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INJ
St Matthew 9:1-8
'Such Authority to Men'
Matins
The 19th Sunday after Trinity Sunday | October 14th, 2007
Dear Saints,
The paralyzed man is dropped through the roof by his two friends; dropped at Jesus' feet because that is the place of mercy, of hearing God's words of mercy and grace. The paralyzed man knew it; his friends knew it, but look: the crowd pressing in, the enemies of Jesus know nothing of it.
Perhaps being paralyzed is a benefit in obtaining this knowledge. Perhaps seeing your friend paralyzed, one who you used to walk with and work with now stuck, laying on a mat, wondering what he did to offend heaven in such a way that he is afflicted in such a miserable manner. Perhaps being sick, fighting against cancer or heart disease or depression, being pushed to the very end of your life, laying in the hospital bed and standing on the edge of death is a benefit in this way: “Oh, look, I'm dying. I need help. I need mercy. Where could I find such a thing.”
The trouble is that our sinful flesh often acts the exact opposite. When we get sick, or when we are about to die, or when we see some sort of tragedy or mass suffering, the devil tempts us to say, “Look, the Lord is punishing me. I don't deserve this.” Instead of looking to the Lord for every good thing and crying out to Him in time of trouble, the sinful flesh blames God and runs from Him. Would that the Lord would keep us from such temptation, and keep us in the true faith, that when we taste the bitter tears of suffering and sickness and sorrow and sin, that we would know that there is mercy and help to be found. And that we, like the paralyzed man and his faithful friends, would scramble to get to Jesus' feet.
For, and this, dear friends, is the good news in the text, for when we get to Jesus we hear words that are hear nowhere else. And there is great joy for us in this who are constantly surrounded by sickness and pain and trouble. Jesus says to this man as he lies motionless on the floor before Him: “Take heart, My son, your sins are forgiven.”
How about that! Your sins are forgiven. That's what Jesus says; He is the forgiveness speaker, the sin absolver. The monstrous chasm between God and man, between heaven and earth is filled. The accusing ten commandments are silenced. You who once stood far off with fear and trembling are brought near by the blood of Christ, by His cross and suffering.
That is a wonderful first word: “Take heart, be of good cheer. Be of good courage.” The root of the word means “to dare, to be bold.” It is a word that casts away fear, of a soldier who laughs at the peril of battle. It's like a dark room full of shadows and corners and noises when the light is flipped on; fear is gone. So it is when Jesus says: “Your sins are forgiven.” The door of heaven is thrown open and the light of His glory shines in. Fear is gone, the fear of wrath, the fear of death, the fear of sickness and pain, all these vanish away. “Be of good cheer. Take heart.”
This word of forgiveness gives great joy to the paralytic man. Luther comments that after hearing the promise of forgiveness the man would say “Paralysis? So What!” May we say the same, joining him in the joy of sin forgiven. “Sickness? So what! Poverty? So what! Death? So what! Guilt? Shame? So what! My sins are forgiven.”
But Jesus is surrounded by enemies, and His church is still surrounded by enemies. The scribes there doubted Jesus' promise and called it blasphemy. “Who can forgive sins but God alone.” Jesus is going to prove the authority of His word. The promise of forgiveness is had by faith, but the promise of healing is seen with the eyes. So Jesus says, “That you might know the the Son of God has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He says to the paralytic: “Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
Jesus' authority is proven. For the promise of forgiveness might be denied, but the healing cannot. By this healing, and, for us, dear saints, by His resurrection from the dead, we know that His promise of forgiveness is sure and certain. And what is more, because Jesus is risen from the death and sits at the right hand of God His promise of forgiveness continues to be spoken.
This is the good news for us. For when we go looking for the feet of Jesus they are not to be found. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of His Father. But He continues to forgive sin on earth through His church, through His Christians.
We know that the church is established that we might daily hear and have the forgiveness of all of our sins. We are forgiven in and by the water and Word of Holy Baptism, in the reading of the Gospel, the preaching of the Word, in the absolution and in the Lord's Supper, and in our speaking to one another.
That's the wonderful comfort of the last line in the Gospel text. If it wasn't there we wouldn't believe it. “When the crowds saw [the miracle], they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” [Matthew 9:8] The Lord has given to men, to people, specifically to His Christians to speak the forgiveness of sins. And this is not simply talking about the forgiveness of sins, it is speaking with authority, declaring and giving what the words say.
Listen to Luther again on this point (his sermon in this text is simple fantastic): “God has placed the forgiveness of sins in baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Word; in fact, He has placed it in the mouth of every Christian, to comfort and pronounce to you God's grace for the sake of Christ's vicarious satisfaction. You can receive it nowhere else, for this is tantamount to Christ Himself speaking it with His own mouth as he does here to the palsied man.” [Complete Sermons. 7.86]
In our mouths, the Lord has give us to forgive each other's sins. Can you imagine such authority? It's wonderful. So we are given to speak to each other: “Jesus bore your sins to the cross; He died for you. I, therefore, in the stead of Christ, declare to you the forgiveness of all your sins through Christ. And at this word we may, even must, be sure and certain that our sins are forgiven, as if our Lord Jesus spoke them to us.
There are a lot of things that we could talk about, how it's been a beautiful fall and it looks to be another cold winter, about how the Rockies will probably sweep the Diamondbacks and then win the World Series. We can talk about this or that, but look, the Lord has given us the authority to forgive sins! He has filled our ears and hearts and mouths with the authority of His Gospel. Oh that the Lord would open our lips that our mouths would declare His praise.
This is the missionary and evangelistic work of the Lord's Church. Today we thank the Lord of the Lutheran Woman's Missionary League and for the league's constant, sacrificial and unwavering support of the missionaries of the church, both through prayers and the mite offerings.
But to be a missionary does not just mean to be “over there” in Botswana or China. The Lord has put His gracious word in all of our mouths. This is what it means to lead someone to Christ: we speak the Lord's forgiveness to them. When our neighbor is terrified by the law, by their sin, we say, “Be not afraid. Jesus died for you. Your sins are forgiven.” Or we invite them here to the Lord's church to hear the same thing.
I this a difficult thing to do? Let's start with each other. As we are gathering in church or standing around having coffee or waiting for Bible Class to start, let us speak to each other about our Lord Jesus and about the forgiveness of sins that He has won for us. That the halls of this church and the rooms of your homes would echo with the promise of sins forgiven. That we would all be filled with the joy that comes from the certainty of our forgiveness and life and salvation.
I'll get it started.
Dear saints, as a called and ordained servant of the word, I announce the grace of God unto you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins + in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
May God be feared and praised who has given such authority to mankind, and me we rejoice that such gifts are to be found in our midst. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
