Sermon Notes for 19th Trinity, 26 October 2025,
the Anglican Orthodox Communion
The Collect.
O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
If our hearts are the domain of the Holy spirit, our works will be guided by His Mind and Will so that all good works belong to His credit and none to our own.
Our epistle points out that ignorance, or lack of the Gospel Light, darkens the hearts of all unbelievers. They are truly blind to the great truths of the Gospel; however, that blindness is a willing ignorance among those who refuse to seek the Mind of Christ through the study of His Holy Word. They do not consider it worth their while to learn of the most critical matter of their own souls.
We also learn that there is also a kind of complacency that affects even those who have a knowledge of Christ, but ignore the benefits and magnanimity of grace accomplished for us in His redemption on the cross. Such careless hearers often fall back to the conceits and deceits of their own mind of the old man before Christ. The new man, created in Christ, is holy and righteous by means of that imputed to him in Christ.
Like Lot’s wife, many who are called forth from their depravity of sin take lingering and yearning looks back at that which damned them ere the grace of God was spread abroad in their hearts. Looking back will always lead to error. The plowman, looking back, can never plow a straight line. When we consider the enormity of sins that the Lord has forgiven us, and His suffering therefor, how can we not forgive those little indiscretions of our friends and neighbors?
THE GOSPEL TEXT
Matthew 9:1-8
JESUS entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 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. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
The mark of a good writer is the ability to say the most in the fewest words - and that principle typifies every versed of God’s Holy Word. Let us take, for example, today’s Gospel text from Matthew 9:
Every account of Christ always finds Him traveling or, else, working in the fields of the needy sinner.
IN the text, we find Jesus again returning from across the sea of Tiberius after casting out devils into the swine of the Gergasenes. During that passage over the sea, He was awakened from His needful sleep in order to calm the stormy blasts of the sea. No sooner had His foot touched shore than men came bearing a man with palsy lying on a bed (stretcher). The men bearing the man on the stretcher came with one view in mind - to heal the man and restore him to physical health; but that is not the first thought that comes to mind to our Lord when a sinner confronts Him. Jesus practices a medical procedure called triage - that is, treat the most serious injury first. Instead of healing the man’s physical incapacity, the Lord pronounces an absolution of his sins.
The Bible does not tell us that the man had faith to be healed, but it was the faith of those who brought him that moved Christ to forgive Him of his most serious affliction - SIN! “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” To the manner of thought of men, it would be easy to make such a pronouncement even if assuming a divine soul. The scribes viewed the declaration of Christ as the most serious of sins - blasphemy!
It must be observed that this was already understood to be their response by our Lord. He made the first in order to seal His next profound utterance. “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? He is preparing to seal His first act of forgiveness of sins with His second act of complete healing. He had already anticipated the response of the scribes, and He vanquishes all doubt of His power to forgive sins with His second miracle of healing.
“But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” The scribes could offer not a single word of objection to either of these acts. They saw the plain proof of His Sonship with God, but could never bring themselves to accept it. The multitudes, however, whose hearts were moved with a greater degree of innocence of hope, saw, believed and proclaimed the wonder of His healing the man with the palsy. Still, however, the world is always amazed with signs and wonders than with the simple truth of the Gospel of Christ to save souls.
The multitudes glorified God, but not fully for the whole series of events - only the healing. They credited to the glory of God whom they considered had given such power to men - but it was not a manly power that healed the man with leprosy, nor forgave His sins, it was the power of God in the Person of Jesus Christ as the only Begotten Son of God.
