Forgiveness In The Present Tense
Matthew 9:1-8
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. Matthew 9:1b When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… In this morning’s OT reading we encountered Jacob’s ladder, or the stairway to heaven. There has to be a stairway or a ladder because of sin. We cannot get to heaven on our own steam or power, and we cannot climb or ascend there ourselves; we need help. Sin cuts us off from God. Sin makes us ugly. Sin makes us selfish. Sin makes us wicked and unable to approach God. Because our sinful nature, we have no access to God. Remember why Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau: it was because of Jacob’s own deception and self-serving lies. But here in Jacob’s dream, there is a stairway, a ladder where heaven and earth are connected again. Where could such a ladder be? What could it be?
Well, the ladder is Jesus; He is our only access to the Father. Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus the Son of Man, brings God and man back together. He is our Mediator; He is our go-between. He represents man and God in one person because He is the only God-man, fully divine and fully human. How does He bring God and man back together? By bearing the sins of all mankind, by satisfying the righteous requirements of God’s law, and by satisfying the Law’s demands that sinful man must die.
In the Person of Jesus Christ, God and Man come together and are united. In the Person of Jesus Christ, God and man are reconciled. In the Person of Jesus Christ, God has opened up a place on earth where sinful man can have access to Him. The ladder is set in place. The ladder is firm and reliable. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (I Tim 2:5). Here in Christ and only in Christ is there is forgiveness for all, here on this ladder.
We encounter Jacob’s ladder again in today’s Gospel where Jesus brings God down to earth, giving sinners access to God, through the forgiveness of sins.
Now, to whom does He give such access? He gives it to the sinner who is paralyzed and lying on a mat. He gives it to a sinner who can do nothing to help himself, either physically or spiritually. He gives it to the sinner who is brought to Jesus for help.
The paralyzed man’s friends already had faith in Jesus. It tells us that here: “When Jesus saw their faith…” Our Lord could see into those men’s hearts, but He could also see with His eyes. It was obvious, because they came to Him for help. They wouldn’t have come to Him for help if they didn’t have faith in Him. And that, dear friends, is the simplest definition of faith: to come to Jesus for help, to expect good things from Him, not because you are good, but because He is good.
These men had already heard the Word of Jesus’ kindness and goodness; they had heard of His love toward undeserving sinners. That is why they brought their friend to Jesus to be healed. And as we see in the words of Matthew 9, they weren’t disappointed. Faith in Jesus is never disappointed.
Jesus healed the paralytic. First, He healed him spiritually, then He healed him physically. He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven you.”
Your sins are forgiven you… Let us consider that statement. What is Jesus doing here? Is He announcing a fact that was already true before the paralytic and his friends came down through the roof: “Your sins were forgiven before you were born”? Or, is He announcing a fact that will be true in a couple of years when Jesus dies on the cross: “Your sins will be forgiven in two years’ time”? Or, is Jesus actually forgiving that man his sins right there and then?
The phrase, “Your sins are forgiven,” can cause confusion in English. A mom could say to her son or daughter, “Your clothes are washed and waiting for you in your closet.” And what she means is, your clothes were washed at some time before; they have been washed and are now clean.
You can buy Saffron M Power oil, which offers one of the best natural ways to treat erectile dysfunction in men. icks.org viagra store in canada No matter how http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482468231_add_file_3.pdf viagra soft tablet severe your condition is, it can be to stop smoking without the right aids. Choose activities purchase generic levitra navigate to these guys that you are comfortable with. It seems that there is only a small amount of evidence that the treatment is effective. cialis 5mg sale http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482467285_add_file_5.pdf But that is not what the words mean in this Gospel. It is not, “Your sins were forgiven.” It is not, “Your sins will be forgiven in two years when I die on the cross.” No, Jesus speaks in the present tense, more like, “OK, here are your sins and your guilt. You know them all too well. They are vile and offensive and would keep you locked out of heaven forever. But take heart, my son, because right here, right now I take them from you and throw them away. Your sins are forgiven. You are clean. You have access to God. Why? Because I say so!”
