Matthew 9:1, 2 “And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”
There is nothing that will bring more cheer, more peace, more excitement, more joy, more thrill, more marvel, and more glory to God than to hear the Lord speak these words into your heart: “thy sins be forgiven thee.” What humanity needs more than anything else is forgiveness, because all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Mark 2:7 is a more complete narrative of this same story and tells of the skepticism of the scribes sitting there: “Why doth this man speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” The scribes of Jesus day didn’t get much right, but they did get that right, that only God can forgive sin, and, therefore without intending to, they had just verified the words that Jesus spake concerning who he was; The Son of God, with the power and authority to forgive sin.
In Matthew 8, we read the story of the loathsome leper. Here is a man who is dirty and smelly, with the stench of death upon him, bound by an incurable disease and having no hope of relief, or a cure. Then Jesus comes down from the mountain with great multitudes following him, and this helpless dirty sinner, (leprosy is a type of sin, and the leper a type of the sinner) finally has hope and casts himself on the mercy of the only one who can cleanse him. Look at verse two and three, “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Oh, can you imagine the joy that flooded this man’s heart when he felt the touch of Jesus and heard those life changing words? “I will, be thou clean.” Isaiah 64:6 puts us all in the same condition as this unclean leper. We are hopeless and helpless to cleanse ourselves of the terrible sickness of sin, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away.” But, when we call out to Jesus for mercy and cleansing, he will reach down to where we are, touch us with his hand of grace, and speak those sweet words of deliverance, “I will, be thou clean.” Those words are just like the one’s he said to the man in Matthew 9, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” That is something that should bring great joy and cheer, knowing that God has forgiven us, cleansed us, and made us fit for his service. Praise the Lord!