Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

St. Matthew 9:1-8; Ephesians 4:22-28

October 11, 2026

The old man is paralyzed.

The old self is corrupt.

The old Adam is confused.

He rages, impotently.

He struggles, hopelessly.

He worships, idolatrously.

“Put off your old self,” says the Apostle.

But how?

The paralyzed man cannot walk.

The paralyzed soul cannot find peace.

But his friends carry him.

They bring him to Jesus.

Jesus can help.

The paralytic’s condition depicts our own.

We are by nature dead.

Dead in soul, dying in body.

It’s not hyperbole. St. Paul says,

You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. [Eph. 2:1f]

Note who the Actor is. God makes alive. He makes, we are made.

Corpses are passive.

Paralytics are passive.

Sin makes us this way. Corrupt. Confounded. Dead.

We can’t fix it. We can’t fix others. We can’t fix ourselves.

We need to be brought to Jesus.

Like an infant to a font.

Like a paralytic carried by his friends.

And to the one who cannot walk, cannot do good, cannot keep himself alive; to the one mired in misery, filled with grief, the Lord Jesus says:

“Be of good cheer!”

The translation is weak. You know I love the NKJ. But “cheer up” simply doesn’t capture it. “Be of good courage!” would be better. The problem with “cheer” is it’s more of a mood. But Jesus doesn’t bring vibes. “Take heart, have confidence, be unafraid!” is the idea.

He calls for courage because He supplies what is lacking.

He forgives.

Our bad relationships, the things that nag at us, like a pebble in the shoe that eventually becomes a limp, an infection, a constant source of disquiet and angst – it’s all because things aren’t reconciled. Someone has a grievance with us; or we’re holding a grudge because someone did us dirty. The infection seeps deep into our heart. We’re not at peace.

It all stems, whether we realize it or not, from being not right with God.

When Jesus speaks forgiveness, He begins healing the world. Starting with us.

God’s pardon is friendship. Fatherly care. Kindness.

It restores everything.

God’s pardon is the great reset.

The “great reset” was the plan by the world’s elites to rebuild the world after Covid.

The conspiracy theory is that all the unrest, mass migration, the collapse of borders and economic systems, will allow the world to be remade.

Whatever the so-called elites are really up to doesn’t matter. Because the great reset is already inaugurated.

It begins when Jesus says, “Take courage! Your sins are forgiven!”

It continues when the man gets up and walks.

It is validated and made certain when Jesus rises from the dead.

It grows when that resurrection becomes your hope.

It grows when that absolution becomes your life.

God has given power on earth to men, to forgive sins.

Whether in private absolution or the general confession, the pastor says, “I forgive you all your sins…”

But it is not his forgiveness. It is Christ’s. That’s what He sent His ministers to do. Preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

But it’s not the only place to find forgiveness.

It’s right there in the prayer our Lord Jesus gave us.

“Forgive us our trespasses”—we all pray for forgiveness—“as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

So what does it mean, when the Epistle tells us to put on the new man? It means, embrace the life of forgiveness.

We are forgiven.

We forgive.

It’s not optional.

And that’s good news.

Because hanging on to the sins of others wounds us. Corrupts us. Kills us.

It’s an ongoing life of misery, carrying these grievances around.

Forgive. Release the sins. Let them go.

They died with Jesus. He rises without them.

You ascend from the baptismal pool with them gone.

Your sins now longer cling to you.

And the sins of others cannot stick.

Now you walk.

The paralysis is going away.

You feel life tingling in your limbs again.

Grace is on your lips.

You are free.

You are a new self.

A new man.

The new Adam, the last Adam, is Jesus.

He is risen.

He lives.

In Him will you live.

In Him will you die.

His shall you be forever.

+INJ+