****Matthew 9:1-9

Arise and Walk!

(Matthew 9:1–8

Matthew 9:1–8 (NRSV)

1 And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town. 2 And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, perceiving 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, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” 7 And he stood up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

Matthew proclaimed the position of the man, the power of the Master, the performing of the miracle, and the praise of the multitudes. Obedience to the commands of the Lord brings praise to God. I want to remind God’s people of the Lord’s awesome power and to challenge people to come to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

Are you paralyzed in sin? Do you need the Master to forgive you and cleanse you? Would you obey His word and trust Him? Would you arise and walk today? This passage of scripture reveals some discoveries of the Lord’s power to enable us to arise and walk.

I. The condition of the sinner. (1–2a)

“So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.”

The Lord Jesus had just got through casting demons out of two men and He demonstrated His power over Satan, He comes to His home town and here He demonstrates His power over sin. We clearly see in this text that this sinner was paralyzed. Mark tells us in Mark 2:3, “Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.”

These four men represent the church doing what it is supposed to do.

They were bringing this man to Jesus. Today the church is still to be bringing people to the Lord Jesus. People had gathered all around Jesus to hear Him, they heard that Jesus was in the house. The Lord Jesus always drew a crowd.

Those gathered also represent the church, as they hindered the four from getting to Jesus easily.

They were blocking the way to Jesus, God help the church today to realize that we have blocked the way too long for people to come to Jesus.

Sadly though, this paralyzed man also represents much of the church today.

Instead of bringing people to Jesus, we need someone to bring us to Jesus. But God’s clear call, is for us to be bringing people to Jesus. We must be walking with Jesus, be living for Jesus, be communicating with Jesus, be obedient to Jesus.

Jerry Vines says, “Many people will never come to Jesus unless somebody else brings them. It is our job to go out where lost people are and bring them to Jesus. The Bible nowhere says that sinners are to come to church. Everywhere in the Bible it is clear that the church is to go where sinners are. Here is a beautiful picture of the responsibility of every child of God to get involved, to be engaged in going out where cripples are and bringing them to Jesus.”

One of the main reasons I believe that church is not bringing people to Jesus and seeing God’s power manifest in our lives is that we are paralyzed.

→ We are crippled

→ by fear, by failures,

→ by ritual, by laziness,

→ by apathy, by indifference,

→ by selfishness, by sin.

The condition of this man was evident to all, he could not function in society, he could not dress himself, could not bathe himself, could not feed himself. There are people today that are spiritually crippled, they are lost and on their way to hell, and they need us to bring them to Jesus.

The four men didn’t let

• the condition of their friend hinder them,

• the crowd all around Jesus to hinder them,

• the difficulty of getting through to hinder them.

They figured out a way to get their friend to the Lord Jesus.

Simon Kistemaker points out, “When determined people come together in prayer and ask God to bless their efforts that affect His church and kingdom, miracles happen. He opens the windows of heaven and pours out His blessings on those who wait for Him in faith and prayer. He is always true to His Word and keeps His promises.”

Many of the Jews looked on individuals with sickness as sinners, when in fact all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Ultimately sin causes all sickness, all hurting, pain, and death, but specifically people’s sickness is not necessarily related to their sin.

John MacArthur says, “Though it is true that affliction, pain, and hardship of every sort are the result of the presence of sin in the world, they are not necessarily brought on by some specific sin of the person who is suffering. Not all sickness is chastening, but all sickness is a graphic demonstration of the destructive power at work in the world because of sin.”

We’ve seen in verses 1 and 2 the condition of the sinner; in the last part of verse 2 we see:

II. The cleansing by the Savior. (2b)

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

The Lord Jesus always responds to faith. He saw the faith of the men that brought the crippled, and He saw the faith of the man who wanted to come to Jesus. God sees faith—it is tangible and displayed in what we do!

It was not just the faith of the men who carried the paralytic, but it was the faith of the paralytic. The Lord will not forgive your mother, brother, or sister because of your faith. They must personally trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. The Lord Jesus did not address his physical needs at first, because they are the least important, but rather He addressed the man’s spiritual needs. He dealt with the man’s sin.

John G. Butler wrote, “First, He addressed the forgiveness of sins, then the physical affliction. The social gospel wants it the other way around. So does the flesh. However, rescue missions and medical missionaries have learned that you must preach to and teach the people before you can tend to the people’s physical needs. If you do not, very few people will stick around for the preaching and teaching after their physical needs have been met. The spiritual is always more important than the physical.”

This man had just been dramatically lowered down from the roof of this house and was placed before Jesus. The crowd was on the edge of their seats waiting to hear from the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus spoke to the paralytic. Jesus speaks directly and personally to each one of us.

