As the disciples followed Jesus from place to place, they encountered many different people from all walks of life. They observed a great variety of healings of all kinds of conditions. And they listened to teaching on a whole range of different subjects. And all of this was prompting and answering the question, What kind of man is this? It's particularly noticeable in the previous two incidents before the one that draws our attention this morning. Recorded by Matthew, we have the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee that threatened the lives of Jesus' disciples, though he himself slept peacefully in the stern of the boat. having witnessed the dramatic calming effect of the words of Jesus Christ, the disciples were filled with fear and asked, what kind of man is this? And then having completed their journey across the lake, I wonder how they did it. Were they rowing now, given that it was so calm? Well, eventually they reached the shore, and as they step out of the boat, suddenly two demon-possessed men are rushing down the hill towards them. They must have been out of their wits with fright. And yet Jesus just stands, and he waits as these men come rushing down the hill, and suddenly they look at him and they recognize him. It isn't that they've ever seen him before in his physical state, but they have a spiritual awareness that we have, to a large degree, lost in our lives in this world that have not acknowledged God and not worshipped God. We have been so taken up with the physical and the material that we're unaware. the spiritual, but here are demons who are very aware of the spiritual, and they recognize in Jesus of Nazareth another identity, and they cry out, what have you to do with us, you son of God? Who is this man, the disciples? are asking, what kind of man is this? The demons know what kind of man this is. This is a man from heaven walking this earth. This is a man with extraordinary knowledge and insight and wisdom and power and authority who is walking this earth, but he looks to the disciples like any other man. There's nothing different in him. He cuts his hair the same way as the other Jews of his day. He wears the same clothes as the other Jewish men of his day. He speaks the same language with the same accent as the other Jews that have come from Nazareth, where he grew up. He looks no different from so many others, and yet the disciples are seeing in the works that he does, in the words that he speaks, that there is something extraordinary about this man. What kind of man is this, they are asking. And now they have retraced their steps. They are back across on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They have come back to Jesus' hometown, not not Nazareth, but Capernaum. He has made it his base. This is where he lives. From here he goes on his journeys into the region and teaches the people and performs the miracles and does the signs that he does. But now he's come home. And as Mark tells us, it is in his home that he is located as the crowds who have heard that he's returned begin to gather, and they come, and they swarm around the house, and they come into the house, and there's no place to sit, there's hardly room to stand, to hear what Jesus is saying, and Jesus is teaching the people, all who will come, all who will hear, he is always ready to speak words of truth, the darkness that envelops them, might be banished, that the lives of Satan that they have bought into might be shown for what they are, as empty and vain and futile and meaningless, without wisdom, without true content. He's always ready to speak the words of his Father, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, words of insight, words of guidance, words of compassion. that will help these people to live life, to live life for the glory of God. And so he's teaching them there in his home. And as he teaches, and now as the crowds gather, we're told of one particular group who come along. There are five men. Four of them are carrying the fifth. in a bed, in a cot, in some kind of mobile stretcher. They're carrying this man. He's paralyzed. He cannot move for himself. And he has perhaps persuaded his friends, or perhaps his friends have persuaded him and they have come in unanimous agreement to seek Jesus of Nazareth. to find the healer of whom they have heard so much because he has done so much and news has spread all over the region of Galilee as far away as Judea and Jerusalem and even further into the territories of the Gentiles around Tyre and Sidon. People have heard of Jesus and people are coming to Jesus to listen to his words and to witness his works. And here's someone who is in such great need. Physically, he cannot look after himself. He cannot support himself. He even needs to be carried to meet Jesus. Here was a man who knew he was needy. And here were friends who knew of his need. and they come to Jesus, they come with determination. They're not gonna let any crowd get in the way of them. Matthew doesn't record it for us, but you all know the story so well, and you know it so well, not because of Matthew's account, but because of Mark and Luke, because they tell us that finding the doorways blocked by the crowds of people, they make their way up onto the roof. And they remove the tiles until there's a hole that's big enough that they can let their friend down. And you can