Matthew 9:1-8
The Forgiveness of the
King!
Welcome!
Would you open your Bibles to
Psa 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Pray
Intro
√ The forgiveness of the King
The main point of this section of scripture is to establish that the Messiah (King) has the authority (the legal right and power) to forgive sin!
The heart of the Gospel message is the declaration that Mankind, you and me, can have forgiveness of sin in the Name of the King!
Without forgiveness, all the healings, demoniacs delivered, and the miracles mean nothing because there would be...
No eternal life!
No hope of heaven!
No hope of a resurrection!
...mankind is left hopelessly lost and separated from God.
√ Is Jesus the King?
The question then…
…does Jesus have the authority (the legal right and power) to grant sinners forgiveness?
It’s a key question for the answer establishes whether or not Jesus is the King…
…or whether He is like every other religious leader that’s ever lived.
Why? Because only the King can forgive the sin of Mankind for it is against Him that our sins are counted.
The victim in all sin is ultimately God.
Ex. David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah
Psa 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight--That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
Ex. Saul’s sin against the Church
Acts 9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Therefore, only God can forgive sin, for it is against Him that the offence has been done.
This section demonstrates the truth and hope that Jesus does have the authority (the right and the power) to forgive our sin because He is the King!
Our text…
Forgiveness needed
Forgiveness declared
Forgiveness questioned
Forgiveness validated
Forgiveness recognized
Let’s look at this exciting section of scripture together.
Forgiveness needed (vs. 1-2a)
Matt. 9:1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.
Matt. 9:2a Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed…”
√ Forgiveness needed
You’ll remember from our previous studies that led by the
Spirit, Jesus had left
Matthew tells us He now returns to his “own city” (vs. 1).
Mark confirms that it is
Once back home Jesus begins to minister to the people, note Mark’s account…
Mar 2:2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
Mar 2:3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
Mar 2:4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
We find Jesus once again preaching to the people who had gathered at the home where He stayed (most assume it was Peter’s).
The word of His return spreads quickly through the community and people, uninvited, begin to gather to hear Jesus preach.
Mark tells us that crowd was so thick that the people overflowed from inside the house through the door and into the street.
In the midst of His preaching, four men bring a paralytic (a man who is not able to walk) to Jesus for healing and finding their way blocked by the crowd at the door ascend to the roof of the house, tear it open, and lower the man before Jesus!
√ The Faithful Four
We don’t know who these men were but we can discern that they must have believed that Jesus was able to heal the paralytic!
Why else would they have brought him and gone to such extremes to get him to Jesus?
For his part the paralytic was unable of his own power to get himself to Jesus!
He needed the help of others, those who did not need the healing power of Jesus…
…to bring him where he could get help.
Reminds us that often times those with the greatest need, need the help of others to bring them to Jesus!
Ap. The lost
Those who need Jesus don’t normally just show up at church or a crusade, most of the time they don’t even know where to go for help!
Rather, like the lost sheep of Jesus’ parable they need someone to seek them out and bring them to Jesus.
The truth is that most of the people who get saved at church, or a crusade, were invited by another person!
Ex. I didn’t just show up at church - my friends invited me. I didn’t go at the first invitation, I dragged my feet, mocked, resisted.
Like the bumper sticker shouts…
“Friends don’t let friends go to hell!”
Invite your friends to church - pray for them to be open.
√ Obstacles to forgiveness
The men bearing the paralytic find the way to Jesus blocked by the crowd.
Undaunted, they seek and find another way to get close to Jesus - they climb up to the roof - tear Peter’s roof apart and lower the man in front of Jesus!
Many homes in
Roofs made of a composite of straw, clay, and tile, over wooden rafters.
These were men of committed character!
Ap. Oh for men and women with such character today!
Christians of such purpose that they could not be turned from their goal of bringing people to Jesus by...
Crowds of people
Locked doors
Laws of the land
Gates of Hell itself!
Oh for men and women who when confronted with closed doors would look for open windows and stairs!
Christians who are not content to simply stand before the gates of hell which bind men’s hearts…
…but who beat upon them with constant and determined prayers until the gates of hell be broken down!!!
Think for a moment, how long would the paralytic have lain on his bed, helpless held in the grips of his condition…
…until those men had picked him up and made their way to Jesus?
Ap. Obstacles
Friends, what stands between you and the things that God has called you to do?
Will you be turned aside from God’s purposes? Or will you press on?
The choice is yours.
So, forgiveness is needed for all of us because we’re helpless without Jesus!
Forgiveness declared (vs. 2b)
Matt. 9:2b …When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
√ Forgiveness declared
If this were a baseball game we’d say that Jesus threw a curve ball!
Didn’t the men bring the paralytic to Jesus for healing?
Yet, Jesus ignores the man’s physical condition and ministers to his spiritual condition!
Reveals to us that Man’s greatest need is not physical, but spiritual.
We’re all spiritually dead!
We all need our sins forgiven!
√ Timing
The really interesting thing is that Jesus chooses this time and this man to demonstrate to the crowd that He has authority over sin.
Recognize that the man didn’t ask to have his sins forgiven, rather Jesus makes that declaration.
By His declaration Jesus opens up new understanding concerning the nature and mission of the Messiah and His Kingdom.
Ex. Jewish theology didn’t recognize the Messiah as an agent of forgiveness.