By the authority of the Son of God Himself; by the authority of the God-Man who is Himself the very bridge or ladder between heaven and earth, between God and man; by the authority of Jesus Christ, the sins of the paralytic man were removed from him and sent away right then and there in the present tense. At that moment – at the speaking of Jesus’ words to him – the paralytic was innocent before God, he was righteous, he was absolved, he was justified by the Son of God Himself. He was forgiven in the present tense. And the paralytic was comforted and given peace.
But the scribes who were there grumbled. “Who does he think he is?” they thought. And so they declared, “This man blasphemes!” In other words, they believed that Jesus was slandering God by claiming to have God’s authority. Only God can forgive sins.
And they were exactly right – not about the blaspheming, but about God only forgiving sins and about Jesus having God’s authority. They were right, but they didn’t want to be and they didn’t know they were. By doing what only God has the authority to do, Jesus was, in fact claiming to be God. And Jesus speaks about this authority more in John 5:26-27, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.”
Why does Jesus have the right to execute judgment? Why does Jesus have the right to free sinners from condemnation through the forgiveness of sins? He does so not only because He is God, but also because He earned the right as the Son of Man. Jesus took the burden of the Law upon Himself and obeyed it, right down to the letter. Jesus shed His blood on the cross and acquired eternal life and salvation for a whole world of sinners. He earned the right to free sinners by His suffering and death on the cross. That right belongs to Him and only Him, and it is His alone to give out.
So, where does He do it? Where does Jesus give out forgiveness? He gives it out on earth, and He says so right in today’s reading in verse 6: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins…”
And when does Jesus do this? When does He forgive sins? He does it right here, right now in the present tense. “…power on earth to forgive sins.” Not to announce that sins were forgiven or will be forgiven at some other time. But authority on earth to forgive sins now.
And He does this by speaking the Word of forgiveness, that glorious, Spirit-filled Word of promise: “Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven.”
But Jesus, the ladder between heaven and earth, is no longer here living and walking among us like He was during His earthly ministry. No matter. Before He ascended from earth to heaven, Jesus, the Son of Man promised to leave a ladder for His Church. And on the Day of Pentecost, He granted it by sending His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings Christ the ladder to the earth again; and He does so wherever the Word of Christ is preached.
The Son of Man still forgives sins here on earth through this ministry of the Word authorized by Jesus Himself. Jesus Himself instituted the Office of the Keys, which, as you should know from your Catechism, is that “special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners.” Jesus said to His apostles, in essence, the first ordained pastors, in Matthew 16:19: “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” And in John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
So, where does the Son of Man forgive sins? He does it in the word of the Gospel, telling of the goodness, mercy and love of Jesus for sinners; telling of His sacrifice and His resurrection from the dead. He does it in the waters of Holy Baptism where water and Word are combined for the forgiveness of sins, for rescue from death and the devil, and for eternal salvation. He does it in Holy Absolution which is “forgiveness, from the pastor, as from God Himself.” And He does it in the sacred meal called Holy Communion where bread and wine and Word are united to deliver forgiveness, life, and salvation through Jesus’ real, true body and blood.
To whom does Jesus forgive sins? He does so to every sinner who, in God-given faith, seeks it from Him. Jesus has acquired forgiveness for all mankind in His atonement on the cross, so that all who look to Him receive from Him forgiveness of sins, grace, and every blessing.
This is the reason for the Office of the Holy Ministry – to give out what Jesus has acquired for us. He paid for all sins on His cross. He gives out that forgiveness through His Gospel preached and His sacraments rightly administered. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He has merited forgiveness of sins for the whole human race, that He promises this forgiveness to all who believe in Him, and that all who believe receive exactly what He promises: the forgiveness of sins, by grace alone, for the sake of Christ alone.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
