Matthew part 13
Restoration by the Kingdom of Heaven
Restoring Body and Soul | Matthew 9:1-8
And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him 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.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 9:1-8
Luke and Mark also include this story in their gospels which points us to the significance of this particular encounter Jesus has with the people. Unfortunately, Matthew leaves out the most humorous part of the story in which the man’s four friends take apart the roof the home in which Jesus was teaching. Imagine sitting on the floor or standing off in the corner while Jesus is speaking and suddenly the roof begins to peel away. As the sunlight pours in, you notice four figures letting down a mat by rope. As the mat descends into the room, right in front of the Messiah, you realize the same paralytic you have seen on the city streets lies there asking for healing.
Then, Jesus says quite a bizarre thing—“your sins are forgiven.” I’m sure the man felt great to hear his sins were forgiven, but I also wonder how many of the men in that group thought, “That’s great, but we really were hoping our friend could walk again.” Before anyone could vocalize such a thought, they are interrupted by Jesus addressing the scribes in the room. Note, Matthew does not say the scribes said out loud, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus recognizes their thoughts.
Jesus then offers an interesting question. It’s a question I would like us to take a moment and reflect upon. Which is easier—to say ‘your sins are forgiven’ or ‘rise and walk’? If we say the former, then we are supposing to speak for God. After all, who alone is able to forgive sin? If we say the latter, then we run the risk of appearing very foolish. After all, are we able to tell a paralytic to rise and walk?
Every once in awhile you may hear some skeptic say something very foolish like ‘Jesus did not presume to be God. It was only until later disciples that Christians put that title on him.’ But Matthew offers a very clear indication that Jesus did, in fact, present himself to be Divine. When Jesus asked the scribes this question, it was not a question of which is actually easier. It was a question of whether they were willing to acknowledge the implications of the answer—either answer. If they chose the former, they would also be guilty of blasphemy—or they would have acknowledged Jesus’ true identity. If they chose the latter, they would have to at the least acknowledge Jesus’ power.
But, Jesus does not even give them time to answer. Instead, he turns to the paralytic and tells the man, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” Rather than offer the man only one option, he gives both.
Jesus proves His power over sin and disease by healing the paralytic.
This interaction not only emphasizes Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, the point made in chapter 8 last week, it also gives us an illustration of what it means to be restored through Christ. When we take a look way back in Genesis 3, we see that humans eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They always knew the good, because everything God made was good. But when they eat from the forbidden tree, they learn what it means to be ‘evil’. The Hebrew word is a bit more loaded than just ‘the opposite of good’. It is the same word that is used for something that is a ruined state. (In Gen 41:19, it refers to the poor quality of the cows, in Jer 24 & 29 to figs unfit to eat, in Num 2:2 a heart that does not bring joy, in Ecc 7:3 it is in a face that is sad.) Here, Matthew uses the Greek equivalent when referring to the scribe’s thoughts. (For the biblical language nerds, the same Greek word is used in the Septuagint Genesis.) Matthew presents to us a picture of what Christ can do when we put our faith in him. Christ restores us in body and spirit.
The scribe refuses to put his faith in Jesus, and so his thoughts remain ‘evil’ or ruined. The paralytic and his friends knew Jesus could heal, and their faith even drove them to tear apart the roof. They would not stop until their paralytic friend confronted Jesus. Jesus recognized this faith and gave the man what he truly needed—forgiveness of sin. But in order for his authority to be understood, and the man’s forgiveness to be validated, Jesus went one step further and restored the paralytic’s body.
Jesus’ ability to heal the paralytic validated his ability to forgive sin.
And that is why Jesus came. Humanity had fallen both physically and spiritually into sin’s curse. Now, what we all want is for Jesus to clear away all the physical problems of this world, but Jesus reminds us here that the real problem, the root of all our problems, is our spiritual corruption. Ironically, the scribes understood the significance of Jesus’ forgiveness, but they were unwilling to accept Jesus’ identity.
