- The story of the paralyzed man should get us responding to the One with authority.
Ever have a time in life when you were paralyzed with fear?
Wrestling was a Midwestern sport that all kids not obsessed with basketball were encouraged to participate in. From 3rd grade to high school, I did. The most physically and emotionally paralyzed I ever felt was standing across from a kid from my own school – Bill – who was far superior to me in the sport and whom I now had to grapple with for the city’s 92-pound sixth grade division championship.
I was fixing to get whupped. I knew it. He knew it. My coach knew it. Standing there, waiting for the whistle to go off, I prepared for a pummeling. And, boy, was I scared. But my mother, who had come down from the stands and was now sitting by the mat, had a secret weapon that swung things wildly in my direction. I looked over at her and…she smiled from ear to ear.
Everybody “knew it.” She did not.
In that moment I decided to go for it. Instead of stealthily maneuvering around the mat’s inner circle like all wrestlers invariably did when the whistle blew I, fortified by my mother’s grin, ran after Bill like a blitzing linebacker chasing an unsuspecting quarterback.
Bill never had a chance.
The score was 6-2. I was the champ. I still have the little gold plastic trophy in my office.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was in Capernaum when a paralyzed man was brought to him (chapter 9). The scribes get agitated when Jesus forgives the man’s sins and then fills him with courage. In the Living Bible paraphrase (the first Bible I ever had), this is what happens next: “Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked them, ‘Why are you thinking such evil thoughts? I, the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.’”
Paralyzed, no more.
The crowds were amazed at His authority – in part because His authority was more than sound teaching or wise words…an authority that actually did something about what was being said. In fact, that is the gist of these chapters (Matthew 8-9) that are preceded by perhaps the greatest sermon ever preached: the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus’ teaching was followed by His performing multiple miracles and responding over and over again to the pain in His culture. More than words, there was action.
Jesus, in this passage, called Himself the Son of Man and talked about authority, both emphases echoing Daniel 7:13-14. But then, Jesus does something even more startling to His Jewish audience. He invites – gasp! – a cheating, lying, hated-by-the-Jews tax collector named Matthew to follow Him. And then, more surprising perhaps than all of that, shares a table of food with Matthew and his friends.
Here’s the kicker. I have come to believe that this passage is not about that paralyzed man so much as that it’s about our paralyzed state in front of the great climactic passage of Matthew’s gospel – “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me,” says the resurrected Jesus. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…”
Most scholars will attest that the Great Commission is a definite reference to those couple of verses of Daniel 7 and to authority. I have come to believe it is also about Jesus telling men – who are paralyzed with fear behind the daunting task of winning the world to Christ – to fear no longer. Eat with sinners, woo them to Jesus, get them to follow you as your disciples and His because “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And so they did.
And so will we, if we are found faithful.
Christ is looking at you smiling from ear to ear. Go tackle the challenge.
Matt Friedeman
