Reconciled to God
A Sermon on Matthew 9:1-8
Originally preached Jan. 14, 1962
Scripture
1And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2And, 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; …
Sermon Description
What is the greatest need in life? Perhaps a person is in a financial bind, has some broken relationships, or a physical ailment. But if those all were fixed, would they have a perfect life? In this sermon on Matthew 9:1–8 titled “Reconciled to God,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches through the account of the paralyzed man whose greatest need was fixed by Jesus. This man had heard that Jesus could heal him and had faith that Jesus could do it. His faith brought him to have his friends lower him through a roof to get to Jesus; he was a desperate man. Yet Jesus offers something so much more than just the physical healing of the man—Jesus forgives his sins. Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds listeners that unless sins have been forgiven, no one is able to live a truly happy life regardless of how “good” their situation may be. Jesus is the only one who has the power and authority to forgive anyone of their sins. He alone can save, and all must come to Him with faith like the paralytic. The Savior is always ready to forgive needy sinners.
Sermon Breakdown
- The passage describes Jesus healing a paralytic man. The man's friends lower him through the roof so Jesus can heal him.
- Jesus sees the faith of the paralytic man and his friends. Faith is required for healing and salvation.
- Jesus tells the paralytic man "Your sins are forgiven." The man came for physical healing but Jesus addressed his spiritual need first.
- The scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins.
- Jesus asks whether it is easier to say "Your sins are forgiven" or "Get up and walk." Jesus claims to have authority to forgive sins.
- Jesus heals the paralytic man to prove he has authority to forgive sins. The man gets up and walks.
- The crowd glorifies God for giving such authority to men. Jesus has authority as the Son of Man.
- Our greatest need is forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God, not physical healing or relief from symptoms. Sin is the root cause of suffering.
- Jesus has authority to forgive sins because he is the Son of God who took the punishment for sins. His resurrection proves his authority.
- To receive forgiveness and healing, we must have faith in Jesus, repent of sins, and obey his commands. We must accept his diagnosis of our need and his method of salvation.
Sermons on the Gospel
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.