Be of Good Cheer Your Sins Are Forgiven – Matthew 9

God’s forgiveness yields many blessings. A conscious free from guilt! Peace of mind! A sense of being loved by God unconditionally and not by a limited measure of what we deserve! A relationship with God! The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit! Miracles of healing!

In Luke 24:46-47, before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His disciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

In other words, when convicted about the ugliness of our past sin, we should envision Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hanging on a cross, pierced for our transgressions, and believe God’s Word that He went through this suffering to purchase our pardon. 1 Peter 3:18 says that “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

“So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.’” Matthew 9:1-2

Jesus and His disciples were on the central-east side of the Sea of Galilee in Gergesa or the Country of the Gergesenes. Today, it is identified as Kursi. They traveled by boat to the shores of the northwest corner of the sea to reach Capernaum. Jesus conducted the early stages of His ministry from Capernaum.

From Mark 2:2-4, we learn that Jesus was in a house so packed with people that there was no room to bring a paralytic man in before Him. So what did they do? Four men tore off a portion of the roof and lowered the man and his bed down in front of Jesus. Luke 5:19 says that they removed the tiling on the roof to lower him down.

What were people thinking as debris dropped on them from the ceiling? What caught their attention? There were religious scribes (lawyers) there. They may have been calculating the cost to repair the roof. They may have been delighting in the pandemonium.

Matthew says, “Jesus saw their faith.” He noticed the faith of the four men. What did Jesus have to say about this moment? Jesus spoke to the paralytic saying, “‘Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.”

“And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This Man blasphemes!’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’—then He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.” Matthew 9:3-8

The scribes were quick to accuse Jesus of blasphemy which was a crime punishable by death.

Jesus asked them why they had such evil thoughts in their hearts. Then, He did a visible miracle to let them know that His invisible forgiveness was valid. Jesus said to His accusers, “That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins...” God’s forgiveness is real. It seems that the scribes were speechless after the man walked.

“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So, he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.” Matthew 9:9-10

God’s grace is great!

Matthew collected taxes on behalf of the Romans from his people the Jews. His fellow Jews considered him a traitor. The Romans expected him to extract money from the Jews without mercy. Perhaps, some Jews had to pay with a child... selling their child into slavery.

Jesus called Matthew to follow Him. Mark 2:15 says that Jesus dined in the home of Levi which was Matthew’s Hebrew name. Many other tax collectors and sinners joined the meal with them.

“And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” Matthew 9:11-13

Perhaps, this was an outdoor event. How did the Pharisees see Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners? How did they approach His disciples? Or did their questions come after the event was over? In any case, it seems to me that the Pharisees wanted to sabotage faith in Jesus. The question words “Why does” were probably asked in a very demeaning way.

Jesus did the work that the Pharisees should have been doing. He made house calls. He visited those who were sick with sin and healed them. He showed mercy. Jesus did not limit Himself to ministry among those who agreed with Him. He took the time to meet with people who were captive to sin that He might set them free from it.

“Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:14-17

Jesus did not say that His disciples were exempt from fasting. He said now was not the time for it. The bridegroom was with His friends. This was a time for blessings and miracles. To fast now would be like putting an old patch on a new garment or like putting new wine in old wineskins. It would ruin the moment that His people had anticipated for many generations.

“While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.” Matthew 9:18-19

Here was a man that needed Messiah’s redemptive power to resurrect His daughter from the dead. He believed that Jesus would make her live again.

There is such a contrast between those who questioned what Jesus was doing and those who believed in what He was doing.

“And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, ‘Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that hour.” Matthew 9:20-22

Before Jesus reaches the dead girl, a woman intercepted His help. She didn’t ask. She just touched the hem of His garment. She believed that an act of faith was enough to receive her miracle. It is likely that she touched the hem of His prayer shawl. It represented Messiah’s faith.

Jesus had a word for her, “Be of good cheer, daughter. Your faith has made you well.” And she was healed from that hour going forward.

“When Jesus came into the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, ‘Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.” Matthew 9:20-26

Flute playing, noisy crowd, and people laughing at Him… would all these distractions keep Jesus from doing a miracle? No. He was responding to the girl’s father’s faith. He believed that Jesus would resurrect her. After the room was cleared, Jesus took her by the hand and she awoke from the dead. News of this miracle spread about.

“When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!’ And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ‘See that no one knows it.’ But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.” Matthew 9:27-31

It must have been a sight to see two blind men attempting to follow Jesus. They cried out to Him for mercy. They addressed Him as Messiah when they called Him Son of David. The Messiah was prophesied to stem from David’s royal line.

Jesus gave them an opportunity to profess faith in Him. Their answer was short and to the point, “Yes, Lord.” Jesus touched their eyes. They went away seeing. Jesus told them to keep the miracle to themselves, but they spread the news of it all about the country.

At the beginning of this article, I quoted 1 Peter 3:18. Christ is the Just One who suffered for unjust ones. He did this to bring us to God. Jesus did not require honorariums. His disciples did not pass around offering plates. When Jesus healed two blind man, He told them not to talk about it. Jesus gave while expecting nothing in return.

“Lord, please help me and help us all to love people as You love them for Your glory. Please help us to rely on faith in Your grace and kindness to love people freely.”

“As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, ‘It was never seen like this in Israel!’ But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.’” Matthew 9:32-34

A paralytic man, a woman with a chronic blood flow, a dead girl, two blind men and a mute man with demons... Jesus healed them all. What were the religious leaders saying about this? They thought the worst of Jesus saying that He did it by the power of the ruler of demons.

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” Matthew 9:35-38

If Jesus had required just treatment, He would not have accomplished His mission. He traveled to many cities and villages (little towns). He taught in their gathering places. He revealed truth to people about God’s kingdom. He healed sicknesses and diseases. He had compassion on weary, scattered and unguided sheep. He wanted His disciples to pray for more laborers who would help with the harvest.

Jesus says to us, “Be of good cheer your sins are forgiven.” He paid a debt He did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed saved and Jesus saved me. I do want to honor Jesus.