Matthew 4:12-17
Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Mark 2:1-12
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus was just beginning His ministry and told all to repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near...As Jesus' ministry was beginning and then unfolded, He was always helping those people in need...He is full of grace and showed this in His ministry...In His grace we can see the authority that God has given Him...
He would forgive people of their sins before He died on the cross and gave us atonement for our sins...For instance, He forgave the paralyzed man before He healed him...This order of forgiveness before healing -is a matter of grace...As the friends of the paralyzed man brought him to Jesus, He saw the faith of those carrying the crippled one and his friends and He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”...And after some discussion about forgiveness with the teachers of the law, then Jesus healed the paralyzed man...The man who could not walk was first forgiven, and then he was healed...The friends and the now healed man were lost in gratitude, adoration, wonder, and praise for Jesus...
Priest Brennan Manning wrote, “The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise...He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven...It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness...Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace.”...