The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

Jesus’ Proof of Pardon:  Mt.9:1 – 8

^9:4 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to his own city. ² And they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.’ ³ And some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This fellow blasphemes.’ ⁴ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – then he said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home.’ ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

          I recently watched the movie Sicko by Michael Moore, which is a critique of the U.S. health insurance industry.  One man who worked for a health insurance company used to disqualify people from medical coverage just to save the company money.  He then quit the industry.  Upon reflection, he said that quitting didn't ‘atone’ for his participation in the system, but he’s glad to be out of it.  His moral unease was lessened, but still there.  Then a woman who also used to work for a health insurance company confessed that she denied coverage to a man for a surgery he needed.  Unable to afford the surgery, the man died.  Her denial caused his death.  She was obviously uncomfortable with that fact.

          Perhaps this nagging sense of sin is what drove the ancients to such extremes, at times, of offering sacrifices or performing rituals.  How can a man cleanse himself?  How can a woman be whole?  If there are gods, or a supreme God, who hold us accountable for our actions, what about our sins?

          If someone claimed to forgive your sins, how would you know if he or she was telling the truth?  After all, there’s a lot at stake in that:  your peace of mind, your sense of self, probably your afterlife, etc.  So how could you know who was telling the truth?  In other times and places, that question made battle-hardened warriors tremble. 

Jesus approached this question in a variety of ways.  One of those is found in his encounter with the paralytic.  He asks his audience in v.5:  Which is easier to say?

‘Your sins are forgiven.’

‘Get up and walk.’

Let’s ponder that a moment.  Saying, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ requires no immediate visible result.  Jesus could easily say that.  Anyone could.  But in Israel, however, it caused confusion and scandal, since the God of Israel said He alone could forgive sins.  ‘This fellow blasphemes,’ thought the scribes immediately (9:3).  So perhaps it wasn’t as easy to say that after all, because of the other implications.  Who did this Jesus think he was?

Saying, ‘Get up and walk,’ on the other hand, is socially easy to say, in that there’s nothing stopping Jesus from saying it.  But it’s ludicrous as a statement, unless Jesus could heal the man miraculously.  Either the guy would stand up and walk, or not.  So that statement is also quite difficult to say!  How could anyone instantly heal this man’s paralysis? 

It turns out that both those statements are hard to say, but for different reasons.  That is one reason Jesus ties these two statements together.  He does the latter in order to prove the former.  Jesus says, ‘But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – then he said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home.’  The man got up and went home.

In truth, if we thought about it long enough, anyone’s claim to forgive sins should leave us aghast for its audacity.  Jesus’ claim is no exception, which is precisely the reason why he substantiates it with proof of pardon.  This isn’t the only proof Jesus offers that we would trust him when he says that he forgives our sins.  As we see in Mt.8:17 and 12:17 – 21, for example, he ties the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the forgiveness of sins to his ministry as a foundation, and in Mt.26:26 – 28, at the last supper, he interprets his death and resurrection as being for the forgiveness of sins.  This reflects a great deal of intentionality on Jesus’ part.  He is laying a foundation for us to trust him.

Jesus, help us understand the reasons to trust you.  Help our trust in you, wavering as it is, to grow.  And help us share those reasons with the world you love.