imagine the people sitting inside that room with Jesus, listening to Jesus teach, and they hear this scratching sound. And they wonder what's going on. Rats in the roof. A scratch, scratch, scratch. And then dust begins to fall as the men up there break through, and as they remove the tiles. And this dust is showering down on the people, so they all move back, of course. They move to make a space so they're not having the dust fall on them. And suddenly, being lowered into the space that has just been created, is a man on a stretcher. Oh, here are men who are determined, and here are men who are confident. They're going to all this trouble for what? In some vain hope that Jesus will be able to help their friend? No, I think they're going to all this trouble because they have confidence that Jesus will be able to help their friend. They are certain that if only they can get their friend to Jesus, everything will be all right. There is no doubt in their minds that this man on the stretcher will be healed and walk out of that room. They knew he was needy. they were confident that Jesus could deliver him from his need. And as the stretcher comes to rest before Jesus and this crowd in this room, Jesus looks up and he sees the faces of these friends looking so expectantly down at him. And he looks down and he sees this man. with pleading eyes, looking up at him. And Jesus says to him, take heart, my son. Well, sins are forgiven. Well, those weren't quite the words the man was expecting to hear. Or his friends up on the rooftop still looking down, This man and his friends knew he was needy, but really they had no idea as to the extent of his need. He couldn't walk, he couldn't move his arms perhaps, paralysed from the neck down perhaps, in desperate need, in a culture that couldn't provide all of the amenities that we have today. All of the comforts and all of the gadgets and things that can make the life of a paralysed person so rich and full today. No, he would have lain there in his bed. day in, day out, suffering terribly from bed sores as well as from his condition. Yes, he was a man in desperate need. There could hardly have been anyone else in Capernaum in greater need than this man at this particular time. But he has a greater need than what these men can see. What must they have thought when Jesus spoke of forgiveness? Is Jesus suggesting that his condition is because of some sin? We cannot rule that out altogether. Perhaps he had broken his neck while he was burgling a home. We cannot rule it out altogether, but we can say this. that Jesus never associated a person's condition as a result of sin and punishment from God. When people asked him, is it because of this man's sins or his parents' sins that he's in this condition? Jesus said, neither, but that the glory of God might be revealed. Jesus never refused to heal anyone because of the condition of their heart, because they were sinners. And yet here, he pauses, he doesn't immediately stretch out his hand and say to him, son, rise up. He doesn't immediately speak those words that the friends are listening for, waiting for. some indication, stand up and walk. He doesn't immediately speak in those terms to the need that this man so evidently has. But he says to him, take heart my son, your sins are forgiven. Jesus, Jesus really challenges our perspective. We get so caught up with our lives in this world and with the needs of the day and of the hour. Our prayers are full of requests to God to help us in different circumstances, to guide us through a difficult decision, to provide for us for a particular need that we have. And our lives can be so wrapped up in the here and the now. that we forget or we don't even realise that there is something greater, something more urgent in our lives that must be dealt with. Our sins. For there is no one who can say, I have no sin. There is none who is free from this inward contamination of sin that affects our lives, affects our thinking, affects our speaking, affects our actions. We're all bound in sin. Even while yet we live in the hope of Jesus, we're battling sin every day. And yet we can forget to battle sin. We can become complacent in our sins. We can become presumptuous of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. And we forget in our prayers to ask for that which is of greatest importance, that our sins be forgiven, that we may have peace with God. that we may know with assurance that we have been reconciled to God, to have eternity settled, that we may know where we will be when mortal flesh dies. Jesus addresses this man's greatest need. He wasn't comfortable. We, in our comforts, can forget that we have any need. He knew he had need, but his focus was on something that was temporal. His focus was on something that affected his life here and now, but really had nothing to do with eternity. And Jesus draws his attention back to that greater need, the need to be reconciled to God in the forgiveness of sins. This is Jesus's mission. Now, no doubt there were many, many people in Jesus's day who would have said that Jesus was a healer, and that would have been how they envisaged him. His purpose in this world was to heal. And he went around the towns and the villages of Galilee and of Judea, healing people, so many hundreds, thousands of people, whole communities transformed by the healing power of Jesus