Matthew 9: 1-20The Authority of Jesus to Forgive Sins

Sunday 20th July 2014Plymstock Chapel

Matthew 9:1-8Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to

his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Matthew 9: 9-13

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9: 14-17Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is

it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Parallel Texts

Stories Mark Luke MatthewParalysed Man 2: 1-12 5: 17-26 9: 1-8Calling of Matthew 2: 13-17 5: 27-32 9: 9-13Garments/Wineskins 2: 18-22 5: 33-39 9: 14-17

John 9: 1-3

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Zechariah 8:19

‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah.’

Jeremiah 31: 31-34The days are coming,” declares the LORD,, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

We need to repent of certain attitudes.

The Pharisee•Puts rules before grace and forgiveness•Thinks that God acts in response to my good deeds•Wants to contain God•Separates themselves

How could we be more like…?

Jesus•Eating with sinners•Calling people to follow a new way of lifeThe men of faith•Actively bringing a friend to Jesus•Having faith that God can change a situationMatthew•Trusting Jesus with everything to follow him•Inviting friends and colleagues to meet Jesus

Wine Skins & GarmentsWhat are the old wineskins and garments?•John Calvin – the disciples•John Piper•R.T. France – an independent saying ‘Jesus had brought something new and the rituals and traditions of official judaism cannot contain it’. That both are preserved is not a deliberate prescription for the perpetuation of unreformed Judaism alongside the new life of the kingdom of heaven.

What are the new wineskins and cloth?

•Craig Kenner – in Mark failure spells the loss of both old and new. In Matthew success means the preservation of both. Matthew sees Jesus salvation as keeping the old with new power. Matthew guarding against anti-nomianism.

Wine Skins & Garments

What do these stories mean?•R.T. France – Christianity introduces something that Judaism cannot contain.•Craig Kenner – in Mark failure spells the loss of both old and new. In Matthew success means the preservation of both. Matthew sees Jesus salvation as keeping the old with new power. Matthew guarding against anti-nomianism.

Pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

G.K. Chesterton

“Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality

of human freedom and the dignity of human choice.”

Signs Matthew1. Healing Leprosy 8: 1-42. Healing Servant 8: 5-133. Peter’s Mother in Law 8: 14-154. Healing demon possessed and sick 8: 165. Calming Storm 8: 23-276. Exorcism of Two Men (Pigs Drowned) 8: 28-347. Healing Paralysed Man 9: 1-138. Healing Synagogue Leader’s Daughter 9: 18-19 & 23-269. Healing Woman with Bleeding 9: 20-2210. Healing Two Blind Men 9: 27-3011. Exorcism and Healing of a Mute Man 9: 32-33