“A Lesser to Prove the Greater”
Matt. 9:1-8
The book of Matthew does not describe Jesus’ Ministry in chronological order, but thematically. Matthew shows not only the Deity of the Messiah, but the very character of the Lord Jesus: Jesus is THE ONE whom the prophets had predicted. There can only be ONE and Jesus fits ALL of the requirements to be the Messiah and King of the Kingdom. There is an Old Testament “Jewish-ness” to the many miracles that Jesus performed, because He was the “Jew” who God promised as Lord and Savior from sin.
Today’s miracle is the 6th specific miracle of nine recorded in chapters 8-9, which displays once again, the ultimate authority of the Lord Jesus. This miracle of the paralytic is recorded in three of the Gospels; I am going to read it, blending the three accounts:
Matthew 9: 1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.” (Capernaum: Matt. 4:13: Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum.)
Luke 5:17c interjects this phrase: “and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.”
Mark 2: 2-4: “And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.”
Matthew 9:2 And they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, (mentioned in all three Gospels.) Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves (Mark 2:6- “reasoning in their hearts”, not speaking out loud), "This fellow blasphemes."
Matt. 9:4 “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your heart? 5 "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk'? 6 "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, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he got up and went home.
8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. (Mark 2:12c: “They were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." Luke 5:26: “26 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today.")
Matthew continues to build upon the theme of the Kingdom Works of Jesus which proves that He is the Messiah, that He is King of the Kingdom of God, and that He is displaying the ALMIGHTY power of God. A man with “Para-lu-ti-kos”, with palsy or paralysis, is brought by his four friends to Peter’s house where Jesus was preaching to a group of people, and lowered down by ropes through a roof opening, in order to be placed directly in front of Jesus.
The Miracle of Faith
The condition of the paralytic man is very important, in that he, himself, was incapable of moving toward Jesus in his own strength, yet he, as well as his friends possessed something in order to move all five men in Jesus’ direction: They all possessed faith.
Perhaps, their faith was just, as some people call it, “natural faith”. These men had a friend who needed healing, and at least from the stories they had heard about Jesus, they were willing to go to some extreme lengths to bring their friend to Jesus, but it is JESUS to whom they brought their friend. They had confidence that Jesus could relieve their friend from his misery and his inability to walk. They may have “had faith” in the same way that people go to the doctor or hospital when they aren’t feeling well: They have a confidence in other human beings and their abilities.
We have to realize, that God IS WORKING Sovereignly to move some people to hear the Good News and respond. Luke 5:17 shows that God was prepared to do what HE INTENDED to do: “The power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.” God is working, planning, pulling and prodding by His Word and Spirit to bring SOME to belief and SAVING Faith in the Lord Jesus. Plenty of people and their friends who “NEED JESUS” and they “hear about Jesus”, but never move an inch in the direction TOWARD Jesus, and so NO changes occur in their lives whatsoever…because God’s Spirit is not there.
What we DO know about their faith, is that Jesus “saw their faith.” Faith that comes from God is a faith that pursues and perseveres to the goal, not of man, but of God, and that goal is to have “sins forgiven”. Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, (without the faith provided by God, ALL are LOST) for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder (pays wages) of those who seek Him.” (What are the wages of sin? Death. What are the wages of those who seek Jesus ALONE? Righteousness by faith, which is the context of Hebrews 11.)
A Healthy Fear
From our text we know that at least one of the men had supernatural saving faith, and that was the paralytic, because Jesus says: “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven. Jesus uses the word “teknon”, “son”, which describes an intimate relationship, like the one that WE have with God through the Lord Jesus.
How did Jesus know that the man was afraid, and of what would he have been afraid? First of all, Jesus could see his heart, and knew that he was afraid, just as He knew that the man had faith, and that the man needed forgiveness. But what people SHOULD have, and MOST DON’T, is a very healthy FEAR, in the presence of a Holy and Righteous God, when you are full of sin. THAT SHOULD CAUSE anyone to tremble and be afraid.