We who claim to accept Jesus’ identity are sometimes unwilling to accept his forgiveness. It is an interesting conundrum in our modern world. But, regardless, Jesus reminds us here the most important thing for humanity is to receive forgiveness of sin. He will return and complete the process of cleansing this world, but we must be ready.
Restoring Mind and Ethic | Matthew 9:1-8
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:1-8
Matthew interjects his narrative of Jesus’ healings with the account of his own call to be a disciple. Now, Matthew leaves the account short and sweet, but he does offer this look at the attitude of the Pharisees. He has already shown us the scribes were unwilling to trust in Jesus by their attitude of the paralytic. Now, we see the same evil attitude in these Pharisees who wonder why Jesus is willing to eat with the likes of tax collectors and sinners. Doesn’t Jesus know these riffraff are not the sort of people with which good rabbis should be dining?
Jesus’ response cuts right to the problem. Those who are sick are the ones who need a doctor. Funny enough, the Pharisees are just as sick, an implication Matthew does not want us to miss. They are just unwilling to recognize their sickness. Jesus then tells them to go and learn what the Scripture means when it says, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” This verse is a direct citation of Isaiah who is speaking for God in criticism to the Israelites who would offer ritual sacrifices believing they upheld the Law of God, but failed to allow the Law to transform their hard hearts.
In the previous section, we saw how Jesus offers restoration of the body and soul. Here, Matthew demonstrates how Jesus also restores our minds and ethics. It is an illustration of the first Beatitude—blessed are the poor in spirit. The tax collectors and the sinners knew they needed a spiritual doctor. The Pharisees and scribes denied their sickness, and so they would not be blessed.
Jesus was willing to fellowship with the spiritual outcasts because they were willing to follow Him.
Notice when Jesus responds to the Pharisees he says, “Go and learn.” The dinner party was a celebration of the Messiah’s arrival and the people’s healing. If the Pharisees were unwilling to celebrate and fellowship, Jesus said they should go away and learn the Scriptures. Then, when they recognize the truth of the Scripture, and the truth of the times, they could join in the celebration.
Sometimes we miss out on God’s work and the celebration of God’s people because we have the wrong motives or wrong attitude about what God is doing. Jesus just restored these people’s health and was bringing them closer to their God. This was a time to celebrate! Instead, the Pharisees missed the party because they were too busy focusing on their own supposed supremacy.
This picture points us to the other way in which Jesus restores us. In the previous passages we see Jesus restoring the body and the soul. Now, we see Jesus wants to restore our minds and our ethics. The tax collector and sinners were no longer tax collectors and sinners. Matthew turned from cheating his fellow Israelites and followed Jesus. He would now be a disciple and Gospel writer. Though it’s not explicit, we can certainly assume the sinners would be called away from their sin. Their minds would be renewed.
When Jesus restores our body and soul, He also restores our minds and ethics in order for us to live as God designed us to live.
Likewise, they would be restored to one another. They would treat each other as family and bond in unity under the Lordship of Christ. They would be Christians living out what Paul tells the Romans in Romans 12.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
As we close today, I want us to meditate a bit on Paul’s appeal in light of the passage we have just read.
Paul appeals to us “by the mercies of God”. How has God shown you mercy? Has He not sent His Son to die in your place for your sins? Has He not opened the door of heaven for you?
We are to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” We do not come to God with bulls and blood. We offer our whole selves to Him. We set ourselves apart (that is the meaning of ‘holy’) in order to worship as we should.
How can we do this? We do so by being “transformed by the renewal of [our] mind[s]” rather than allowing the world to conform us to it. We must allow Jesus to restore our minds and our ethics. We focus our minds on the things of God rather than the things of this world.
Then, we will be able to discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We will not be like the scribes and Pharisees who were blind to the good things happening right in front of them. We will not be blind to the work of Jesus in our midst.
Instead, we will join with Jesus who welcomes the tax collectors and the sinners to the table of the Lord and celebrate the mercies of God who transforms us into His Image as we should be.