Jesus has the power to forgive sins, therefore follow Him
Matthew 9:1-13 ESV
1 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.” 4 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.
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” 10 And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””
Introduction
We have seen in the previous chapters that Jesus was a man of power and compassion. Rarely in life do we see these two characteristics converge in one individual We either see men with great power or great compassion. Women are more inclined to show compassion than men. In Matthew chapter 8, we saw Jesus healing someone with leprosy, we saw him healing the servant of a centurion by speaking a word. We saw him healing all kinds of diseases and going for the hardest cases of all. Two demon possessed men were a danger to themselves and others. Yet Jesus delivered them both and left that heathen place of Gadara not without witness. We also saw Jesus showing his power over the elements, over stormy wind, and waves.
All these things are told, so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Man. All these things are told by the evangelist to persuade us that there is nobody who can save like Jesus. There is nobody in human history with such power as Jesus, who displayed such compassion. But it has not been made explicit that He has power over sin – it was merely implied in the previous stories. But now in Matthew 9:1-8 it becomes clear that this Jesus has not only power over sickness and demons and the elements, but He has power to forgive sin. This is the ultimate thing.
This was ultimately why He came, not only to save us from the effects of sin, but to save us from the guilt and power of sin. In this account this becomes clear. We can almost say the power of Jesus comes to its climax in his exercise of authority over sin.
As the gospel of Mark tells us, “Who has power to forgive sin, but God alone?” This is the point of the story.
When I engage with Muslims, they would always attempt to convince me that
Jesus is not God’s Son, that God does not have a son and that Jesus is not God,
only a messenger and a prophet. Matthew 9 shows that Jesus has authority to forgive sin!!! And because of this fact, Scripture proves that he is more than a prophet.
INTERETHNICMISSIONS 