The Son of Man Forgives Sins

Much to the Displeasure of the Scribes!

Matthew Chapter 9 –

Jesus/Yeshua has just left the Country of the Gadarenes, where two demon-possessed men confronted him.  He had told the demons to go into the pigs.  They did and the pigs ran into the sea and drowned. The whole city came out to meet Jesus/Yeshua and pleaded with Him to leave their region. 

And that was just part of His day but now we find Him returning across the Sea of Galilee to His own city after calming the storm on the way to the Gadarenes.

 Verse 2 reads:

“And they brought to Him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “Take courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” – NIV

Let’s look again.  This paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, I feel certain hoping for a physical healing.  Jesus seeing their faith… was their faith for forgiveness or faith for healing?  I wonder what the men of faith who brought him, thought when Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven” instead of saying something like, “You are healed, stand up and walk.” Were they surprised? I would think so. 

Back to verse 2-

And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” And Jesus, perceiving their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? For 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 paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” And he got up and went home. 

But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

I can just imagine the talk that spread through the city that day, “The man named Jesus forgave a man’s sins and then healed him of his paralysis to show that He has the authority to forgive sins.” Sinners who were looked down on, Sinners who weren’t so in touch with sacrificing at the temple to have their sins forgiven, people who were assumed to be in sin because of illness, sinners…  being told that Jesus had forgiven a man’s sins that day without a sacrifice, without being at the temple… it was a new day for sinners. Here obviously was a man of GOD, proven by His works and He could forgive their sins.

The day just keeps on with surprises – As Jesus went on from healing the paralytic, He called Matthew from the Tax Collector’s office to follow Him and Matthew did…A Tax Collector!  This same man named Jesus/Yeshua that had forgiven the sins of a man and healed him (Obviously a man from GOD), earlier in the day, has now chosen a Tax Collector to follow Him, to be a disciple!  A Tax Collector to follow a man of GOD.  And the Tax Collector did!!

The very next paragraph – Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples.

So here’s the situation:  Earlier that day, Jesus had forgiven a man’s sins and healed the man to show that He had the authority to forgive him, and then that same day had chosen a Tax Collector to be one of his followers.  Obviously both events had caught the attention of the public because now you’ve got many sinners and Tax Collectors coming in to eat with Jesus.  They must have felt welcome and not looked down upon.  I wonder if any of them ask Him to forgive their sins on that occasion… 

And when the Pharisees saw this, they asked the disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” And what did Jesus say? “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.  Now go and learn what this means:  I DESIRE COMPASSION (MERCY) RATHER THAN SACRIFICE, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. There are times that I am totally envious of those that grew up in a home that was centered on GOD, the ones I am talking about seem to always have been saved… it feels like they’ve always been righteous and I didn’t have that upbringing and had to wander around in my search for righteousness.  When I read this story in Matthew, I am so very, very glad that Jesus came for sinners.  You see, that means He came for me.  He’s my savior, my messiah… PRAISE GOD!