Matthew 9:1–8
1Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. 2And 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.” 3And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4And 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.” 7And he got up and went home. 8But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Focused Thinking:
What is an important element of the context of this story?
“Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.”
What is happening in the minds and hearts of the friends of the paralytic?
“They brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.”
What was their relationship to the paralytic?
Did they have a relationship with Jesus since this was “His own city”?
What stories had they heard about Jesus throughout their lives?
How long had they thought about this?
How long had they prayed for this opportunity?
How long had they talked to their paralytic friend about this opportunity?
What did Jesus see in the paralytic’s friends?
“Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus sees the faith of the paralytic’s friends’ faith first.
Jesus sees their faith, but first chooses to heal spiritually instead of physically.
What did those (the scribes) who were watching think?
“This fellow blasphemes.”
They viewed His statements as blasphemous because only God forgives.
Time and time again throughout the gospels the Pharisees and Scribes don’t focus on the healing, but rather focus on a technically.
Typically the issue was the whether the healing occurred on the Sabbath or not.
In this situation they were thinking this before the physical healing occurred.
How did Jesus respond to the scribes?
4And 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’?
Jesus exposes the real issue, “Why are you thinking EVIL in your hearts?”
They were looking for something to be wrong instead of looking for something to be right.
They weren’t there to be healed or hoping for others to be healed; they were there hoping to catch Jesus in a mistake.
Jesus asks the question: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?
Jesus doesn’t dodge the secret accusation; Jesus confronts the secret accusation.
Jesus addresses the harder question, the question of divinity.
Jesus addresses the issue of blasphemy.
What does Jesus say and do next for the benefit of the scribes and the paralytic?
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.”
The Son of Man has AUTHORITY on earth to FORGIVE SINS.
The Son of Man has AUTHORITY on earth to HEAL.
Jesus heals the paralytic, but He is also attempting to heal the scribes.
7And he got up and went home. 8But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
WOW!
First, Jesus sees the FAITH of the FRIENDS.
Second, Jesus FORGIVES the SINS of the PARALYTIC.
Third, Jesus addresses the EVIL THOUGHTS of the SCRIBES.
Fourth, Jesus HEALS the PARALYTIC.
What were the results?
The crowds were AWESTRUCK.
They GLORIFIED God.
WHY?
They GLORIFIED God because HE had given SUCH AUTHORITY to men.
Personal Application:
I need to really focus on the words FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM and do a series on it.
What makes people AWESTRUCK TODAY?
We need to capture the STORIES that make us AWESTRUCK.
We need to invest in BROADCASTING AWESTRUCK STORIES.
We need to do everything possible to help people be AWESTRUCK by God.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, I want to be AWESTRUCK! Father, I want to be moved to GLOIFY You. Father, do things in my life, in my family and through my life that cause me to be AWESTRUCK and GLORIFY You. Father, be so present and powerful in our church that the crowds are AWESTRUCK and GLORIFY You. Father, I pray that You will use us to bring FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM to people. Father, increase our faithfulness. Father, increase YOU IN US. Father, increase YOU THROUGH US. Father, YOU MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE.
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