Powerful Words

St. Matthew 9:1-8

            In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

            St. Matthew 9:2 And behold, they brought to [Jesus] a paralytic lying on a bed.  And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven.”

            Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord…  In today’s gospel reading, there was a man in tough shape.  He was paralyzed.  He was unable to move.  He was unable to free himself from the shackles which bound him.  If you can’t more your arms or legs, you have to depend on other people very much.  I can only imagine what a helpless feeling that must be.

            But this same man also had something very precious – he had friends who cared deeply for him.  These friends were willing to go to great lengths to ensure that this man got what he so desperately needed.  In fact, in St. Mark’s version of this story, the men lowered their friend through the roof of the house so that he would be placed smack dab in the physical presence of Jesus.

            Upon seeing the faith of those who brought the man to Him, Jesus said to the man, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven.”  It’s not just a simplistic little “cheer up.”  The Greek word strongly suggests, “be bolstered; be strengthened; have confidence; take heart.”

            At first glance it may seem to us that Jesus had missed the point.  The man need healing; and he needed it desperately.  Those who had brought him were expecting great things from Jesus, and they had expended great amounts of energy not only to get him there but also to lower him through the roof.  And after all that, all Jesus says to him is, “Your sins are forgiven”?  Just a few words?  That’s ALL he gets?

            For their part, the Pharisees and Scribes understood what was happening.  They cried out, “This man blasphemes!”  They were accusing Jesus of lying about God, for, by speaking the forgiveness of sins, Jesus was claiming to be God Himself.  They knew that no one could forgive sins but God alone.  Who does Jesus think He is by forgiving sins?  He’s a liar!  He blasphemes!

            But, because Jesus is God, He recognized that these men were thinking evil in their hearts.  What was the evil in their hearts?  The evil was that they did not believe that Jesus was God; they did not believe that Jesus could forgive sins.  And so, Jesus asked them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, and walk?’”

            Now, from our perspective, this forgiveness of sins may seem a bit cheap.  The words Jesus speaks are just words; and heck, anyone can say words.  Big deal.

            Our Lord’s point is that it is far easier to heal the body than it is to heal the soul through the forgiveness of sins.  But most certainly neither of those tasks are a problem for Jesus who is God in the flesh; He does both.  And so, the first thing Jesus does is the hard thing – he forgives the man’s sins; he heals his soul.  Only then does He do the easier thing by healing the man’s diseased body.

            You and I, by our sinful nature, do not see things that way.  Throughout the history of the world there has been an unhealthy fascination – almost an obsession – with healing the body.  Doctors are held in high regard in almost every culture around the world.  When we think of rescue workers who assist in natural disasters, or the police and firefighters throughout the country battling crime, terrorism – you name it, we count these people as having a special skill, maybe even a “gift from God” to be able to protect us and save our bodies.

            And we should hold these people in high regard, for they are indeed doing God’s work, and we rightly thank God for them all.  Remember, Jesus is the Great Physician, and it is God’s work to take care of our bodies as we confess in the First Article of the Creed.  And He does this work through means; He does this work through the talents and gifts abilities of others.

            But so very often that is as far as it goes.  So very often we do not get beyond the healing of the body – we just cannot seem to get past what God continues to do to take care of us TODAY.  We can easily obsess about the things of this life that we forget the greater question: we discard or minimize or count as unimportant how God deals with and heals the soul through the forgiveness of sins.

            As Jesus demonstrates in our text, it is harder to forgive sins than to heal the body; and God works and does these things through words spoken by His servants.  There are some very important words your pastor speaks in the liturgy: “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”  Those may be just words, but they are words which have been bought at a great price, the price of Jesus’ own blood shed for you on the cross.  And those words deliver exactly what they say. Those words are not just a reminder that you are forgiven; those words ARE forgiveness.  Those words DELIVER forgiveness.

And we Lutherans rightly confess this vital truth in our understanding of the Office of the Keys when we confess in the Small Catechism that the forgiveness from the pastor “is from God Himself, not doubting but firmly believing that, by it, our sins are forgiven before God in heaven,” and that “this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”  Those words you hear your pastor speak to you in Christ’s stead and by His command may seem cheap to some, and they may easily be taken for granted; but those words are the most expensive words ever spoken.

            This, dear friends in Christ, is the greatest treasure that God gives to you through Word and Sacrament – the treasure of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  The treasure is Jesus Christ Himself and His work on the cross for you – a work in which, out of deep love, He took upon Himself your human nature and all your sins and all the punishment those sins deserved, and He died for you.  This treasure is priceless; it is worth far more than physical health, for with these words of forgiveness comes true healing – not just healing for the moment, but healing that reaches beyond the grave.  With these words God heals your soul and your body.  With these words God gives you the greatest treasure of all.

            But the problem is that we do not always see it that way.  You cannot measure forgiveness; it isn’t something that you can grasp or calculate or even figure out.  And sometimes it is not even something that you can feel.  There are times in your life when you feel great.  There are times when you feel like God is very much on your side and everything is coming up roses and rainbows and lollipops.  And then there are other times when you feel horrible, guilty, depressed, confused, or any one of a thousand other emotions that you cannot even figure out.

But God’s Word remains certain and sure.  Christ’s forgiveness in the words, “This is My body…this is My blood…given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” – those words do not go away, and they deliver exactly what they say no matter how you feel.  The words your pastor speaks in Holy Absolution: I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – those words do not go away, and they deliver exactly what they say no matter how you feel.  The fact that, in your baptism, God gives you forgiveness of sins, rescues you from death and the devil, and gives you eternal salvation, are not just words, and they don’t go away no matter how you feel. 

Emotions come and go.  Sometimes we are conscious of our sinfulness; sometimes we are barely conscious of anything at all.  But the Word of God and the forgiveness given in Jesus’ name – that is the Rock upon which your life as a Christian depends.

And in Christ, dear friends, is the very nature of God’s mercy.  God looks down on you and gives to you beyond your wildest dreams.  People come to church for many reasons: fellowship, friendship, family, habit, maybe even guilt…and a whole host of other reasons.  But God gives more than we can possibly imagine.  He gives His Son over to death in order that you might receive the greatest gift of all: eternal life and forgiveness in His name, a forgiveness that is continually delivered to you in His Word and Sacramental gifts.

And so, in this house of God things may not always appear as they really are.  With the naked eye you look around and see a whole room full of sinners.  You may see people you like, and you may see people you do not like.

But we can say with Jacob in our Old Testament text, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I did not know it.”  “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

In this place, hidden behind simple words, simple water, simple bread and simple wine, the very God of the universe comes to you and gives you forgiveness for your sins.  They are the hardest words in the world to say, but because of Christ’s work on the cross, God says them to you: “I forgive you.”  And you are free, you are forgiven, and you are healed.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.