Sermons on Matthew's Gospel

The King is at Work - Sins are forgiven!

Matthew 9:1–8 NIV84

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Jesus was sent away from Gedara and returned “to his own town” which is not Nazareth, but is Capernaum(see Mtt 4:13).

Although Nazareth was the city of Jesus’ childhood, He had been rejected by the people there, who would have thrown Him over a cliff to His death had He not passed through their midst unnoticed. From there “He went His way” a few miles east “and He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee” (Luke 4:29–31), as a prophet rejected in His own country (see Matt. 13:57). At this time He probably took up temporary residence with Peter, in whose home He healed Peter’s mother-in-law (8:14–15). Jesus’ own city, his place to come “home” to was now Capernaum (cf. Mark 2:1).

Mark and Luke give us a lot of further detail on this incident.

Jesus was ministering in a house and the place was packed inside and out. The type of house he was in was a two-story house and the living quarters were on the upper floor with the animals; tools and work equipment kept below. The outside stairs were therefore usually built all the way to the roof.

Because the paralysed man’s friends could not get into the crowded room where Jesus was, they carried the litter up to the top of the house and proceeded to dismantle the roof until they made enough room to lower the man into Jesus’ presence (Mark 2:3–4; Luke 5:19).

1. Healing as a signpost to the forgiveness of sin!

“The most distinctive message of Christianity is the reality that sin can be forgiven. That is the heart and lifeblood of the gospel, that men can be freed from sin and its consequences. The Christian faith has many truths, values, and virtues, each of which has countless applications in the lives of believers. But its supreme, overarching good news is that sinful man can be fully cleansed and brought into eternal fellowship with holy God.”(MacArthur).

Jesus demonstrates the relationship between physical and spiritual healing and helps us to understand that healing diseases is never an end in itself but a proof that ‘the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ (9:6).

Matthew characteristically strips away descriptive details, even the unforgettable picture of the hole in the roof (Mark 2:4), because he wants to focus on the lesson to be learned that Jesus has authority on earth to forgive sins.

The “men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat.” These were very good friends, seeking what is best for their friend.

According to the NHS website, “the main symptom of paralysis is the inability to move part of your body, or not being able to move at all. It can start suddenly or gradually. Sometimes it comes and goes. Paralysis can affect any part of the body, including: the face, the hands, one arm or leg (monoplegia)one side of the body (hemiplegia), both legs (paraplegia), both arms and legs (tetraplegia or quadriplegia). The affected part of your body may also be: stiff (spastic paralysis), with occasional muscle spasms, floppy (flaccid paralysis)numb, painful or tingly.” Because the paralytic had to be brought to Jesus lying on a bed, his paralysis obviously was severe, and he may well have been a quadriplegic.

Clearly the man was in a desperate state and in great need, but it is not his faith that is emphasised it is that of his friends - Notice it was “their faith” that Jesus responded which we have seen before in the case of the Centurion(see Matt 8:5–13) and will again in the case of the Syro-Pheoneican woman(see Matt 15:22–28).

We also know that “their faith” meant they were willing to go to exceptional lenghts to get passsed the crown by digging out the roof to lower him down to Jesus.(see Mark 2:4).

We all need friends like that and we all need to be friends for others like that! Who are you bringing to Jesus. Who are you removing obstacles for?

How much effort are you putting into your praying and witnessing to break down barriers so that people may receive the forgivenes of Jesus?

As a result of the friends “faith”, Jesus not only healed, He forgave! - “He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Now this is so strikingly unexpected and unusual! Who would have thought the forgiveness of sin was his greatest need?

How was sin relevant to a case of paralysis? Well it is worth observing that this was a culture where disease was generally traced to sin (see John 9:2). However, Jesus does not state here that his illness is the result of sin (cf. John 9:3). Paralytics suffered social stigma within the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day the stigma was made immeasurably worse by the belief of most Jews that all disease and affliction was the direct result of someone’s sin. This is seen in the book of Job, where Eliphaz asked Job, “Who ever perished being innocent?” (Job 4:7) and Bildad said to him, “If your sons sinned against Him, then He delivered them into the power of their transgression” (Job 8:4). And this same attitude same attitude was clearly reflected in the disciples’ question to Jesus as they passed a man who had been blind from birth: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” (John 9:1–2).

However. to this paralytic, raised in a culture where he was told and believed that he was as he was because of sin, the assurance of forgiveness was so welcome! - “Take heart”(cf. Matt 9:22). Though sin is not the reason for every sickness and all suffering, sin is nonetheless destructive in its power, but there is hope for “where sin abounds, grace does much more about” and this is so evident here!