Jesus says to the man, be of good cheer; (tharseo) which means to have courage; be of good comfort.

The Lord Jesus tells the man to take courage and comfort because his sins were forgiven. This man was still paralyzed physically, but he could rejoice because he had been set free spiritually. The Lord Jesus says something that God can only say, because He is God.

Only God can forgive sins and this is a clear picture of the deity of the Son of God. “Your sins are forgiven you.” What a wonderful word. If you are saved, then you’ve heard these words from the Lord Jesus.

I heard about a little boy who had disobeyed his mother, so he got out his slate chalkboard and wrote, “Mom, I’m sorry I was bad. If you forgive me, wipe this out.” The next time the little boy came by, his mother had wiped it clean. Every sinner that comes to Jesus, and says, ‘Lord, I’m sorry I have sinned. If you forgive me, wipe this clean.’ Jesus has promised to do that. This world needs forgiveness, we need forgiveness. I pray that God will burden our hearts to share His forgiveness with a lost and dying world.

When Missionaries in northern Alaska were translating the Bible into the language of the Eskimos, they discovered there was no word in that language for forgiveness. After much patient listening, however, they discovered a word that means, ‘not being able to think about it anymore.’ That word was used throughout the translation to represent forgiveness. Forgiven: (aphiemi) which means to send away; to bid going away or depart. Thank God for the forgiveness of our sins—it is only through Jesus that we can be forgiven.

Psalm 103:11–12, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Hebrews 8:12, “for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Have you been forgiven by the Lord? Has the Lord Jesus said to you, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven”? Are you of “good cheer” today because you are forgiven? I think our:

• worship would be exciting

• and praise would be powerful

• and our living would be with grace

• when we realize that we have been forgiven.

We’ve seen the condition of the Sinner, the cleansing by the Savior, next in verse 3 we see:

III. The condemning by the Scribes. (3)

“And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This Man blasphemes!”

When the Lord Jesus starts getting the glory and He starts healing people from their sins and people’s lives are changed, there will always be some scribes and Pharisee’s that will rise up and try to hinder the work of God.

“Immediately” as soon as Jesus said these words these self-righteous hypocrites began to grumble and say within themselves that Jesus had blasphemed.

The Lord Jesus had those who criticized and complained; they could not see God at work because they were spiritually blind. Herbert Lockyer wrote, “Rightly understanding the forgiveness of sins as a divine prerogative, those blind scribes failed to see … that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh.”

You let any church start being obedient and submitted to Jesus and let the Lord start working in that church and these Pharisees will come out of the woodwork.

Scribes: Were the professional copyists, recorders, and teachers of the Hebrew Scriptures. Most of them were Pharisees.

They clearly was condemning Jesus of blasphemy.

Blasphemy: (blasphemeo) which means to use speech to bring down another’s value, honor, due-respect; to injure another’s reputation in the eyes of others. It means to rail or revile.

Pretending to do or to be anything that only God can do or be was thought to be blasphemy.

In the eyes of the scribes, Jesus had committed blasphemy because He had taken on Himself the authority to forgive the paralytic, of course, this authority was reserved for God.

Matthew Henry wrote, “The greatest instance of heaven’s power and grace is branded with the blackest note of hell’s enmity. What horrid wickedness then were they guilty of who charged Him with speaking the worst of blasphemies, even when He spoke the best of blessings.”

Do we respond in a negative way to what Jesus does in our midst or in another congregation? So far we’ve seen the condition of the sinner, the cleansing by the Savior, the condemning by the scribes, and next we see in verse 4:

IV. The confrontation by the Sovereign. (4–5)

“But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?’ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?”

Again this tells us of the Sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God almighty and He let the scribes know that He knew what they were thinking. The scribes were thinking right in that only God can forgive sins, but they went amiss in their thinking that Jesus was not God. They didn’t get the full picture—but they were about to be show Who God was and what God could do!

God knows our hearts, He knows our thoughts and Jesus lets us know that He knows these things because He is God.

Psalm 94:11, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.”

Psalm 139:1–4, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

The Lord Jesus knew what was in their hearts and what was in their hearts was evil. The Lord Jesus confronts the scribes with their ungodliness. Every time God is at work and doing a new thing in a congregation there is always some evil thoughts. God knows our hearts. Is He pleased with you and your heart this morning?

In this confrontation Jesus asks a question of the people, but no one dared answer. What Jesus had done was forgive the man of his sins, what Jesus was accused of was saying He forgives sins but cannot forgive sins. The scribes and Pharisees said that He committed blasphemy.

Because forgiveness is in the heart and not necessarily seen right away, and because the people related this man’s sickness with his sin, Jesus was about to do something in their midst that could not be refuted.

