Trinity 19, 2022
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
St. Matthew 9:1-8
Trinity 19
October 2, 2022
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Once again, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not help himself. After Jesus stepped out of the boat and came to His own city, that is, Capernaum, behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. We can imagine that they, along with the paralytic, desired that Jesus would perform yet another miracle so that this man could walk. But Jesus doesn’t do that. At least, not initially. They certainly had faith that Jesus could do this, because Jesus says to the paralytic after seeing the faith of all of them, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
But who is it that can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins. The reason why pastors forgive sins is that Jesus tells His Apostles in John 20, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” So it is that in John 20, Jesus establishes the Office of the Holy Ministry where men serve as servants of Christ and are given authority from Christ to forgive the sins of the repentant and to withhold forgiveness from those who are not repentant. Thus, the question in the Fifth Chief Part of the Small Catechism asks, “What do you believe according to these words?” meaning, the words of John 20. We respond and say, “I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.” So also, in the rite of Private Confession and Absolution, the pastor asks the one confessing, “Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” That’s because it is God’s forgiveness spoken through the pastor, as a called and ordained servant of the Word.
And so here comes Jesus, having just stepped out of the boat and coming into Capernaum, He sees the faith of the men who brought to Him the paralytic and He forgives the paralytic’s sins. But behold, Jesus does something and once more there are complainers. The scribes did not like the fact that Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins. They complained and probably grumbled. Oh, how we have our fair share of complainers in our day. The Scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” That is, “He is making Himself out to be God. For only God can forgive sins.” They did not think or believe that Jesus had come from God or that He is the Only-Begotten Son of the Father, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in our flesh.
And so Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to day, ‘Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise and walk’? But that you might 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. He walked. The point of this narrative is not that the man needed to walk, but rather, that he needed his sins forgiven. The Scribes could not stand hearing Jesus pronouncing absolution, that is, forgiveness upon the man because they did not believe that Jesus is from God. So to show them that He is God in the flesh, He provides a sign, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” The main point here, that I often think we forget because we’re so used to hearing the absolution, is not that the healing miracles of Jesus are the most important and greatest thing He could have ever done, but the main point this miracle shows us is that Jesus does have authority of forgive sins and this is the greatest miracle that Jesus performs for mankind.
Because for us, however, in this life, receiving absolution does not also mean that our physical maladies are healed. When you sit in the Divine Service and receive forgiveness of sins based on what you hear and what you receive through God’s Word and the Sacraments, the cancer does not immediately go into remission, diabetes isn’t miraculously healed, nor are you perfectly relieved of your anxiety or depression. But what you do receive in the Divine Service, through means, such as preaching and through consecrated bread and wine, now become the true Body and Blood of Jesus is better; it is greater than being physically healed in this life.
I think we often misunderstand the importance of what’s going on in this miracle. I think some of us have been conditioned to think that for some reason, the greater thing that has happened here is that this man who could not walk is able to walk again. That this is somehow more breathtaking and miraculous than Jesus forgiving sins. “Yeah my sins are forgiven. That’s nice. But I would really like to be able to not have to give myself shots of insulin every day or go through rounds of chemo. I’d rather have that and be more comfortable here. What is it that’s more important to us: going through this life without any pain or injuries or disability and never getting sick from any disease or virus and secluding ourselves from the world or receiving absolution, that is forgiveness in the Divine Liturgy from Christ Himself that we might approach the holy things of God and that we might enter into Paradise after we die? What is most important to us?
The more pressing need for the paralytic was that his sins be forgiven. Because if his sins are forgiven and he has faith, then he will go to heaven. And in heaven, in the presence of God, even if Jesus had not restored his ability to walk on earth, all things will be made well and new and he would have the use of his legs in heaven. For Jesus says in John’s vision in Revelation while He is sitting on the throne, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
The forgiveness of sins is the greatest miracle that Jesus has performed for mankind. The forgiveness of sins, the atonement and covering of your sins by His blood shed on the cross is the greatest and most necessary miracle that Jesus has accomplished for you. Because if you have the forgiveness of sins, if you trust that Jesus suffered for you, that He died for you, and rose again in order to defeat death, then, come the Last Day and Resurrection of all flesh, you will have all other things that his miracles in this life give. Because if you have the forgiveness of sins and believe it in faith, when you die, you will immediately be in heaven. There, you will no longer have the cancer. You will no longer have diabetes or a torn rotator cuff. You will no longer lack cartilage in your knee joints. You will no longer be anxious or suffer from depression. There will be no need for physical therapy or antidepressants or counseling because you will be made new. The current state of your imperfect body will have put on perfection, corruptible the incorruptible and you will be restored to the image of God and you will be like the paralytic who was healed in both body and soul.
Do not question it. Do not think evil in your hearts. God tells you that your sins are forgiven. That is what you need in this life. God be praised that He sees our faith and cleanses from all unrighteousness.
In Jesus’ name.