You have to understand the man’s sickness in view of Jewish history: The common belief in Jesus’ time was that if you were sick, it must have been BECAUSE you sinned. IF you were blind, deaf, lame or leprous, the common belief was that YOU MUST HAVE SINNED that’s why you are sick. Jesus taught that those who THOUGHT they were sin-free, actually had dead hearts on the inside, even if they seemed well on the outside.
But what does the Bible teach about everyone who has ever been born? YOU have “ALL SINNED”, “There is none who is righteous.” In that case, everyone who is born, is born physically ill, in fact, THEY ARE. From the moment you’re born, you’re dying. There is never a truly healthy newborn, because it was already conceived and born in sin, and it will die. Did you look at yourself in a mirror lately? You’re not 15 anymore. You have a degenerative disease called death. It’s because you’re a sinner.
Jesus set His disciples straight on sin and sickness in John 9:1-3: “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parent; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
What are the saints who have already died and who are in Jesus’ presence waiting for right now? They are waiting for their NEW BODIES that will not decay…I Corinthians 15: 42 says: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable (CORRUPTED) body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Our bodies are all dying on account of sin: it is the way it is.
But Jesus greeted the paralytic with, “Be of good cheer” or “Don’t be afraid” because I am going to take care of your biggest fear and the single most damning factor in every person who has walked this earth: Un-forgiven SIN. I am here to forgive your sins. And Jesus uses the word “Tarseo”: There's NOTHING to FEAR; I am able to FORGIVE.”
Power to Forgive
Jesus sees the Heart and only a heart that is humble, powerless, and repentant in the presence of a Holy God can receive forgiveness. Jesus ALONE has power over the ROOT of man’s misery: SIN. How absolutely astonishing to come in fear and trembling before the HOLY ONE, who alone holds the keys of eternal life and eternal death, realizing that He alone has the power to forgive. and have Him look you in the face and say: “Son or Daughter, Do not be afraid, your sins are forgiven.”
Later Paul would say: I Timothy 1: 14-16, "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. Jesus gave the greatest gift to the paralytic first, and that was to deal with the man’s greatest need: Jesus DISMISSED HIS SINS. Since all sin is committed against God, only God can forgive sin.
The Furious Mind and Heart Reaction
We actually live CORAM DEO, before the face of God of the Holy God, so be careful what you think! The Furious Mind and Heart Reaction to the Truth of Jesus was immediately HEARD by Jesus. Was Jesus just a good moral teacher, who also had the ability to read people’s minds? The scribes merely “THOUGHT in their heads” that Jesus had BLASPHEMED by forgiving sins, and Jesus “let them know” that HE KNEW.
The first part of the scribes’ response, that only God could forgive sins, was correct: Isaiah 43:25 said, "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” What they taught was true, but what they thought about Jesus was wrong. “Blasphçmos”, “to Blaspheme”, is to hurt someone’s fame or reputation. Jesus wasn’t hurting God’s reputation or fame by forgiving sins, He was actually upholding His own reputation: He demonstrated the supreme reason for His coming.
I think their reaction demonstrates a very serious spiritual reality: You can be half right, and still be totally wrong. The scribes’ reaction shows the close connection between the mind and the heart’s reaction concerning the truth about Jesus, and it was actually THEM WHO HAD BLASPHEMOUS THOUGHTS by questioning Jesus’ reputation and authority. They were blaspheming Him. Jesus shows that you can have it HALF RIGHT in your head, your heart can still be wrong. If you have a half righteous heart, your mind cannot be thinking righteously (and of course you can’t be half-hearted when it comes to pleasing and honoring God.)
Proof-Positive
Jesus response to their thoughts is a question (I love when He does that!): Which is easier to say: “Your sins are forgiven or get up and walk”? Neither is easier, and actually, anyone can “SAY” either one, but both are IMPOSSIBLE for a mere man, even a good moral man, to accomplish. Once again Jesus demonstrates WHO HE IS and WHY HE CAME. He is God in the flesh, come from Heaven, in order to become the sacrifice for sin.
