Who Are You? Matthew 9:1-8

You Are - Matthew Patten

You are my all
You are
You are

So I praise
With my all
So I worship
With my life

Your presence
Your power
Your glory

What does forgiveness have to do with healing?

Father,
Forgive me. Forgive me for those times when I choose things that break your heart. Help me to forgive others who hurt me. Help me to genuinely apologize when I hurt others, and be humble enough to hear them in their pain. Heal me in my body, now. Heal me in my mind, now. Heal my heart, now. Help me to walk in wholeness. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for shalom. In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Matthew 9:1-8 (TPT)
Jesus got into the boat and returned to what was considered his hometown, Capernaum. Just then some people brought a paraplegic man to him, lying on a sleeping mat. When Jesus perceived the strong faith within their hearts, he said to the paralyzed man, “My son, be encouraged, for your sins have been forgiven.”
These words prompted some of the religious scholars to think, “Why, that’s nothing but blasphemy!”
Jesus supernaturally perceived their thoughts, and said to them, “Why do you carry such evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Stand up and walk!’? But now, to convince you that the Son of Man has been given authority to forgive sins, I say to this man, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk home.’” Immediately the man sprang to his feet and left for home.
When the crowds witnessed this miracle, they were awestruck. They shouted praises to God because he had given such authority to human beings.

Forgiveness is divine. To err is human. I screw up all the time. I need to ask forgiveness of those I hurt, all of the time. There, that’s out there.

What healing do you need? What sin/errors/hurts have you inflicted on yourself or others that you need to ask forgiveness for? Those issues may be connected.

Now, Jesus always did things differently in the narratives we have of his healings in the Gospels. There was never any kind of overt formula, so please, don’t hear this as me trying to formulize or sytematize Jesus as a healer. This story is about Jesus showing that he had authority on the earth, showing, without saying that he was the Son of God. That is not to limit the impact of the healing on the (formerly) paraplegic man’s life, or the crowd, or on the scholars themselves. Let’s look at the layers and perhaps see which of these characters fits each of us… character 1: the man, character 2: his friends, character 3: the crowd, character 4: the religious scholars. We don’t know much about the man, other than that he starts out unable to walk, carried by his friends to Jesus, and apparently needs forgiveness for something, and springs off of his mat, picks it up and goes home at the end of it. His friends: we know even less about, other than that they brought him to Jesus, believing that he would be healed. The crowd: interested onlookers wanting to see what the prophet/ rabbi will do, turned in to stunned observers, astonished at what they’d just seen, praising God for the miracle. As for the Religious Scholars (usually termed pharisees in most other translations), they have character built up elsewhere in the Gospels, as opponents and even rivals to Jesus and his message. So there’s the stage: a man in need, friends who help him, a crowd who is sympathetic and interested, then astounded at what they witnessed, then the antagonists, who never even spoke a word, but Jesus, the hero of the story, could sense the judgments flowing from the religious spirit that sought to control the people through these scholars and their contemporaries.

Which one are you? Be honest with yourself, and if you dare, tell me in the comments below. The character you identify with speaks loudly of your self-judgments. Are you the helpless man on the mat, who gets forgiven and healed? Are you the crowd, clamoring to see what Jesus will do next, perhaps even how he will embarrass the religious leaders this time? Are you the religious leaders who are balancing the percieved needs of the people to be unified in faith so that they are not swept away in the Hellenizing and Latinizing influences that sought to destroy faith in YHWH, not to mention whatever shreds of national identity still existed in 1st century Palestine. Note how I tried to paint them in a sympathetic light? That was what they sought to do, even if their methods were suspect and the means were a manipulative control over the people that really had nothing to do with the faith of YHWH.

If you see yourself as the man who was healed, why? Are you a victim of circumstance until Jesus comes along?

If you see yourself as one of the friends who had compassion on the man, heard that Jesus was coming back home for a bit, and chose to bring the man to see what Jesus would do for him, why is that? Are you always the bridesmaid and never the bride? Are you the perpetual helper, but never get your own needs met? Are you simply desperate to see healing for your friend or family member?

If you see yourself as one of the hometown crowd, why is that? Are you simply an observer in life? A bystander in the grand drama? Not sure how it can apply to you?

Do you see yourself as the (hopefully) well intentioned, yet misguided Jewish leadership? Judging Jesus because he is not fitting in with your own image of a rabbi? Nervous because the carefully crafted control you have over the people is being challenged by an upstart who does miracles that you could never dream of doing?

I am something of a combination, at different times in my life, as I suspect many of us are. Sometimes I feel as though I am the paraplegic, a victim of my circumstances, others (and more of the time than not) I can identify with the faith-filled friends, desperate to see change in the life of a loved one, still others, I am certainly the interested crowd… I can even relate (shock, right?) to the religious leaders… after all, I am a pastor by training and hardwiring, and ahe my times when I try to force people into boxes where they don’t fit.

If I have ever done that to you, I apologize.

If any of you are courageous enough to tell me/ us which group you fit into, and/or need prayer, please let me know in the comments.

Be Blessed.