The crowds saw this...glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew 9:1-17

A Paralytic Healed

9 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

² And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” ⁴ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ 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, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

I have always liked this particular account of Jesus healing the paralytic in our text today. What makes this healing account stand out to me is the reponse of the scribes. So much of what Jesus said and did during His ministry offended the religeous establishment. Here when this paralized man is brought to Jesus it says  Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus saw the faith that was in these people and as Ephesians 2:8-9 says

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Jesus, seeing their faith addressed the man's most pressing need not the most obvious physical need. Jesus first priority was to rectify the man's spiritual condition. For the scribes, there was no denying Jesus ability to heal. He had been healing all types of diseases and conditions all over the region. The scribes took great offense though at Jesus act of forgiving sin. Jesus uses the evidence of His authority to heal as proof of His authority to forgive sins. He asks them a question saying "Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?" For Jesus these were equal actions. His ministry and His mission on earth was to redeem and restore everything that sin brought into this world.

In much of the church today we readily accept Jesus work on the cross to provide forgiveness for sin. That after all is the very foundation of our faith. John 3:16 is probably the most quoted scripture regarding man's need for redemption. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

In much the same way that the religious leaders of Jesus day were offended by the things He said and did because they challenged their religious traditions, much of the church today is content to focus only on Jesus work of redemption. The idea of miracles and  signs, the Holy Spirit power of God working through people, evidence of Jesus power and authority is offensive to their religious tradition. I will acknowledge that much of the reluctance and  resistance to the miraculous, to the operating in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit is due to abuse and misuse of that power. It is easier for many to discount, disqualify simply avoid the gifts and actions of the Holy Spirit than it is to discern what is real and what is false.

To some extent I do understand this because of the abuses that have occurred regarding the power of the Holy Spiriit. Here is what I don't understand though. There have been abuses and false interpretation of the Word of God throughout history. People have twisted and changed God's Word to decieve others or for their own gain since the very early church. Many of the letters to the early churches were dealing with these false teachings and doctrines. Our response to false interpretation of the Word of God is not to disregard the Word, rather we determine to know the truth even more. We study the Word so that we can recognize when something is not right. Acts 17 says ¹⁰ The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed,  The truth of the word leads to belief. 

There have also been many false preachers, prophets  and  teachers throughout the church age. We don't respond by disregarding all teachers and preachers.  Jesus gives this instruction in Matthew 7:15-20

¹⁵ “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits. 

So we don't disregard all teachers because some are false. We discern which are true by the fruit of their work or ministry. 1 John 4:1-3 gives us a simple test of truth.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

There are many false teachings that include Jesus in some way or another, but also deny part of Him. Jesus is the Christ, the Lord and Savior, the Annointed One. Jesus came and lived and walked in the flesh to become the sinless sacrifice for all man. Truth can not deny any part of who Jesus is.

In the same way that we are careful to discern what is true from what is false regarding the Word and those who teach and preach, we should discern what is true regarding the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is after all God. We should not discount or disqualify the power and authority of the Holy Spirit because we are afraid of those who misuse it.

Jesus equated spiritual healing, deliverence and redemption and physical healing when He ministered here on earth. He came to redeem and restore. His promise to us is Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

His call and His commission to us is  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Our text ends with the words; But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. The authority has been given to us by God through Jesus finished work and the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to preach and as we do Jesus authority to forgive sins and His authority to heal will be released. They work together. May we continue to walk in the fullness  of His call.