“Jesus said: Your sins are forgiven”
Matthew 9:5
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Some things change your life for a moment. Some change it forever. For Joni Eareckson Tada, July 30, 1967 was one of those days.
It was just an average, ordinary day as the seventeen-year-old, youngest of four daughters, went out to play in Chesapeake Bay. And why not? She had spent years riding horses, hiking, swimming, and playing tennis. Besides, her father, (the one she was named after--his name was John, so she was named Joni), was once a member of the United States Olympic wrestling team.
But things didn’t go as well as anyone planned. She dove in hard, but the water was shallow. And from the moment she hit bottom, her life was never the same. She was paralyzed from the shoulders down.
For the next two years, she struggled. In her despair, she slammed her power wheelchair into walls until they cracked, and she begged her friends to help her take her life--to slit her wrists, to pour pills down her throat--anything to end her misery. She felt physically and emotionally numb, desperately alone, and very, very afraid. Her faith, she said, was shipwrecked.
Then as a friend named Steve sat beside her bed, she said, “If God is supposed to be all loving and all powerful, then how can this be a demonstration of His love and power? If He’s all powerful, then surely He should have been powerful enough to stop my accident from happening. And if He’s all loving, then how in the world can permanent and lifelong paralysis be a part of His loving plan for my life?” And she said, “Who is in control? Who’s will is this anyway?”
And with a sigh, he answered, “Those are tough questions, and theologians have been trying to answer them for hundreds of years. But think about it like this--when Judas handed over Jesus for a mere thirty pieces of silver, when a mob on the streets clamored for His crucifixion, when Roman soldiers slapped Him, mocked Him, and spit on Him, and when Pilate handed down mock justice to gain political popularity, how was any of that God’s will?”
And in that moment, she began to realize that if God could take the world’s worst murder and turn it into the world’s only salvation, then He could take the reckless dive of a stubborn, rebellious kid, and use it for His plan, His purpose, our good, and His glory.
Years later, she was able to say: “The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God’s grace. The harder I lean on Him, the stronger I discover Him to be, and the bolder my testimony to His grace.” And she said: “It sounds incredible, but I really would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Jesus as I do, than to be on my feet without Him.”
Researchers tell us that one in almost fifty people live with paralysis. Here, in our United States, that’s nearly five and a half million people.
And the reasons are many--the most common cause is a stroke, followed by a spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.
And chances are you know someone who’s paralyzed. Think of actor and former Superman Christopher Reeve, physicist Stephen Hawking, soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, and news commentator Charles Krauthammer. He said: “The catastrophe that awaits everyone from a single false move, wrong turn, or fatal encounter--every life has such a moment. What distinguishes us is whether and how we ever come back.”
The book of Matthew chapter 9 introduces us to another man who was paralyzed. But just as soon as he met Jesus, his life was never the same.
Please turn in your Bible to page 1034 as I read the words of our text. Matthew chapter 9, beginning at verse 1: “And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city. And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This Man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise and walk”? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’--He then said to the paralytic--’Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, there were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
Look again at verse 1, where it says: “And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city.”
What was Jesus “own” city? It was a little town called Capernaum, population 1,500, that sat on the gentle, rolling hills on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee.
And there are many reasons why Jesus made it His home. For one, it was an easy stop along a major international highway, the “Via Maris,” the “Way of the Sea.” In one day, news could travel twenty miles north or south. In two days, crowds could come by the thousands.
Capernaum was also a place where Jesus called five of his twelve disciples--Peter and Andrew, and James and John; even Matthew, a tax collector. And it’s a place that witnessed some of His most amazing miracles. It’s where He cast out a demon in the synagogue (Mark 1), raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Matthew 9), and healed a centurion’s servant (Matthew 8), and a nobleman’s son (John 4). It’s also where Peter pulled a coin out of a fish’s mouth (Matthew 17).
Even it’s name is important, for the name Capernaum, “Kephar-Nahum,” means “village of comfort” or “village of consolation.”
To put it another way, while Bethlehem bore Him and Nazareth nurtured Him, Capernaum was the place He called home.
And as it says in verse 2: “And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed.”
Now that’s not unusual. People often brought their blind, and lame, and dying to be healed by Him. But what is unusual is how they did it.
