Matthew 9:1-8

chapter 9. Beginning in verse 1. Matthew, he

writes, speaking of our Lord, that he got into

a boat and he crossed over, again that's the

Sea of Galilee, And he came, and we should say

he came back to his own city. Then behold, they

brought him a paralytic lying on a bed. When

Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven

you. And at once some of the scribes said within

themselves, This man blasphemes. But Jesus, knowing

their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in

your hearts? For which is easier to say, Your

sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk?

But that you may know that the Son of Man has

power on earth to forgive sins. Then he said

to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed, and

go to your house. And he arose and departed to

his house. Now when the multitude saw it, they

marveled, and they glorified God, or I should

say authority to men. Let's pray. Our God and

Father, we would see your son this morning. Lord,

we know through the pages of Holy Scripture,

he is veiled in flesh. And Lord, we don't see

the full orbed glory that belongs to him as the

living God. But Lord God, this morning, would

you help us by your spirit to point to your son

and we're to see the hope. to see the help, to

see the forgiveness, to see the salvation that's

found in him. God, would you help me this morning

to preach Christ? Lord, this is the task of the

preachers, to preach Jesus. And Lord God, would

you give me grace to do so, I pray now in his

blessed name. Amen. It's interesting, we're reading

in Matthew, but John, in his epistle, the epistle

of 1 John, there's an interesting verse there,

1 John chapter 3, and it's found in verse 8.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

And it says, the reason the Son of God appeared.

Now that's an important statement. Because if

John's writing there, he said, now I'm going

to tell you the reason Jesus came. The reason

the Son of God appeared was to destroy, to annihilate,

if you will, the works of the devil. So John's

telling us here that the reason Christ came was

to destroy the works of Satan. So what does that

mean? Christ came to undo all the damage that

Satan had inflicted and caused. He came to redeem

what Satan had stolen. But he said he came to

destroy the works of the devil, plural. What

are the works of the devil? Well, it's easy to

say sin, and of course that's not wrong. But

what are the works that John is referring to?

When we talk about sin, even if we just use the

word sin, sin, even scripturally, is multifaceted.

The Bible used different terms. We see the word

sin or transgression and iniquity. So, for example,

when you see the word sin, these are all different

Greek words. When you see the word for sin in

Scripture, it's anything that violates God's

law. It's anything that falls short of God's

standard or God's righteousness. So sin, then,

is to miss the mark. There's a bullseye of God's

perfect standard, God's perfection. And anything

that would fall outside of that bullseye, regardless

how close or how far, is sin. Now, the word transgression.

This means you violate a known command or boundary.

Often, not necessarily, but it often implies

a deliberate disobedience. You knew what the

standard was. This I see with my children. Don't

do that, and they do it. That's what we do as

well. God said don't, and we did. Or God said

do. And we didn't. That's a transgression. Then

we come to the word iniquity. Iniquity, it's

describing a persistent or ingrained pattern

of wrongdoing. This is a state. It's a state

of moral corruption. So when you think about

repeated sin, iniquity is going to be the consequences

of repetitive sin. It's more a settled pattern.

Someone living in iniquity. Now when Satan, when

he tempted Adam and Adam fell into sin, there

was a disruption in God's good creation. For

the first time ever, man was now alienated from

our creator. We're alienated from God. And when

we are alienated from God, chaos is going to

ensue. So you find chaos in the created order

and you see that all around, even in weather

patterns. Then you also have disease introduced

into the human species for the first time. Death

begins to take place, and not just death for

man, but death for all creatures. So when we

talk about the works, John, the works of Satan,

he's referring to his spiritual deception, his

ability to deceive, moral corruption, the disruption

of all creation, and Jesus came to destroy those

works. Now you look at the word destroy, the

Greek word is luo, and it means to loosen. to

untie, to set free. So what do we mean that Jesus

came to set free? It's the idea of liberation

day, friends. This is freedom day. Jesus came

to liberate, to set free both his people and

all of creation from the bondage of Satan. So

that means where there once was going to be deception

and where there's darkness, Jesus is bringing

revelation. He's bringing light. Where there's

now moral corruption, Jesus came to bring holiness.

