And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." (Mat 9:2 ESV)
In Matthew 9:1-13 there are two stories that center around humanity's greatest problem--sin. When Jesus healed the paralytic, his first concern was to forgive sins. The friends, no doubt, brought the man for physical healing, but Jesus saw through to the deeper need. Yet when he stated that the paralytic's sins were forgiven, the scribes were offended--knowing that what Jesus had done was to attribute to himself a quality that belonged only to God. Jesus condescended, so that the people would know that He really did have the authority to forgive sins, he healed the man as well.
Next, Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, and then went to eat at his house which was filled with other tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees were offended again because of this. Yet Jesus responded that this was at the heart of his mission. Jesus came to call sinners, not the righteous. If we do not come to Jesus like the paralytic--helpless and needy--then we cannot come to Jesus at all. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness, and may we never forget that to deny this is to deny that we need a savior.
Listen here to the sermon preached on this text on Sunday, March 6, 2016:
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