Christ's Authority to Forgive Sin

Christ’s Authority to Forgive Sin

Matthew 9:1-8

We’ve been studying the book of Matthew for the last few weeks. Matthew has been establishing the authority of Jesus. In this book we have seen that Jesus has:

Authority over sickness- He healed the sick.

Authority over the storm- He stilled the storm

Authority over the sea- He calmed the raging sea

Authority over Satan- He cast out devils

In this section Matthew establishes that Jesus also has authority over sin. Not only can Jesus give:

Peace on the water, by stilling the storm.

Peace in the body, by casting out Satan.

He can give people peace with God by forgiving their sins. Matthew includes this story to prove to us that Jesus can forgive sin. I want us to see three things in this story today:

A joy inspired by Jesus

A question asked by Jesus

A miracle performed by Jesus

1. A joy inspired by Jesus (1-2).

A. Jesus returns home.

Jesus had taken up residence in Capernaum. He went back there and resumed His ministry. Matthew gives a very brief account of this incident. To get a full picture of what is happening we have to include the information that Mark and Luke give us as well.

Jesus was teaching the Word of God from a home in Capernaum. So many people had come to hear Him that the house was full and no one else could get in.

Mark described the situation saying:

And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

Do you know what Jesus did when He had a crowd of people? He preached the Word to them. That’s a great model for the church. When a crowd gathers, preach the Word to them.

But they came for miracles! Preach the Word to them!

But they came to argue! Preach the Word to them!

But they came for food! Preach the Word to them!

B. A man was brought to Jesus.

This man was paralyzed. We don’t know how long he had been paralyzed. We don’t know how he became paralyzed. It’s likely this man was a quadriplegic. Mark tells us that four people were carrying this man. He was being carried on what is described as a bed. Picture if you will a stretcher with a man lying on it and a man at each corner carrying it. A couple of things about these guys:

They loved their paralyzed friend.

They had faith in Jesus.

These are the type of friends we need. Let me ask you a question young people, would the folks you are hanging out with right now hang out with you if you were paralyzed? As we get older, we find out who our true friends are. Surround yourself with people who love you and love Jesus.

When these men get their friend to the home Jesus was preaching from, they quickly realize they can’t get through the crowd. They want Jesus to heal their friend.

You would think when people saw the pitiful state of this man they would move aside and let them make their way to Jesus. That wasn’t the case. I can almost see these men pushing through the crowd and calling out for the Lord. The crowd is so thick they can’t get to Jesus.

At this point Luke and Mark explain to us the extreme measures these friends went to. They climbed up on the roof of the house. The rooves in that culture were low. They were also used much like our porches are used today. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone sitting on a roof.

Houses in that culture weren’t very big. It wouldn’t be hard to determine about where Jesus was by listening to Him teach. Once they determine where Jesus is, they begin to remove the tiles of the roof. They open a hole in the roof big enough to lower their friend down.

If you’re worried about the roof remember the previous story. Demons were cast into pigs and the pigs were destroyed. People are worth more than property.

Could you imagine being in that home? You hear someone walking on the roof. Then you hear someone pulling at the roof. In a moment a hole opens, and you see four guys staring down at you.

These men tied ropes to the four corners of the stretcher and lowered their friend down. I would imagine the preaching had stopped by this point and everyone was looking up. Luke tells us the man was lowered down right in front of Jesus.

I’m sure there were some upset people in that crowd. They were probably thinking these men were arrogant and self-centered. The Bible says Jesus saw their faith. He wasn’t upset with them at all.

This paralyzed man had humbled himself in front of Jesus. Oftentimes the handicapped are self-conscious already. This man exposed himself in front of this crowd. What if Jesus rebuked him? What if Jesus sent him away? He had no idea how Jesus would respond. In this story the paralyzed man never speaks. He just lay there in front of Jesus, no doubt looking at Him.

C. A man was forgiven.

Jesus speaks.

He says “Be of good cheer”.

He says, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Wait a minute! Where did that come from? We were expecting a healing! We were expecting a miracle in this man’s body. Why did Jesus tell a paralyzed man to cheer up and address his sin? That doesn’t seem very loving.

