Mark - Lesson 3...Continued from page 1

DAY TWO:  Forgiveness and Healing

Please carefully read Mark 2:6-12 and answer the following questions.

1.  This statement of Jesus didn’t sit well at all with the religious leaders; in fact this was shocking to them.  What were they thinking to themselves about this (v. 7)? 

2.  These religious leaders were in part correct in their accusation, for God alone can forgive sins, and if Jesus was a mere man, what He said could have been taken as blasphemy.  Of course, being the Son of God, He would have that power and authority, and indeed He read their very thoughts about this!  How did He interestingly answer these accusations (v. 8-10)?

3.  What did Jesus then say to this man, and what was the result (v. 11-12)?

4.  The impact of this incident was unquestionably tremendous.  The poor guy had to literally push his way through the stunned onlookers to go home!  Those in the crowd, including the religious leaders, were amazed (literally, out of their minds with shock) and had to praise and glorify God because of this supernatural display of Jesus’ power.[5]  This was but one demonstration of the fact that this Son of Man was indeed Son of God. 

This also speaks to our personal relationship with Christ.  One of the biggest obstacles the enemy throws in front of us to make us ineffective is wallowing in our own self-pity and self-condemnation (as if his wasn’t enough!) for our failures.  In this passage, the word used for forgiving sin means to send and drive it away, dismissing and freeing us from its guilt.[6] We must realize that our sins have been forgiven in that same way.  Read the following passages about the forgiveness we have in Christ and record what they speak to us about no longer letting sin paralyze us.

Psalm 103:11-18

Romans 8:1-4

Colossians 2:13-15

Scripture Memory:  Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are _______________ have no need of a physician, but those who are ________________. I did not come to call the righteous, but ___________________________, to repentance.”  Mark 2:17, nkjv