There's A Man I Want You To Meet

“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.” Matthew 9:6

The Son of Man is how Jesus referred to Himself throughout Matthew. As Adam is 'the man', Jesus called Himself a Son of Adam. That is only the first stunner in this verse though. What was that bit about forgiving sins on this earth? Power and the authority, it would seem, as the authority to forgive sins against God can only come from God. It would appear obvious to us that this man must be God too, but did it seem so clear to those gathered there in that place? And then we know from this story that the paralyzed other man did just as commanded. 

I have been over the whole thing about weeks and months of stretching, twisting, learning to walk again, and all that pain and fun known as rehab that our Lord's power of command utterly walked right over. This Son of Man didn't just heal that paralyzed fellow to the point of starting rehab, He healed him on the spot and completely. And this is how we know, our Lord said, that He had the power on earth to forgive sins. This man had the power to do that. So, what was that whole thing involving the stripes, the cross, the death and that empty tomb thing we celebrate this weekend? 

Unless you know a certain 2,000 year old, formerly paralyzed, young man walking around speaking the old Aramaic, that man had to face death just as we do. The man was healed and forgiven, but something else had to be done to banish Death and the Grave from being our final resting place. This is why we celebrate the Man who was God come down to us on earth, and died on the cross to rise again on the third day. Please, take the time during this crisis to meet in the Bible this Man who took our sins and buried them at the Cross. 

In the love of Christ,
Bucky