JESUS MINISTRY IN GALILEE
Matt. 9:1-9
Morning Mediation 10/4/16
Verses 1-9 say, “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; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine 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. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.”
I can picture in my mind our Lord’s return to Capernaum after His trip to the country of the Gergesenes. He had cast the demons out of a man there and had allowed them (the demons) to enter a herd of swine and Matthew says, “. . . behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.” Mark says that the number of swine was two thousand (Mark 5:13). The town’s people had gathered after this and asked Jesus to leave. Why in the world would they do this? He had exercised a great miracle. It was an aggravated case of demon possession. The demon possessed man was an annoyance to them but the hogs were their living. It was a case where “we really don’t want anyone around if it is going to affect our business.” In Bossier City, it would be like Jesus coming to town and casting demons out of a man and letting the demons go into the casino’s and sink them (they are on boats). The economy of Shreveport - Bossier is shifting to gambling and the businesses (parasites) that are supported by the people who come to gamble.
Jesus reenters the ship and verse 1 says, “.. . . and passed over, and came into his own city.” His own city was Capernaum (Matt. 4:13). When it was discovered that He was back in town, our text says, “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; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Whoa. Jesus, you shouldn’t have said that. Man does not have the power to forgive sins. I can just see His disciples draw back in horror. One of them says, “I wish Jesus had put that another way. We can’t keep Him out of trouble if He continues to make statements like that.” Another says, “Yeah, why not just heal the guy and let it go at that?” Well, it happened just like His disciples thought. The scribes picked up on what He said. The scribes were the print shops of that day. They copied the Old Testament Scriptures and the commentaries of the Rabbi’s. They pick up on words quickly.
How would like to have a preacher who was constantly addressing himself to your thoughts? I have been in the audience when a preacher preached things I didn’t agree with at all. I said to myself, “This man is a screwball. He’s nuts!” But I have never had one stop and look at me and say, “I’m not a screwball. I’m not nuts.” Matthew says, “And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”
Well, now, we are knee deep in problems. Jesus connects sin with disease and says that it is the same to deal with the sin or the disease which is the result of sin. Now, whether you know it or not, Jesus takes us back to the first man, and his sin in this passage. There was no illness until sin entered the human race. All sickness is the result of that original sin. It does not mean if you are sick that it is the result of a particular sin. But sickness is always the result of original sin. If you could remove sin, you would also remove sickness, and aging, and death. This is what the cross is about. Jesus removed sin for the believer at the cross and ultimately will remove the curse. Heaven is a place of new bodies where there will be no sickness, sorrow, or dying. Amen.
Jesus came right out with it: “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” When Jesus said this, the man got up and walked home. The conclusion to this scene is stated in the words, “But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.” Have you noticed in this passage that the common, ordinary man had no problems with Jesus? They had enough sense to examine the evidence and conclude that God “had given such power unto men.” It was the scholars who were having problems. That’s not a very good recommendation for scholarship.
Jesus definitely lets His deity leak out in this statement: “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins . . .” No man had ever made that claim before; not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses or any of the prophets. This is something brand new. The scholars are going to have major problems with these kinds of claims. The people will ultimately follow their leaders and crucify Jesus because of this. Jesus was not crucified because He was a healer. He was crucified for His claims of deity.
Jesus does something else before He leaves Capernaum to minister in the cities of Galilee. He calls Matthew. I believe Matthew was already a convert of John the Baptist which means John trained him to look for the Messiah. The reason I believe this is because of the passage in Acts chapter one where one of the conditions to be nominated to occupy the office of an apostle to take Judases’ place is stated in the words: “Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias” (Acts 1:21-23)..
Herbert Lockyer says, “The call to service came when he was sitting at the receipt of custom (Matt. 9:9; Luke 5:27) at Capernaum, the first world center, ‘the Great West Trunk Road from Damascus and the Far East to the Mediterranean Sea.’” Matthew may have already been under conviction concerning his job. There are some occupations that Christians ought not to be involved in. When Jesus called Matthew, there is not a moments hesitation. Jesus says to Matthew, “Follow me.” Verse 7 says, “And he arose, and followed him.”
When one is converted to faith in Christ, separation from the things that he is doing wrong does not necessarily take place immediately.. This is illustrated in Matthew. He had been converted under John the Baptist. He continued to collect taxes. He was probably bothered about it. So when Jesus says, “Follow me,” he immediately knows that he must put this job behind him and give his full time in service for Jesus. You never really give up anything, no mater what it is, when you do it to follow Jesus. What you get in following Jesus is so much more than you gave up.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
