You Are Healed (Matthew 8:1-9:34) Part 6

A PARALYZED MAN

Matthew 9:1-8: Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Infirmity: Paralysis
Patient: A man
Initiation: Some friends brought him to Jesus
Response: 1) When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (v.2). 2) Teachers complained, accusing Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus then healed the man.
Directive: Verse 6, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’”

Some items of note here: We have friends bringing a friend to Jesus. Jesus responds, Verse 2, not to the man or because of the man brought to Him but Jesus responds to and because of the faithfulness of his friends who brought the man to Him. This is similar to the case of the Roman Centurion’s servant. One thing that is quite interesting here is that instead of healing the man immediately Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” I don’t imagine that this is necessarily why this man’s friends brought him to Jesus and I could almost expect a response of “Gee, thanks…” if the teachers of the law didn’t provoke Jesus through commenting amongst themselves. The religious leaders are quite upset. They know that only God can forgive sins in this way. They know that Jesus is claiming to be God and it is in response to this that Jesus says, Verse 6, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” The man is healed. There is a certain irony here. Jesus forgives the sins of the man because of the faithfulness of the friends who bring him to Jesus for healing and he heals the man in response to the teachers’ lack of faith in Jesus’ ability to forgive sins.

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