Members Decide to Follow Jesus

ME (A hook):

Last week,

We were in Matthew 8.

And it began this pattern that continues right into our passage this morning.

If you remember,

Ch. 8 showed us that Jesus has absolute authority over disease, disasters, and demons.

Therefore, He has authority over His members as well.

This continues in chapter 9 with a series of miracles.

Again Jesus heals people, casts out a demon,

And calls someone to follow Him.

Tying these two chapters together shows us how,

His absolute authority is good news worth celebrating,

If we have faith to follow Him.

You see, we all have a problem,

A problem that is bigger than diseases and disasters and demons.

A problem so big!

That it magnifies how great Christ is for saving His members from it.

It takes faith to trust Him.

So, ch. 9 shows how Members Decide to Follow Jesus.

Slide

Our outline works through this problem.

First, Forgiveness is Needed will be outlined in vs. 1-8.

Next, we see that we are Forgiven to Follow in vs. 9-17.

Lastly, we will land on how we are Forgiven through Faith in vs. 18-34.

My hope is that this passage will teach us,

To have faith that you are forgiven to follow Jesus.

WE (Why does this matter to us?) - vs. 1-8:

Slide

Ch. 9 begins with Jesus crossing over the Sea of Galilee,

Returning to His own town of Capernaum.

Immediately, Jesus begins His first miracle in vs. 1-8.

In vs. 2,

We meet a man who is a paralytic,

Who can’t walk.

And he is brought before Jesus by getting lowered through a roof while Jesus is surrounded by a large crowd,

Who mostly gathered to hear Him teach.

Also, included in the crowd are Pharisees,

Scribes,

And other teachers of the law.

Whom we see later in the chapter.

But vs. 2 says,

The paralyzed man is brought by his friends to Jesus.

Where Jesus uses his paralysis for a purpose.

Slide

Imagine being this man.

You have been paralyzed for some time.

You hear about this teacher miraculously healing people.

You convince a group of friends to bring you to this teacher.

But there is a huge crowd in the way!

But instead of throwing in the towel and turning back,

Your friends lower you through the roof.

What would be going through your mind,

As they lower you down before Jesus.

And the first thing He says to you is,

“Take heart, My child, your sins are forgiven.”

My sins are forgiven?

Jesus, I am paralyzed...

I am not here for forgiveness,

I am here for healing!

Why would Jesus say your sins are forgiven?

Because Jesus knows this man has a much deeper issue than paralysis.

Physical healing is not his highest need,

Forgiveness is needed most.

In this context,

People would have looked at this man’s paralysis as a consequence for his sin.

Perhaps he even thought that about himself.

I am sure you can relate to that.

Have you ever thought that God was punishing you for some wrong that you did?

Now, to be fair,

There are natural negative consequences to our sin.

But not all suffering is a direct result of our sin.

Sometimes, we suffer,

Simply because we live in a world broken by sin.

We don’t know for certain this man’s background.

There is nothing here that tells us he was paralyzed for a particular sin.

He most likely was paralyzed simply because the world is broken.

Regardless,

Whether it is from a personal sin or from living in a sinful world,

All suffering is caused by sin.

So, here is a man suffering from paralysis,

He is brought to Jesus,

And Jesus says his sins are forgiven.

Jesus penetrates to our deepest need,

Forgiveness for sin.

All spiritual and physical struggles,

All suffering and pain,

Is traced back to sin.

And not just our personal sins,

But all sin in general.

So, Jesus came to address the root of all our problems,

Sin.

That is what He is teaching with the paralytic here.

Physical healing is not our ultimate need.

No matter what type of suffering we are experiencing,

Forgiveness is our ultimate need.

Slide

But this is especially important when we are suffering.

Because it feeds our faith.

And that is what we need!

Look again at vs. 2.

Matthew says Jesus forgave this man’s sin,

“When Jesus saw their faith.”

The paralytic and his friends have faith in Jesus.

This was what they needed to receive forgiveness.

