Matthew 9:1-8
And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city.
2 And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed.
And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,
“Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may 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.”
7 And he rose and went home.
8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
The solid, rock truth is all of Salvation in Jesus Christ is placed upon one Word, Forgiven.
The forgiven man in Matthew 9, chose unwisely to go to hostile authorities and hand Jesus to them, verbally. Why did he? Baal, his own fortune. And then many possibilities: to have the comfort of protecting his parents. To have the comfort of their inheritance for not rocking the boat. To have the joy of revenge in his anger, the word, 'forgiven' was placed upon him and his 38-year wait beside still waters of ill health. His own anger, his fortune for revenge with God for his life, his life, his life, spent beside the pool, given the ease of Jesus healing him. To hope the authorities would use him as the poster child for the SS Brown Shirts Paul was serving in this time frame. To hope they would just give him a job. The comfort of getting along with siblings, family or a neighbor who urged him to turn Jesus in. The bottom line would be his own good fortune, what Baal worshipers hope for.
The solid, rock truth is all of Salvation in Jesus Christ is placed upon one Word from our Savior, Jesus Christ's Advocation, “Forgiven.”
To be forgiven, we have to believe Jesus would be sincere to say, we need to be forgiven. To be forgiven, we have to accept the authority of God saying all men, all mankind, fall below the Glory of God in sin. To be forgiven, we have to be honest when we sin and turn to God for His Help to be in His Grace and repent, cease and continue in His Grace. And then we have to open the gift of forgiveness and life renewed in this Free Gift of Forgiveness. Declaring our Father's Good Will. To believe in the One He has Sent.
The Miracle we are looking at today is skipped so often when looking at the Miracles of Jesus Christ, Only Son of God, Savior of mankind. The Miracle of Being Forgiven. If we listed this on the Miracles we have numbered so far, this would be, appropriately, Miracle 51! Psalm 51.
When someone accepts God's Blessing of Forgiveness, so many times the tide of water for regular life or trouble from the dark side rises to flood the Blessed. David was anointed, and this surely did not look like a blessing for many years. We have to hold on to our blessings and not become ungrateful or look past blessings.
These are the Gospel
of Jesus Christ
His Words about
being
Forgiven:
Matthew 6:12
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
God loves us not to overthink goodness. Rest in the Lord.
2 Samuel 22:26, 27
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful,
to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
To the pure You show Yourself pure,
but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd
The Book of Revelation explains the sins
to avoid. The Big Ones. No Surprises.
1 something of a surprise:
Mark 3
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Which would fall under the Old Testament
about bearing false witness.
Bodes badly for Caiaphas and Ananias.
They were not invited to be part of the 500
with the Triumphant Jesus Christ, probably.
Luke 1:77
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
in the forgiveness of their sins
Praying for one another has benefits and doing Good.
Luke 5:20
And when He saw their faith, He said,
“Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Knowing not to be judgmental
Luke 6:37
Judge not,
and you will not be judged;
condemn not,
and you will not be condemned;
forgive, and you will be forgiven
Open and loving,
warm and caring heart, soul and mind
Luke 7:47
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven
—for she loved much.
But he who is forgiven little, loves little.
Luke 24:40-48
40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,
He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
42 They gave Him a piece of broiled fish,
43 and He took it and ate before them.
Then He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about Me
in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.”
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and said to them,
“Thus it is written,
that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
Acts 26
16 But rise and stand upon your feet,
for I have appeared to you for this purpose,
to appoint you as a servant and witness
to the things in which you have seen me
and to those in which I will appear to you,
17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles
—to whom I am sending you
to open their eyes,
so that they may turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and
a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
2 Peter 1:4
By which He has granted to us
His precious and very great promises,
so that through them
you may become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped from the corruption
that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
for He who promised is faithful.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.
That is why it is through Him
that we utter our Amen to God
for His glory.
Abba, Father,
Our heart hears the call from You.
We know to have held Jesus to
trial and death as a false prophet
would incur egregious error.
And we see in Scripture
the mercy of the merciful
Luke 17:17-19
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
And He said to him,
“Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Help us to live each day
putting You first.
As the Name of Jesus covers us
and the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
Surely, He took on our infirmities
and carried our sorrows;
yet, we considered Him stricken by God,
struck down and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace
was upon Him,
and by His stripes
we are healed.
We ask healing
of Your Good Creation
The fullness of the earth is Yours.
The healing of those we pray for
in our heart and soul.
Dwell in us, Father,
Dwell fully in those we love,
Help us to seek You first
and we will finish well in Jesus Christ.
Thank You.
Our God is working. His Son,
Jesus is working.
Amen.
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