Seeds for 07/19/2023 - Matthew 9:1-2
Scripture: 1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to His own town. 2 Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
Observation: Jesus doesn’t seem to hang around in any one place around the lake; He’s constantly getting into a boat and crossing over to the next locale. Here He goes again.
A striking thing happens at the very beginning of this passage in verse 2. Let’s slow down and take a look.
“Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat.” - By now Jesus has gained a reputation as a healer. Matthew states it simply, but it is pregnant with meaning. The man couldn’t get to Jesus on his own, of course. But he needed what Jesus could give him, so others did for him what he could not do for himself—bring him into the presence of Jesus. This is an historical and physical event. But the theological point does not exclude analogical application. We get into tricky territory when we do things for people that they are capable of doing for themselves. But there are times when we are paralyzed with fear, guilt, shame, etc, and need someone to bring us into the healing presence of Jesus.
“When Jesus saw their faith…” - What releases the power of Jesus into the man’s life is not his own belief in what Jesus can do. This does not play out as in previous stories of healing, with a marvelous declaration of faith, “Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean,” or “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” Instead, the action of these men demonstrates their confidence that Jesus is who the man needs most. How wonderful that our confidence in Jesus can make such a difference in someone’s life.
“He said to the man, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’” - And what did their faith in Jesus yield for the man they carried? Forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation. Yet again, where we see individual parts going wrong, Jesus sees the whole person. He begins with what the man needs most—spiritual repair, before proceeding to physical/biological repair. How often do we think we see our need, only to realize later what we needed most to begin with?
Application:
Who has brought me to Jesus when I was unable to bring myself to Him?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, give me eyes to see what is paralyzing someone and help them get to you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
If you liked this post from Seeds of Faith, why not share it and/or subscribe?
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™