That's why we're a holy people. Where there's

brokenness, Jesus came to bring wholeness. And

you start to see that in the miracles. Look at

the broken people, and Jesus is restoring back

to health and wholeness. And where there was

a disruption of the created order, Jesus came

to bring shalom. Now, shalom is a greeting. It

simply means peace. But when we talk about peace,

we think of absence of conflict. But that's a

different Greek word. That's erene. When we're

talking about shalom, it's the idea of harmony

everywhere. Wholeness. It's life as God intended

it to be. And lastly, where there was death,

Jesus came to bring life. How could that possibly

happen? How is he going to do that? This is the

divine mystery, church. This is the wonder. It's

the mystery of the incarnation. What do we mean

by that? The Son of God, the second person of

the Godhead, would take on flesh. He would become

a man. Why? In order to redeem mankind and defeat

Satan. He's going to enter purposely into enemy

territory. And what he's going to do, he's going

to reclaim it. He's going to stake it for his

own. He's coming to reclaim all the ground that

was lost now for the glory of God. So Jesus is

going to defeat Satan. He's going to redeem his

sinful people. He's going to restore creation

by becoming a man. But you're like, well, how

does that work? Through his life, death, resurrection,

and ascension, Jesus will redeem and he will

restore all that Satan sought to destroy. Now

we come to Matthew's gospel. Matthew has been

showing us precisely what I've been saying, the

restoration. We see Jesus conquering Satan, little

by little. He's taking back... all things from

enemy territory. Just look at the miracles. The

miracles are not ostentatious displays. They're

signs. What is he doing? He's healing people

where they were broken and diseased. There's

life and wholeness where people were bound by

demons. He's now setting them free through those

exorcisms. He's basically saying, Satan no more.

This is mine. Matthew opened this gospel. Jesus

is the promised Messiah. He's the king of the

Jews. Son of David, son of Abraham, son of God.

He's the one who has power, but not just power,

but he has authority to accomplish this great

task that the Father had given to him. Now, if

you're in the King James, there's two words,

and they're both translated power. Other translations

will differentiate them because they're two different

words. There's power and authority. This is an

important point. Power, if you just look at the

word power, it's the word dunamis. Think dynamite.

This means you have the ability, you have the

strength, the ability to carry out the commission.

But then you have the word authority, also translated

power in King James and sometimes in the New

King James. It's the word exousia. And it means

you have the right to do it. You have the jurisdiction

to do it. So not only do you have the power to

carry it out, but you have the right to carry

it out. That's what they're fighting about in

California. We know that the Marines can go in

and squelch that rebellion in California. They

have the power to do it. Governor Newsom's saying

they don't have the right to do it. And what

we're seeing here in this gospel, though, is

that Jesus both has the power, he has the ability,

and the authority, he has the jurisdiction, over

what? Everything you've seen. Sickness? He did

it. Nature, he calmed the wind and the seas.

Hell itself, he's casting out demons. Why? He

is the superior and everyone must obey his voice.

Now today we even get a clearer picture of this.

I love this passage. I love what we're getting

ready to look at this morning. You see that Jesus

has the authority, the power, the jurisdiction

over sin. And he has the divine prerogative,

the authority. To forgive. Now let's get our

bearings about us. Last week we were crossing

over from Capernaum and we were going to the

Gentile side, remember? Jesus and his disciples

had left Capernaum because the crowds were too

large and they would not even give him a moment's

break. So he and his disciples, they get into

the boat and they sail to the other side. But

in the meantime, a violent storm arose that threatened

to sink the boat. And of course, Jesus, what's

he do? He wakes up and he simply speaks to the

wind and the waves and they obey him. So they

arrive safely in that area known as the Decapolis.

That's on the western side, and that's more the

Gentile area where Jesus healed 2 ,000, excuse

me, not 2 ,000, he healed two severely demon

-possessed men by casting out thousands of demons

from them who then entered into that herd of

swine nearby. Now think about this. All these

demons were in these two men. We know then these

demons, they leave, they go into, 2 ,000 pigs,

we are told. These 2 ,000 pigs rushed down the

cliff into the sea, and they drowned themselves.

