St Matthew, Chapter 9, verse: 9, Matthew, the Publicans and the sinners.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The call of Matthew) Part 1.  

St Matthew in telling us the Gospel, places a note in this verse on how he was called to follow Christ.  Matthew was a tax collector.  And one day Christ came by his station and said to him,  "Follow me."   This is a modest entry for a modest man.  There was nothing pretentious about his calling.  Christ called him and he followed.  He was a publican.  He was a commoner, with no ties or claims to nobility.  And being such, he more than likely collected more than what was owed, some of which he kept.  But Christ called him one day and he left it all and followed.

What was his motivation to follow?  What moved him to take this bold action?  What was it about this man Christ that caused him to leave all and follow?  Did Christ have such a charisma that when the people saw him they had to follow?  Was Christ such a renowned figure in his time that those who heard him speak were compelled to listen and to follow his commands?  Jesus knew something about Matthew that must have led him to call Matthew.  Jesus choose Matthew.  Matthew did not choose him.

This simple command, follow me, is such a compelling command that it makes one wonder why.  If Christ came to collect disciples today, would we follow him?  If Christ stood before us and said, follow me, would we leave everything and follow him.  Would we leave job, home, friends, money, family, activities, fun, football, parties, fine clothes, everything, to follow him?  Would we hesitate to follow?  Would we have excuses to follow?  Would we need time to think about following?  What would be our response, today?

The harvest is great but the workers are few.  In our troubled economic times Christ is hiring today.  He needs workers.  He needs laborers in the field.  He needs believers.  He needs doctors, lawyers, tax collectors, construction workers, waiters, school teachers, administrators, clerks, supervisors, trash collectors, he needs all.  If he called would you follow?  He he asked you to lead would you lead?  If he asked you to give up all, would you leave all behind?  Like Uncle Sam, Christ needs you.  If he called today would you hear the call?  Would you follow?   

St Matthew, Chapter 9, verse: 8, The Paralytic and the Scribes.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A paralytic at Capharnaum) Part 4.  

Christ has shown the Scribes that he is the chosen one.  He has shown the Scribes that he does not blaspheme by saying thy sins are forgiven.  For just as he has performed the miracle and made the paralytic walk, he can just as easily forgive sins here on earth.  When the crowd sees the miracle take place before their eyes, they are amazed.  They are struck with fear.  They do not know how to accept what has happened before their very eyes.  A man that has been paralyzed for many years, a man that they all knew, is instantly healed and begins to walk.  Fear overwhelms them.  And gradually praise goes up to God for what has happened.  Glory is given to God that this paralytic is healed.  Glory is sent up to the heavenly father for the miracle that has taken place before their eyes.    And they are fearful.

Acceptance of Jesus as the Christ was not complete, for they were still in fear.  They glory to God because of the man that performed the miracle.  They glory to God because of the power that this man had.  They gave glory to God because of what they had witnessed before their eyes.  They acknowledged that only God could perform such a miracle.  But they did not acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ sent by God.  They had not accepted that he was the Messiah.  They had not believed in the authority of the Son of Man who performed the miracle.  Faith had not taken hold yet.

Matthew gives us this passage so that we may continue the belief that we established in previous verses.  Christ called upon the disciples to have faith when they were in the boat with the waves crashing in and overflowing causing it to almost sink.  He called upon them to have faith when they were faced with the possessed men who would have destroyed them.  He demonstrates to them the power of faith as he faces the most fierce enemy of all, the Scribes.  He calls upon us today to have faith in him even though he is not before us.  He performed the miracles many years ago when he was with the disciples.  He was crucified, died and arose from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.  He lives.  Yet distance and belief separates us from his power to perform miracles today. 


