Jesus' Marriage Proposal to You! (Matthew 9:1-13)

[Stephan Choe]

April 10, 2026

Key Verses 12-13,      "When Jesus heard this, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

When the Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon announced in 2001 that he intended to marry Mette-Marit, a commoner and young single mother, the aristocracy worldwide was outraged. But ordinary citizens received the news with understanding and wondered at the aristocracy's indignation. When this fairytale wedding finally took place, their marriage was met with heartfelt participation from both the nobility and the general public: millions wept during the televised wedding. It was a happy ending. How was the happy ending possible? What happened between the outrage and the happy ending?

The bride and groom had previously gone public with Mette-Marit's life story. The media then told the story of a young woman who had fallen into misfortune through no fault of her own. But the love of the prince and his generosity were able to turn the woman's sad fate into a happy ending. It was a Cinderella story.

Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit [1]

The Cinderella story can become a reality for us today if we marry Jesus Christ, our heavenly husband. We were once commoners, like Mette-Marit. But we have become the bride of the heavenly Crown Prince.

Today I want to tell our own Cinderella story. To do this, I would like to present two stories to you.

First story: The Healing of a Paralytic (9:1–8)

The first story begins like this: “So he (Jesus) got into a boat and crossed over and came to his own town. And behold, a paralytic was being brought to him, lying on a mat” (1–2a).

Jesus was returning to his town from the eastern shore of the lake. “His town” is Capernaum, because he ministered mainly in Capernaum (see 4:13). He was now living in a house. People came with a paralytic and wanted to bring him to Jesus so that he could heal him.

Let's first consider the paralyzed man's situation. Because he couldn't properly use his feet, he was constantly dependent on the help of others. I think at first he thanked them for their help. But over time, he took their help for granted. Instead of being grateful, he began to grumble about everything. Then everyone who helped him grew tired. He needed not only the healing of his legs but also the healing of his soul.

Then his closest friends heard that Jesus healed the sick. They firmly believed that Jesus could help the paralyzed man. Therefore, they wanted to bring him to him. Their love for him was wonderful, and their faith in Jesus was unwavering.

The Gospel of Mark recounts in detail how they brought the paralyzed man to Jesus (Mark 2:4). They carried him on a stretcher to the house where Jesus was teaching. Unfortunately, they couldn't get through to him because of the large crowd. Did they give up trying to bring the paralyzed man to Jesus?

No. Why not? Because they loved the paralyzed man and firmly believed that Jesus could heal him.

Did they wait until Jesus had finished his sermon?

No, because they weren't sure if Jesus would heal their paralyzed man after the sermon. They thought it was now or never. Therefore, they were determined to bring the paralyzed man to Jesus immediately.

There's a fitting proverb for this: "Where there's a will, there's a way." Then they suddenly had a brilliant, somewhat daring idea! They climbed onto the roof, made a hole in it, and lowered the paralyzed man down on his stretcher while Jesus was still teaching. This significantly disrupted Jesus' sermon.

Did Jesus criticize them for this outrageous interruption of his sermon? Did he perhaps say, "Why are you interrupting my sermon? Wait until I'm finished!"

But verse 2b says, "When Jesus saw their faith..." (2b).

Jesus didn't view their actions superficially. He didn't pay attention to their background or their behavior. Rather, he looked into their hearts and recognized their faith in him. He also recognized their love for the paralyzed man. He rejoiced greatly at their love and their faith. He had taught them faith in him and love for God and neighbor. Now he saw that the paralyzed man's friends believed in him and loved God and the paralyzed man. Therefore, he rejoiced greatly and immediately blessed their faith.

We cannot truly understand the thoughts or beliefs of others. We often judge others based on their social status or wealth. Therefore, our judgment of other people is often superficial. But Jesus knows the deepest thoughts of every person. We can neither hide from him nor deceive him. Instead, we should live honestly before him. We should believe in Jesus Christ and love God and our fellow human beings. We should act in everything out of faith and love. Jesus will surely bless us.

How did Jesus bless the faith of the friends of the paralytic?

Verse 2b tells us, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus blessed their faith and forgave the paralytic his sins.

One might wonder why Jesus didn't heal the paralytic immediately but instead offered him forgiveness of sins.

Why?

Many people think that physical healing is more important than the forgiveness of sins. In the short term, that might be true, because without a cure, the paralyzed man would have had to continue being carried. In the long term, however, the forgiveness of sins is far more important than physical healing. His physical healing might help him for a maximum of 100 years, but the forgiveness of sins lasts forever.

Do you know the story of the rich man and poor Lazarus from Luke, chapter 16?

