Transcript

Fulfillment of Our Greatest Need

Matthew 9:1-8
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Pastor Randy Smith

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Success in the corporate world is understanding the needs of the consumer.

The story is told of a tool company that manufactured drill bits. Faced with financial losses, company executives gathered to discuss the problem: a declining demand for drill bits. The CEO challenged his men: "How can we revive the bit market?" After an embarrassing silence, one member of the team dispelled the fog: "Sir, the market isn't for bits-it's for holes!"

The story, though apocryphal, does illustrate a basic but often overlooked truth: "The customer never buys a product. By definition, the customer buys the satisfaction of a want" (in the words of Peter Drucker). To put it another way, there are no markets for products-only markets for what products can do. So in the corporate world, companies are constantly evaluating consumer needs and designing products to meet those needs.

While corporations work this way, churches are to be addressing needs on a deeper level. Rather than seeking for "felt needs" which vary from person to person, we must understand our primary needs that are unchanging, needs that apply to all of us.

Yet amongst our primary needs, what is our greatest need? I'm sure most would answer that question by saying that our greatest need is: air and then shelter and then water and then food. For without these we would no longer be able to survive. Others would potentially answer by moving up Maslow's pyramid and reply that our greatest need is for social and emotional well-being. I do not deny the reality of these many substantial needs, but is it possible that we have a need greater than all of these-one that corporations and Maslow and even churches today have overlooked?

According to the Bible, our greatest need is for forgiveness from God. Now if we accept the modern notion that we are good people and that God accepts us regardless of what we do, we will find that statement false and offensive. But if we examine the Bible and realize how each of us has sinned against our holy Creator, it is the only logical conclusion we can draw. Regardless of our moral convictions or our religious actions, we are not right with God. At our core we are sinners. God sees our sins. God records our sins. And God's Word says that "the wages of [these sins] is death" (Rom. 6:23).

Our only hope is God's pardon. Fellowship with God in this life and the life to come is based on God's forgiveness. Without a doubt, God's forgiveness is our greatest need.

First we must recognize the need. Then we must determine how to have the need met. I mean, even if I understand the need for God's forgiveness, it means nothing if God is unwilling to forgive me. And if God is willing to forgive me, is there something I must do to receive His forgiveness? Our questions do not get more important than that!

This morning as we examine Matthew 9:1-8. We will find answers to these questions. We will understand how to meet our greatest need.

Let's begin our study…

Verse 1 indicates that Jesus, after ministering in the Gadarenes (or maybe I should say after He was kicked out of that territory-Mt. 8:34), got back into the boat and again crossed the Sea of Galilee. The text says He "came to His own city" which was Capernaum (Mt. 4:13). And while in His city, verse 2 informs us that certain people "brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed."

Though Mark and Luke also record this account, Matthew for whatever reason, chose to omit some significant details. According to the other Gospels, this paralyzed man was brought to Jesus through rather unconventional means. Listen to Mark 2:4: "Being unable to get to [Jesus] because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying."

Palestinian houses commonly had two stories. Jesus and those with Him were obviously crowded on the second level, commonly called the "upper room." Contacting Jesus by entering the front door, making your way up a ladder as you carried a paraplegic through a packed-out house would have been nearly impossible. Yet these determined individuals took whatever means necessary to get their friend to Jesus. The only method-dismantling the roof and lowering him down by ropes.

The situation must have been awkward to say the least. What did the homeowner think about someone destroying his house? What was the crippled man's reaction to all the attention? What would Jesus make of this sudden intrusion on His instruction? No doubt all eyes overwhelmed with this unexpected feat shifted to Jesus in wonder as to how He, the Holy One, would respond. After all, it was believed at the time that physical conditions of this nature were the direct result of personal sin (Jn. 9:2-3).

While we have no record of anyone asking for anything, and while Jesus could read the intentions of their hearts, I am sure neither of these was necessary. I am sure their actions spoke for themselves. All the onlookers were given a thousand-word testimony in this picture of incredible faith. To endure the efforts associated with their actions and to seek Jesus despite the risks to their reputations is the faith that our Lord is looking for.

The remainder of verse 2, "Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.'"

At first these words catch us by surprise. If any healing is going to happen we are expecting a physical healing. Yet Jesus seems to initially ignore the physical and go directly for the spiritual.

Was it because this man, because of his paralysis saw himself as a greater sinner, as was the belief of the day? Was it because Jesus wanted to emphasize that we are all plagued with a condition even much greater than paralysis? Was it because this man demonstrated true biblical faith and thus was the recipient of the greatest blessing? I mean crippled people can think of nothing greater than walking again, but does it make much difference from an eternal perspective if their sin is never forgiven? Fifteen more years with a full functioning body only to still spend an eternity apart from God? That's more tragic than being confined to a portable bed for the duration of our earthly existence.

Our greatest need is for forgiveness. This passage is clear that Jesus forgives sins and He forgives them on the basis of faith. "Seeing their faith, Jesus said…'Your sins are forgiven'" (Mt. 9:2). This man had not strung together a cluster of righteous actions. This man was not given a flimsy promise that potentially God would forgive him on Judgment Day. This man was not granted forgiveness mediated through another human. This man was not told he needed to do any additional work to maintain that forgiveness. This man was forgiven for all his sins (past, present and future) at that moment in the present time. All the guilt taken away. All the sin removed. Complete pardon from Jesus granted on the basis of faith.