Perhaps we are looking at this story in the wrong way. Our assumption was the sole reason this man came to Jesus was to be healed. What if it wasn’t? What if this man came to Jesus primarily to be forgiven?

This man had obviously been in depression. Jesus told him to cheer up. Nothing robs us of joy like the reality of our sin. This was a handicapped man who lived in a culture that taught a works salvation.

The religious leaders had added so much to the Word of God that a healthy person couldn’t obey it. This man had been raised to believe salvation was by works, and he couldn’t work. He couldn’t do anything but lay on his bed. He’d probably been told by many that he was paralyzed because he was a sinner.

Jesus said “Cheer up, your sins are forgiven” because this man’s sins were a burden to him. He wanted forgiveness. He wanted to be saved. Christ forgave his sin.

Notice he is still paralyzed. Even though he is paralyzed he could have gone home happy because he was forgiven.

Friends listen, we can have joy even though we are sick if we have been forgiven. Joy comes from forgiveness not healing. Forgiveness is essential, healing is not. There will be many people healed when they get to heaven but there will not be a single person forgiven when they get there. Forgiveness happens on this side of eternity. Most healing happens on the other side of eternity.

Think of a man sentenced to death by hanging. He is a guilty man. On his execution date he is marched to the gallows. They walk him up the steps to the platform. They tie his hands behind his back. They slip the rope over his neck. They tighten the noose. Just before they place the sack over his head, they hear a voice calling out. Here comes a man running down the road. He is flailing his arms. He is shouting “Wait! Wait! Stop the execution! All eyes turn to this man who begins mounting the platform out of breath. The criminal looks at this man, filled with hope. The man, with a big smile says, “I have good news!” He opens an envelope and pulls out a letter extending it to the condemned man and says, “Your doctor says you are cancer free.”

What does it matter? The only thing that matters to a person who knows they are condemned is pardon. Christ gives this paralyzed man a pardon. He forgives him. While this man could not literally leap, I believe he was leaping on the inside. He got what he came to Jesus for. He was forgiven.

People are carrying heavier burdens than the ones we can see. We would have looked at that man and said “I bet he’d be happy if he weren’t paralyzed. We would have been wrong. Jesus sees what this man’s burden truly is. He addresses that burden. He gives this man the joy of forgiveness.

2. A question asked by Jesus (3-5).

A. A charge is brought to Jesus.

Nothing is spoken out loud. Just as Jesus heard the cry of the paralyzed man’s heart, He hears the ungodly thoughts in the religious leaders’ hearts. We don’t have to speak for the Lord to hear us.

They could have not thought anything worse about Jesus. They said, “This man blasphemes”. They knew the Bible. The Bible teaches that no one can forgive sin except God.

In Isa. 43:25 God says “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

In forgiving sin Jesus was making Himself equal with God. If Christ were not God He would have been blaspheming. But there is a lot of proof in this story that Jesus is God.

He reads the hearts of people (he saw the faith of the four friends, he saw the request for forgiveness from the paralyzed man and he read the thoughts of the scribes).

He forgives the sins of the paralyzed man.

He heals the paralyzed man.

B. Jesus addresses the charge.

He asks the scribes why they are thinking this evil in their hearts. He calls them out. These men didn’t think the paralyzed man had been forgiven because they didn’t believe Jesus had the authority to do that. The truth is there were probably others there thinking the same thing.

Jesus asks them another question. He asks, “What’s easier for me to do?”

Is it easier for me to tell this man he is forgiven?

Is it easier for me to heal this man?

Let me answer the question for you. It’s easier to heal the man than to forgive the man. All Jesus must do to heal this man is speak a word. What does Jesus have to do to secure this man’s forgiveness?

He had to leave heaven.

He had to take upon Himself a human body.

He had to suffer under the Jewish and Gentile governments.

He had to be beaten.

He had to be nailed to a cross.

He had to die.

There is nothing easy about our forgiveness. Christ didn’t just say “You’re forgiven.” His words reflected the reality that He would pay the price for this man’s sin. Christ endured our hell, there is nothing easy about that! It would have been much easier for Christ to simply heal this man’s body.

