. The scoffing scribes
and hypocritical PharIsee occupied the
chief seats, according to their custom,
and watched the Master in vain In their
legal charge by which they could bring
to an end the popular prophet. whose
preaching was stirring the people to
rebel against their autocratic ar
rogancy and authority. The open break.
which is recorded in the lesson. came
unexpectedly to all the congregation
wnicn had filed the courtyard Of the
house and the rooms in their eagerness
to hear tho Lords exposition or the
word of God.
Christ's return had led four friends
to cooperate in an effort to bring upon
an improvised stretcher, made probably
from his sleeping rug, man sick Of the
palsy. Through their persistent faith IN
the paralytic a successful interview
with Jesus. The crowd prevented their
approaching the Master easily. They
had learned the value of the golden op-
portunity presented by the presence OF
Christ. so in their love for their friend.
who may have been classmate. the
four men conquered the difficulties pre-
sented by the presence Of the great
congregation, by carrying their COM
panion up the outside stairs. digging
out the tile, or plaster made Of rolled
gravel, which covered the branches and
formed the roof, they then lowered the
patient down to the feet of the Christ.
It was not difficult task for their res
olute souls and 1t resulted in bringing
the mans needs to the attention Of the
Master.
Jesus did not rebuke the four prac-
tical and persistent friends for inter-
fering with His preaching because He
saw in their resourcefulness the evil
manner in which their irresistible
spirit presented their friends need
touched tho heart Of the compassionate
Christ, who saw in the appealing look
as we'll as healing. II no one else in
that company knew. Jesus and the
pleading palsy patient knew that sin
was the cause of his inffrmity. While
all sickness is not caused by sin, there
is a closer connection than most men
spirit. as we'll as nervous. mental and
physical breakdown frequently can be
traced to sinful acts of former days.
The Master saw in the paraIytic not
only physical wreck. but that his dis
ease was the result of a wasted life.
The defective, degraded and dissolute
derelicts that fill our jails. insane asy-
lums and eelymosynary institutions
have their source, as rule. in some
sin.
In the treatment of the paralytic's
case Jesus first removed the cause Of
the palsy. The great Physician, ac-
cording to Matthew. urged the patient
to .be Of good courage" It was ia
used frequently when He healed or
helped a person. 1t was 4 prelude to
His startling statement, Son, thy sins
be forgiven tnee." No man on earth had
q
those words Jesus met the deepest
needs of the patient, who evidently had
repented of his sin and desired for
giveness of his sin more than to be
healed. BY the declaration the Lord
shocked the representatives of formal
istic faith. the Scribes and Pharisees,
who were present. That declaration
contained not only the commonest. but
the most inclusive word, used for sin,
which defines sin as q failure, q "miss-
ing the mark" but also a claim Of
power that encompasses in its entire
range the prerogatives of God, who
"forgiveth all thine iniQuities." 1t was
this fact that caused the cynical critics
to challenge Christ's claim and charge
Him with b1asphemy.
The principe upon which they chal.
lenged the authority of Jesus to for
give sins was technically correct. and
would have been right if the Master
was only a man, for the authority to
dismiss sin was the highest prerozatiye
Of God. Christ Jesus did not hesitats
about accepting the challenge. for Hs
knew that their prejudice preventeS
their seeing in Him anything more
than this man." Jesus Therefore NJ
ceeded to demonstrate that Hs No.