Slide

Vs. 3 shows some scribes who hear Jesus say this,

And they wonder,

Who is this guy to forgive sins?

You see, when it comes to forgiveness,

It is the person who is wronged that gets to forgive.

For example,

Let’s say you stole something from the Mirabito here,

And I went up to you and said,

“I forgive you!”

It would be ridiculous,

Because you did nothing to me.

The gas station owner is the one you wronged.

So, he is the one who gets to decide whether or not to forgive you.

Now, when it comes to sin,

All sin is ultimately against God.

So, God, in His grace, says in Isaiah 43:25,

Isaiah 43:25 ESV

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

So, God forgives sins.

Therefore, the question is,

How can Jesus forgive this paralytic’s sins?

This question infuriates the scribes.

I mean,

These are the guys who copy and interpret the OT.

They were the guardians of Jewish tradition.

So, they knew only God can forgive sins.

And if Jesus is claiming to forgive sins,

Then Jesus must be blaspheming God.

Because He was putting Himself on the same level as God.

This accusation foreshadows Christ’s death.

Because blasphemy becomes the reason for Jesus being put to death.

But the sad irony here,

Is that the scribes are the ones who are guilty of their own accusation.

Jesus is God,

So, they are blaspheming God.

It is important we learn from them.

They still need forgiveness.

But they lack faith in Jesus.

They do not believe Jesus can forgive their sins,

And in turn,

They are rejecting the Gospel.

If we remain in the same unbelief,

Then we exclude ourselves from the forgiveness Jesus offers,

The forgiveness we need.

Because without faith in Christ,

Our sins are not forgiven,

And we await eternal condemnation.

This is why blasphemy is considered the unpardonable sin.

Because when we blaspheme God in the same way as the scribes,

We do not have faith in Jesus.

We do not believe that He can forgive our sins.

And in turn,

We are rejecting the gospel.

Friends, forgiveness is needed.

If we have the same faith as the paralytic and his friends,

We can be forgiven.

Slide

Jesus clearly has the power to do it.

He has calmed the wind and the waves,

And He has cast out demons,

So, He can certainly forgive our sins!

He demonstrates His power to do so once again in vs. 4-8.

Jesus knows the scribes are questioning Him among themselves.

So, He rhetorically asks, which is easier:

Forgiving sins or performing a miracle?

Forgiving sins or telling this paralyzed man to get up and walk?

The scribes would know that forgiving sins is more difficult.

But why is Jesus asking this question?

Slide

Well, it is kinda like His version of...

“Are y’all ready to see your fixer upper?”

If you’ve seen Fixer Upper,

You know Chip and Jo have a giant blow-up shot of the house before.

Then they pull it back,

And reveal the after.

Leaving you cheering,

Crying,

And amazed at the transformation they accomplished.

Now imagine all they did was repair the foundation.

You show up,

They got the giant before picture.

Then they reveal the house,

And it looks exactly the same.

No cheering,

No crying,

No sense of awe.

Because there is nothing noticeable to the average observer.

But it is not as if repairing a foundation is nothing.

In fact,

It is more important than everything else in a renovation.

Because if that foundation fails,

The entire renovation is ruined!

Slide

So, that is why Jesus asks the question.

The man’s greatest need is forgiveness.

And Jesus forgave his sins.

He has completely replaced the foundation.

But when He pulls back the picture for the grand reveal,

The man looks exactly the same.

So, although a miracle is not as difficult,

Jesus performs a miracle.

He tells the paralytic to get up,

Pick up his bed,

And go home.

And he does!

Jesus physically renovates the man in addition to the spiritual foundation of forgiveness.

Now, the crowd is left amazed by this grand reveal,

Saying the scribes never pulled off a renovation job like this.

Just like with the paralytic,

We need forgiveness.

So, we need faith in Christ to be forgiven.

But let me just give a quick disclaimer.

Having faith in Christ does not mean we will instantly be given better health,

Or earthly rewards.

It means Jesus forgives us of our sins.