Even we are more willing to heal a body than forgive someone. When I worked as a chaplain for the Florida DOC I saw this illustrated. On several occasions correctional officers saved the lives of inmates. An inmate would be choking in the cafeteria and an officer would perform the Heimlich maneuver on him. An inmate would get stabbed and an officer would stop the bleeding until medical arrived. Had these officers forgiven these men for their awful crimes? Not likely. But they were willing to save their lives. Forgiveness is the more difficult thing even when it comes to sinners.

One of the most common arguments I have heard against Christianity concerns forgiveness. Many people cannot understand how certain people can be forgiven. They believe some things are too awful to be forgiven. It doesn’t seem fair to them that a person can come to Christ and have their sins removed.

What we must understand is that our sins didn’t just disappear. They were laid upon Christ. They have been dealt with. They have been paid for. When Christ told this man he was forgiven it wasn’t some superficial statement. Christ’s mind was on the cross. Jesus didn’t decide to overlook this man’s sins. Jesus didn’t say “Don’t worry about it, it’s no big deal.” Jesus took this man’s debt to the cross. No sin goes unpaid for. It is either paid for on calvary by Jesus or by the sinner in hell.

Do we think of the difficulty of our forgiveness? Do we think of the price Jesus paid for our sins? I am afraid too often we think of His healing more than His forgiveness. I am happy I will receive a new body. I am thrilled that one day He will deliver me from the aches and pains of a dying body. But I am more thrilled that He has taken my sins to the cross. With ease He will give me a new body. But for my forgiveness He:

Sweated

Was beaten

Was pierced

Was killed

3. A miracle performed by Jesus (6-8).

A. Jesus performs a lesser miracle to prove the greater miracle.

Look at verse 9. Jesus is going to perform the lesser miracle, heal this man, for the benefit of those who accused Him of blasphemy. He says “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…”

Just as the pigs running off the cliff were proof that the demon possessed men had been set free (8:32), the healing of this man would be proof that he had been forgiven.

The demon possessed men knew they had been set free.

This paralyzed man knew he had been forgiven.

The miracle is for those who don’t know. Christ is proving Himself to those who don’t believe in Him.

Think about it. If Jesus was guilty of blasphemy certainly God wouldn’t allow Him to perform a miracle.

Jesus tells this man “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”

The man was immediately healed. He carried his own bed home. Luke says he went home praising God. I like this! Immediate healing! He didn’t need any rehab. He didn’t have to stretch his legs for a while. He was made whole immediately. He had been carried there, now he is carrying his bed home.

This is all grace. What a blessing it is that God not only saves us but also gives us many other blessings in our life. That man would have gone home happy if they had to carry him home. He was forgiven. But God healed him too. His cup was running over.

B. People praise God because Jesus can forgive sins (8).

They had heard a bold claim: A man was forgiven of his sin!

They had witnessed a miraculous proof of that claim: a paralyzed man was healed.

Thank God for Jesus!

Thank God we can be forgiven!

Sin is our greatest problem!

Hell is our greatest threat!

Christ delivers us from both.

The Bible says there is rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents. The rejoicing is not over the sinner. The rejoicing is over the forgiveness the sinner receives. The rejoicing is in Christ who forgives us.

I ought to glorify God because He has forgiven me!

I ought to glorify God because He has forgiven you!

Forgiveness should cause us to marvel at and glorify God on this earth. What did Christ tell this man? He said, “Cheer up, you’re forgiven!”

I know you have problems.

I know your body hurts, cheer up, you’re forgiven!

I know you’re tired of this old sinful world, but cheer up, you’re forgiven!

I know you didn’t get the report you wanted from the doctor, but cheer up, you’re forgiven!

C. We have a miracle to prove our forgiveness.

What is our miracle? It is the resurrection of Jesus. How can I believe the words of Jesus concerning forgiveness? I look to the resurrection. The resurrection is proof that everything Jesus said is true.

Jesus told me to not let my heart be troubled because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Jesus told me if I come to Him and He will receive me.

Jesus told me that God so loved the world….

Jesus told me that if I believe in Him I will live even after I die!

Every promise of Jesus is confirmed in the miracle of the resurrection.

John said “These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life..” (1 John 5:13)

Jesus has the authority to forgive our sins. Has He forgiven yours? Come to Him. Come in repentance. Come in faith. Call on His name.