Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

The fact that we baptize infants in a great offense to much of the Protestant church. “We are saved by faith alone,” they cry, “and not by works. Therefore, baptism, which is a work, cannot save.” How do we answer this? Yes, baptism is a work, but it is not a work of man. It is the work of God. The infant does not perform the work. Neither does the pastor, even though his hands are the ones that pour on the water. Christ Himself does the work of salvation, placing His name upon the child, joining it to His death and resurrection, forgiving its sins, and opening wide the gates of heaven.

“But what about faith?” the protesters ask. “How can a child that does not believe be saved?” And we answer, “Why would you think that an infant can’t have faith, when Scripture clearly teaches that it can, even while at its mother’s breast or, better yet, while in the womb?” And what is faith, other than to believe the promises of Jesus, the same Jesus who promised that the gift of baptism and the Holy Spirit is for “you and your children”?

Certainly, since faith is a gift from God, He can bestow this gift when and where He pleases, especially to infants, whom Jesus holds up not as exceptions, but as the models for saving faith. “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3)—the very same kingdom of heaven that no one can enter except by the rebirth of water and the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:5).

The very idea of saving faith in infants can cause many Protestants to break out in hives, but what makes even Lutherans nervous, is what we find in our Gospel text today: the role of the faith of others in our salvation. Then behold, they brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you (Mt 9:2).

In our emphasis on the need for individual faith—without which one cannot be saved—we have perhaps not properly considered the role of the faith of others in salvation. Where would the paralytic have been without those who carried Him to Jesus? Certainly, he also is brought to saving faith. In fact, Jesus gives Him that faith directly with the words, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” But in order to hear and believe these words of Jesus, he needed first to be carried to the place where Jesus was. How is this any different than the baptism of an infant?

In this man’s case they carried him as an adult because his legs were paralyzed. In your case they likely carried you as an infant because you had not yet learned to walk. And many others, who are brought to saving faith later in life, were carried along by the prayers of their parents or grandparents, even though they may have walked to the font on their own two feet. And all of us are carried by the circumstances that God has engineered, brought in His time to that saving flood. Consider how you were brought to Jesus, and consider how He used the faith of others to bear you there. This was no work of man. It was the work of God. And then consider what this means for those whom you love that are still far from Jesus. Don’t despair. God can and does use your faith, your prayers, your hands and feet as He accomplishes His saving purpose in the lives of those who have yet to be granted saving faith.

When the paralytic was brought to Jesus, the Lord had compassion upon him and immediately granted him the one thing that he needed above all else: “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” I suppose the man would have been expecting something else from Jesus—you know, legs that could walk. That’s probably what his friends had in mind as well as they carried him. I don’t think they were expecting to carry him back. But Jesus always gives us more than we could ever ask or think.

When we take our troubles to God in prayer, we generally focus on the immediate needs of this life: we need food, clothing, and shelter. We fear the loss of property, health, and reputation. But Jesus knows what we truly need, and He came to earth as a man to give it. His mission was not to provide temporary relief for the aches of our sin-sick bodies, but to loosen the bonds of sin and death. Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son, your sins are loosed from you.”

Remember, in the original New Testament language there is no special word for forgiveness, as there is in English. Instead, Scripture speaks of binding and loosing. We were born slaves of Satan, fast bound in the chains of sin, deserving of death and hell. But at a word from Jesus, those chains are loosed, along with Satan’s claims upon your life and soul. And this is what you needed from Jesus, even if you didn’t know it. Even as you were carried to him by the faith of others, before you were aware of your sinful state, even before the Holy Spirit had created faith or love toward God within your heart, Jesus knew your condition. He knew what you needed above all else, and He came to earth for this express purpose: to lose the chains of sin and death, to ransom you from the hand of Satan with His own blood, and to usher you into His eternal kingdom through the saving water of Holy Baptism.

When the Roman sect separated from the true faith after the Reformation, they took with them the material treasures of the church: the power and wealth, many of the most beautiful cathedrals, the chair of St. Peter, and much else that men consider of value. Yes, the Papists are the material heirs of the Church, but we Evangelical Catholics, or Lutherans as we were named by our detractors, are the true heirs of the Church. For we have received her true treasure, the inheritance our Lord left to the Church that He founded. “Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven” … And when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men (Mt 9:2, 8).

The Scriptures do not say that God had given this power to a man, that is, to the God-man Jesus, but to men. Jesus, being God, had this power from the beginning. But now this power that our Lord exercised, the power to unbind sins and open heaven, has been given to men. And these words of loosing are the great treasure of the Church. If we lose everything else, even your buildings, but have the words of Jesus, we remain the true Church and we are blessed beyond measure.

You have heard these words. You heard them spoken when you were carried by the faith of others to the place where Jesus is. “I baptize you into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Take heart, child, your sins are loosed.” You heard Jesus speak them again this morning, having confessed your sins, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.” And you will hear them again as you kneel at the altar: “This is My Body, broken for you. This is My Blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. Take heart, child, your sins are forgiven.” These words, spoken by the men God has appointed as His ministers on earth, carry the same force today as when Jesus spoke them with His own mouth. For according to His promise, whatever is loosed here on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

You first heard these words when you were carried to Jesus. And at His Word, saving faith was kindled in your heart. And now, having been granted a miracle far greater than the quickening of paralyzed limbs, you, though once dead in sin, have been raised to new life according to Jesus’ word. He cannot lie, and He has given you the faith to believe that His promise is true and it is for you. Amen.