Christ. We can scarce understand what it must have been like to have lived in Galilee in those days. He was a healer, but that was not his mission. That was not why he had been sent into this world. Others would have said, yes, Jesus is a healer, but you know, Jesus is a teacher. He speaks as no one ever spoke before him. He has such confidence in his words. He speaks with such authority, and with such clarity, and his illustrations, well, they're second to none. He is a gifted teacher, and people would follow him to listen to his teachings, to listen to his parables, no doubt to discuss them afterwards. What do you think he meant by that? Trying to unravel the mystery of his words. Perhaps that's how they saw it. He was a great teacher. But Jesus didn't come first and foremost to teach. That was not his mission. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That was why he was born in Bethlehem. to save sinners. That was why he grew up unknown in Nazareth, to save sinners. That's why his life was launched into the public arena at his baptism, to save sinners. That's why he went through Galilee, and Judea, teaching and healing. He was doing it to save sinners. In all the words that he spoke, he was fulfilling God's will. In all the works that he performed, he was doing God's works. As he rose in the morning, as he lived out his day, as he went to bed at night, from the first day of the week to the seventh day of the week, those in which he worked and those in which he worshipped, Jesus always did God's will. And as he lived out his life, he lived in total obedience to God. His life was unlike the lives of anyone else around him. As he grew up as a child, his life was distinct. There was no one like him for obedience to the law of God in letter and in spirit. Through his adolescence and into adulthood, the same could be said. There was something remarkable about this man in terms of his righteousness. And his life was lived in order to save sinners. To stand where they stand, and yet not how they stand. To live where they live, and yet not how they live. As everyone else around him is going about their own selfish lives, Jesus selflessly obeys the law of God, that he might provide for those around him a righteousness that will satisfy God. He lived as the representative for his people, obeying God in every way. perfectly, there was no one like him. For he was a saviour of sinners and his whole life was lived in order to save sinners. That was his focus, that was his priority, every moment of every day. Because he looked at the world, he looked at the people, He looked at a paralyzed man that had just been lowered by his friends at his feet inside his home. And what he sees, more than a paralyzed man, is a sinner. A sinner who is destined to eternal destruction unless he intervenes. He saw his paralysis, certainly. He wasn't ignorant of that need, but he saw a greater need, the need to be reconciled to God, the need to be freed from the condemnation of his sins, the need to be spared eternal judgment. Jesus has the power to heal. Everyone in the room knows that, and those outside the room know that. Far and wide, they know he has the power to heal. But Jesus has something more than the power to heal. He has something even more valuable to this man that lies before him paralyzed than the ability to cause him to rise and walk. Jesus has the authority to forgive him of all of his sins. that separate him from a righteous and holy God, and that condemn him to hell. Jesus speaks to his greatest need, and he says to him, take heart, cheer up, my son. Your sins are forgiven. How is that possible? The scribes who know the scriptures, they say that's impossible. The Pharisees who are so concerned about keeping the law that their righteousness surpasses the righteousness of everyone else says, that's not possible. How can Jesus with such confidence say to this young man, Your sins are forgiven. Jesus can say it because he is the saviour of sinners. Jesus' words are dependent upon who he is. And who he is is the Messiah. the Anointed One sent from God into this world to save sinners. He is the one who is on a mission to provide for sinners a salvation that will be acceptable to God. And Jesus looks at this man in all of his desperate physical need and he sees a man in all of his desperate spiritual need, and he says, you're saved. You've come to me, and you're saved. You've come to the right person in all of the world. There was no one else who could have spoken these words to this man. There was no one else in all the world who could have saved him that day from the wrath of God. And Jesus speaks these words to him, take heart my son, your sins are forgiven, you are saved. How is this possible? Yes, Jesus is the Saviour, He is the Anointed One, He is the One who was sent from God into this world to save sinners, but how at this point in time can He say to this man, your sins are forgiven? It is because Jesus has set His face towards Jerusalem, and towards Golgotha, towards the cross, where he will lay down his life for this man. And all of the sins, whatever the sins of this man were, all of them, all of them were accounted to Christ. Jesus would bear them in his own body. He looks at this man, he looks him in the eyes and he says, take heart my son, your sins are forgiven because he is taking those sins and he is carrying