If you know the story, and you most likely do, you’ll see that Matthew only gives us a brief account. Gospel writers Mark and Luke tell us a little more. Listen to this from Mark chapter 2: “And when He returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And He was preaching the word to them.”
Now what would you do if Jesus was preaching inside and you were standing outside? They did what any young, enterprising men would do. They climbed up on the roof. Luke adds this in his account: “But finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.”
It must have been quite a sight! There was Jesus preaching and teaching, surrounded by a huge crowd of people, standing room only, when all of a sudden, there was a commotion up above them, as pieces of thatch and twigs and dust came tumbling down to the floor. Then ever so slowly and carefully, four faithful, sweaty friends lowered a paralytic, a bundle of misery, right at Jesus’ feet. A tense, awkward hush fell across the crowd.
What did Jesus do? For a moment, He looked up at the hole in the roof, then down to the man on the ground, and said in verse 2: “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.”
Let me stop there, because those words, more than any other, are truly the most important words of all.
Now anyone would say that those are the absolute last words we would ever expect to hear. What we would expect is for Jesus to say, (as He so often said before), “Your faith has healed you. Pick up your mat and go home.”
But that’s not what He said at all. Instead, He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Why? Because the real problem wasn’t his legs. It was his heart. And before Jesus would heal his legs, He first had to heal his heart. That’s why He said: “Your sins are forgiven.”
There’s a lesson for us there as well.
It’s been said that, nowadays, almost no one cares about sin. Even Christians often fail to think of it as they should.
But when the Bible talks about sin, it uses words like alienation, separation, rejection, and rebellion. The difference is as great as life and death, light and dark, heaven and hell.
Remember the words of Paul? He wrote: “The wages of sin is death.” And he wrote: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Or think of the words of Luther. He wrote: “Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. When you see the nails driven through His hands...and when thorns pierce His brow, know that they are your evil thoughts.” And he wrote: “Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God.”
The story is told of American politician, orator, and statesman Daniel Webster, (of Webster’s Dictionary fame), who often spent summers with his family in New Hampshire. And every Sunday, he went to church.
A niece asked him why he went to their small church every Sunday, when he seldom attended one of the large churches in Washington.
He replied: “In Washington, they preach to Daniel Webster, the statesman, but your pastor has been telling Daniel Webster, the sinner, about Jesus of Nazareth.”
As another author put it: “Beyond all argument, the greatest preacher ever was Jesus Christ and, beyond all argument, the greatest message ever preached was the message of forgiveness. And it still is the greatest message ever preached.”
Jesus didn’t come to make sure that all people would have enough to eat, or to heal all the sick, or to end all wars and misery. He came to save sinners.
That’s why He looked at the man and said: “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Then to be sure that all knew He had authority to forgive sins, He turned to the man and said: “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
And as it says in verse 7: “And he rose and went home.”
So what does this text mean to teach us today? Three things. First this--just as four men once carried this paralyzed man to Jesus, there have also been many who brought you to Him. Maybe it was a parent or a grandparent. Maybe it was an aunt or an uncle. Maybe it was a teacher in school. Whoever it was, think of them for a moment, and give thanks for what they’ve done.
Also, many in the world would say Jesus was a good man. Many would say He was a gifted teacher. Others might call Him a social activist or a political revolutionary. He went around righting wrongs, feeding the hungry, and lifting up the depressed. His words and actions angered the political and religious ruling class of His day.
Now all of those things are important, but if you’re going to know who Jesus really is, none of them is the most important.
So who is He? He’s not only the Messiah. He’s not only the Savior. He is our God, who’s come into our world. And why has He come? To save sinners.
And one more thing--did you hear Jesus’ words in verse 5? He said: “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?”
Now most anyone would say it’s easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” Anyone can say that.
But if you want to know what it cost to forgive sins, there’s only one place you can see and know for sure--just outside Jerusalem’s city wall, on a hill called Calvary. And there you’ll see Jesus, the just for the unjust, the sinless for the sinful, that we might be redeemed.
All thanks be to God.
Jesus, refuge of the weary, blest Redeemer, whom we love, fountain in life’s desert dreary, Savior from the world above: often have Your eyes, offended, gazed upon the sinner’s fall; yet upon the cross extended, You have borne the pain of all. Hear us as we pray in Your name. Amen