In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost +
How often we look for the wrong
things. How often our eyes are off
wandering and we miss the amazement that is there before us to behold. How often doubts and fears assail us, and the
wonder and mystery of the ages slides on by – for indeed, there is nothing new
under the sun. We too today overlook the
mighty acts of God, just as the people in our Gospel did. And so Christ must again teach us and show us
what is important, where our attention should be. Hear our Lord and learn this morning.
And
getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city. 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.” Put yourself
there. Behol d, here is Jesus, the great
healer, the Man who works miracle after miracle, who has restored hundreds to
health. And a paralyzed man is brought, laid
before Him. And then what does Jesus
say? Take heart, my son; your sins
are forgiven. It sort of seems like
Jesus has His priorities wrong. It’s
sort of seems like Jesus ain’t doing what He should be doing. If I went to see my doctor and the doc looked
and me and said, “Take heart, your sins are forgiven,” I’d be sort of
upset. What kind of diagnosis is
that? What kind of healing is that? Jesus, there’s a man lying paralyzed in front
of you – get too it, take care of him, show him love!
Our eyes are off so often – so often
we fail to see what is real, what is important.
We see a man lying paralyzed – we see a body in need of healing. What does Christ Jesus our Lord see? A man in need of forgiveness. We see the body held fast by a crippling
disease. The Lord sees a heart held
fast, crippled by sin. Jesus is wise, so
much wiser than we. Think on this for a
moment. What is it like, on those
sleepless nights, where you lie in bed – can’t sleep, stare at the ceiling –
and thoughts come in – regrets, sorrows, things that you know you shouldn’t
have done, cruel things said carelessly to loved ones now long gone? What are those nights like? We struggle through them, but eventually
morning would come, and we get up and begin our day. For this man, for this paralyzed man, there
is no getting up in the morning. For
him, he is always stuck in bed, trapped there with nothing but his thoughts,
his fears, his worries, his guilt. And
what does Jesus do? Jesus gets to the
more dire problem. “Take heart, my son,
your sins are forgiven.” Jesus gets to
the point. Jesus says what needs to be
said. This paralytic’s heart was heavy
burdened, and so Jesus tends to that.
Besides, guilt is a much more serious affliction than paralysis. You know what I mean. When you are feeling guilty and sore – you
don’t do anything. You shrivel away, you
crawl away, you hide away. Guilt and
remorse chokes us down. Christ removes
guilt. This is what Christ does for this
man. He gives the man peace, He releases
this man from the burden which he could not bear. This is the love Christ shows.
Alas, Christ’s love does not please
all, and there are those who dislike it when it is shown. And
behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” So, why do the scribes think that Jesus is
blaspheming? Because forgiveness is the
purview of God. Forgiveness is God’s
business – so who does this Jesus think He is?
Think of it this way. Say I went
to the Co-op and filled up my car with gas – and then I just charged it to your
account without asking you. You’d be
upset – because I have no right to do that.
The scribes hear Jesus, and they think, “He has no right to do that – He
is misrepresenting God.” That’s why they
think Jesus is blaspheming.
Except, well, Jesus isn’t blaspheming
God – because He is in fact God Himself.
And so, Jesus desires to teach these scribes, to show them that is He
right to forgive sins. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,
“Why do you think evil in your hearts? For
which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and
walk’? 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.” And he rose and went home. Did you catch it – did you see why Jesus
does the miracle? It’s not primarily for
the paralytic’s benefit. It’s not for
the sake of the paralyzed guy. Jesus
does this healing to teach, to show love to the scribes who doubt Him. This miracle is a bit of proof, a bit of
evidence for Jesus. It demonstrates His
credentials.
When Jesus speaks, His Word does what
it says. If Christ Jesus says, “You are
forgiven” then you are forgiven.
Period. Case closed. That’s the way it is. If Christ Jesus says, “Rise and walk” then
you will rise and walk. Period. Case closed.
That’s the way it is. That’s the
way of God’s Word – it is creative, it does what it says. God says, “Let there be light,” and there is
light. And sometimes we have a hard time
with this idea. Sometimes we have a hard
time trusting to simple words. Why? Because our words – they don’t really have
that much power all that often. I
remember many-a-time my mother saying, “Eric, clean your room.” She said it many-a-time because. . . the room
didn’t get cleaned like it should. Mom
would speak, but nothing would happen.
And that’s the way it is with our words, what we speak. I’m sure you don’t have to think hard to
remember some grand plan that just never happened. Bold times where you’ve said, “I’m going to
do this. . .” and nothing ever happened. Our word fails. Our plans crumble. Our
vows get broken. We don’t live up to
what we say always – and so we can tend to mistrust words a bit, tend to eye
them a bit warily.
