Matthew 9:1-8

The Power of God’s Word

19^th Sunday after Trinity

October 22, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

In our Gospel reading for today, we hear the account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man, a healing that took place both of his soul and his body.  In doing this, Jesus illustrates a very important part of His ministry: the forgiveness of sins. This miracle is recorded right after two well known other miracles.  The first is when Jesus calms the storm after falling asleep in a boat with His disciples.  After they get off the boat, He casts demons out of two men and into some pigs, which then ran into the sea and drowned in the waters.  Now, he comes back across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. As he arrived, some men bring a paralytic to Him on a bed.  He sees the faith of the men who brought the crippled man, and speaks to him, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

Now, some in this man’s position might think, “That’s nice, but what I really want is to be walk again. I want my body to be healed.” How many times have we heard, or thought, those same things when we’ve fallen ill, or heard a cancer diagnosis, or the after effects of a car accident, or whatever it may be.  We pray and want this physical problem fixed, which isn’t wrong by any means, but this misses the entire point. Jesus healed this man, He healed him of his true sickness and handicap, which wasn’t because he was paralyzed.   The man had a sick heart, a sinful heart, that needed to be healed.  And that healing comes through the forgiveness of sins, not just in this body and in this life, but through eternity. For where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation. 

Some of the scribes who were there didn’t like this one little bit. The Pharisees knew that the forgiveness of sins is God’s work and belongs to Him alone.  For this reason, they thought Jesus a blasphemer, they thought Him slandering God, and making Himself to be on the same level as God.  Here, the accusation is that Jesus claims divine authority, since forgiveness must come from God alone.  Which is exactly Jesus’ point.

And so, knowing their thoughts, He says to them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk.’?  Obviously, it is easier to declare someone forgiven that to tell a paralytic to rise and walk.  So Jesus does both just to prove His could, to prove His point, to prove who He was. “‘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.’”

Jesus speaks directly and immediately with God’s own authority. This was the beginning of long standing conflict between the followers of Jesus and the heirs of the Pharisees in rabbinic Judaism.  It’s the scandal of the incarnation.  Jesus has the authority to forgive sins because Jesus is the Son of God.  It is scandalous to think that God would become man, and as fully man act with the authority of God.

This Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of God, came from heaven and became man, suffered, and died to save us from our sins. This is the cause, the means, and the treasure through which the forgiveness of sins and God’s grace are given to us.  It must not be sought anywhere else other than through and in Jesus. Whoever comes to God with any works outside of those that belong to Jesus, brings to God a pile of sinful garbage. If you want to be free from sin, stop trying to do it yourself, stop seeking to bring your works before God, rather crawl to Christ as the One who takes away the sin of the world and puts it on Himself and nails it to the cross. 

“Take heart, My son, your sins are forgiven.” These are powerful words, these are God’s words.  This is what is called, “Absolution.” The word “Absolve” comes from Latin words ab, which means “from”, and solvere, which means “to loose.” It refers to the sacred act of loosing a person from sin, to free one from guilt of all their sin.  When we confess our sins, whether publically or privately, and hear God’s word of forgiveness spoken to us, then, like the paralytic, we are absolved (TLSB, notes Matthew 9:1-8), our sins are loosed, we are freed from the guilt and the shame and the punishment because Jesus has taken all that upon Himself.

Only Christians believe this.  This divides you from every other belief and worship on earth.  The difference between Christians and non-Christians has nothing to do with how good of person you are, how loving you are, how you have it all together.  The thing that marks Christians as different is simply this: the possessions of the forgiveness of sins.

How do you get this forgiveness? That’s the big question now isn’t it? How do you get, today, what Jesus earned upon the cross 2000 years ago?  It’s pretty straightforward actually.  Forgiveness is delivered through the Word of God and the Sacraments, and it is received by faith.  First, sin is driven out of the heart and grace is poured in. Second, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed; one person to another.

This too may seem just as scandalous as Jesus forgiving sins.  One of the most common questions asked about a Lutheran Divine Service centers around the Confession and Absolution. Luther’s Small Catechism states the Biblical position that confession has two parts: first that we confess our sins, second that we receive absolution, that is forgiveness of sins, from the pastor as from God Himself. And so often that rings as blasphemy in people’s ears.  “You have no right, no authority, no power, to forgive the sins of anyone, especially when the sin isn’t even directed against you.  And the answer to that is “You are exactly right. I don’t have the right, nor the authority, nor the power. But Jesus does, and by Jesus’ authority, and in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has commanded that His church proclaim this message, this Gospel, to the entire world.” God has given to His people the authority to forgive sins. Jesus clearly speaks in John 20:20-23, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” As Christians we not just talk about forgiveness, we actually deliver forgiveness; we not just announce God’s forgiveness in Christ, we actually forgive in Christ’s name.

It’s not just the pastor, but all baptized Christians have this authority, which rests in God and which He delivers and commissions to us by virtue of our Baptism. Christ puts His word in our mouths that that we can say as often as necessary, “you are forgiven in the name of Christ!” This should be the voice of the church until Christ Himself returns on the Last Day.  These words, “I forgive you” should be some of the most common words spoken in your homes, between husbands and wives, parents and children.  This is the very Gospel, the heart of the Christian faith. Do not neglect it.  Do not ignore it. Do not silence it. This is your baptismal right, it is your baptismal life – a life marked with repentance and faith in the forgiveness of sins won upon the cross by Jesus Christ.