those sins and he will stand before God bearing those sins and he will receive the condemnation from God because of those sins, and he will be punished for the full price of those sins, and he will bear the anguish of hell in this man's place, and provide full satisfaction to God. The debt will Be paid. This man is forgiven. He is saved. What love that Jesus spoke these words to this man. He knew what those words entailed for him. As he looked at this man, He is saying to him, your sins are my sins. Your sins are my sins. And he clothes him in his righteousness. In the perfection of his holy life, he wraps him what love the Lord Jesus Christ has for sinners. This isn't some generic thing. The love of God for sinners, it's personal, it's individual. And Jesus takes this opportunity then to in the life of this man to reveal something more of himself. His disciples are asking, what kind of man is this? And Jesus is saying to them, I'm the kind of man that can forgive sins. Not everyone's happy in that room. The man himself is probably somewhat puzzled. The friends are looking quizzical down through the hole in the roof. The crowd around among them are those who are whispering, what's going on? Oh, he said he's forgiven his sins. What? Can he do that? Others say, no, no, he can't do that. Well, they don't say it out loud, but it's all there in their hearts and in their thoughts. And Jesus said, why are you thinking evil? Why are you denying the power of God in his anointed one? He has been giving evidence of who he is. And they should have known better, these scribes and these Pharisees. But he turns it into a teaching moment and he says, look, what is easier? Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven? Who can prove it? Who can tell whether it's been done or not? Who knows whether he's a charlatan or not, if all he says is, your sins are forgiven, and he goes from town to town and place to place saying, your sins are forgiven, your sins are forgiven. No one knows, no one sees. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he speaks to the paralytic, that which is much harder to say, because, well, you need to prove it, don't you? rise and walk. And immediately he picked up his bed and he went home. And what Jesus is saying, you see this? You see with your eyes what was done to this man's body? Then believe in your hearts what was done to this man's soul. He who has the power to heal has the authority to forgive. Jesus is saying when the crowd saw it, they're both filled with fear and they glorify God and say, He has given such authority to men. Here among us today is one who can forgive sins. Isn't this an amazing thing? We didn't know it was possible. We didn't know it could happen. Only God can forgive sins. Oh yes, yes we all are to forgive the sins of those who sin against us. But none of us can forgive the sins of those who've sinned against God. And that ultimately is what really matters. That's what really counts. That's why David was able to say in Psalm 51, that he has sinned against God alone. Hadn't he sinned against Uriah the Hittite? Hadn't he sinned against Bathsheba? Hadn't he sinned against the whole nation of Israel in his adultery and his murder? But the thing that mattered was God. And Jesus has this authority. to forgive the sins the people have committed against God, to reconcile them to God, to save them from the judgment that is to come. Jesus can do this. No one else in all the world can do this. This man, with his friends, in their determination to see him healed, had brought him to the one person who could save him. Not just save him from the shame and the pain of paralysis, but save him from hell. There's only one person today to whom you can go for salvation, and it is to Jesus. The one who died on that cross for this paralyzed man's sins. who entered the grave for this paralysed man's sins. This Jesus rose from the dead victorious, having paid the price of that paralysed man's sins, fully atoned for all that he had committed in rebellion against God. And he ascended into heaven and sits at God's right hand. And he is the one to whom you must go to have your greatest need addressed, that you might be reconciled to God, forgiven of your sins. Jesus came to save sinners. Do you understand that you are a sinner? Every one of you here this morning, you must come to Jesus today. I don't care how many times you've come to him before, you must come to him today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and every day, and your only hope must be in Jesus. Until the end of your life, you must come to Jesus. plead with Jesus, walk with Jesus. The people were full of awe. They were afraid. They glorified God, but they needed to do more than that. This crowd of people in this room in Capernaum, they needed to say to Jesus, me too, Please forgive my sins too. Let's pray. Lord God, we come before you as those who are in need to be cleansed from our sins, to be purged from our unrighteousness. We need to be forgiven. And we know it, Lord, we know it. We know the thoughts that have entered our minds even this day, vile, unholy. We know the words that we have spoken, not right, not good, not wholesome. We know the works that we have done, not wholeheartedly in service to you. We need to be forgiven. Have mercy and forgive, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.