And then we hear Christ’s Word – and
sometimes we doubt it as well. It seems
beyond our ability to believe, it sounds too fantastic. We hear the Word say that God loves us and
blesses us – and then we see tragedy and trial strike – and we can doubt the
Word. We hear the Word say that we are
to love our neighbor, and we feel their scorn, and don’t really want to love
them, and wonder how even God could possibly love them. We hear the Word say that we are forgiven,
but Satan is there breathing His threats and lies against us day and night –
and we wonder if that Word is true. This
is nothing new. Satan has always tried
to get us to doubt the Word of God. That
was the first temptation. Did God really
say. . . come Eve, doubt God’s Word.
That was Satan’s plan from the beginning – to make us doubt.
But
that You may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,
Rise, pick up your bed and go home.
Christ wants to remove your doubt.
This is why Matthew records this healing. Because it demonstrates who Jesus is, it
demonstrates His authority. His Word is
true and good and valid and right. Those
doubts that we often have, Christ’s Word trumps them, triumphs over them, casts
them aside. Hear and believe that God’s
Word is true, that God’s Word is powerful and does what it says.
When
the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such
authority to men. This makes
people afraid. They see more, they
understand that something bigger than just healing is going on. God has given authority to men. And what authority? Authority over the body? The ability to heal? That’s not what’s amazing. The amazing thing is the authority to forgive
sins. The authority to speak for
God. The authority for a man to open his
lips and have God’s Word pour forth.
That is the wonder, that is the amazement, that is what dumbfounds and
shocks these people.
And we miss it. Ours is a callous and indifferent
generation. We behold the wonders of the
ages, we see what Abraham and Isaac and Jacob longed to see. We see that which is more impressive than all
miracles and stairways to heaven or holy ladders or the like. What happens here? What happens in this place? I don’t think we really realize it. I don’t think we really understand what goes
on here in God’s Church. God has given
to His Church, to His people here on Earth the authority to forgive sins. Think about that. Think on the wonder and amazement and miracle
that we sort of slough off, treat as casual and commonplace. God speaks here in this place to us
today. This same authority which Christ
exercised in our Gospel is exercised here whenever the forgiveness of sins is
proclaimed. My job, my duty, my
privilege and honor is to speak God’s Word of forgiveness here in this place. Your sins are forgiven – and that Word rings
true – it resounds to the skies and opens the gates of heaven – it burrows down
and collapses the very gates of hell in defeat.
Because fundamentally – I’m not the one saying it. I speak not on my own authority, but on God’s
authority. Is that not astounding? Every Sunday in this place – God’s Word is
proclaimed. We open our hymnals for service
and Satan hides in fear. The Word is
proclaimed, and forgiveness is given, and we receive life. Our hearts that are paralyzed by guilt and
fear – they are made new, created clean again.
This is the House of God – it is the gate of Heaven, we come here and
taste the heavenly meal that David and Elijah and Jeremiah could only dream of
– we get it.
The Church service isn’t about us and
what we do. It isn’t about what we
bring. It’s about God and what God does
for us and what He brings to us here.
Even the things we do in the service – it’s God doing it. The Lord opens our lips, and we declare His
praise, His glory. What have we spent
the morning doing? Our liturgy – that’s
God’s Word being spoken back and forth to each other. Our hymns aren’t just little ditties that are
to make us smile and feel good – they are about more than tapping our
toes. Our hymns recount what God done,
what He is doing in this place. They
proclaim the truth of His Word. They are
about what Jesus does. All that goes on
here, every word from both my lips and your lips, spoken, preached, recited, or
sung, they all point to Christ Jesus, the Lamb who was slain for you and for
the sins of the world. That’s what this
service is, that’s what Sunday morning is about.
That’s why God has called you here,
out of your busy schedule and out of your work.
Because He wishes you to take heart.
Because He speaks to you again His life giving Word – Your sin is
forgiven. We receive here in His house a
miracle greater and more astonishing than healing. Christ Jesus, in His great love for you, has
seen to it that this place has been established so that you might always hear
His Word, has called and sent me here to speak that Word to you, and not just
on Sundays but whenever you need to hear it, whenever your heart is faint
within you. Your sin is forgiven – and
though our hearts often fail, and we are weak, and slide into sin – He comes to
us again and again, and forgives us anew, and always gives us life in His
name. This is our joy, this is our hope,
this is our song and hymn. This is why
we praise God and acknowledge Him to be the Lord. Because He has delivered man – He was born of
a virgin – He over came the sharpness of death on the cross and opened the
kingdom of heaven to all believers. And
so now we sing until Judgment day, when He shall come and see us, and our great
and glorious Judge shall say, “I have redeemed you with my blood and I count
you as one of my saints, come to the feast prepare for you.” In the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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