← The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
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Welcome back to Mark, chapter two. We're going to pick it up. In verse five, it says this, 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 that? We'll talk about that tomorrow. He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone and immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus question within themselves, said to them, Jesus response is, why do you question these things in your heart? 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 says to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. So Jesus asked a question to these religious leaders, which is easier to say to this man, your sins are forgiven, or rise up and walk? Well, it depends on who you are as to which is easier to say. For me, it would be easier to say, your sins are forgiven. Why? Because how do you know if it actually worked? I mean, I could tell you your sins are forgiven and we're not going to know until the great white Throne judgment of God. We are not going to know until your day of judgment. You don't know if the forgiveness of your sins actually worked until you die and you are standing face to face to give an account to the Almighty eternal God. Then and only then will we know if it worked. And none of us are going to be there. I don't think we all witness this thing together, so it's easy to say, but it would be impossible for me to say to the paralytic man, rise up and walk. Why? Because I do not have the ability to make this man walk. And this isn't like physical therapy. It's not like Jesus prayed for him and then he went to the doctor and he got a shot, and then he went to physical therapy and then he had knee surgery. And after a long time, eventually he was able to walk. This is not how it's working. When Jesus says, rise up, take up your bed and walk, we are going to know in 3, 2, 1. Did it work or did it not work? And so for me, it would be way easier to say, your sins are forgiven, because how can you tell? It'd be impossible for me to say rise up and walk because we would find out in a minute that I can't make him walk. But for Jesus, which is easier to say. Now, part of what Jesus is doing here is in the Talmud that was like a commentary that Jewish rabbis wrote about the Old Testament. The Talmud said God could not bless a liar. So a part of the reason that Jesus tells this man to rise up and walk is because then the religious leaders there would have proof that he is who he says he is. That whenever Jesus did miracles, he wasn't just flexing his raw power, he was always pointing to his redemptive purpose. So the question what's easier to say? Well, for Jesus, how hard is it to say, rise, take up your bed and walk? I mean, if you are the maker of legs, if you are the one that created the idea that we were going to walk around standing up on two legs and feet, if by your very power you spoke everything into existence, if you can walk on water, if you can part the sea, if you could turn water to wine, if you can bring dead people back to life, then how hard is it to make a guy's legs won't work work? Answer, it ain't hard. But how hard was it for Jesus to be able to forgive sins? Well, it was extremely difficult that Jesus co eternal with the Father, Second Person of the Trinity, who was being surrounded in the heavenlies by the elders and by creatures hearing the words holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. At some point because of his great love for us, unto the glory of his Heavenly Father. He stood up off of that royal, he took off his royal robe, he laid down his crown, he sits down his royal scepter and he dive bombs down here to earth. And he becomes obedient to be born as a baby in a manger. He lives in obscurity for 30 years obeying his father and mother. And then he goes public. He walks out into the Jordan with his cousin John the baptizer. He gets baptized and then he begins to teach and preach. He begins to tell tell us who God is and what it's like to know the heavenly Father. 189 times he lets us know that God wants to be known as Father. Not just cosmic judge, but Heavenly Father. He lives a perfect life. He's tempted in every way and yet never one time does anything except the will of God. He preaches, he teaches, he does miracles, he heals, he does all of these things. But he lives the life that none of us could live. Though he was tempted in every way, we were tempted. And then he's arrested, he's tried, and he's crucified. Nails go through his hands and his feet, a spear through his side. And the Son of God dies on a cross. And when Jesus died on the cross, he did not simply die for you, he died instead of you. And Christ lived the life that none of us could live. A perfect life. He was dead and buried and put in the grave. And then three days later, he was resurrected from that grave. And anyone who would believe in would receive the right to become a Son of God. Anyone who would believe in him would be credited or imputed with the righteousness of God. And just like Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, you and I will come out of the grave just the same way he did. So what is easier? It was way easier for him to heal a man's legs. What was very, very difficult is that Jesus came and lived, died, was buried, was resurrected, and one day will return. And he did all of that. And because of that, our sins may be forgiven. Have you ever trusted Christ for your salvation? I would encourage you to do that right now.
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Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight. Share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.