And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, “This man blasphemes.” And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why do think you evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, your sins be forgiven you; or to say, arise, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then He said to the sick man with palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house.” And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Matthew 9:1-8
St. Mark gives a few more details about this event, such as, the house where Jesus was (Capernaum), that is was full of people and many were standing outside to try to see and hear the Lord. I could preach here but that’s for another day. Back to the story, so the men who carried the palsied man carried him up on the roof, tore a hole in it and let him down at Jesus’ feet. (Another message).
Do We Really Know Him?
Jesus saw the man and immediately knew his spiritual condition. He knew that he had committed sins that were unforgiven. The first thing that Jesus did was relieve the man of His guilt by telling him that his sins were forgiven. As usual, there were those in the crowd that were judgmental of everything that Jesus did (they did not know Who it was that they were accusing of blasphemy) so he dealt with their critical attitudes.
He told them, just so you know that the Son of man has power to forgive sins (He still does and is) He said to man with the palsy, “Take up your bed and walk home.” So, the man, who had been carried to the place did as Jesus said, he rolled up his Sealy Posturepedic (it was probably a mat but this is my story) and walked home.
He and his four friends probably talked about their experience all the way home. Wouldn’t you? The people were amazed that God had given such power to men. Their problem was, they didn’t know the Man and many of them never would and many still don’t. Do we really know Him? Just asking. If you don’t, why not seriously look into the Man, Christ Jesus. You’ll love what you find. Amen.