But the two men were saved. So the whole town

there in the Decapolis, that whole area, got

word of what had happened, and they came out

to see for themselves exactly what had taken

place. And when they had ascertained all the

facts, they said, Jesus, please leave. Leave

us alone. We do not want you here any longer.

They asked Jesus to leave, so he did. He left.

Now today, Matthew 9, he's crossing back from

the Decapolis, back across the Sea of Galilee,

and he's entering back to Capernaum, where he

had previously left, where he had done many miracles,

and where the crowds had been grown so large

he had to leave. So look at verses 1 and 2, and

you see that. It says he arrived in his own city.

This is not Nazareth. Nazareth is a place where

he grew up. Born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth,

but from his whole public ministry, The city,

which would be his base of operations, would

be Capernaum. And that's where he is. He's back

in his own city, the base of operations. It says,

now notice, there's no antecedent here. It says,

they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed.

Well, who? They. They brought to him. Who are

they? Matthew never tells us. Now, Mark and Luke

also wrote about this event. Mark chapter 2,

Mark 2 · chapter mention

we read this. Then they came to him. bringing

a paralytic who was carried by four men. And

then it goes on to tell you what they did about

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. It's

interesting. We're never told who these men are.

We're only told how many there were. There were

four men carrying a man who was paralyzed. Now

Jesus is back in Capernaum, so what's that mean?

Wildly popular, right? Wildly popular because

his fame had spread because of all the miracles

he had done. And so he gets back in Capernaum,

and guess what happens? Immediately, crowds begin

to form. Now, ironically, it was those same large

crowds that had driven him away because they

wouldn't even give him a moment's rest. But here's

four men. We don't know their names. We don't

know anything about them. But somehow they know

Jesus is back in town, and they had a very sick

friend, I assume. Could have been a loved one.

We don't know. But four men said, we've got to

get this guy to Jesus. Now, if you're in the

King James, it says the man had the palsy. If

you're in others, it's going to say he's paralyzed.

The palsy, it's the Greek word paralytikos, paralytic.

The man's paralyzed. So by the time they get

to the house where Jesus is now teaching, there

were so many people gathered, they couldn't enter.

They couldn't even get near the house. hordes

of people had gathered again to hear Jesus. We

read about that in Mark 2. And again, he entered

Capernaum after some days. It was heard that

he was in the house. Now look at verse 2. Immediately,

many gathered together so that there was no longer

room to receive them, not even near the door.

You couldn't even get near the door. And it says

Jesus preached the word to them. Okay, see, these

guys, they're desperate. What are we going to

do? And we can't get close to him. But these

men were undeterred. They were going to do whatever

it was necessary to get this man to Jesus. Desperate

times call for desperate measures. There was

no case more desperate than this paralyzed man.

So these men, they came up with an ingenious

idea. They said, hey, let's get him up on the

roof. And they began a radical demolition project.

Now they go up on the roof. They're not pitched

roof. Roofs in first century Palestine, these

were typically flat. They were made of local

materials. So you think of the trees, there'd

be cedar trees, sycamore trees, olive trees.

That would have served as the beams. And then

they're going to use smaller sticks, some reeds,

even palm branches or palm leaves. They would

use as cross beams. Then they would pack it together

with clay or mud and just let it harden. So these

four men, they go up to the top of the roof.

They get the paralyzed man up there as well,

and they begin to tear open a hole. They're just

digging away with their hands, just clawing away.

Now I was thinking about this. What if you were

in the house, okay? You're sitting there. Let's

say you're in the living room, and some clay

begins to fall on your head. And all of a sudden

you look up, and you're like, you see sunshine

peering through the living room ceiling. You're

like, that's not good when sunshine starts to

appear in your living room through the roof.

So they start to look up. And then suddenly,

you have a man being lowered before you into

your presence on a stretcher into the room where

you were seated. Now, surely these people, and

I think the paralyzed man, he never speaks, at

least not in this particular passage here. They

were wondering, all right, what's Jesus going

to do now? Verse 2, the latter part. Their faith.

He said to the paralytic, son, be of good cheer.

