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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 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, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 9:1-8
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Change.
It’s a word we hear a lot.
Some people try to make change happen. Others try to keep it from happening. Still other pray that it happens.
Yes…change seems to always be either in our thoughts or the thoughts of those around us.
Question: Are you or someone you know in the need for change today?
So far…as we have examined the life and ministry of Jesus, we have seen that many of the people of Israel were looking for change…and in Christ, they were getting all they could handle. Whether it was His teaching…His healing…or as we saw at the end of Matthew, Chapter 8…His power to dispose of demons…Jesus had shown that there was nothing that He couldn’t alter if He chose to do so. That trend would continue in Chapter 9.
For as the chapter opens, we find Jesus getting back in His boat and returning to Capernaum, “his own town” meaning it was the place where He based His early ministry while in Galilee.
Once there, we read where “some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat”. What were they looking for? Change, of course. They knew that Jesus possessed the power to heal the paralytic and restore his ability to have a normal life. And so as they brought the man to Jesus, their faith in Him was on full display…and He rewarded that faith by saying, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
Huh? Why didn’t He just say, “Your faith has saved you. Get up and walk!”?
Because Jesus was about to show others that He had the authority to do far more than they could ever imagine…and He was about to spark an issue with the local religious authorities that would eventually lead to His arrest and crucifixion over the matter of blasphemy.
For to this point, the common belief was that only God could forgive sins. No mere man could ever possess that power…and anyone who claimed to have authority equivalent to God was obviously lying and showing blatant disrespect to the worshipped and revered Father and Author of all Creation.
This is why scripture tells us that “some of the teachers of the law” were thinking that the words of Jesus constituted blasphemy when He claimed to have the power to forgive sins.
These teachers of the law must have stood in awe over what happened next. Because Jesus showed them that He not only possessed the power to change things but also the power to read and know their very thoughts. And no present day religious authorities…not even the most pious…could do that.
So Jesus, sensing that the teachers of the law were harboring accusations in their hearts, speaks out against them asking, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?”
Jesus could have said either…for He had the power to do both. But this was the first time he had claimed the authority to forgive sins…something that the people believed might have contributed to a person’s medical affliction. In other words, many would have believed the man was a paralytic because of the sins he had committed…that his ailment was a consequence of being disobedient to God…the same God that they saw as being the only One who could grant pardon from those sins. Jesus sought to show that He not only could change people from the outside in but also the inside out.
Back to the scriptures where Jesus validated the power that the teachers of the law doubted…the “authority on earth to forgive sins” by saying to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home."
And with those very words, “the man got up and went home”, filling the “crowd…with awe” and causing them to praise God from whom they knew all authority came from…the One who had granted the power to His Son.
Friends, isn’t that what happens when Jesus enters into any situation in life?
Some have faith in what He can do…some have doubt in the same…but in the end, Jesus shows there is nothing outside of the works of His hands…nothing He can’t change.
Indeed, as we continue through Lent and march toward Easter Sunday, we’ll continue to be reminded that Jesus’ ministry will be defined by change as he continues to amaze man and show the power to change and transform people…not just in the here and now (2 Corinthians 5:17)…but forever (John 3:16).
Again…are you or someone you know in need of change today?
Why not look to Jesus? In fact, why would you look anywhere else?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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