You might be thinking, that sounds too easy to be true. Well, my friends, a comment like that definitely does not understand the nature of Christ's atonement. By all means don't think our forgiveness comes without an expense. God forgives sins, but a just God cannot forgive sins that have not received their just penalty. If a human judge must merit the right penalty for a crime, how much more must the infinite God merit a penalty for sin, especially when every sin is ultimately a crime against Him (Psm. 51:4)! His justice demands it! Our forgiveness comes, but it comes at a great cost. Our forgiveness comes through the agonizing and brutalizing death of Jesus Christ. On that cross He stood in our place. He received our sins. He accepted the punishment we deserved.

Remember how the Gospel of Matthew began? "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Mt. 1:21). Jesus did the work. He completed His assignment. And just prior to His death on the cross, He declared that the work was finished (Jn. 19:30). Thinking that we need to contribute to our salvation only implies that His atonement for our sin was insufficient. We can take no credit. He did it all. He gets all the glory. Forgiveness is now available for all who come to Him on the basis of faith-faith that trusts Him as Savior and submits to Him as Lord. That is the biblical gospel. Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." It doesn't get much clearer than that!

Sounds great, right? Obviously it does not sound great to many today because countless have distorted the purity of this message. And it did not sound great to the critics of Jesus back then either. The scribes and Pharisees believed that God forgives sin. Their problem was that forgiveness should not come that easily. They worked hard to achieve what they thought was salvation, and this paralyzed man could be forgiven with just a few words off the lips of Jesus? And it was those few words off the lips of Jesus that probably bothered them the most. Forgiveness of sins is a divine prerogative. In this case they had their theology right. No one can forgive sins but God (Isa. 43:25). Unless Jesus is… (we'll come back to that).

Verse 3, "And some of the scribes said to themselves, 'This fellowblasphemes.'" And as it is added in Mark's Gospel, "Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mk. 2:7; Lk. 5:21).

There they were with their critical spirits. After all, who does this Galilean carpenter think He is? And if anyone decided who was forgiven, they should have been the ones to make those distinctions. Jesus was breaking their rules! Arms folded, scowling looks, muttering amongst themselves thinking that others were oblivious to their perceptions. Think again!

Verse 4, "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, 'Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?'"

An interesting and related footnote from this verse: Anytime we misrepresent the character or work of Jesus Christ, we have just committed an evil deed.

Well, Jesus plans to engage these gentlemen. First He exposes them and then He asks them this question. He knew what their problem was. He simply wanted them to see their problem for themselves which was rooted in their hearts deep below the surface.

So He asks them another question: Verse 5, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk?'"

How would you answer that question? Which one is easier? In one sense it is much easier to say, "Your sins are forgiven." All of us can make that statement. Sure, none of us can verify it with any proof, but all of us can make that statement. Saying something is always easier than doing it, especially when other people have no way to refute it. The scribes claimed Jesus was blaspheming God by performing the miracle. Jesus will prove that He is God and as God He has the right to forgive sins. So in this case, Jesus will use one miracle that is visible (the healing) to verify the other miracle that is invisible (the forgiveness).

Here is it. Verse 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.'"

I believe the paralytic in this account presents to us a living parable. Just as he was unable to do anything for himself physically, he is unable to do anything for himself spiritually. Just as Jesus could cure Him physically, Jesus could cure him spiritually. Though our bodies might be working fine without Christ, we are suffering from the same paralysis that only He can cure. I believe the real paralysis in this account was not the man, but the scribes who witnessed the miracle and knew the Old Testament promises regarding the Messiah and still walked away with a hard heart.

As verse 6 declares, "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." In the past two weeks as we studied chapter 8, we have witnessed Christ's authority over sickness and nature and demons. Now we witness in chapter 9 His authority over sin. Have we come to Him for that forgiveness for sin or are we like the scribes trusting in our own self-righteousness? He has authority over all. Have we fully acknowledged the authority He has over our lives?

This paralyzed man, once ignored and led to believe that his sins caused his condition, now freed from the restrains of his bed and most of all freed from the shackles of sin.

His first act upon receiving forgiveness? Obedience! At the Lord's request verse 7 says, "And he got up and went home." It has been said, "Where we respond in faith to Christ's authority to forgive we find delight in obeying Him even in the little things." The true mark of every believer is glad submission to the will of God, not to be forgiven, but to give evidence that he or she has been forgiven. As I was reading the other night in 1 John 2, "Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" (1 Jn. 2:5-6). Like this man, are you a living testimony of Christ's healing you spiritually?

Matthew closes this account by recording the response from the onlookers. Verse 8, "But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men." The people quickly realized that this was not a circus sideshow. A reverential fear gripped the onlookers (just like we saw last week) demonstrating that the only natural and only proper response to the working of God is worship!

My friends, if you are in Christ Jesus do you see and appreciate the awesome fact that all your sins have been forgiven? The Bible declares, "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psm. 103:10). "[Our] sin is covered" (Psm. 32:1). They have been removed "as far as the east is from the west" (Psm. 103:12). God has "cast all [of our] sins behind [His] back" (Isa. 38:17) and promises to "remember [them] no more" (Heb. 10:17).

Beloved, if God has promised to forgive you, take Him at His word and quit beating yourself up over past mistakes!

In a dream, the great theologian, Martin Luther, found himself being attacked by Satan. The devil unrolled a long scroll containing a list of Luther's sins, and held it before him. On reaching the end of the scroll Luther asked the devil, "Is that all?" "No," came the reply, and a second scroll was thrust in front of him. Then, after a second came a third. But now the devil had no more. "You've forgotten something," Luther exclaimed triumphantly. "Quickly write on each of them, 'The blood of Jesus Christ God's son cleanses us from all sins'" (Occult Bondage and Deliverance, p. 10).

Believer, rejoice, for your greatest need has been met with complete perfection. You stand before God completely forgiven clothed in Christ's righteousness thanks to the fulfilled work of your Savior!