19th Sunday after Trinity + Matthew 9:1-8 + October 7, 2018
In
the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
They
brought to Jesus a paralytic man lying on his bed. The men who carried the man,
along with the paralytic himself, surely believed that Christ would give him a
new life, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble. And it was quite a
trouble. St. Mark records that “when
they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof
where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which
the paralytic was lying” (Mark 2:4). Great was their faith in Christ’s
mercy. Invincible was their trust that Christ would grant the paralytic new
life. This all happens in Capernaum, Jesus’ own city, where Christ dwelt,
taught, and did many miracles. These men, the paralytic included, would have
heard the good news about Jesus. They believed Him to be compassionate toward
the poor, the infirmed, and brokenhearted. They go in faith in Christ’s mercy
and His ability to save. This is what faith is. It is a heartfelt trust and
confidence that Christ is merciful to all who call upon Him for help.
When
Jesus say their faith He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” This is not
what many in the crown were expecting. They must’ve expected Jesus to lay His
hands upon and heal the broken body. Man prioritizes the body. This is why most
of our prayers, if we are honest with ourselves, have to do with the things of
this life. But Christ prioritizes the soul and everlasting life. Christ
forgives the paralyzed man. He absolves the man of all his sins. The eyes of
flesh look at the paralytic and judge that his greatest need is bodily. Christ,
who knows the hearts of all men, sees a sinner burdened by his sins, a
conscience troubled by guilt, and a spirit that sags with condemnation. Christ
lifts the crushing burden of sin, guilt, and condemnation. “Be of good cheer,” He says! Christ does
not want men to be burdened with the guilt of sin. He doesn’t want us to be
sullen and downcast. He wants them to be of good cheer. So Christ gladdens the
heart of this poor sinner with a word that only God can give. “Your sins are forgiven you.” God does
not count your sins against you. Instead, “As far as the
east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Pss. 103:12). God does not
keep a record of sins. He says in Jeremiah
31:34, “I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more.” To the soul bears the heavy load of
sin and guilt, this word is the only word that brings good cheer.
But
the scribes won’t have it. They say within themselves, “This man blasphemes.” And if Jesus were only a man from Nazareth
like any other, then they would be right. Only God can forgive sins. So Christ
asks them, “Which is easier, to say,
‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?’” It is easier to
say “Your sins are forgiven you” because there’s no way of really knowing if
that word is effective. But to prove to these scoffers that He has the
authority to truly forgive sins, He says the more difficult word. To the
paralytic, the man of faith, He says, “Arise,
take up your bed, and go to your house.” It’s as if He had said to them,
“Look. By the power of my Word I can heal a man’s body. If my word can heal His
body then it can most certainly heal his soul. The paralytic rises to new life.
He takes his bed under his arm and departs. As he believed, so he received. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears.
He delivers them out of all their troubles,” as we sang moments ago in the
Introit. The multitudes see this and glorify God, “who had given such power to men.” God alone has the authority to
forgive sins because sin transgresses His law and will. He gives that authority
to men by becoming flesh in Christ Jesus. What the scribes call blasphemy is
the penitent sinner’s comfort. “Son, be
of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
This
is a beautiful gospel lesson because it shows us how Christ hears our prayers
and cries for mercy and promises to deliver us out of our troubles. But this is
not a promise that Christ will heal us of every bodily discomfort and disease.
There were many paralytics, lepers, and infirmed people in Israel and not all
of them were healed. Nowhere does Christ promise to heal every ailment. In
fact, He often leaves them and sometimes even sends them to us as thorns in our
flesh so that we may not became secure in ourselves. He doesn’t spare His
Christians from disease and decay, but He lays these crosses upon you so that
you learn to say along with St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10, “We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so
great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver
us.” When God does grant physical healing we rejoice in His
good gift. But when He doesn’t, and even when He does, He wants us to recall
the order of miracle. He prioritizes the soul. He does not want us to remain in
our sins, for the wages sin earns is death. But God has delivered you from this
death through faith in His Son! He has spoken to you the words He spoke to the
paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your
sins are forgiven you.” Faith in this promise is what heals your soul, so
that no matter what happens to the body, you can say confidently with St. Paul,
“whether we live or die, we are the
Lord's” (Romans
14:8).
He
has given that authority to men. Christ commanded His apostles to forgive the
sins of those who are penitent and retain the sins of those who refuse to
repent. He sends pastors to speak the absolution to you, corporately here, and
privately as often as you need to hear. He calls you “Son,” “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
He tells you to be of good cheer, for He keeps no record of your sins but
removes them as far as the east is from the west. He hurls them into the depths
of the sea of His mercy. He remembers them no more. Your sins are completely
removed through faith in Christ Jesus. Do not dwell on them after you have
confessed them. But like the paralytic arise, take up your bed and go to your
house. By this the Lord tells you that you are rise to new life, no longer
lying in the paralysis of sin and guilt and condemnation. Arise to new life and
“put off your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to
deceitful lusts,” Paul says, “and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
Put to death the old sinful man by confessing it and believing Christ’s
absolution. Then “put on the new man which was created according to God, in
true righteousness and holiness.” Put away your sins. Strive against them
anew, knowing that your God keeps no record of them. Strive after
righteousness, not to earn your salvation but to be what Christ has called you.
Your sins are forgiven. You are sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus. There is no reason to dispute within yourself as to
whether or not you have a God who is gracious and merciful. Look to Christ who
says to your soul, “I am your Salvation.” Confess your sins to Christ
and hear that beautiful word. Commit that word to memory so that you can stand
strong against the temptation to doubt and despair. “Son, be of good cheer;
your sins are forgiven you.” Then rise to new life. Take up your bed, and
go to your house, which is your life and all your vocations, to serve your
neighbor in righteousness and strive against sin in holiness. Amen.
In the Name of
the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.