Your Sins Are Forgiven Matthew 9:1-8
I want to start with just a little background. Jesus’ homebase is in Capernaum, and earlier in Matthew’s text he said Jesus had left Capernaum and went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to minister. It’s on this trip that Jesus calmed the storm. It’s also when he healed a demon possessed man by sending the demons into a herd of pigs. Now he’s returned to Capernaum. This event takes place fairly early in his ministry yet knowledge of Jesus is growing, almost everyone in the area has by now heard of his power. They’ve heard of teaching and his healings.
In this reading we see a demonstration of the great faith some are starting to have; verse 2, “Some men brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.’”
“Some men brought him a paralyzed man…” These men obviously had great faith in Jesus. Think about it, it’s not easy to carry the dead weight of a paralyzed man and the platform he’s lying on. It doesn’t say that these men said anything particularly faithful or spiritual to demonstrate their faith. It doesn’t say that expected a certain outcome from bringing their friend to Jesus. All we know is that they had an unwavering faith that Jesus could and would do something to make the life of their friend better.
We can do the same for our loved ones. We can do it for strangers. We can bring others to Jesus. And we do it by the way we live our lives, we do it by mentioning Jesus in our conversations, we do it by inviting them to come to church with us. We do it by having a genuine concern for them. We who have faith in Christ do it by offering prayer for them. And like the men in our reading, we may not know what God will do, but we should have an unshakable faith that Jesus will do something to amend the situation someone is in.
“Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.” In this sentence’s first part, “Take heart son…” Jesus starts to explain he is God.
Jesus never met this paralyzed man before, yet he refers to this man with a loving and nurturing address, son. Psalm 103:13, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who trust him.” The God Jesus addresses this man as his child, as one he knows intimately, as one he loves and has compassion for. “Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus picks these specific words for a reason.
Verse 4, “Jesus, knowing their thoughts…” Jesus knew the thoughts and hearts of the priests and scribes, these teachers of the Law in the crowd. He knew they thought he was blaspheming. He knew they were thinking it’s only God who can forgive sins, and they would be right, that’s exactly the point. First Jesus addresses the paralyzed man in the way God would. Second, Jesus does something for this man that only God can do. Jesus is using this encounter to prove he’s not a magician, nor is he just a healer. Jesus shows that crowd, and the world, he has the authority of God because he is God.
The man on the mat needed to be healed of his paralysis, but even more so, he needed to be forgiven of his sins. We want Jesus to heal us of our sicknesses, our heartaches, our anger, loneliness, apathy, and selfishness; all this is true, but each one of us, each person born, needs Jesus to heal our sin. Jesus tells the world in this scene that sin is the problem, and the greatest miracle in the world is we can be forgiven our sins and set free.
Verse 5, “Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk?” As he often does, Jesus doesn’t answer the Pharisees questioning thoughts directly, he offers a question instead.
So, can Jesus’ question really be answered? What if I said, “Pick up your mat and walk, you’re healed,” and you’re still lying there paralyzed, I’ve failed. If I say your sins are forgiven, you can’t prove I’m right or wrong. So Jesus’ question really has no answer, it’s designed like his parables, intended to initiate thought and contemplation.
Verses 6 and 7, “So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’ Then the man got up and went home.”
Jesus sets up the lesson he’s trying to teach perfectly. He uses the physical to explain the spiritual. As God, Jesus has dominion over nature, therefore he can heal this man’s physical condition. As God, Jesus has the authority and power to forgive this man’s sins.
This unnamed man’s paralysis represents the condition of life under sin’s dominion. One is paralyzed, unable to move into a loving relationship with God, unable to move freely among one’s fellow men in peace, unfettered by the bonds of selfishness, greed, gluttony, and indifference. But, when we allow Jesus to forgive our sins, our world’s experience changes. We are free from the influence and guilt of sin. We are able to walk in creation without being held back. We can walk in the world with the grace and mercy of God.
As I worked on this, I looked at other parts of scripture and the gospels; Jesus healed a lot of people, why? I think in part because he has an immeasurable love and concern for his creation and he wants to alleviate our maladies. More than this, however, it is to draw people to himself. It is an avenue to start people seeing he has power and authority over everything, both physical and spectral. Jesus healed people to point them to himself, to his power, and to God. Jesus healed people to reach others, to reach those who will hear of the miracles and seek out Jesus and his teachings.
As I was researching some points for today’s message it took me no time at all on the internet to find videos of faith healers. I’m not saying miraculous healings don’t happen today, I’ve personally seen people survive things they never should have. But as to faith healers, there are things we should be aware of.
One, do they focus on themselves or on Jesus? I saw one video of a healer who went down the line laying on hands and shouting, “I command you to be healed.” Not once did I hear him say Jesus’ name or refer to God.
Two, do they seek money? I saw one TV minister claim God told him this is the year of a thousand miracles, and he will pray for you to get your miracles if you send him a thousand dollars. Jesus never asked for money to do God’s work. If anyone says they will pray for you for money, walk away.
Three, is healing more important than the gospel? Do they talk about themselves. Do they point to a healing and say, “Look what I did.” If they are not preaching and talking about God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness, walk away.
And four, are they making a spectacle of it? Jesus didn’t make a big show of his healings, sometimes he even told the person not to say anything about it. When the Centurian asked Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus didn’t make a production of it, he didn’t parade his followers through the town, Jesus healed the servant without ever moving the spot where he was standing. If anyone says they will heal you or pray for you but you have to walk down the aisle in a white robe, or you have to parade around the crowd first, it’s about the performance and not about Jesus.
In today’s reading about the paralyzed man, Jesus handles the situation as he does as a way to invite people to seek him out. The things he did and said were meant to show his power over our physical lives and maladies, and to show his authority to forgive our sins. In short, Jesus uses the situation presented to him to demonstrate and prove he is God.
Each person born can be seen as paralyzed by their sins. Each person born needs Jesus to forgive them of those sins.
Let me end this morning by offering you the blessing given in the Old Testament Book of Numbers: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face to you and give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26)
Amen