Matthew 9:1-8
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Introduction
Introduction
English Standard Version Chapter 9
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
This morning we continue following the acts and words of Jesus as Matthew records them for us here in chapter 9. Last week we looked at Matthew’s account of Jesus casting out a legion of demons from two men who were living in tombs on the south side of the Sea of Galiliee, and this week we now follow Jesus back across the lake to the city of Capernaum. We read there in verse 1 of chapter 9,
English Standard Version Chapter 9
9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.
Now, on the outset you might assume that by Matthew’s use of the phrase, “to his own city” that he’s talking about Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth, but if you’ll recall Jesus was chased out of his hometown, escaping even an attempt on his life by those in the synagogue to throw him down a cliff. And, again, we also have parallel accounts in both Mark and Luke’s Gospels of this event, and Mark explicitly tells us that “when [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.”
We also have parallel accounts in both Mark and Luke’s Gospels of this event, and Mark explicitly tells us that “when [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.”
So here we are transported to a particular home in Capernaum where Jesus is staying and we’re told in Mark’s Gospel that “many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And [Jesus] was preaching the word to them.” And Luke also tells us that “Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.”
So the crowds that had followed him, before he had crossed the lake to the country of the Gadarenes, have again tracked him down upon his returning from across the lake. His disciples are presumably still with him, but this time they play little to no role in the story, in fact, they’re not at all mentioned by any of the three Gospel writers.
Paralytic let down through the roof
Paralytic let down through the roof
Now, Matthew’s account is very short and to the point, so we’re again very fortunate to have Mark and Luke’s Gospels to draw from for additional details of this instance. So while we read there in verse 2 that “some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.” We discover in Luke’s written account that, “behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.” ()
I want you to pause and imagine this for a moment, inside this home there’s standing room only, people are packed in the living area like sardines, there’s not even room to get in at the door, let alone enough room for four men to carry in a man suffering from paralysis on a bed. Yet this did not deter these men, so they take to hoisting this paralyzed man up onto the roof.
Now most Galilean homes would have had a flat roof made with logs, branches, and clay, but Luke tells us that this roof was made of tiles, which probably indicates that this was a larger home constructed by a wealthy family. But none of this slows these men down, and they begin making an opening in the roof by removing the clay tiles. And I can only imagine the reaction of the people below as portions of the roof are removed, and eventually these four men slowly let down the bed on which this paralytic lying.
So as Jesus is preaching the word of God to this crowd he’s interrupted by these men. Now, Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for damaging the roof, he doesn’t rebuke them for interrupting him his teaching, instead we’re told there in verse 2 that, “when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Your sins are forgiven
Your sins are forgiven
So first, we notice that Jesus is pleased by the faith exhibited by these men, both the man with paralysis and those who had carried him down through the roof. They had demonstrated a confidence, that if they could just get this man to Jesus then he would be healed of his infirmity, and its this confidence that drives them to do whatever is necessary to reach him. This is a commendable faith that we should seek to emulate. We too should have such faith, a faith that wholly dependent upon Christ, a faith that causes us to come to him with our every need.
Yet, Jesus immediately throws this paralytic, as well as everyone else in the room, a theological curve ball. Unlike Jesus’ other encounters that we’ve seen so far with those who are sick and suffering from disease, Jesus doesn’t, yet, command this man to be healed, he says something quite different doesn’t he? He instead says there in verse 2, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Now, part of me wonders what this man, who has no motor control over his legs, and maybe even his arms, is thinking after Jesus says this. My suspicion is that his thoughts might have been something like this, “Uh, that’s great Jesus, but that’s not quite why I came here. I had hoped you might have actually healed me of my paralysis.” And if this isn’t what he was thinking I wonder how many of us, if put in that same situation, would’ve been thinking just that.
Sin the greater problem
Sin the greater problem
The point here is that how easy is it for us to have a greater concern for our temporal infirmities than for the forgiveness of our own sin. Our infirmities and sufferings are ultimately a symptom of a much greater problem, they’re ultimately a result of sin, ultimately a result of the Fall. Now, I’m not saying that this man’s paralysis is necessarily linked directly with some particular sin that he committed during his life, the text here doesn’t give us any indication of that, and in fact, in John’s Gospel we read of a man who’s born blind, and the disciples assume is blindness is because of some sin that his parents had previously committed, but Jesus answers them that this isn’t the case.
My point here,
Jesus came to save us from our sin
Jesus came to save us from our sin
But I do think it’s vital that we are regularly reminded that our greatest problems are not that of our earthly circumstances, whether that’s our physical ailments or our present sufferings. These are symptoms of a much deeper problem, namely sin, which is precisely what Jesus had come to reckon with. You might recall back in Matthew chapter 1, verse 21, when an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him that Mary, “will bear a son, and [that he] shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
You see this is Jesus’ mission and purpose, not that we’re all healed in this life of our physical infirmities, or delivered from our present sufferings, those things will eventually happen, because they’re byproducts of our salvation, they’re eventual byproducts of our sins being forgiven, which will be fully realized in the age that is to come, but the heart of Jesus’ mission here and now, and what’s at the very heart of the Gospel, is the good news that Jesus came to save his people from their sins.
