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October 11, 2026
Today's Reading: Matthew 9:1-8
Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 9:23-10:22; Matthew 11:20-30
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic— ‘Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’” (Matthew 9:6)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
What is the thing at the heart of Christianity? People will argue all day (and all night!) about what the beating heart and core of the Christian faith is. How do we find this out? Naturally, we turn to the written word- the Bible, Holy Scripture, the testimony of what God has done and is doing. And naturally, within the Bible, we would want to look specifically at the Gospels during Jesus’ earthly ministry. And when we open those sacred pages, we find… confusion!
The scribes are watching this with a chip on their shoulder. They are constantly out to get Jesus, and they seek here to charge him with blasphemy, a crime that was in those days punishable by death. They will go on to claim that he has made himself out to be God. Of course, the problem with this accusation is this: it’s not blasphemy if you actually are God, which Jesus is!
And here Jesus says that the issue at the heart of all of this is that sins might be forgiven. And only God can forgive sins. So by forgiving this man’s sins, by assuring him of a good standing before God, Jesus is stating the truth- that he has this authority because He is God in the flesh. This will enrage the scribes and the Pharisees as well, because they have blinded themselves to the truth- that the Messiah has come and is the one whom they see now.
What’s true for a paralytic on a bed is no less true for you today. Dead in your trespasses, you are carried, week after week, not on a bed but by the prompting of the Holy Spirit to come and receive the medicine of immortality, the thing at the heart of it all: the forgiveness of sins- the forgiveness that’s freely yours, won by Jesus for you. So, dear Christian, glory in the words of Jesus here: “Take heart… your sins are forgiven.”
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Almighty and merciful God, of Your bountiful goodness, keep from us all things that may hurt us that we, being ready in both body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish whatever You would have us do; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Rev. Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.
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