And this is good news.

Because when our sins are forgiven,

Our foundation is made right.

Which stabilizes us for the temporary struggles in this world.

Slide

As Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:16-17,

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

God does gives us good things in this world,

But forgiveness is the greatest gift,

Because forgiveness is our greatest needed.

This is the gospel.

God forgives your sins through Jesus.

So, have faith in Jesus,

And your sins are forgiven.

GOD (Teach the text) - vs. 9-17:

Slide

In vs. 9-17,

We see that we are forgiven for a purpose.

We are Forgiven to Follow.

Jesus forgives all sinners,

Even those who our culture might consider too far gone.

In vs. 9, we are introduced to one of those sinners, Matthew.

Now, although the name Matthew means “gift of Yahweh,”

Don’t let that fool you.

His original name was Levi.

Before he was a disciple of Jesus,

And the author of this Gospel,

Matthew was a tax collector.

So, his people wrote him off as a corrupt sinner,

A Roman sympathizer,

And a Jewish traitor.

Because his work as a tax collector made him a burden to his own people.

He was detested!

Because all tax collectors were considered thieves and robbers.

They were willing to trample over their own people,

Just to make money.

They supported the Roman oppression over the Jews.

So, to the Jews,

Tax collectors were beyond saving.

They were deemed unclean and excluded from religious activities.

So, what Jesus does here,

Proves to make Him unpopular,

Especially among the Jewish religious leaders.

He goes straight to this despised tax collector,

And simply says,

“Follow Me.”

This is a wonderful example of the way Jesus pursues sinners.

I mean, think about it,

Why would He choose…Matthew?

His miracles have been drawing these huge crowds.

He could have had His pick of the litter!

Yet, He pursues Matthew,

And says,

“Follow Me.”

Friends, this is good news!

Jesus calls sinners to follow Him.

Jesus calls you and I to follow Him.

So, what will you do?

If you remember,

Jesus said the same thing to an unnamed disciple in ch. 8.

That disciple told Jesus,

“In a minute!”

But here,

Matthew immediately gets up from his tax booth.

He leaves his post,

His position,

His prosperity and possessions.

He leaves it all,

And follows Jesus.

He is a sinner who has been forgiven to follow his Savior.

Slide

And it is not like Matthew begrudgingly walks away from his tax booth,

Dragging his feet,

Looking back longingly,

Wondering, “what if?...”

No, instead,

It seems,

He gets other sinners to come to his house and have a feast with Jesus.

Jesus pursues sinners and forgives sinners to follow Him.

But the Pharisees ignored sinners.

They avoided the sinners and tax collectors.

Because they didn’t want to become unclean.

My hope is that FBC will never be like the Pharisees as we consider the people around us.

I want FBC to pursue after addicts and homosexuals,

Broken families and outcasts with Jesus.

I am not saying we join in on any cultural sins.

But we do reach out to sinners.

And we love sinners.

Because Jesus pursues and loves sinners.

In fact, we are the sinners Jesus loves and forgives.

We are the sick whom Jesus,

The Great Physician heals.

He heals more than physical sickness,

He heals the spiritual sickness of sin.

But if you see yourself as righteous,

Like the Pharisees,

You will think you don’t need Jesus.

Only those who know they are sick,

Seek out a doctor.

But because we are worse than sick,

We need more than a doctor.

We are sinners,

So, we need a Savior.

And that is why Jesus came.

Slide

If you don’t understand your need for a Savior,

Jesus says go and learn Hosea 6:6,

Where God said,

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Jesus’ death on the cross is the true sacrifice that secures God’s forgiveness for sins.

So, our sacrifices and our religious works do not earn us God’s forgiveness.

He desires mercy.

He came to offer mercy to sinners.

So, He desires forgiven sinners to extend that same mercy.

Jesus taught this same principle during the sermon on the mount.

If you seek God’s forgiveness,

You must also offer forgiveness to others.

Jesus did not come to prop up people who think they are righteous through their religious works.