Okay, I'll just stop there for a minute. Jesus

saw their faith. He did not see his faith. He's

not talking about the paralyzed man's faith.

He's talking about the four men. He saw their

faith. You say, well, how did he see it? Now,

some of you are saying, well, he's God in the

flesh. He's omniscient. He knows all things.

And therefore, he knew these men had faith. But

it didn't say Jesus knew their faith. It said

he saw their faith. How did he see it? The answer

lies in what just took place. These four men

were so convinced that if they brought this paralyzed

man to Jesus, then he would be healed. This is

why they were desperate enough to go up on top

of a roof to get this broken man to Jesus. They

believed that Jesus was this man's answer, and

their actions proved it. Well, how do you know

they believed? Look at what they did. Faith shows

itself in works. These men believed and their

actions, well, it demonstrated, it proved they

did believe. Because this is the point. Faith

is internal. I can't see faith. You can't see

faith. It is unseen. But what is internal? What

is in us? What is not seen within us? If it is

genuine, folks, it will show itself externally

and visibly in our lives. And that's exactly

what we see with these guys. James wrote about

that in James chapter 2. Someone will say, you

James 2 · chapter mention

have faith or you say you have faith and I have

works. James poses this question. He says, okay,

let's do a project here. You show me your faith

without your works. I will show you my faith

by my works. Works are not faith. They're not

the same. Works are the... consequence of faith.

They demonstrate it. Now, Jesus seeing these

men's faith, he said to the paralytic, son, be

of good cheer. That's a good word. Be of good

cheer. Son, don't be afraid. Something good is

coming your way. That's what it means. Don't

be afraid, son. Something good is headed right

now. Now, once you hear... Son, be of good cheer.

What do you think everyone in the house, including

this paralyzed man, is expecting to hear next?

Be healed. Instead, we hear, be of good cheer.

Something good's coming your way. Your sins are

forgiven you. What did he just say? I mean, did

we hear him correctly? Did we hear him what we

think he said? Did he say that your sins are

forgiven? Now, these men had brought this man

to Jesus. To be healed, not to be forgiven. Jesus

said, no, no, no. Be of good cheer. Take heart,

young man. Your sins are forgiven. Now, let's

be honest. Let's stop here before we go any further.

If Jesus looks at you and he tells you your sins

are forgiven, that is reason enough to be happy

and rejoice. That's a very good day, by the way.

If nothing else would have happened on that day,

it would have been reason enough. for this paralyzed

man to be carried home and to rejoice for the

rest of his life. His sins had been forgiven.

But we read more. Why did Jesus forgive the man

before he healed him? Well, this is speculation.

Perhaps to show the priority of spiritual healing

over physical healing. Now let me explain that.

Because this is what we need to see today. This

man's greatest wound, this man's greatest need

was not his paralysis, but rather his sin. That

is the greatest need of mankind. He is estranged

from God and he needs forgiveness. Now that's

not denying the man is in a very broken condition.

But the greatest need he had was to be reconciled

to God, forgiven by God. before he ever was able

to regain use of his limbs. Sin lies at the root

of all human suffering. That does not mean that

this man's paralysis was directly caused by a

sin. But all disease, all brokenness has at its

root, at its core, sin. All disease does. Because

Adam fell, we fell with him in his first sin,

and disease entered in the world. R .C. Sproul

said this, When people came to Jesus, it did

not matter whether they came on stretchers or

they walked in under their own power, whether

they were blind, deaf, crippled, or completely

healthy. All of them came into his presence carrying

a burden of guilt. To have that burden removed

was far more important ultimately than to receive

physical healing of their bodies. Amen. This

is why our greatest job and mission of the church

is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It reconciles

sinful man back to God. Now, secondly, you're

saying, why do you do this? I'm giving you speculation

here. Secondly, and I think this is a reason

why, and I think I can show you from the text,

we know from Luke's gospel that the scribes and

Pharisees, remember those religious leaders,

they also had heard about Jesus' fame, and they

came up to see what was going on. We read about

that in Luke chapter 5, same event. Now it happened

Luke 5 · chapter mention

on a certain day as he was teaching that there

were Pharisees and teachers of the law, that's

scribes, sitting by who had come out of every

town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. Now they

left Jerusalem and came all the way up to northern

Israel into Capernaum, and the power of the Lord

is present to heal. So Jesus was healing a lot

of people. Now we know it's the same event because

look at verse 18. Then behold, men brought on

a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought

to bring in and lay before him. Same event here.

