Church of St Athanasius, Glen Allen, Virginia
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer”. Ps 19
Introduction:
“Jesus entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city”. Matt, Ch. 9, v1.
Some of you may be wondering what is town is it that is being referred to here. Is it Nazareth or somewhere else? Well, if you go back to Chapter 4 of Matthew’s gospel you will find the answer to that question. In verses 12-17 of Chapter 4 we have the following:
“Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested He withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum by the Lake, in the territory of Zabulon and Naptali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zabulon, land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has dawned.’
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near””. Matt. Ch. 4 vv 12-17
It is important to realize that Jesus did not go from Nazareth to Capernaum because He was afraid of King Herod who, as the scripture tells us, had just arrested John the Baptist. No, Jesus us made of sterner stuff and was not afraid of the petty tyrant Herod. The reason Jesus went to Capernaum was that He realized that with the departure of John the Baptist from the public arena, the time had come for Jesus to start His own public ministry. He had to go to Capernaum so that the prophecy of Isaiah could be fulfilled:
“Land of Zebulon, Land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Isaiah, Ch. 9, vv 1-2.
This area in northern Israel was an invasion route for the Syrian armies over the years. Naturally, it could be called “the region and shadow of death”. Just as in the same way the plains of Flanders were invasions leading into the heartland of the French kingdom and had more than their share of bloodletting and death. But times are changing. Matthew’s gospel message is that a light has dawned, hope is coming to this troubled areas.
In some liturgies the mass ends with the “second gospel”, namely a reading from the opening verses of the Gospel of John. In that section we hear the following:
“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” John, Ch. 1, v9.
In other words, in Matthew’s account of the gospel which we read today, we are witnessing the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. Let us look at that section of the scriptural text.
The gospel text:
The gospel text which we read today was obviously near the beginning of the public ministry. Jesus has not yet picked all of His disciples and it is only after this passage in scripture which we read today, that we find Him selecting Levi, son of Alphaeus, whom we also know as St. Matthew, the writer of this present gospel. (Ch. 9, v.9)
It is interesting that Jesus begins this miraculous cure by first telling the paralytic man that his sins are forgiven. Now His hearers would have been well aware of the teaching of the prophet Isaiah which said that only God could forgive sins. In Chapter 42, v. 25 of Isaiah we have the following words of God, prophesied by Isaiah:
“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins”. (note the use of ‘I am’)
So the hearers of Jesus were faced with a choice: either they could consider Him a blasphemer, or they could consider that He was in fact divine, He was the messiah who was to come. Since Jesus could read their thoughts, He realized that they were taking the former course; they were considering that He was a blasphemer. So Jesus proposes a test:
“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?
Obviously, it would be easier to say “your sins are forgiven”, since no one could objectively disprove this statement. On the other hand, a command “Rise and Walk” addressed to the paralytic man, could be tested by everyone present by seeing whether or not the man gets up and walks! Well, Jesus chooses the more difficult task: where failure would promptly discredit Him. And He does it for a reason. Look at verse 6:
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, He then said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home”. And he stood up and went to his home”.
What is important here, is that Jesus is using the miraculous cure to teach a lesson, namely that He has the power to forgive sins. Several weeks ago in the Sunday liturgy we had the story of the raising of the widow’s son from the dead. And the gospel text told us that Jesus had compassion on the widow. Miracles are not done by Christ and His followers to show off. They have very specific messages. The raising of the widow’s son was done for three reasons, a) because Jesus had compassion on the widow for the loss of her only son; b) that Jesus wanted to demonstrate that God was the Creator of the whole universe and had power over evertything, even death; and c) He wanted to demonstrate that the promised Messiah had come, and that He was fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the promised coming. Similarly, in the miracle that Jesus performs in today’s gospel extract we must recognize that it is not performed to show off, but to teach a lesson, namely that Jesus had the power to forgive sins. I quote:
“So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins – He then said to the paralytic – ‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your house’”.
That simply is the reason for the miracle – to demonstrate that Jesus, the Son of God, has the power to forgive sins.
Forgiveness of sins:
I think the marvelous thing here is that the first miracle which happened to the paralytic man is the more magnificent. We tend to forget it in the light of the spectacular second miracle, when Jesus heals the paralytic of his physical illness and tells him to get up and walk. But look at the first miracle:
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’” V.2
This is the first thing that Jesus is concerned with: the man’s standing before God, his state of repentance, the condition of the man’s soul. It is only after the man has been cleansed of his sins, that he is cured of his physical illness. There is an order of priorities here and that should be our order of priorities as well.
