Paralyzed! -- Matthew 9:1-8

Paralyzed! -- Matthew 9:1-8
By Pastor Lee Hemen
August 18, 2019

We can become paralyzed by different things in life. Fear of the unknown, disease, not knowing how to act, or many other things can cause us to be paralyzed in life. But when it comes to sharing our faith about God we should never be paralyzed. Our duty is to share the love of God when we are given the opportunity by the Lord and never be fearful of the outcome.

Here in Matthew’s gospel we read about an incident that occurred when Jesus heads back across the Sea of Galilee and enters his own home town of Capernaum. Some men or perhaps some friends bring to Jesus a man who is paralyzed but we soon discover that the real paralytic were those who should have acted in compassion but were more concerned for their outward piety than for the man who needed forgiveness. Let’s discover what it means to be paralyzed…

READ: Matthew 9:1-8

We can become narrow-minded and forget God is always at work around us. And here in Matthew…

I. We learn that we should act out of faith not fear! (Vv. 1-4)

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?

  1. After healing a demon-possessed man Jesus isn’t done. He then “stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town”. Jesus returns to Capernaum which is now called his town because after leaving Nazareth, he made Capernaum his Galilean home. Matthew often is very straight forward in describing events while others are often more descriptive. It’s a matter of personal choice in their writing and nothing more. We learn that as Jesus is ministering from his home in Capernaum “Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat.” The same incident is described by Mark in that “Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. (Mark 2:4 NIV)” Matthew relates that “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’” Some have argued it was the friend’s faith Jesus saw but I believe it was the entire group’s faith. The four men’s willingness to help their friend and the paralyzed man’s yearning to be healed and allowing his friends to take him to Jesus! Some think that because of this incident that if we do acts of kindness God will respond, but this is not the case at all. Remember, Jesus “saw their faith” which meant their willingness to believe he was the Messiah and could heal their friend. And because of their faith Jesus tells the paralytic “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” Now Jesus is not teaching that this man’s illness was caused by his sin, but rather Jesus knew and understood who was nearby because when Jesus forgives him “some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, ‘This fellow is blaspheming!’” While the friends and the paralytic could see Jesus was the Messiah, the blind teachers of the law did not. “Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?’” These men should have been the ones who immediately saw Jesus for who he was, the promised Messiah, but they did not. Instead they were focused on their narrow vision of what constituted faith: ritualistic adherence to the Law of Moses. The four men overcame their fear and brought their friend, the paralytic overcame his fear and let them, but the teachers of the law could not overcome theirs. We learn that we should act out of faith not fear!

  EXAMPLE: Herbert Lugt writes that “I agree with the statement ‘Faith chases out fear, or fear chases out faith.’ But I also know that no believer is immune to panic or terror.” Recently I was nearly forced into oncoming traffic by another driver who turned into the wrong lane next to me. Being caught in a major earthquake can cause panic even to believers. Those who have survived intense bombing attacks say that anyone who claims he wasn’t afraid at the time is either a liar or a fool. Lugt notes that “It is not a sin to feel panic or terror in a life-threatening situation.” We need to remember:  “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. (Psalms 56:3 NIV)” We learn we should act out of faith not fear!

Holding one’s head up high whenever we feel afraid is okay but here in Matthew…

II. We discover that faith casts out fear! (Vv. 5-8)

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.

  1. The teachers of the law were so caught up in their traditions and following strict rituals they had forgotten who God was! We see this today with religions that place strict adherence on ritual, regulations, laws, or ceremonies on their people instead of teaching them about the love of God. There is comfort in ritual because it is a personal act one does in order to appease God and so one can mark off their list of duties that they have done so. So Jesus turns their strictness on them and asks, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” Jesus knew it would have been impossible for them to forgive the paralytic’s sin and not just because they were not God but because they could not force themselves to overlook their strict adherence. They believed the man deserved his suffering because either his parent’s had sinned or he had; which of course was not true! And they did not have the power or the faith to give the paralytic back his ability to walk! They were quick to call Jesus a blasphemer but were helpless and unwilling to help the paralytic in any way possible either. They were afraid to step out of what they had practiced for personal piety for so long. Jesus bluntly responds to them, “‘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.’” Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the teachers of the law? Sucking sour persimmons would have produced better results! Like little old ladies stuck in their sowing circle of threading gossip and mischief these self-promoting pious men were caught with the pompous security down. And to their self-righteous horror “the man got up and went home”! Mark relates that “He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’ (Mark 2:12 NIV)” and Matthew tells us that “When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.” The crowd understood what had occurred. The paralytic and his friends understood what had occurred. But the teachers of the law were still blind in their faith and it is here we discover that faith casts out fear!

  EXAMPLE: There are a lot of people afraid to travel by air. Many know what the statistics say—that they are safer in an airplane than in the family car. But that doesn’t matter. Researchers say that a conscious fear of crashing is usually not the problem. The real root of their anxiety is the fear that they will lose control of their lives once they leave the ground. A similar crisis of faith may occur when a person puts himself in the care of God. He too is carried a long way from what the world considers ‘solid ground.’ Trusting an invisible Lord can be frightening, especially for a new Christian.” However, we discover that faith casts out fear!

Conclusion:

We learn that we should act out of faith not fear! We discover that faith casts out fear!
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This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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