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1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” ~ Matthew 9:1-2
Today, we transition into Matthew 9 where the Lord Jesus and His disciples cross the Sea of Galilee and then the Lord will perform more miracles. The point of His miracles was that He would be recognized as the only One who possessed the power to overcome the power of sin. Through His miracles, the Lord Jesus revealed that He was God and that the gospel only provides the remedy for mankind's sin problem.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city."
The Lord Jesus departed from the area of the Gaderenes due to their lack of understanding that they needed a savior. The Lord Jesus had delivered two men who had long been demon possessed but the people's livelihood was threatened when the Lord Jesus allowed the demons to leave the men and then to go into the pigs. Then the pigs destroyed the herd of pigs. That which captures our hearts most is that which defines us most profoundly. This explains why the people did not want the Lord Jesus to remain there.
We don’t know how much time passed between the deliverance the Lord Jesus gave to the two demon possessed men and today's passage. This makes sense due to the fact that Matthew was not all that concerned with chronology. In fact, he was more concerned with authenticating the Lord Jesus and His teachings than he was anything else. He did this because at the heart of Christian theology is that God forgives sin and we can know that our sin has been forgiven us.
And so, the Lord Jesus and His disciples went back to the western side of the Sea of Galilee by boat to the city of Capernaum. You will remember that the Lord Jesus had left Nazareth because the religious leaders there had dismissed Him from the synagogue after His reading of Isaiah 61. After being rejected in Nazareth, the Lord Jesus reestablished His home just a few miles away in the little town of Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is most likely that He had taken up residence in the house of Peter. And, as He came back to Peter’s house, there were many people there awaiting His arrival hoping He could heal a loved one.
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.'"
When we consider Mark and Luke's gospel regarding this story we know that four friends of this man who was paralyzed brought him to the Lord Jesus. They had all heard that the Lord Jesus had returned to Capernaum and they were hoping the Lord Jesus would heal him if they could just get their him to the Lord. Apparently, his case was quite severe. It may well have been that he was quadriplegic. What we do know is that he was lying on a bed, flat on his back, unable to move himself in any way.
As a result, the Lord Jesus saw quite vividly the faith of these men who were anxious to get their friend to Him. Obviously, they had seen the Lord perform other miracles, but the emphasis here is placed squarely on the faith of the men rather than on the fact that the Lord could perform the miracle. According to the other gospel writers, when these men arrived at Peter's house, they saw the need to climb the external staircase which was so common in those days. They went up on the rooftop and tile by tile, they began to tear the roof apart. When they had created an opening, they lowered their friend down to the Lord.
According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, there was no request given from the four or even their friend. They just lowered their friend to the feet of the Lord Jesus, in full view of everybody, anticipating what He would do. In true humility, this paralyzed man was exposed completely and vulnerably. It was at that point that the Lord Jesus said, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."
The phrase, "Be of good cheer," literally means "Stop being afraid." How daunting it must have been for that man to face God, conscious of his desperation to be freed from his paralysis. In that moment the Lord Jesus spoke forgiveness to this man before He spoke healing to his paralysis. In that moment the Lord Jesus was like a physician who refused to merely treat his patient's symptoms, insisting on dealing with the root cause of his affliction.
In that moment the Lord Jesus brought attention to the root cause of all of our diseases, sin itself. If the Lord Jesus just dealt with our afflictions and not the root cause of such, we would be those who would have no hope beyond time. But, He came to us offering us His grace that would usher us back into His family. So, the Lord Jesus came lavished with grace in order to reconcile us to God by His forgiveness of our sin. Before the Lord Jesus healed the paralytic, He forgave his sins. In doing so, He showed the man the greater grace because without forgiveness, the healing would have been just temporary.
Once we understand this, we will understand why the Lord Jesus said, "Be of good cheer." Fallen man's desire and choice to go the way of Lucifer did an extensive number upon us all. When sin entered this world it brought along with it guilt and shame. When we violate God’s laws we feel guilt. Almost simultaneously does shame arrive in us explaining why we need to hide from God and others. Though guilt and shame are twins, born in the Garden of Eden, only moments apart, they are not identical. It is our guilt that reminds us that we have violated God's commands. It is our shame that tells us that we are no good and we deserve our condemnation.
While our guilt and shame yearns to crush us, God's grace longs to deliver us. We've all try to desperately hide our guilt and our shame but they remain deep in the recesses of our souls. When we try to deal with our guilt and our shame on our own, we find ourselves left exhausted. The only way to gain victory over our guilt and our shame is to align ourselves under the only shelter that can withstand the weight of our guilt and shame, the shelter of God’s forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that you have trusted in His finished work on the cross and have invited Him into your life to be your Savior. If not, let me encourage you to talk with Him right now, admitting to Him that you know you have sinned against Him and that you believe He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus to be your Savior. And, after having done that, ask Him to come into your life for eternity.
