Matthew 9:1-8 - Authority to free mankind from sin

It is said that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In many places, we know authority has been widely abused. Authority has come to mean the right to do anything by the one who has it. No wonder this word conjures great misgivings. But in Jesus, we see authority in a different light. It’s the right way authority is being exercised. We have seen Him exercising it in varied settings. In His teaching, He had demonstrated great authority. Then we saw His authority again in the healing of the leper, the centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, and the throng of people that sought Him out and went away healed. His authority was also exercised in stilling the storm, and in the two demons possessed men at Gadarenes. Jesus exercises authority to help to free up people with sticky problems and make them whole.

In this passage we see Jesus exercising His authority yet again. This time He demonstrated authority to do the kind of thing that only God can do. He exercised His authority to forgive sin, and freed a person deeply bound by a condition that had incapacitated him. We are talking about a man who was paralyzed and unable to move, and had to be ferried around on a stretcher.

Jesus had crossed the lake again and came back to His own hometown. The people brought that paralyzed man lying on a stretcher to Him. On seeing the faith the people had in His ability to heal, Jesus told that paralyzed man, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”  The way Jesus said this to him suggests that it was the sin of this man that had overwhelmed and paralyzed him. We guess that he must have been so guilt ridden, it brought to the point that he was devoid of courage to move.

Within this story we see the introduction of the animosity of the scribes. The plot is beginning to be set for the Lord’s ultimate and decisive victory over sin on the cross. Their objection to what Jesus did was an indirect affirmation that Jesus was doing something that only God has the authority to do. Jesus perceiving what was on their mind clearly declared the intention of His action. As the Messiah, Jesus has the authority to send away our sin. So He did for this man what only God’s Messiah could do. He healed that man and made known that He is the Son of man, and He has the authority to forgive sin while on earth. So He turned to the paralyzed man and told him to get up, to carry his bed and go home. And this man did as he was told. 


While the scribes must have been fuming with madness with what Jesus had just done, the people were left awestruck. Though the people had not fully recognized who Jesus really was yet, they were amazed that God would show His own authority through one man, who would demonstrate God’s kind of authority among men. Yes, Jesus has the authority to forgive sin and He still wants to free our sin-rooted life that can incapacitated us. Today, He is still saying to us, “My Son, My daughters, your sins are being sent away, you are forgiven.” We should no longer remain in a sin-ridden, sin-rooted life. Like that paralyzed man, we must get up, pick ourselves up. We must live our lives as people free from our sins to journey with Our Lord and Saviour.  Let us live to glorify God!