The Incalculable Worth of Forgiveness - Sermon Summary Matthew 9:1-8

This past Sunday Nick preached over Matthew 9:1-8, bringing us back into our series walking through the Gospel of Matthew. Thinking back to what came before in chapter 8, Jesus had just shown Himself as Lord over the physical realm by healing sickness and broken bodies and calming a storm, and as Lord over the spiritual realm by casting out demons, so let’s look at what makes this passage in chapter 9 different. 

Matthew 9:1–8 (NLT)
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. 2 Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.” 
3 But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?” 
4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 
7 And the man jumped up and went home! 8 Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.

He starts off by forgiving the sins of the man, and would even seem content to leave it at that, as it is the more important issue from an eternal perspective. Then, knowing the religious leader’s doubts and anger, He follows up the forgiveness of sins by showing His credibility to claim power over the spiritual realm by proving He also has power over the physical realm by also healing him as well. Whether we’re looking at this through the perspective of the man being healed, the crowd, or the religious leaders challenging Jesus, they likely all missed the point of Jesus’ lordship in that moment when He forgave his sins first before addressing his physical issue. 

As Nick asked on Sunday, have you ever begged for something from God but missed what you really needed? We are so short sighted in life, we tend to focus on what we think He hasn’t done for us and we miss the things He has done for us already. We think we know what we need more than we trust our Creator to know what we need. This truth was already proclaimed earlier in this Gospel account in the Sermon on the Mount: 

Matthew 7:9–11 (NLT)
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

The idea of a loving parental figure is an understandable and relatable truth for us, and when Jesus begins to show that His desire–the will of the Father–is that none would “perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), it sheds more light on this truth being applied to an eternal lens. Bread is a good gift when you’re hungry. Forgiveness for a debt you are incapable of paying, and reconciliation in a relationship you’re incapable of repairing on your own, is a gift of incalculable worth. This is the Gospel.

John 3:16 (ESV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.