I can almost detect the frustration in the Lord’s voice at the lack of faith. There is nothing that pleases the Lord more than faith, but there is nothing more displeasing to the Lord than a lack of faith.

→ There are people today and in many churches that question the Lord’s ability and capability to forgive sin.

The Lord Jesus not only confronts these hypocrites in verse 4 and 5 but next we see:

V. The clarification by the Son. (6a)

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”

The Lord Jesus immediately clarifies in front of the whole crowd, that what they have accused Him of has no basis whatsoever. The Lord Jesus tells these hardhearted scribes that though they cannot see that this man’s sins have been forgiven, they will soon see this man’s sickness healed. The Lord Jesus has all power and He has power to forgive sins. Power: (Exousia) which means authority, liberty of doing as one pleases; the ability or strength with which one is endued. The right to exercise power. The Lord Jesus manifested His power in various ways and He gives a direct show of His power in the healing of this crippled man. Just as Jesus clarified to those around Him, so too, the church needs to clarify what we believe, whose be belong to, and exercise the power that we have through the Lord Jesus Christ. We will never have a turn for the better if we do not believe that Jesus has power on earth to forgive sins. The Lord Jesus makes a great statement here. He says that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

→ Our sins must be forgiven while we are on the earth, there is no forgiveness after death.

The Lord Jesus tells us today that the same power that He had to forgive sins, He still has. We will never have a turn for the better if we do not receive that forgiveness of our sins. In verses 2–6a we’ve seen The condition of the sinner, the cleansing by the Savior, the condemning by the scribes, the confrontation by the sovereign, and the clarification by the Son. In verses 6b–8 we see:

VI. The command by the Son. 6b–8)

(A.) The response to the command. (6b–7)

“then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house.”

The Lord Jesus spoke this command directly to the paralyzed man. If we are ever going to be the church of Jesus Christ we must heed His command to arise. This was not an easy command for a paralytic to follow. John G. Butler wrote, “When the command was given, the power to do the command was also given. God never gives us a command we cannot obey!” The Lord Jesus is calling for His church to arise out of their slumber, to arise to righteousness.

Arise: (egeiro) which means to waken, to rouse, to awake, lift up, rear up, stand up, take up, arise up.

The Lord Jesus is calling the church to come alive. We have heard the command of God today, will we respond as this man did? The Bible says that he got up in front of everyone and left for his house. He was carried to Jesus on a bed, but he left Jesus carrying his bed. He took up his bed. A.T. Robertson wrote, “This is in the aorist active imperative tense which means to ‘pack up at once … the rolled up pallet.” He responded to the call and command of Jesus. There are some of you this morning that God has called and commanded you to do certain things, and because of disobedience you have not responded to the call.

Spiritual Application: Many of you have been saved, but you have never grown in your faith. You never do anything for the Lord. It is time for you to arise and walk.

The Lord Jesus didn’t save us to sit He saved us to serve. We need to arise in Jesus name! Jesus demonstrated His power over sin and He demonstrated His power over sickness.

John Phillips says, “Jesus turned to the paralytic. “Arise,” He said. The man arose and walked on his own two legs to his house. It was evident that if Jesus could thus authoritatively banish sickness, He could also authoritatively banish sin.”

The power of the Lord healed this man, the power of the Lord still heals people of their sin. The greatest of all that took place that day was that a sinner went home a saint.

Warren Wiersbe says, “We must not conclude from this miracle that all sickness is caused by sin, or that forgiveness automatically means physical healing. More important than the healing of this man’s body was the cleansing of his heart. He went home with both a sound body and a heart at peace with God.”

We see the response to the command in verses 6b–7; next we see:

(B.) The result of the command. (8)

“Now when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.”

Everybody in the house saw what happened and the result was that they glorified God.

Marveled: which means to wonder, wonder at, marvel, to be wondered at, and hence, to be had in admiration. The multitude marveled. They were amazed at the work of the Lord Jesus.

Mark 2:12 says, “so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!”

These folks had never ever seen anything like this before. They were praising God that day. When you spend time with the Lord Jesus you’ll see things you’ve never seen before! Not everyone believed on Jesus but they admired Him, they were flabbergasted at what He had done. Jerry Vines says, “People were amazed at what He did. But, however astonished they were, they were not moved to conversion. The Son of God was right there in their midst but for the most part they were unresponsive.” The Lord wants to raise this church up, to make it a beckon in this community, but we first must repent:

• of sin,

• of self-righteousness,

• of stubbornness,

• of unwilling to do whatever it takes to bring people to Jesus.

The Lord calls for this church to be sold out to Him, to be surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He calls for His people to arise, take up their bed and go and serve Him. Would you come to yield yourself to His Lordship?