“Your sins are forgiven.” - The Greek verb aphiēmi, has the basic idea of sending or driving away, of doing away with. It is the Lord’s prerogative to declare this - “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us,” David declared (Ps. 103:12). When God forgives sins He casts them “into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19).

“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, because God’s promise to repentant sinners is, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34).” (MacArthur).

That’s a great blessing - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:8-9).

The cure of this paralysed man reveals 3 things that we need to constantly keep in our minds:

That sin is a great evil - Jer 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Or this in Isaiah 1:5 “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness.”(Isa 1:4-5).

Sin is a great evil because it is so corrupting; so damaging and ultimately it is against God - Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”(Psa 51:4).

And this is why we miss the mark; why we “fall short of the glory of God”(Rom 3:23) and why we need a Saviour to save us from our sin.

This all serves to remind us that...

That Christ is a great saviour - “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost”(Lk 19:10). Or as Paul puts it, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”(Rom 5:8). And this tells us that...

Faith is a great blessing - The friends of the apralytic had enough faith to beleive that Jesus could do for their friend which no one else could do. Faith is a “gift of God”(Eph 2:8) and it is “by grace we are saved through faith”! What a blessing faith is! Do you have it? Do you have faith in God? The Bible says: “it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”(Heb 11:6). Open your heart to God and seek Him.

Ask Him to give you faith to believe for as Augustine of Hippo once said: “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

Or to use the analogy of Dr Martin Luther-King, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don;t see the whole staircase.”

And it is with the eyes of faith that we see ...

2. Healing as a signature of the Deity of Christ!

Jesus’ claim to forgive sins gives rise to thoughts in the hearts of some that he is blaspheming (Matt 9:3), since forgiving sins is a prerogative of God.

This is the first mention of significant “official” opposition to Jesus within the Jewish community, which was mirrored by the rejection at Gadara. This will become a recurrent theme in Matthew and in this case, derives from the scribes, who were teachers of the law (see Matt 8:19).

It is understandable that these experts in Old Testament Scripure and learned in the teaching of Rabbinic schools would be sceptical of Jesus’ truth claims; His true identity; the source of His teaching and the reality of the power behind his miracles. It is after all not a sin to question and to challenge, indeed Jesus invited true enquiry with questions like “Who do men say that I am?” “Who do you say that I am?” and indeed in this passage, “which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?”

Not a sin to ask a question or to challenge but the sin of the teachers of the law is their stubborn and willful refusal to believe in Jesus in spite of the evidence before their eyes. “No one is blinder than he who will not see!”(U2).

These scribes had probably seen some of the miracles of Jesus and heard the testimony of others who had been healed of disease and cleansed of demons. But they refused to recognize His power as coming from God, much less that He Himself was God. Instead of embracing Him, they accused Him of being immoral because they saw Him “eating with the tax-gatherers and sinners” (Matt. 9:11) and they even accused Him of being satanic, casting “out the demons by the ruler of the demons” (v. 34).

Their hearts were so hardened against Christ that every miraculous evidence of His divinity and messiahship drove them to deeper unbelief rather than to repentance. Even His most gracious and loving words and acts drove them to greater fury against Him. Such a refusal to believe is a “sin against the Holy Spirit” - the ultimate and unforgiveable sin!

Not all sins are forgiven!

God forgives sin but this is conditional upon repentance.

Jesus said: “I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”(Mtt 12:31). What John calls “a sin that leads to death” that cannot and should not be prayed for!(1 John 5:14).

In John 8:23-24, Jesus said: “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

To hear the truth; to know it. To see it at work in the lives of others; to see the powerful impact of Jesus in the lives of people and yet to turn away from it and reject it and Him is unforgiveable - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”(Matt 12:37).

Matthew does not give the detail of just how these things beleive that Jesus is blaspheming, but in reality it is clear (see Mark 2:7)

Jesus is fully “aware” of what they were thinking (see Matt 12:25; 22:18). It is worth noting that the fact that Jesus could perceive the thinking of the onlookers here is indicative of His deity. The omniscient Lord who saw the faith of the friends who brought this man to Jesus now reads the unbelieving hearts of the scribes who thought He was blaspheming (Matt 9:3–4).

It is so much easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ than to say ‘rise and walk’, as the former requires no visible proof, whilst the latter lays one open to ridicule if nothing happens.

And so he set out to prove that he did indeed have “authority on earth to forgive sins….” by healing the man. This is a big deal for Matthew. He majors on the authority of Christ. For example, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount he reports that Jesus “was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes” (Matt 7:29). Those great teachings demonstrate His moral and theological authority. Throughout the book His miracles demonstrate His authority over both the natural and spiritual worlds, and at the end of the book He declares, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” and then sends out His disciples to teach and minister in that authority (Matt 28:18–20).