The teaching of the day focused on the redemption of
The Jews were looking for a king to redeem the nation from
The point, by His own declaration Jesus defined the mission of the King…
…to provide us with forgiveness of sin.
Forgiveness questioned (vs. 3-4)
Matt. 9:3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
Matt. 9:4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
√ Forgiveness questioned
In the crowded home there were some religious leaders, “scribes’ or experts in the Law who questioned Jesus’ authority to grant forgiveness of sin.
The problem, they were quick to recognize the declaration of Jesus as something only God had the authority to speak.
An interesting point is that no Old Testament scripture directly attributes the authority to forgive sin to the Messiah!
Forgiveness is the prerogative of God.
The point is, that these Jewish experts in the Law had a Biblical basis for their question.
“Who can forgive sins but God alone?" ~ Mark 2:7
The real problem wasn’t so much with the question, rather it was with their attitude toward Jesus - look at vs. 3 again...
"This Man speak blasphemes”
...”this man” has a contemptuous tone to it in the original language.
They were saying, this carpenter! Who does he think he is! Great teacher - sure, worker of miracles - yes...
...but to speak for God and to grant forgiveness of sins, NO!
So, they question Jesus’ authority to grant forgiveness of sin.
√ Bad theology
What we find here is that the theology of the scribes was challenged for they had not considered the possibility of the Messiah being anything more than a man.
Yet, by the works that Jesus did of His own authority they should have already been stirred in their thinking to examine their theology.
Jesus said…
John 10:37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
John 10:38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
That is, the works that Jesus did authenticated His claims.
Ap. We need to have a Christ-centered theology
What I mean is that we need to understand, and interpret the Bible by the Person of Jesus Christ.
“Him-enutics.”
If our theology doesn’t jive with the life and example we have in the Gospels of Jesus…
….then we need to change our theology.
Ex. Systems of theology will always break down
That’s because they’re based upon a system developed by Man to interpret the scripture.
The lens of interpretation will always be blurred by our own limited knowledge, intellect and bias.
The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus in part because He didn’t fit their theology of Messiah.
So, let Jesus dictate your concept of God!
What we find in this section of scripture is that Jesus could grant forgiveness of sin because He is God the King!
Forgiveness validated (vs. 5-7)
Matt. 9:5 For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?
√ Forgiveness validated
The Jews, much like our neighbors to the North in
“Show me!”
So, Jesus poses and interesting question to them…
“Which is easier to say?”
The question is not which is easier to verbalize, rather, which is easier to validate.
Forgiveness of sins is a spiritual issue. Whether the paralytics sins were, or were not, forgiven, no one could tell by any observable evidence – so it would be easier to say since no one could disprove it.
Healing on the other hand is a physical issue and would be more difficult to say because everyone could tell whether or not you had the authority to forgive sins by whether or not the man was healed.
An interesting fact of Jewish thinking in that day was that Jewish Rabbis believed that all sickness and death were the consequence of sin.
They therefore believed that a supernatural healing was evidence of God’s forgiveness.
So, Jesus is going to prove that He has the authority to forgive sins by healing the man…
…proving that He is the King!
√ The King’s authority
Having made that point, Jesus now moves to validate His authority to forgive sins look at verses 6-7…
Matt. 9:6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Matt. 9:7 And he arose and departed to his house.
Jesus drives home the point of His question there in verses 6 where He uses the title “Son of Man”…
…a Messianic title (Dan. 7:13)!
Then by way of observable, verifiable demonstration of supernatural power, Jesus commands the paralytic to do the one thing he has never been able to do...walk!
To the amazement of everyone in and around that house the man gets up, picks up his mat, and heads home!
With this word, with the display of His power, Jesus validates that He does have the authority (right and power) to forgive sins!
Ap. Forgiveness! To have all our sins washed away. What does that mean?
It means to be able to stand before God in all His glory and righteousness, His perfect Holiness, before His throne in the presence of the angelic host...
...and to be presented to Him without spot or blemish!
Without shame!
With no remorse!
With no stain of sin!
The apostles write about this marvel…
Jud 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
And...
Think on those words, you are...
Faultless
Holy
Blameless
Irreproachable
...apply to you and me who have received the King’s forgiveness!!
Ap. Are you living with that understanding this morning?
Or are you still living under the guilt and condemnation of sin that Jesus has forgiven you of?
He said you’re forgiven, He’s proven that He has the authority to forgive you…
…so believe it and enjoy it!
Forgiveness recognized (vs. 8)
Matt. 9:8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
√ Forgiveness recognized
Matthew tells us that...
“they marveled”
Mark tells us that the people were…
“Amazed”
…literally “out of their mind”!
That is, friend and critic alike were blown away by what they saw happen right before their eyes.
What they saw with their eyes was beyond the comprehension of their mind!
So, the people recognized that in fact Jesus did have the authority to grant forgiveness of sin…
…therefore, Jesus must be the King!
Close
√ The forgiveness of the King
We opened our study with this passage…
Psa 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Truly, anyone who has experienced the forgiveness of God is living a blessed life!
We’ve discovered anew this morning that Jesus stands alone among Men…
…He alone has demonstrated that He is the King and thereby has the authority to grant forgiveness of sin ~ our greatest need!
Ap. Forgiveness - are you forgiven this morning?
Christian, are you walking in the knowledge and joy of His forgiveness?
A clue is whether or not you are able to forgive others!?
Non-Christian, what are you waiting for!