We receive forgiveness through Jesus.

Not through our righteousness.

We are forgiven to follow,

We do not follow for forgiveness!

Slide

This interaction with the Pharisees leads directly into an interesting back and forth between Jesus and John’s disciples.

At this time,

John is in prison.

These disciples of his come to Jesus,

And basically complain about fasting.

Asking Jesus,

Why they have to abstain from certain foods but His disciples don’t?

Jesus answers them with a question of His own;

Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

This is a loaded question.

First, Jesus equates fasting to mourning.

Second, He uses the OT imagery of a wedding feast,

Where God was the groom,

And His people were the bride.

This imagery expressed a beautiful promise from God,

That He would draw His people to Himself,

Like a groom seeking after His bride.

So, Jesus is tapping into this precious imagery,

Saying,

Your groom is here!

His presence brings inexpressible joy!

So, the disciples aren’t fasting!

You don’t go to a wedding to mourn and fast.

It is a time to feast and celebrate!

And for the Jews,

They have been waiting for generations!

They have been hearing from their parents,

And their grandparents,

And their great grandparents,

And their great great grandparents.

Longing for their groom to come.

They have been praying and mourning and fasting.

And now,

Jesus says,

The day has come!

Your groom is here to prepare the church to be His bride!

So, there is no fasting,

No mourning while Jesus is here.

Slide

Then, in vs. 16-17,

Jesus uses two more illustrations to make a similar point.

The first illustration is a new patch on an old garment.

A patch is meant to repair a garment.

But if a patch is new,

It will shrink and tear the garment even more,

Defeating the whole purpose of the patch in the first place!

Likewise, wineskins were basically these pouches made from animal skin to hold wine.

When new wine is put into a fresh wineskin,

The wineskin expands and contracts with the wine as it ferments and bubbles.

But because they become brittle after use,

If you were to put new wine in a used wineskin,

It would rupture and burst open.

So, the point in both illustrations,

Is to express the incompatibility of the traditional Jewish teaching,

And Christ’s teaching.

Putting something new in the old doesn’t work.

It just destroys it.

Jesus is teaching that God is doing something new with the coming of Christ.

It was not just a revision or addition to the Jewish religious system.

Christ came and changed everything.

The bridegroom was making the way for the people to come to God.

So, it is time to celebrate!

Slide

But going back to vs. 15,

Jesus does allude to a future time,

When He will not be with the disciples.

When that time comes, then they will fast.

This is the time we are living in.

And that is why as a member of His body,

Fasting is an appropriate spiritual discipline to practice.

But it is still different than the fasting John’s disciples were doing here.

The bridegroom has come and forgiven us,

And though He is no longer here physically.

We have His presence in the form of the Holy Spirit.

So, we do still mourn and fast because we are living in a world broken by sin.

Suffering still happens,

Disease still happens,

Disasters still happen,

And death still happens.

So, we fast,

Longing for the day when Jesus returns to put an end to this broken world.

This is our eager expectation.

We crave for these miracles we have tasted and seen to come in their fullness!

But until that day comes,

We are forgiven to follow Christ in this world.

YOU (Response) - vs. 18-34:

Slide

Lastly, vs. 18-34 reinforces that we are Forgiven Through Faith.

First, Matthew condenses a couple miracles in vs. 18-25.

One is a bleeding woman who touches the fringe of Christ’s robes.

The second shows how Christ’s forgiveness gets even better,

Because He has power to raise the dead!

Notice how in each miracle,

All the people who approach Jesus,

Are forgiven through faith in Jesus.

First, the synagogue ruler, Jairus,

Comes and kneels before Jesus.

And even though his daughter just died,

He has faith that Jesus could raise her from the dead.

So, he pleads with Jesus to just come and lay His hand on her.

Jesus immediately gets up and makes His way.

Slide

Along the way,

A woman with a bloody discharge interrupts.

She is physically sick,

But also perpetually unclean.