So in a very real sense we see there in verse 2 of our text today that the forgiveness of sin is preeminent in the life of a believer. Notice again what Jesus says their, “Take heart, my son: your sins are forgiven.” He tells this man whom he calls his son to “Take heart.” In other words, “Be assured, my son.” or “Have confidence, my son; just as you had confidence that I would heal your infirmity, have confidence that your sins are forgiven.”
Blasphemy
Blasphemy
Now, this proclamation by Jesus given to this man, that “your sins are forgiven” immediately elicits in his hearers shock and even fear, which leads us to Matthew’s primary point here in this particular text, that Jesus has the power and authority on earth to forgive sins. Listen again to what ensues starting there in verse 3,
English Standard Version Chapter 9
3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
or as Mark records it in chapter 2 of his Gospel,
English Standard Version Chapter 2
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
We were told earlier by Luke that “as [Jesus] was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.” So as Jesus tells this man who is in bondage to paralysis that his sins are forgiven, immediately red flags go up for these religious leaders. They immediately recognize that Jesus is assuming God’s divine role to forgive sin. They fully comprehend what Jesus is saying, and that he is claiming that he has the power and authority to forgive sins.
This may be Matthew’s biggest argument for the divinity of Christ, his biggest argument that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh. We’ve seen Jesus do many things that only God can be attributed to doing, he’s miraculously healed the sick, he’s commanded the winds and the seas, he’s cast out thousands of demons with only a word, and now we see Jesus assuming God’s exclusive role of forgiving sin.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
Against you, you only, have I sinned
Now I”m not saying you and I have no power or authority to forgive one another, what I’m talking about is God’s supreme role as judge in the forgiveness of sin that you and I do not possess. You see it’s God’s law that defines sin, therefore it’s God ‘s law that we break when we sin, it’s God’s law that we trespass when we sin. It isn’t that we don’t sin against other people, it’s just that when we sin against one another that sin is only considered sin because it’s first and foremost defined as sin by God’s law. So there’s a sense in which we sin against others, but there’s also a sense in which all sin is ultimately a sin against God. It’s why David in can say this when he laments of his sin against Bathsheba and her husband,
English Standard Version Psalm 51
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
English Standard Version Psalm 51
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
You see David understands that in the final analysis he needs God to forgive him, because it’s ultimately God’s law that he’s transgressed. His right standing with God is ultimately dependent upon whether or not he is forgiven by God, not whether he’s forgiven by Bathsheba or anyone else. And its this kind of divine forgiveness that Jesus is exercising with this man stricken with paralysis, and the religious leaders immediately conclude that Jesus is blaspheming, they conclude that Jesus is robbing God of his divine prerogative to forgive sins. And if Jesus had simply been a mere man then they would have been right in their accusations.
The Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins
The Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins
However, the story doesn’t end there, we read on starting there in verse 4,
English Standard Version Chapter 9
4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
The whole point of what Jesus says here is stated there in verse 6, “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Why does Jesus choose to say to this paralytic, “your sins are forgiven”, because he intends to prove to those in the room that he has the power and authority to forgive sins by his ability to heal this man overcome with paralysis. That’s his argument. I can do what only God can do therefore it follows that I also have authority on earth to forgive sins.
And that’s precisely what he does, he tells the paralytic to “Rise, pickup your bed and go home.” And then in verse 7 we read, “And he rose and went home.” He does what only God can do and he expects that to be a sufficient argument, which it’s why we read there in verse 8 that “when the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” The crowd, at least to a certain degree, seems to get it, but the religious leaders not so much.
In fact, before we even reach the end of this chapter his friction with the Pharisees has risen to such a degree that they accuse him of casting out demons by the prince of demons. They simply refuse to acknowledge the miracles performed at the hands of Jesus. In other words, there’s nothing that Jesus could have done to convince them. Why? Because they didn’t want to be convinced. They had no interest in repentance, they had no genuine interest in the truth, therefore when Jesus comes, the very embodiment of truth, and preacher of repentance, they find themselves only able to revile him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus tells the paralytic to “Rise, pickup your bed and go home.” And then in verse 7 we read, “And he rose and went home.”
The warning for us here today is that we not become scoffers and offended at Jesus’ call to repentance and faith, but rather that we do everything that we can to come to him, to rightly marvel at the works performed at his hands and to rejoice that he has come to forgive us and save us from our sins. That’s good news! We ought to rejoice that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins.
Prayer
Prayer
You see, he’s saying it’s easy for me to say, “Your