Matthew 9:1-8 Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Some friends of a paralytic brought him before Jesus lying on a mat. The buzz about Jesus’ healing powers must’ve reached them and they thought the least they could do for their friend was to carry him to Jesus. It is obvious that they had faith that Jesus could heal him and Jesus himself “saw their faith.” Now, instead of performing a healing right there and then, Jesus puzzles everyone (including myself as a reader of the story) by forgiving the sins of the paralytic.  What? Forgiveness of sins? Isn’t that something only God can do? The accusation of blasphemy began to spread in the minds of those who heard his words. Blasphemy is to intentionally speak in a way that is irreverent towards God. Jesus’ forgiveness of sins was taken as blasphemy because he was making himself equal to God. This was one of the reasons they wanted to kill him (Jn.5:18).

Jesus categorized their thoughts of blasphemy as evil. While they had good intentions of defending the glory and reputation of God, they failed to notice that God was standing before them in the flesh. In order to prove to them that he was the Son of Man, the Messiah “with authority on earth to forgive sins,” he tells the paralytic: “rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he does! The reaction of the crowd is fear mixed with awe of God who granted Jesus such authority. To follow Jesus is to believe he is the Son of Man with authority to forgive sins.

Father, grow and strengthen my faith in Jesus’ forgiveness of my sins. Thank you for sending your Son into the world to take upon himself our sins.

Matthew 9:1-8 Jesus Heals a Paralytic

At the heart of the healing of the paralytic is faith. Faith is assurance and conviction in God. It is to trust and obey him with all your heart. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic and his party, he was moved to minister to him. Surprisingly, his first move is not to heal him of his paralysis. He sets out to forgive and encourage him!

Paralysis and most sicknesses, were seen as the judgment of God for sin. This fellow was seen as one suffering under the hand of God for something immoral he did in his life. I try to set myself in the sandals of that paralytic and I tell you, if I thought God was mad at me for my sin, the forgiveness of my sin would be the greatest news for my life. What a relief! God forgives my sin!

I'm convinced that the healing of the paralytic was a ministry to the unbelieving crowd. Christ performed the miracle as proof that he had authority to forgive sin and jump-start the faith of some in the crowd. He was being accused of blaspheming since God is the only one with authority to forgive sin and the miracle would tell them that God was in their midst.

Ministry is to serve the needs of people. At times, we think that their external needs are the ones we must tackle first. Unfortunately, many times we don't go beyond meeting the external ones. Jesus teaches me to look beyond the external and discern the real need: people's relationship with God. Jesus teaches me the reality of sin and how it can estrange people from God. Jesus teaches me to give the good news of forgiveness to those who believe and encourage them.

Father, I thank you for the forgiveness of my sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ your Son. Grow my faith to trust in him day by day. Give me discernment to understand the deepest need of people. Grant me courage to address those needs through the proclamation of the Gospel.