Matthew 9:1-8 ~ Forgiven

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.

1 Corinthians 15:6

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.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

YES Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus

Matthew 9:1-8 ~ and came to His Own

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.

We don't use the title headers of the Bible. This gives too much already handed out and given the summary over the Word of the Lord. If we don't use the titles, then one has to scan the text and grab what grabs their own heart and soul.

Each Chapter is carefully delivered, personally, by the Holy Spirit. We know He considers this Living and Active. The opening of Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 9  informs us, immediately, Jesus considers  Matthew's Gospels Chapters of 8 and 9 as one continuous day of Ministry.

Matthew 8 has the people of the country of Gadarenes ask Him to leave. Which did happen to Jesus in several gospels, several times.  Our Father considers the success of entering familiar Capernaum and the, ask politely for you to leave, “before” portion of Gadarenes as the same work.  An interesting view of the ongoing Ministry of God. Perhaps Winston Churchill knew this quite well.  

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

— Winston Churchill

Rejoice! In This Chapter, Jesus sees the Children of God cooperating to Shepherd together!

Continuing on with the idea of Headers being the hedge clippers of more in-depth meaning, 

if we had to have the titles, shouldn't we look to see what Jesus might have called the Healing of the Paralyzed Man? 

 v36 When He saw the crowds, 

He had compassion for them, 

because they were harassed and helpless, 

like sheep without a shepherd.

One of the joys of seeing decades expand, finding echoes and memories of the past. Rejoicing when one sees the Victories. When I talk to people in the area I live, which is dramatically growing, no one is pleased or excited to see the giant timber falling to square buildings.  And the people I know who have built commercially say it almost took bribes to get a building permit, when no real beauty is being planned. I pray every time I go down the highways of 'progress' someone will wake up and city management and planning will see meaningful life is where the Real Value of Life IS for future generation and even safety. 

Sacrifice, in the planning, is not a virtue … even in Lent. 

Today we are in Victoria, Texas. Where I love to be as spring appears. Apparently, springtime loves to arrive in Victoria first.  The Sky is a beautiful color, matched by the green, emerald green of the grass.  Giant Pecan Trees line the impressive River.

If the City Planners of Victoria, Texas could have a Biblical Verse, it would be Shepherds care for their Sheep. 

Victoria has been here since the 1820s. Beauty was not swept up and killed by the 1960 uglies of Fox and Jacobs.  Modern economy cropping out gracious comfort and joy. The downtown has planned to use what is older and to expand on new, using impressive architecture. The Churches are cared for. Well tended. Crowded on Friday Lent, probably for pot luck dinners. Sundays show full parking lots.

Even the old and sometimes abandoned industries look like they remember when The King Ranch was exporting most of the East Coast Cattle.  There is History, here.

The historic district is vast and is not cropped to strident restrictions on older residents.  No one is trying to be a carbon copy of the next.  The exterior of the houses is cared for and thought about.

The newer houses have yards and side yards. The streets are content and peaceful. The giant trees are given great consideration and planned to stay and honor.

And there is not a monopoly on the industry of improving and loving older homes. Smaller cottages are showing revivals of love and care.  The older housing is improving as the newlyweds and retirees begin to show flourish.

Going back to Industry, not so many Big Box Stores. There is a plethora of local owners, trying hard and, creatively, to have restaurants, fantastic nurseries, clothing, hobbies and arts.

Dallas proper City limits, at the beginning of the 1970s, started as a population of 75,000 people and ended at the LBJ loop.  Victoria is, now, 65,000 and is a joy to see and remember.  A reminder of Galveston and the talents of seriously interested in their community to prosper minded people. The Victoria massive USA Flags are a real indication of the hope for Community and Pride in peaceful achievement. 

The USA is interested, currently, in Big Box Stores and the opinions of the Big Cities. Wow, what a community. We still remember when Cities didn't just put up square buildings and instead invested in the meaningful lives of what we bring forth.  Let's see this remembered nationwide instead of accepting the grind of graceless, identity less boxes as some sort of new, modern identity.  The Churches of the United States in the 1990s began to see Major Shifts in Major Denominations. And now we see major shifts in the States to leave and try again.  Could be … the major cities will see this shift eventually. 

Hang on to your Shepherds, beautiful smaller cities and towns. We need to see the Love Continue.

And remember, Chapter 8 of Matthew had the Holy Spirit deliberately combining Chapter 9 with Matthew's ongoing work. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Abba, Father,

You are

Help,

Helper,

Comfort,

Comforter

God of Love

God of Encouragement

God of Hope

In You,

we 

RENEW

REDEEM

and 

RECOVER

You are our Shepherd

You are our Gate.

Praise You, Father,

For the Gift

of

JESUS CHRIST,

Your Son,

Our Lord.

Our Salvation

Our Merciful Advocate.

Thank You.

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.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

YES Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus