Sermon - Trinity XIX 2018 - Matthew 9:1-8

“And behold, some people brought to Jesus 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.”” That’s not exactly the response you would expect from a healer probably. If an ambulance takes you to the ER, you don’t expect the doctor to look at you and offer you friendly platitudes. You’re looking for real help and real relief from your physical ailment.

But what Jesus speaks here is no mere platitude, because in those four words a far greater healing is given to the paralyzed man: “your sins are forgiven.” This same sort of healing Jesus still gives to His church to this day. Like the paralytic, prior to conversion, sin paralyzed us and often still does, but Christ has the power to forgive and He makes us alive in Him.

You see, prior to becoming a Christian, prior to conversion, we were powerless like the paralytic was powerless. We were in the “old man,” as St. Paul writes, “which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.” Or as Paul writes earlier in Ephesians, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins.” A paralyzed man, a dead man, can do nothing. When you are paralyzed, you can’t walk to Jesus, you can’t come to faith on your own, you can’t make a decision for Christ, you can’t use your power of reason to decide to be saved. 

Instead, Jesus sees your faith, and by faith you are made well, by faith you are forgiven, by faith you are a Christian. This faith that dwells in your hearts, not even that was something you could create. We are saved by grace, through faith, and this is not of our own doing. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth. This faith is given to us through God’s Word and His sacraments.

So when you witness an infant baptism, quite frankly you are witnessing this Gospel lesson before your eyes. This paralyzed man was brought to Jesus by some believers, God then declares that he is is His child, and forgives his sins. At an infant baptism, a little child that cannot walk nor talk, and is effectively paralyzed, is brought to Jesus by some believers, God then declares that the child is His child, and He forgives the child’s sins. All of you have witnessed this very miracle taking place right here in this sanctuary.

But how briefly do we consider the great miracle of Baptism? How often do we brush aside those words “your sins are forgiven?” How little do we value the miracle of our forgiveness? I would guess that you find it more remarkable that this paralytic was able to walk, than that Jesus forgave His sins. “For which is easier, to say “your sins are forgiven” or to say, “rise and walk?”” 

Probably you think the harder thing is to command a paralytic to walk, since you’ve never seen that. But that’s not the case. The far more difficult thing is to forgive sins. The parallels to this reading from both Mark and Luke expand upon why the scribes called Jesus a blasphemer, as they declare: “Who can forgive sins but God alone.” 

Physical healings are a miracle, but they’re not the greatest miracle. In fact physical healings still take place today. There are many stories of people being on the operating table, their heart stops, it looks to be over, but suddenly it starts beating again. Or of someone with terminal cancer, who looks to be knocking on death’s door, suddenly is healed and is cancer free. Or of someone being in a coma, and after a long time, awakens and still has all of their mental capabilities. These are all miracles of physical healing. But everyone who has experienced that kind of a miracle, lives to die another day. They survived one horrendous event only to be be killed by another. 

The forgiveness of sins on the other hand is far longer lasting and of much greater difficulty in earning. In fact, no human can earn their forgiveness because of how impossible it is for us to do. But the “Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus, alone with is both true God and true Man, took on human flesh and lived the perfect sinless life on our behalf. For us He was born, for us He lived, and for us He died on calvary in order to atone for our sins. Jesus alone earned your forgiveness.

Jesus said early in His ministry: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things in His hand.” Then after His resurrection, He said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus has been given the authority upon the earth to forgive sins. This is the greatest miracle to have ever taken place in all the history of the universe: “Your sins are forgiven.” 

This miracle is still given to us today! The authority to forgive sins has been given to the Son, and the Son has given this authority to the church. “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” This morning I spoke those words: “I forgive you all of your sins.” There’s that miracle! The same miracle in Matthew 9 took place this morning in northwest Iowa! … And did you even notice?

How fickle are the hearts of man that when we are the recipients of the greatest miracle, we ignore it, forget about it, and are too busy worrying about some ball game or work. This morning, Christ has made us, we who so regularly fall back into our old man, to our former manner of life with its deceitful desires, Christ has forgiven us and made us new creations. He has “renewed us in the spirit our minds,” He has “created us after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

The forgiveness which Christ gives is the central teaching and focus of all Christianity! You receive that here today, you receive this forgiveness of sins right here in this sanctuary! From the lips of your pastor Jesus says to you, “your sins are forgiven.” You’re not going to get this anywhere else. Nowhere else will you find certainty and assurance like this that your sins are forgiven. I believe and I know with certainty that if you have repented, if you have confessed your sins, then your sins are forgiven. I as your called and ordained pastor, in the stead and by the command of Jesus, forgive your sins. How glorious it is that God would speak through the lips of sinful men, such as myself, to forgive sins. 

Since this is such a glorious and wondrous thing, why is it that our hearts are such fickle things? Why do we look at this great miracle of the forgiveness of sins with uncaring eyes? It’s because the Old Man, the old Adam, is still clinging to our flesh. So long as we live on this earth, the devil is chasing and tormenting us, luring us back into our comfortable old man. 

That’s right, I said that sin is comfortable for us. Sin is our old self, sin is so tightly woven into our flesh that it’s the groove we keep falling back into. Like the paralyzed man, it’s comfortable to just lie down and feel nothing. But from the moment that he stood up, he was uncomfortable because He had to walk himself, he had to carry his own bed, and he had to return home. That’s okay! Life is not meant to be comfortable! We’re not meant to be paralyzed and feel nothing! 

So being a Christian may not be the most comfortable thing for you. Jesus has given you a renewed life, but not any renewed life, His life. His life was filled with much that was uncomfortable. So your life as a Christian will also be filled with things that make you uncomfortable as you must deny yourself, deny your old Adam the things he wants so bad. Likewise, our worship services are not meant to make you comfortable either, but to strengthen you and challenge you. You’re not always going to be comfortable when you hear the readings, the hymns, the sermon, the liturgy, when you sit in the pews. For all of these things help to put off the old comfortable man and renew us in the Spirit to put on Christ.

So just as we were born paralyzed in sin and brought to life again through the power of the Word, so must we continually return to that which gives us life: Jesus, who forgives our sins. Though we are always tempted to return to our comfortable sinful paralysis, Jesus is there to bring real lasting healing as He says “your sins are forgiven.” You need this word and this sacrament dear Christian, we all do. You won’t find hope and peace anywhere else, you won’t find the healing you’re longing for anywhere else. Only here does Jesus look to you and say “take heart, my child.” Only in the forgiving and healing words of Jesus do we have the strength to stand, to walk, to go to our heavenly home.