Matthew 9:1-8
In today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, we heard the story of the paralytic whose friends brought him to Jesus, with the hope that Jesus would heal him. This story also appears in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, who add the detail that the man’s friends, because of the crowds, opened up the roof of the building where Jesus was, in order to lower the paralytic to Jesus.
But apart from such minor variations in detail, what this story in all of its versions teaches us – about the paralytic’s true needs before God, and also about our true needs before God – is indeed very important.
We are told in Matthew’s version that some men 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.’”
It’s easy to imagine that the men who had gone to all the trouble of bringing their paralyzed friend to the Lord, would have been surprised that this was the first thing Jesus wanted to tell him. The paralyzed man himself, in the midst of his severe handicap and physical suffering, was likewise no doubt thinking about the bodily healing that he needed, as his friends carried him to Jesus.
He was probably not thinking of his soul at that moment. But Jesus told him something that went directly to his soul, seeming to ignore the more obvious physical problem.
If Jesus had said, “Be of good cheer; your paralysis is healed,” that would have made sense in terms of what the circumstances seemed to call for. And if Jesus later wanted to have a conversation with him and his friends about spiritual matters, that would have been okay, too.
But forgiveness was the first thing Jesus wanted to talk about. The paralyzed man’s sinful condition was the first problem that Jesus wanted to address.
And Jesus solved this problem by absolving the man: lifting the sins of this man off of his conscience, and removing those sins from him as far as the east is from the west. And, even in the midst of all the pain, discomfort, and embarrassment that the paralytic was still enduring, the forgiveness that Jesus pronounced upon him, and placed within him, in this moment of peace and hope brought the paralytic great joy.
“Be of good cheer,” Jesus said. And the man – still paralyzed – was of good cheer: not because his emotions had been manipulated by a flowery speech or a passionate song; but because, by the power of Christ’s Word, he knew that everything that had stood between him and a holy God was now gone.
The man was of good cheer, because this holy God had now revealed, through his incarnate Son, that he is also a gracious and loving God – indeed, that this is chiefly what he is, and always wants to be, for his redeemed people.
The forgiveness that Jesus in time would earn for humanity by his death and resurrection, was already such an irreversible certainty in the eternal mind and heart of God, that it could be proclaimed confidently as an established fact. It could be and was proclaimed to the paralytic who was laid before Jesus.
Now, the paralysis with which this man was afflicted was also a real problem. And it was not wrong for him and his friends to seek out Jesus’ help with this problem.
It is not wrong for you to ask God to help you with the many and various problems that you have in your life. In prayer you can and should ask Jesus for relief when you are sick or injured, struggling with an addiction or battling depression.
And just as the problems that people have, extend beyond physical or medical ailments, so too can you ask the Lord to help you overcome emotional and financial problems, or to guide you in finding peace and reconciliation in strained or broken relationships.
Your friends may and should also bring you and your problems to the Lord – perhaps not physically, as in today’s story, but in their prayers. And you likewise should pray for your friends, and for the help from God that they need, regarding whatever it is they are dealing with in this life.
It is not wrong to ask for help in these matters. And God, according to his good and gracious will, can be expected to provide help: either through healing an ailment or restoring a relationship; or through giving you greater patience and a stronger faith as you cope with the problem.
In his Epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul exhorts us:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
But when you do come to Jesus with your requests – concerning a wide array of issues and trials – don’t be surprised if Jesus wants to talk with you about something else first, and to tell you something else first, before he tells you anything about what was on your mind when you approached him.
After his resurrection, but before his ascension, Jesus in St. Luke’s Gospel gave his disciples their “marching orders,” as it were, as he described for them the most basic, defining message that the church was to take to all people in all nations. He said:
“Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you…”
Jesus elsewhere elaborates on that last point, which is actually a reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit. He says to his disciples in St. John’s Gospel:
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Jesus’ bestowing of this authority upon his church and its ministers is another level of application of what the multitudes had begun to perceive already on the occasion described in today’s text, when they “marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.”
They, of course, were looking at Jesus, who forgave the paralytic as well as healing him. Jesus was obviously a man. Yet the crowds also sensed that there was something divine in him – even though they did not fully grasp what they were beginning to perceive in that respect.
But after his resurrection, the divine-human Lord of the church clearly gave to his disciples the authority to announce and apply forgiveness in his name, so that the power to pardon sin – which originally resides in God – has likewise been given to such “men.” When they would speak in the stead of Christ and by his command, Christ would be speaking through them.
Now, we might think that a special endowment of the Holy Spirit – as John’s account describes it – would be just the right kind of empowerment for the performance of healing miracles and other extraordinary feats on the part of the apostles. And according to the Book of Acts, the apostles did sometimes heal people.
But the apostles also made use of physicians – like St. Luke – because miraculous cures for disease and disability were the exception, not the rule. Over time, as the apostles passed away, miraculous physical healings also mostly passed away from the life of the church.
But the forgiveness of sins – as publicly declared by the apostles, and by ordinary Christian ministers ever since their time – has never passed away. Penitent sinners being set free from their sins was always the most essential and indispensable trait to be found in a church that was truly energized and guided by the Holy Spirit. And this remains so today.
God’s forgiveness – for the sake of Christ – is so important, because the eternal consequences for people who ignore or reject that forgiveness are so horrible; and because the eternal consequences for people who know and receive that forgiveness are so wonderful. In his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul both warns and comforts us:
“When you were slaves of sin, … What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The necessity of hearing and believing God’s gracious promise of forgiveness is not attached only to the time of conversion, at the beginning of a Christian’s life of faith, because that’s not the only time a Christian needs this forgiveness.
Christians do have a new nature, birthed in them by the Holy Spirit. But the old sinful nature continues to cling to them as well, and its harmful influences remain.
St. John the apostle, as an aged and revered spiritual father, addressed his First Epistle to his beloved “little children.” That’s how he described the Christians to whom he was writing. And this is one of the things he said to them:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Jesus knew all this, of course. We see this especially in his institution of the Lord’s Supper, which he wanted his disciples to continue to observe until the end of the world.
Many spiritual blessings are attached to this sacrament, even as many spiritual blessings for Christians are attached to, and flow out from, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. But the one blessing that Jesus explicitly mentions in his words of institution, is the forgiveness of sins:
“This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins.”
Our sins put distance between us and God, but God’s forgiveness instantly heals that breach and reconciles us to God. Forgiveness is the foundation on which all other divine gifts are then built.
Forgiveness in general, and the forgiveness that we receive in our partaking of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper in particular, is the doorway through which all other divine blessings then enter. The Small Catechism describes it in this way:
“The benefit which we receive from such eating and drinking is shown us by these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the remission of sins,’ namely, that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given to us in the Sacrament through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.”
God’s gracious continuing forgiveness of our sins, both small and great, is the very air that our faith breathes. We exhale repentance every day, and every moment of every day. And we inhale God’s pardon every day, and every moment of every day.
Knowing that God has forgiven you through Christ – who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification – gives direction for every pathway you take in life. Living within the grace of forgiveness, through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus, colors and shapes every decision you make.
God’s absolution is the beating heart of your spiritual life. A relationship with God cannot properly be conceived of, without forgiveness being at the front and center of that relationship.
The strength to resist temptation, and to live in ways that please God and harmonize with his will, is fueled by God’s forgiveness, and by our gratitude for this forgiveness. Being willing and able to forgive those who have trespassed against us, comes about through the change of heart that takes place when our trespasses against God’s law are forgiven by him.
It was for a clear and deliberate purpose that Jesus told the paralytic in today’s story, “be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you,” before he said anything else to him.
And it was for a clear and deliberate purpose that the Holy Spirit inspired not one, not two, but three Gospel writers, to tell this same story. God wants to make sure you get this, understand this, and count the lesson that is taught in this story to be among the most important lessons you have learned from your Savior.
The priority and centrality of God’s forgiveness in the life and hope of a Christian, is reflected in how we as Confessional Lutherans “do church.” This is certainly evident whenever the Sacrament of the Altar is celebrated, and Jesus’ words of consecration are chanted or spoken.
It is evident in the fact that each public service begins with a confession of sins, followed by a declaration of forgiveness in one form or another. It is evident in the hymns that we sing.
And it is evident in the creeds that we confess, where our belief in “the forgiveness of sins,” or in “one baptism for the remission of sins,” is recited among the other cardinal dogmas that we believe.
But, you should not assume that you will find this emphasis in other churches. In fact, you usually will not.
What Jesus prioritized, and what he wants his followers to prioritize, is not actually what many who profess to be his followers do prioritize in their worship, their rituals, and their preaching.
Before he married my sister, my late brother-in-law was a group leader in an Evangelical parachurch organization, oriented toward ministry with teenagers. His responsibilities included leading Bible studies and religious discussions.
When he started attending the Lutheran church with my sister, and started taking adult instruction classes from her pastor, the priorities of Jesus started to become his priorities. So, in the meetings of this Evangelical group that he led, he began to talk more and more about the forgiveness of sins, and about our continuing need for it as Christians.
Before long, he was removed as a leader. He was told by a higher authority in the organization that the need for forgiveness is something you mostly talk about with unbelievers as you are evangelizing them.
Those who are already Christians don’t need to hear about this so much. They need to hear about the ways in which Jesus helps them with their other problems, and about how God’s law can instruct them for holy living.
This sealed and confirmed his decision to leave Evangelicalism, and to become a Lutheran. He knew that he needed forgiveness every day, and that the youth with whom he had been working needed forgiveness every day, because everyone needs forgiveness every day.
You are blessed to be part of a church tradition that has always taken to heart the lesson that Jesus teaches in today’s story from St. Matthew. You are blessed to be a part of a congregation that is faithful to this tradition, and that seeks – with God’s help – to put God’s forgiveness of our sins at the top of the list of what we pray about, sing about, preach about, and think about.
Our church may be smaller than others, and lacking in programs and activities. Depending on your age, our church may not have a large number of people of your demographic among its members.
But one thing you will have here, that you will not have in many other places, is what the paralytic had in today’s account – even though he was originally looking for something else. For the sake of Jesus your Savior, you will have this:
“Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” Amen.