So, not only did she suffer physically,

She couldn’t even go near the temple to worship God,

Without facing some sort of severe physical punishment.

And no want wanted to go near her and also become unclean.

So, she was socially outcast as well.

But when she finds out Jesus is here.

She thinks to herself,

“If I can just touch His robe,

I will be made well.”

Put yourself in this woman’s shoes.

She has had a chronic illness for 12 years!

12 years!

Think back to 2011,

That was 12 years ago.

How much has happened since then?

How much has changed for you in these past 12 years?

That is how long this woman lived with this illness.

Imagine, not only living with a physical ailment for 12 years,

But also not being able to come to church that whole time.

And on top of that,

Picture having almost no one willing to come near to you.

No one to hug you when your having a rough day.

No one to rub your back when you are feeling particularly sick.

For 12 years...

No relief.

No relationships with others.

Seemingly no relationship with God.

This is where this woman was,

When the presence of Jesus gave her hope!

And she had faith,

Just touch His robe,

And I will be well!

So, she did!

Then, imagine her surprise,

When He stops immediately,

Looks at her,

And just like He said to the paralytic,

“Take heart, my child, your faith has made you well.”

Even in the darkest seasons of despair,

Jesus gives hope.

I don’t know exactly what all of you are going through.

I don’t know how long you have been going through it.

Perhaps like this lady,

You have been suffering for over a decade.

But I do know that if you are hurting,

If you are struggling,

Jesus hasn’t lost you in the crowd.

He is intimately aware of your pain.

He knows whatever you are going through,

And His love for you is deeply personal.

You are His child,

His son,

His daughter.

You have His attention,

And you have His affection.

He is tuned into your deepest needs.

This woman was not just made well physically,

She was made well spiritually.

Like the paralytic,

She was forgiven through faith.

The same can be true for you.

He gives hope,

Even in the darkest seasons of despair.

Slide

But even better,

With Jairus’ daughter,

We see,

Jesus gives life,

Even in the face of death.

By the time Jesus gets to Jairus’ house,

He seems to be too late.

The girl is dead,

The funeral procession is playing.

Everyone is weeping and mourning loudly.

They are grieving the loss of this young girl.

But Jesus tells them to leave,

Because the girl is not dead but sleeping.

Jesus is not confused.

Nor is He mistaken.

He knows she’s dead.

But He also knows that He has the power to turn death into a nap.

Imagine being at a funeral.

And someone walking in and saying,

Stop the funeral!

Then they just walk over to the open casket,

Place their hand on your deceased loved one,

And say,

“Get up!”

It is an incredibly bold thing for anyone to do!

So, Jesus does this bold thing humbly.

He excuses almost everyone from the room.

Then He does just that,

And she gets up!

With Jesus,

Death is temporary.

His members do not die,

We only take naps.

While others are laughing,

Jesus is resurrecting!

This is huge!

Because Jesus Himself will eventually die on the cross.

But Jesus provides life even in the face of death.

So, three days after He is buried in His tomb,

He gets up and walks out!

Although death is very real, and difficult, and painful.

But!

With Jesus,

It is temporary.

So, as Phil. 1:21 says,

Philippians 1:21 ESV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Because Christ brings life,

Even in the face of death.

Here, Jairus’ daughter was healed by God’s grace through Jairus’ faith.

This is an important distinction.

Because the Bible is not teaching this idea of faith healings.

Your faith will not cause a miracle.

God’s grace is the cause.

The miracles are happening by God’s grace through their faith.

They give a taste of what the new heaven and new earth will be like.

But it is not the power of our faith that makes this happen.

You are not forgiven by faith.

You are forgiven by God’s grace through faith.

Slide

This point is seen again in vs. 27-31,

When Jesus heals two blind men.

They demonstrate their faith by calling Jesus the “Son of David.”

Which is a title for the Messiah,

And like Jairus,

They plead with Jesus to have mercy on them.

Which, if you remember back in vs. 13,

Is what Jesus told the scribes to learn,

That God desires mercy and not sacrifice.