In Verses 6-7, Jesus says: "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, pick up your bed and go home." And he got up and went home.” Jesus’ HEALING of the paralytic is Proof-Positive that He is the ONE who has the authority to forgive sins, and that He is equal to God in heaven while on earth. The man was not healed on account of his faith or the faith of His friends. He was not healed as a consequence or effect of having had his sins forgiven. He was healed to prove that Jesus would be a sufficient sacrifice because the God alone, who was able to forgive sins, was God in the flesh, ON EARTH.
Here is another truth of which you cannot have half and be correct. Jesus is either God or He is not. The only one who can forgive is the one against whom sins have been committed.
Jesus shows that not He only can cure the skin, calm the seas, and scatter unclean spirits. He not only has all authority over religion, but also over REDEMPTION. Because He is God, He can cure the sins of the soul.
In the last story, Jesus sent the demons into the pig to prove that the demons had left the people at Jesus’ command. The pigs running into the sea was the proof that Jesus had released the demon-possessed from their prison. The immobilized man is able to get up because JESUS TOLD HIM to get up. Because JESUS told Him, He had the faith to believe and obey. His healing was the proof of His God-ship and Lordship OVER EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THE FORGIVENESS of SINS…even to eternal life.
Luke 5:26 says: “ They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today." If the people who witnessed this miracle only saw Jesus as a super-human, they only saw half of the truth, because this Jesus is the King of His Kingdom who would die for the sins of His people, that anyone who believes, would have their sins “DISMISSED”.
The word for “remarkable” is “paradoxas” (we get the word “paradox”)and means, “unexpected, uncommon”. It is certainly “unexpected” and “uncommon” that the KING of GLORY would die for sin. It is “uncommon” that He would rise from the grave and ascend, because no man could do what God alone can do. May we, too, be filled with the fear of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 7: 1&11 says: "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God…We persuade men because we know the fear of the Lord."
OUTLINE
“A Lesser to Prove the Greater”
Matt. 9:1-8
I. The Miracle of Faith.
A. The condition of the paralytic man:
he was incapable of moving toward Jesus in his own strength.
B. They all possessed faith.
C. God is working, planning, pulling and prodding by His Word and Spirit to bring SOME to belief and SAVING Faith in the Lord Jesus.
D. Faith that comes from God is a faith that pursues and perseveres to the goal, not of man, but of God, and that goal is to have “sins forgiven”.
II. A Healthy Fear
A.What people SHOULD have, and MOST DON’T, is a very healthy FEAR, in the presence of a Holy and Righteous God.
B.YOU have “ALL SINNED”: From the moment you’re born, you’re dying.
C. The single most damning factor in every person who has walked this earth: Un-forgiven Sin.
D. Jesus says: “There is nothing to fear; I am able to FORGIVE.”
III. Jesus’ Power to Forgive
A. Jesus ALONE has power over the ROOT of man’s misery: SIN.
B. He alone has the power to forgive.
C. Jesus gave the greatest gift to the paralytic first: He “dismissed” His sins.
IV. The Furious Mind and Heart Reaction: Blasphemy
A. The Furious Mind Reaction to the Truth of Jesus was immediately HEARD by Jesus.
B. Jesus wasn’t hurting God’s reputation by forgiving sins, but upholding His own: He demonstrated the supreme reason for His coming.
C. A very serious spiritual reality: You can be half right, and still be totally wrong.
V. Jesus’ HEALING is Proof-Positive: WHO HE IS and WHY HE CAME!
A. Jesus’ HEALING is Proof-Positive that He is the ONE who has the authority to forgive sins, and that He is equal to God in Heaven while on earth.
B. The immobilized man is able to get up because JESUS TOLD HIM to get up.