I don’t want to go into it too much in this sermon but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t at least mention it in passing. I want you to look again at that text of the gospel in Ch. 9, v. 2 of Matthew:
“And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Note, that when Jesus saw their faith He proceeded to forgive the sins of the paralytic man. In other words the prayers and faith of the man’s supporters brought him firstly forgiveness of sins, and secondly bodily healing. There is no real evidence of any particular faith on the part of the individual himself, but the faith and the charity of his supporters was sufficient to bring Jesus’ forgiving and healing power into action. We must remember this: as a church we have the power to help those around us by our faith and our prayers.
This particular chapter of Matthew’s gospel is much concerned with the treatment of sinners. In verse 10 of this chapter we have the following:
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners’. On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Now there is a problem in the church today which could be said to have arisen, in part, from these very verses of St. Matthew’s gospel which we have just read. There are many Christian who do not want to find themselves in the position of the self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes, and that is good.
However, they subscribe to the notion of “inclusiveness”. If Jesus could associate with sinners and eat with them at table, who are we to do differently? These modern-day Christians go out of their way to display their solidarity with sinners. In this they are right! Jesus Himself said that He had come not to call the righteous but sinners, and, remember, all of us are sinners. Consequently, His Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, must not shy away from seeking out and associating with sinners. But here is where we differ from so many modern churchmen.
We do not condemn sinners, but we do condemn sin. We seek out the company of sinners in order that we may offer them the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and the possibility of the forgiveness of their sins. We do not agree that our bishops and clergy should join with sinners in their sinful ways. That was not what Jesus did, nor should we.
Conclusion:
It is important that we realize the significance of the healing miracle of the paralytic man. Jesus expressly said that He performed that miracle in order to show definitively that He had the power to forgive sins. We must remember that that power has been passed on to His church.
You remember the incident when the disciples were all gathered together in the room after the Resurrrection and suddenly Jesus appeared to them: John, Ch. 20, vv21-23.
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you’. When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
Bringing salvation and forgiveness of sins to mankind is the core of the Christian message and central to the Church’s mission, which is our mission, individually and collectively.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer”. Ps 19
Introduction:
“Jesus entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city”. Matt, Ch. 9, v1.
Some of you may be wondering what is town is it that is being referred to here. Is it Nazareth or somewhere else? Well, if you go back to Chapter 4 of Matthew’s gospel you will find the answer to that question. In verses 12-17 of Chapter 4 we have the following:
“Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested He withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum by the Lake, in the territory of Zabulon and Naptali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zabulon, land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has dawned.’
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has come near””. Matt. Ch. 4 vv 12-17
It is important to realize that Jesus did not go from Nazareth to Capernaum because He was afraid of King Herod who, as the scripture tells us, had just arrested John the Baptist. No, Jesus us made of sterner stuff and was not afraid of the petty tyrant Herod. The reason Jesus went to Capernaum was that He realized that with the departure of John the Baptist from the public arena, the time had come for Jesus to start His own public ministry. He had to go to Capernaum so that the prophecy of Isaiah could be fulfilled:
“Land of Zebulon, Land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Isaiah, Ch. 9, vv 1-2.
This area in northern Israel was an invasion route for the Syrian armies over the years. Naturally, it could be called “the region and shadow of death”. Just as in the same way the plains of Flanders were invasions leading into the heartland of the French kingdom and had more than their share of bloodletting and death. But times are changing. Matthew’s gospel message is that a light has dawned, hope is coming to this troubled areas.
In some liturgies the mass ends with the “second gospel”, namely a reading from the opening verses of the Gospel of John. In that section we hear the following:
“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” John, Ch. 1, v9.
In other words, in Matthew’s account of the gospel which we read today, we are witnessing the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. Let us look at that section of the scriptural text.
The gospel text:
The gospel text which we read today was obviously near the beginning of the public ministry. Jesus has not yet picked all of His disciples and it is only after this passage in scripture which we read today, that we find Him selecting Levi, son of Alphaeus, whom we also know as St. Matthew, the writer of this present gospel. (Ch. 9, v.9)
It is interesting that Jesus begins this miraculous cure by first telling the paralytic man that his sins are forgiven. Now His hearers would have been well aware of the teaching of the prophet Isaiah which said that only God could forgive sins. In Chapter 42, v. 25 of Isaiah we have the following words of God, prophesied by Isaiah:
“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins”. (note the use of ‘I am’)
So the hearers of Jesus were faced with a choice: either they could consider Him a blasphemer, or they could consider that He was in fact divine, He was the messiah who was to come. Since Jesus could read their thoughts, He realized that they were taking the former course; they were considering that He was a blasphemer. So Jesus proposes a test:
“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?