So now Jesus knows who's gathered, right? He

knew that the religious leaders, scribes and

Pharisees, are there. You would have known that

by the way they were dressed also, by the way.

But he knows their thoughts. He knows their hearts.

He knows they're cold -hearted. He knows that

they're unbelieving, and he's going to confront

them, and he's going to demonstrate his own divine

authority. So these men are present. Jesus hooked

up this man, and he says, your sins are forgiven.

And the scribes, who were the Jewish theologians,

were outraged. Look at verse 3. And at once some

of the scribes said within themselves, this ain't

blasphemes. You've got to be kidding me. This

isn't of God. He's a blasphemer. Now what's it

mean to blaspheme? To blaspheme is to speak ill

of God or to show great disrespect or contempt

for him. So blasphemy, you can say God is majestic.

Any violation of God's majesty is blasphemy.

It's to rob him of the honor due unto him. Now

in the scribes and Pharisees' minds, you've got

a man, they say just a man, Jesus, who is taking

to himself a divine prerogative to forgive sin.

In Luke, we read in chapter 5, verse 21, the

scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying,

Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive

sins but God alone? That last question, excellent.

Who can forgive sins but God alone? And you know

what their answer was? No one. And you know what

our answer is? No one. They're correct there.

Only God can forgive sin. But Jesus just said

he forgave this man's sin. What was Jesus saying?

He was saying that he was God in the flesh. These

religious leaders were right. Only God has the

authority to forgive sin. And Jesus, by his own

authority, just forgave a man his sins. It is

clear Jesus is claiming to be divine. There's

no doubt. There's no ambiguity in this claim

whatsoever. But we go on. But Jesus, knowing

their thoughts, he said, why do you think evil

in your hearts? He is God in the flesh. He knows

the thoughts of these men. So you ask him a question.

Why do you think evil in your hearts? He says,

basically, why are you assuming that I am blaspheming?

Now, can I tell you here an irony? The very fact

that the scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus

of blasphemy is causing them to blaspheme. They're

speaking ill of God. Jesus is God in the flesh.

They're the ones guilty of blasphemy. So Jesus

then asked him a question. He said, listen, Let

me ask you this question. Which is easier? To

say to this man, be healed, or to say to him,

your sins are forgiven? Which is easier? Now,

what's Jesus doing? He's masterful in the way

that he just gets these guys and pins them against

the wall. Anyone, anyone can say your sins are

forgiven, but how do you prove that? I can say,

oh, your sins are forgiven, but I have no way

of proving that in a tangible way, indeed, your

sins are forgiven. I can't prove it. But if there's

a man that comes before him and he's paralyzed,

and I say to him, be healed, there would have

to be some tangible evidence, some proof, that

the healing actually took place. Look at verse

6. But so that you may know that the Son of Man

has power. Now this is, if you look here in verse

6, it should be on the wall behind me here. Go

to the next slide, guys. No, I didn't put it

there. He has the power. It's the word authority.

Exousia. So that the Son of Man has the right

on earth to forgive sins. So he looks over and

he says to this young man, Arise, take up your

bed and go home. Okay, he's going to show these

religious leaders, You think I'm guilty of blasphemy?

I will prove to you I have the authority to forgive

sin. So he told the paralytic, Get up, take up

your mat, which you won't be needing anymore,

and go home. Look at verse 7. And he arose and

departed to his house. I love this. Jesus said,

get up and go home. He got up and went home.

But he went for the first time. Notice, no one's

assisting him. No one is carrying him. He can

do it himself. Jesus spoke, and his word brought

life. Jesus spoke, his word brought healing.

Jesus spoke, and his word brought forgiveness.

God's word is attached to God's power. Just as

it was in the beginning, so it is with Jesus.

He speaks, friends, and it's done. What does

this miracle prove? It's a sign, right? It proved

Jesus, he calls himself the son of man, he has

authority to heal and he has authority to forgive.

Matthew puts this in his gospel. He's letting

his readers understand who Jesus is. Remember,

he's talking about the kingdom. What's Christ's

kingdom going to look like? Look at this miracle.

Jesus is the king. He's the long -awaited son

of David. He's finally come, and he brings both

physical healing and spiritual healing or divine

forgiveness. The Lord Jesus has come to bring

shalom. wholeness, harmony, destroying the works

of the devil. He's taking back everything that

Satan stole incrementally, piece by piece, and

he's giving it and restoring it back to his father.

He's come to make all things new. Amen? And we're

seeing that. Healings. Where there's brokenness,

there's now wholeness. But notice that when Jesus

looked at these scribes and Pharisees, He spoke

of himself as the Son of Man. Now, Son of Man,

I don't want to go into a real long excursus

here, but the Son of Man is a messianic title

found in the book of Daniel. It is also a title

given to just a Son of Man. But if you're talking

about the Son of Man, it's a messianic title

you find in Daniel 7. Now, notice this is so

important, and I love what Jesus is doing here.

Because he's always subtle. He's letting the

light bulbs click in their own minds. Now, Daniel

has this vision. He says, I, Daniel, was watching

the night visions, and behold, one like the Son

of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, that's

usually judgment, he came to the Ancient of Days,

and they brought him, Son of Man, near before

him. Ancient of Days. Now, if you look at Ancient

Days, he's sitting on a throne, full of white,

eyes like fire. This is God, okay? Then to him,

son of man, now notice verse 14, was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom that all peoples and

nations and languages should serve him. His dominion,

the son of man, is an everlasting dominion which

shall not pass away. His kingdom, that's the

son of man's kingdom, is the one which shall

not be destroyed. Awesome here. All right, so

now you have something. Daniel has a vision.

It's a vision, folks. We know that God the Father

and God the Son are ontologically one, meaning

they're not separate. You don't have God on this

throne, Jesus on this throne talking to each

other. It's a vision. It's helping us understand.

You have an ancient of days representing God

the Father. You have the Son of Man representing

the Messiah. The Son of Man is given. He's bequeathed

dominion, authority. He's also given glory, and

he's given a kingdom. Now, what's the glory?

This is the glory. That all peoples, nations,

and language groups should serve him. What does

Philippians 2 tell us? Every single knee is going

to bow and every tongue is going to confess that

that man named Jesus is Lord. That's what it

means right there. This kingdom, though, he's

given a kingdom, and this kingdom will never

be destroyed. His dominion, his authority, Jesus,

it's everlasting. The Son of Man. will rule as

king forever over all people. Now, Jesus looks

at these religious leaders and he's talking about

himself and he uses this title, son of man. They're

experts in the law, folks. They immediately know

what he would have meant. Jesus is looking directly

at these religious leaders and saying this, I

am the Messiah. I am your king. I am the one

sent from God. By the way, by his miracles, he

proved it to them. Think how cold hearted you

have to be. Think of all that they had seen.

They knew, they can see that Jesus is proving,

I am your king. But we go to the end of Matthew

and just before Jesus is crucified, what do these

religious leaders cause all of Israel to cry

out? We have no king. But Caesar. They understood

what Jesus meant. He was claiming to be their

king. Even Pilate said this is the king of the

Jews. Don't say that. Say he said I'm the king

of the Jews. We have no king but Caesar. The

king had come and they rejected him. The kingdom

of God was offered to them. They shut themselves

out. The healing of this paralyzed man, it's

a foretaste, friends. It's a foretaste of the

kingdom to come. It demonstrated the kingdom

of Christ. If you are in Christ and you're a

part of this kingdom, here's what you can look

forward to. The restoration of all creation.

We sung how long, oh Lord, how long till your

glory fills our eyes. When that kingdom in its

fullness arrives, all that is broken, your broken

body, your broken heart. All that is corrupt

and all that is sinful will be done away with.