Christ healed the centurion's servant long distance.  He spoke the words and the servant was healed.  He was not at the servants side.  He did not lay hands on the servant.  He only spoke the words.  Christ lives today in heaven.  Christ is alive for us to call upon.  Christ can hear our prayers and cries for help.  He has given us a lesson plan to follow.  He has provided us with a blue print that details step by step what we should do.  It requires that we believe in him.  It requires that we know that he is alive.  It requires that we know that he will help us.  It is up to us to follow.


Do we have the faith of a mustard seed?  Christ peels the layers of unbelief within us.  He peels the doubt away.  He peels the illness away.  He peels the fear away.  Like an onion, he wants to get to the heart of the matter, our heart, so that he can plant his love within us that we may believe in him.   And they glorified God who had given such power to men.

St Matthew, Chapter 9, verses:5-7, The Paralytic and the Scribes.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A paralytic at Capharnaum) Part 2. 

Christ is now locked in battle with the Scribes.  He has already read their hearts and called them on the evil that lies there.  Now he questions them on the duality of the issue, seeking to have them acknowledge his divinity.  He says to them:  "Which is easier, to say, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or to say, 'Arise, and walk'?"   Either answer acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ with power to forgive sins and the cure ills on earth.  Christ wants them to know that he does not blaspheme as they suppose.  He wants them to believe that he is the Messiah.

He continues with the miracle and tells them that they should believe because it is just as easy for him to say, thy sins are forgiven as it is for him to say, take up thy palette and walk.  Then he demonstrates the authority that he has by showing them that both statements are the same.  He shows them that he has the authority to say thy sins are forgiven just as much as he has the authority and the power to say take up thy palette and walk.  He say to the paralytic, "Arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house."   And the paralytic gets up from his palette and proceeds to walk.  The crowd is amazed.  The paralytic is jubilant.  The scribes are unbelieving yet they have seen with their own eyes.  And the paralytic takes his palette and goes off in the sunset to his home joyous in the Lord that he has been made whole.

Christ now demonstrates to the public his authority.  He provides proof to the scribes and the unbelieving crowds that he is the Christ, the anointed one, come to save Israel.  All have seen with their own eyes.  All have heard with their own ears.  What more proof is needed to affirm who he is?  By this demonstration he has shown them that just as the paralytic walks by his command, so also are sins forgiven by his commands.  The seeds are sown.  Faith is now taking hold.  The fertile ground of doubt is plowed under and the weeds removed.  Christ has come to give life.  He has come to make new.  He has come to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, feed the hungry, and make the lame walk.  He is the Christ.

The Scribes were the legal police of the Law.  Together with the Pharisees they watched over the people and enforced the precepts of the Law.  Any transgressions were dealt with through the authority given to the High Priest.  The people did not know the Law as did the Scribes.  The people knew their hearts.  They knew that they wanted to be free.  They knew that they did not want to be oppressed.  They knew that they wanted peace.  They knew that there was something missing in their lives that was not given to them by the Law.  Christ comes and gives them hope.  He comes and gives them the seeds of faith in a merciful God, not a cold merciless God as given to them by the Scribes.  We are the Scribes of today.  We the believers are the purveyors of the faith.  We know the precepts.  We know the commandments.  We know the requirements of our faith. 

We attend church every Sunday and pay our tithes on a regular basis.  We participate in the outreach ministries of the church to help the poor, the sick and the lame.  We perform all of that is required of us to be good Christians.  But we are the Scribes that carry the Law to the unbelievers.  We are the front line warriors that meet God's unbelieving children in the streets.  We are the healers that meet our coworkers on the job.  We are the carriers of the faith that pass by the lost in the supermarket isles without even giving a look or a smile.  We are the Scribes.  When will we wake up and give the message?  When will we take off the robes of religion and become brothers and sisters of our neighbors?  When will we open up at any opportunity and demonstrate the love that Christ gave to us to share?  When will we say to the paralytic, the drug addict, the pornographer, the prostitute, the coworker, the gang banger, the robber, "Take up thy palette, in the name of Christ, become whole and walk in the light of life?"