Obviously, it would be easier to say “your sins are forgiven”, since no one could objectively disprove this statement. On the other hand, a command “Rise and Walk” addressed to the paralytic man, could be tested by everyone present by seeing whether or not the man gets up and walks! Well, Jesus chooses the more difficult task: where failure would promptly discredit Him. And He does it for a reason. Look at verse 6:
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, He then said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home”. And he stood up and went to his home”.
What is important here, is that Jesus is using the miraculous cure to teach a lesson, namely that He has the power to forgive sins. Several weeks ago in the Sunday liturgy we had the story of the raising of the widow’s son from the dead. And the gospel text told us that Jesus had compassion on the widow. Miracles are not done by Christ and His followers to show off. They have very specific messages. The raising of the widow’s son was done for three reasons, a) because Jesus had compassion on the widow for the loss of her only son; b) that Jesus wanted to demonstrate that God was the Creator of the whole universe and had power over evertything, even death; and c) He wanted to demonstrate that the promised Messiah had come, and that He was fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the promised coming. Similarly, in the miracle that Jesus performs in today’s gospel extract we must recognize that it is not performed to show off, but to teach a lesson, namely that Jesus had the power to forgive sins. I quote:
“So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins – He then said to the paralytic – ‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your house’”.
That simply is the reason for the miracle – to demonstrate that Jesus, the Son of God, has the power to forgive sins.
Forgiveness of sins:
I think the marvelous thing here is that the first miracle which happened to the paralytic man is the more magnificent. We tend to forget it in the light of the spectacular second miracle, when Jesus heals the paralytic of his physical illness and tells him to get up and walk. But look at the first miracle:
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’” V.2
This is the first thing that Jesus is concerned with: the man’s standing before God, his state of repentance, the condition of the man’s soul. It is only after the man has been cleansed of his sins, that he is cured of his physical illness. There is an order of priorities here and that should be our order of priorities as well.
I don’t want to go into it too much in this sermon but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t at least mention it in passing. I want you to look again at that text of the gospel in Ch. 9, v. 2 of Matthew:
“And just then some people were carrying a paralysed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Note, that when Jesus saw their faith He proceeded to forgive the sins of the paralytic man. In other words the prayers and faith of the man’s supporters brought him firstly forgiveness of sins, and secondly bodily healing. There is no real evidence of any particular faith on the part of the individual himself, but the faith and the charity of his supporters was sufficient to bring Jesus’ forgiving and healing power into action. We must remember this: as a church we have the power to help those around us by our faith and our prayers.
This particular chapter of Matthew’s gospel is much concerned with the treatment of sinners. In verse 10 of this chapter we have the following:
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners’. On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Now there is a problem in the church today which could be said to have arisen, in part, from these very verses of St. Matthew’s gospel which we have just read. There are many Christian who do not want to find themselves in the position of the self-righteous, hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes, and that is good.
However, they subscribe to the notion of “inclusiveness”. If Jesus could associate with sinners and eat with them at table, who are we to do differently? These modern-day Christians go out of their way to display their solidarity with sinners. In this they are right! Jesus Himself said that He had come not to call the righteous but sinners, and, remember, all of us are sinners. Consequently, His Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, must not shy away from seeking out and associating with sinners. But here is where we differ from so many modern churchmen.
We do not condemn sinners, but we do condemn sin. We seek out the company of sinners in order that we may offer them the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and the possibility of the forgiveness of their sins. We do not agree that our bishops and clergy should join with sinners in their sinful ways. That was not what Jesus did, nor should we.
Conclusion:
It is important that we realize the significance of the healing miracle of the paralytic man. Jesus expressly said that He performed that miracle in order to show definitively that He had the power to forgive sins. We must remember that that power has been passed on to His church.
You remember the incident when the disciples were all gathered together in the room after the Resurrrection and suddenly Jesus appeared to them: John, Ch. 20, vv21-23.
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you’. When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
Bringing salvation and forgiveness of sins to mankind is the core of the Christian message and central to the Church’s mission, which is our mission, individually and collectively.
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