By calling Jesus the Son of David,

There is no doubt these blind men know exactly who Jesus is.

Even in their blindness,

These men had eyes of faith,

To see what the Pharisees and the scribes could not.

Jesus specifically asks them if they believe,

And they say, “yes, Lord!”

May we also have similar eyes of faith,

To answer Jesus the same way!

Jesus asks us all if we believe.

If our answer is anything but “Yes, Lord!”

Then we are not forgiven through faith.

Slide

Finally, in vs. 32-34,

We see Jesus’ authority over the enemy,

Just like we saw at the end of our chapter last week.

Look at how quickly Matthew tells this story.

If Jesus were to make a TikTok video.

I imagine it would be like this.

You may be familiar,

There is this audio clip that you can use to make a video.

The video would show some sort of obstacle or hindrance,

Then the audio says,

“Can we skip to the good part.”

And the scene just cuts past the obstacle,

And it has this vocal melody with it.

So, here is how I imagine Jesus’ TikTok video.

This man who could not speak because of the demonic oppression he was under is brought to Jesus.

The video is completely silent to portray his muteness,

And the reference Matt. 9:32 is in the corner of the screen.

Then the man holds up a sign that says,

“Can we skip to the good part?”

It skips to vs. 33 in the corner,

And now the man is singing that melody,

And all the people are amazed,

Looking around at each other,

Shaking their heads in disbelief.

Because they never saw anything like it!

But no matter how good the video turned out.

The Pharisees would still thumb it down.

They can’t pretend that Jesus is unable to cast out demons.

He has done it multiple times now.

So, they attempt to dismiss them,

By contending that Jesus was doing this by the power of Satan.

WE (Paint a picture of the future):

Slide

Looking back,

The OT promised a Savior,

Who would give the blind their sight,

Make the deaf hear,

The lame leap,

And the mute to sing for joy.

In Matt. 8 and 9,

Jesus does all that and more!

He also brings the dead back to life,

And cast out demons!

Jesus saves us from the enemy;

From sin, suffering, death, and the devil.

Because He has overcome it all!

Therefore, we can rejoice in Jesus’ promised eternity!

When sin, suffering, death, and the devil are cast down,

And are no more!

But this means we must have faith that we are forgiven to follow Christ.

One thing that is abundantly clear in our ch. this morning,

Is that Jesus loves us deeply!

He does what He does,

Because He wants to save us sinners from hell.

That is why He came,

Why He pursues us,

Why He calls us to follow Him,

Why He forgives and saves us!

Because He loves us deeply!

This is amazing, yes.

But don’t just be like the crowds who saw Jesus and were amazed.

We are forgiven to follow Him.

It is easy to stand amazed when He is miraculously healing.

But when He walks the long road to the cross,

And still says follow Him,

We must still decide to follow Jesus.

There are several people in chs. 8-9 who seem to renounce themselves to follow Jesus.

The leper, the centurion, the paralyzed man, the bleeding woman, Jairus, and the blind men.

They all seem to renounce themselves and put their faith in Christ.

But there is another example who stands out,

Matthew.

Matthew abandoned his livelihood,

He abandoned everything to follow Jesus.

And he did it for the same reason,

Faith in Christ.

So, what about you?

Do you have faith that you are forgiven to follow Christ?

As we close this morning.

I am excited to share that we have two friends,

Two brothers in Christ who have said “Yes, Lord!”

To Jesus.

They have expressed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,

And expressed a desire to get baptized!

We have the baptism tank all ready for these two.

So, I would like to invite John Labar and Fred Johnson up and I will join you guys over by the tank in a moment.

As we prepare to celebrate these two men,

And their expression of faith,

By following Jesus’ example of being baptized.

I would like to lead in a word of prayer.

And if you have put your faith in Jesus,

And would like to get baptized today too.

Our elders are hanging out by the welcome table.

Head over there and talk to them about it.

We would love to see even more people put their faith and Jesus,

And follow His example of baptism.

Pray.