Not another tear shed, not another painful moment,

not another sorrow or sadness at all. The miracles

that Jesus are doing right now are pointing to

the renewal of all things. This is what it's

going to be like. Now, there's a crowd gathered.

What was their response to this man? Look at

verse 8. When the multitude saw it, they marveled

and glorified God. who had given such power to

men. Remember that five solas of the Reformation,

that fifth sola, Soli Deo Gloria. God alone be

the glory. To God alone. This is the people marveled.

They're amazed. They're amazed at what they've

just witnessed. Now, let's be honest. They did

not yet know that Jesus was God incarnate. They

didn't figure it out yet. But they knew for certain

that God was among them and that God was the

one that had granted this miracle. That's why

they glorified him. Now, friends, what are the

takeaways for us today? First of all, the easy,

low -hanging fruit. I want you to see this every

week, every week, every Lord's Day. Matthew is

showing us, continuing to show us, Jesus is the

Christ. There should be no doubt in your minds,

friends. He's the one who can both heal you.

He's the one who can forgive you. He can do so

because he is God in flesh. He's the promised

Messiah. And to enter into his kingdom because

he was given a kingdom, that means you must trust

him and you must own him as your own king. See,

by and large, when you talk about the people

of Israel, they shut themselves out of the kingdom

of God. Why? They rejected the king. The kingdom

is about the king. You don't get the kingdom

without the king. Whoever has the king has the

kingdom. Whoever has a son has life. So that

means you receive him. If you want to receive

him, you have to own him as your own. Bow your

knee, confessing your sins, repenting of it,

and receiving him. But secondly, church, I want

you to notice this. Jesus responded not to the

paralyzed man's faith, but to the faith of his

poor friends. Do you see your role? Do you see

the importance of intercession? Do you think

your prayers don't matter? We need each other.

Friends, we're a body. We need each other's prayers.

Don't ever, ever underestimate your part or the

part of your parents. Grandparents, you may say,

my children aren't serving the Lord. I'm concerned

for my grandparents or my grandchildren. underestimate

your part here. Look, friends and loved ones,

you also are helpful in bringing people to Christ.

Christianity, folks, it's not private. It's communal.

We're an interdependent body. And lastly, this

passage shows us that Christ has the authority

to forgive sins. It's so sad that many people

go through life burdened by not feeling they

are forgiven. They doubt it. They walk under

a cloud of condemnation, not sure that God really

has forgiven them. Has he? I hope he has. I want

it to be sure, but I don't feel it. What's John

say in 1 John 1 .9? If we confess our sins, he

is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Believer,

friend, you may not feel forgiven. But if you

have confessed your sin, then he has promised

to forgive you, and he's promised to cleanse

you. He's not just going to wipe you down, man.

He's going to cleanse you, head to toe, from

all unrighteousness. See, it's not a feeling

of forgiveness. It really is a fact of forgiveness.

He said he would, and he will. What did he tell

the paralytic that day? Son, your sins were forgiven,

and they were. How do you know? He told the man,

get up and go home, and he got up and went home.

And he looks to the church, he looks to his bride,

he looks to you and me today, and he says, you

are forgiven if you confess your sins. Have you

confessed? Have you owned your sin? Have you

brought it to him? Why? Because he has the power

and the authority to forgive you. He has promised

to forgive you, friend. Stand on that glorious

promise today. You want more proof? Come to the

table of the Lord and hold in your hand those

precious promises. Look at the crucified body

and the shed blood of Christ and know that you

have been forgiven because of God's promises

given to us in him. It's glorious. It's far greater

than you can imagine. Let this, friend, let this

day. Be a day of worship and honor and glory

unto Christ. May your eyes be open to see him.

Do you see him? I want so bad. That's what I

pray, Lord. Let him see him. Do you see him?

Are you growing in your confidence of Jesus and

Jesus alone and Jesus only? That's my prayer

this morning. Let's pray. Father, help us, Lord.

God, save those who are lost, Lord. Save the

lost, Lord. the lost in this building, the lost

in this sanctuary. Father, who are assembled

among us, Lord, who can't worship because they're

away from Christ, but Lord God, you can reach

them.