So if then Jesus’ word is effective in making the man well, they would be right to conlcude that he did indeed have the authority to forgive sins and indeed God was walking among men! (see Isa. 33:24; Jer. 31:34; Mic. 7:18–19).

And by the way, don’t be confused by the term “son of Man” as if somehow it is suggesting that Jesus is a mere man.

Whilst it is important and comforting to know theat Jesus identifies with us as “fully man”, experiencing our lives in a world of sickness and paind and death, it is certainly also the case that to say that He is merely a man would make a nonsence of the miracle, because mere men do not have power to raise paralytics or forgive sins.

Second the term ‘Son of man’ has a Messianic connotation, as a part of God’s eschatological blessings - “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (e.g. Dan 7:13-14) in which God’s authority in Heaven would be brought to earth (see Matt 16:19; Matt 18:18: Matt 12:28).

However, the miracle demonstrates that the lesser power, to heal the sick is included in the greater, to forgive sins and that what he is doing anticipates the cross.

This passage clearly answers the question - who is Jesus? and “by what authority do you do these things?(Matthew 21:23)

He is “Immanuel, God with us”(Matt 1:23)!

He is creator God: “the winds and waves obey Him.”(Matthew 8:27).

He is the Son of Man, having the “power on earth to forgive sins”(Matt 9:6), which only God can do.

He is fully man and fully God. The second Person of the Holy Trinity!

3. Healing as a signal to praise God!

The cure is, as always in Matthew, immediate and the reaction is one of awe and wonder among the crowd of onlookers!

Matthew literally describes a reaction of “fear” (Grk : Phobeō) which is an emotion that the disciples experienced when they saw Jesus walking on the water (Matt. 14:26)

It is the same reaction among those who witnessed the raising of the widow’s of Nain’s son (Luke 7:16) and the healing of the demoniacs at Gerasa (Luke 8:37).

It is the fear which accompanied Zachariah’s response to the appearance of the angel (Luke 1:12) and that of the shepherds when they heard the angels sing (Luke 2:9).

It is used to describe the feelings of the people who witnessed the signs and wonders of Pentecost (Acts 2:43). It is a mixutre of terro and amazement - “awe and wonder” caused by the supernatural impact of Jesus’ ministry (see Matt 17:6; Matt 27:54).

The multitudes’ response to the great miracle of healing and forgiveness was commendable: “they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

We do not know how much the crowd knew about Jesus, but they knew that what He did had to have been empowered by God and that He had given such authority to men, since Jesus was obviously a man, even if they did not yet realise that He is the God-Man!

They praised God for Jesus’ authority, seen in his teaching (Matt 7:28–29), his power over illnesses as seen here in the healing of the paralysed man but also in what they had previously seen and heard in the healings of leprosy and fever (Matt 8:1–17), his control over natural forces (Matt 8:23–27), over demonic powers (Matt 8:28–34), and now his right to pronounce God’s forgiveness.

In all these Jesus stands out as different from other men. This “son of Man” is the one Man they should follow - the one man that demands undivided allegiance (Matt 8:18–22)! It is time to decide to “follow” Him! They have seen the miracles, they have the evidence - it’s the moment of decision!

As we close I want you to consider what life must have been like for this former paralytic from then on in!

I wonder what he felt like and thought about whenever he went out for a stroll; or for a run? Surely, he had cause to continually thank God that He could do these things!

I also wonder how many times he stopped and thought about this with a grateful heart and remidned himself that he had not merely been healed - He had been forgiven. Every step he took was a remidner to him that His ins were forgiven!

My sins are forgiven! What a thing to know! Praise God if you know it!

One day when Martin Luther was almost overwhelmed with despair in his cell at Erfurth, an old monk tried to comfort him by repeating the article of the Apostles’ Creed, ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’

Luther often repeated the same words. ‘Ah!’ said the good old monk, ‘it is not enough to believe in the forgiveness of David’s sins or Peter’s sins; this the devils believe. God’s command is to believe that our own sins are forgiven.’

This was the assurance that Jesus gave here. He knew this man’s life-history; He knew, probably, that there was a close connection between his suffering and his sin; but whatever his sins were, they were forgiven. And that is exactly the assurance we need as well:

“My sin, O the bliss of this glorius thought;

My sin, not in part but the whole.

Is nailed to His cross and I bear them no more;

Praise the Lord, Priase the Lord, O, my soul!”