Daily Devotional For Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Today, we pick up right where we left off yesterday with Jesus being brought a paralyzed man lying on a bed to heal. Look at Matthew 9:1-8, “And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city. (2) And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” (3) And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” (4) But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? (5) For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? (6) But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” (7) And he rose and went home. (8) When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (ESV).

As we saw from yesterday, the religious leaders had a meltdown because Jesus said to the paralyzed man in verses 2b-3, “Take heart, My son, your sins are forgiven. (3) And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming” (ESV). To some degree, they were right. Only God can forgive sins. Look at Isaiah 43:25, “ I am He Who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (ESV). Though they weren’t wrong in their theological reasoning, they were wrong in their presupposition. 

Read Micah 7:18-19, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. (19) He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (ESV). Because the religious leaders refused to accept Jesus’ divinity, they could only come to the conclusion that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy. What the Gospels show us is that these religious leaders actually believed they did not need forgivingness because they saw themselves as righteous, holy and godly.

Unfortunately, in Jesus’ day religious leaders thought a person could not ask for forgiveness; instead they had to earn it. This is obviously something Jesus came to refute and correct. More people probably die and go to hell because they simply refuse to ask God to forgive them and second, they feel they have to do something to earn it. Now get this — these are religious leaders who have either been eyewitnesses to Jesus’ healings or heard about them and saw the proof. This rejection of Jesus here as a blasphemer will eventually be a catalyst toward His death. Previously, they had accused Jesus as casting out demons with the help of demonic power from Beelzebub. The more Jesus healed, the more their hearts were hardened. 

Jesus challenges these religious leaders in verses 4-5, “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? (5) For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” (ESV). Look at Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (ESV). Jesus knew He had to deal with this quickly before the accusations of these religious leaders infected everyone. This happens sometimes in church. A group or committee or ministry team comes up with an idea they think is great and all of a sudden, one lone voice infects everyone with pessimissim, negativity and opposition. 

Here at the height of the tension and conflict, it could have ended badly for Jesus. To the shock of everyone, Jesus proves He is divine — God in human flesh. He told them in front of everyone what they were thinking — He exposed them and stripped away any pride, self-righteousness and pretense they had.

God knows our thoughts before we do. Look at 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (ESV). Read 1 Chronicles 28:9, “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (ESV). Other verses you can read that affirm this are Jeremiah 17:10; Ezekiel 11:5 and Acts 5:3.

Jesus said the hearts of the religious leaders were evil. Meaning — they were not only opposing God, but on the same team with the team in their opposition. Instead of being holy and righteous as they claimed, they were just the opposite. Jesus’ question puts the religious leaders in a pickle — which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgive” or “Rise and walk.” Both require God do it. Sin and sickness often go together. Whichever statement Jesus started with, He would have to come to the other statement also. Jesus’ point is, “Because I can deal with one, I can deal with both.” Notice — they do not answer Jesus at all. They are mute. By healing the man, Jesus forced them to face the reality He could do both. For the religious leaders, their story in this story ends on falsification. 

Which was easier for everyone, including the religious leaders to see: the paralytic healed and walking or the forgiveness of sins? Obviously, the healing. So in order that they might know He could forgive sin, which they could not see, He did what they could see—by dealing with sin’s symptoms and healing the man

These religious leaders have believed and taught most of their lives that when the Messiah came, He would do miraculous acts to prove He is the Messiah. So, if Jesus limited His words to, “Your sins are forgiven,” no one could have given a witness to what actually happened. What is interesting is that it seems no one spoke during this encounter but Jesus. He said to the man in verses 6-7, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” (7) And he rose and went home” (ESV).

The religious leaders only “spoke” through their thoughts. The men who brought the paralytic “spoke” in placing their friend before Jesus. The man immediately knew he was healed according to Mark 2:12, “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (ESV).  For the man and his friends, their story ends on faith.

Everyone there was excited. Look at verse 8, “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (ESV). The Greek New Testament word translated as “afraid” is [φοβέω, phobeo], where we get our English word “phobia.” This word can be mean “terrified, put to flight by overwhelming fear; to be seized with alarm that one could be harmed or injured.” Most of the time it does (see Luke 7:15; Luke 8:37; Luke 1:12; Luke 2:9; Mathew 28:2-4; Acts 2:43; Luke 21:26; Acts 5:5, 11; Matthew 19:16-17), but context here leads us to believe their reaction was not this, but another way this word was used then — to convey respectful and reverential awe.Yet this kind of awe that is reverential is mentioned numerous times to convey when a person believes they are in the presence or encountering divine power. According to Acts 9:31, this is supposed to be the attitude of everyone in the church. 

Reverential awe of God is a part of the truly repentant life (2 Cor. 7:10–11), the chaste life (1 Pet. 3:2), the holy life (2 Cor. 7:1), and the godly life (Phil. 2:12). Mutual ministry, love, and respect, as well as powerful evangelism and proper church discipline, are all grounded in reverential awe of the Lord (see 2 Cor. 5:11; Eph. 5:21; 1 Tim. 5:20). It is the substance out of which all right Christian worship, behavior, and service must come (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Mathew 9,” p. 56).

Verse 8 says, “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (ESV). We do not know specifically what is meant by this. Did the people acknowledge that was both God & man, or did they affirm only that Jesus was a unique man empowered by God to do miracles as did the prophets. The Bible says they glorified God. “Glorified” is the Greek New Testament word [δοξάζω, doxazo], where we get our English word “doxology” — “Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .”

Questions to answer:

1. When it comes to your own personal sin, do you ever act like you do not need forgiving by God before others? Why or why not?
2. Have you eve felt you were between a rock and hard place as Jesus was with the questions by the religious leaders?
3. How often would you say your life is characterized by awe and wonder of who God is?
4. How often would you say that you break out in praise to God for who He is?
5. When is a time you were either terrified, afraid or fearful without knowing all the facts? Why? What was the outcome?

Scripture To Mediate On: Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!” (ESV).

Prayer to Pray: “Dear Jesus, I do no praise You enough. I am not in awe of you enough. Forgive me God. Give me a heart of praise and awe of Who You are and what You do. Please forgive me for being a whiner and a complainer so much. If I spent more time praising You, I would spend less time murmuring. So, Jesus, please help me become a person of praise rather than being a person of pessimism. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”