In a certain town lived a rich man. He believed neither in hell nor in the kingdom of heaven. He always wore the most expensive and latest fashions and enjoyed the pleasures of earthly life.

In the same town lived a poor, wretched man named Lazarus. He was sick all over. He dragged himself to the rich man's house, hoping to get some of his food. But a rich man's dog came and licked his wounds.

One day, the poor man died. Angels carried him to Abraham in the kingdom of heaven. The rich man also died and was given a magnificent burial. But he ended up in hell and suffered bitter torment there.

Which of the two is truly happy?

Jesus truly wanted to make the paralyzed man happy. He forgave him his sins so that he would become a child of God, have eternal life, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven like poor Lazarus. Forgiveness of sins is always the greatest blessing for every person.

Jesus forgives our sins when we believe in him and confess our guilt. The prophet Isaiah said, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

When Jesus forgives our sins, he warmly accepts us as children of God and grants us the Kingdom of Heaven. God's grace in Jesus Christ is great. We should gratefully accept this grace through faith.

When I was eight years old, I injured my right thigh. Because of this, I had to take a four-year break from school. Because of this injury, I felt inferior.

When I was 20 years old, with God's help I came to faith in Jesus Christ. I became very happy and no longer felt inferior. Instead, I felt as if I were living in paradise.

At 28, I married a beautiful, devout woman. I was delighted to work with her to introduce Jesus Christ to students in Germany.

The scribes of that time, however, believed that Jesus was blaspheming God with his declaration of forgiveness of sins. "Blaspheming God" means speaking disparagingly about God. The scribes believed that only God had the right to pronounce forgiveness of sins. That is true. But they made a grave mistake because they did not believe the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Therefore, they thought that Jesus was pronouncing forgiveness of sins on his own authority.

Jesus wanted to help not only the paralyzed man, but everyone present. He wanted to show them that his word was not blasphemy but God's word. He wanted to show everyone that his word was God's word. Therefore, he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (6).

So the paralyzed man got up, picked up his mat, and walked home. The crowd was amazed and praised God. Through this healing, Jesus showed that his word of forgiveness is real and that he is the Son of God.

We should believe in Jesus as the Son of God and in his word as God's word. In this way, we will enjoy the joy of forgiveness and eternal life. We should decide whether we do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God or whether we believe in him as the Son of God. May God help us to believe in Jesus Christ and his power to forgive sins. If we believe in him, we have eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. This is a wonderful grace from God.

Second Story: The Transformation of Matthew (9:9-13)

After forgiving sins and healing the paralytic, Jesus helped a healthy man who was living in sin so that he experienced forgiveness and eternal life and became happy. His name was Matthew.

After forgiving sins and healing the paralytic, Jesus left the house and walked along a main road. At that time, the main road between Egypt and Syria ran through the city of Capernaum. Therefore, there was a toll station in Capernaum, and a toll collector collected tolls on passing goods.

Today, being a toll collector is a common profession. But at that time, it was very different. The Jews believed that only God had the right to accept gifts from people. But tax collectors collected the tolls not for God or for the Jews, but for the occupying power. And they hid some of the collected money in their own pockets. Therefore, the Jews considered tax collectors to be sinners and traitors. Tax collectors were not allowed to enter the church for worship. In other words, tax collectors were hated and despised by the people. Matthew was one of them. He worked at the tax office in Capernaum.

When Jesus saw Matthew sitting in his tax booth as he passed by, he said to him, “Follow me!”

What did Jesus mean by his words, “Follow me”?

Jesus did not consider Matthew a traitor or a sinner. He did not despise him at all. Rather, he valued him highly and loved him very much. That is why he said to him, “Follow me!” With his words, Jesus meant, “I warmly invite you to come to me!” That was his heartfelt invitation to him.

Why did Jesus value an egoist so highly and accept him so warmly? Because he had forgiven him all his sins and adopted him as his own child. If Jesus were merely a human being, his acceptance would be unjust. But he is actually God. He came into the world as a human being to seek out lost people and save them. And he found Matthew! He was delighted to see him and warmly invited him: “Matthew, come with me!” For Jesus, Matthew’s previous life was no obstacle at all to accepting him as his friend. On the contrary, he was overjoyed to see him. And he also had a great plan for the future with him. He was confident that Matthew would one day be a loving person, an apostle, and a great blessing to countless people. Jesus placed such great hope in Matthew.

Matthew had felt guilty before God, even though he had a lot of money, because he knew he was a hopeless case. Despite his bad feelings, he couldn’t help himself.

Then Jesus came to him and warmly welcomed him. Then Matthew felt God’s grace. God’s grace suddenly gave him new strength for a new beginning. That’s why he decided to put an end to his previous selfish life and become a friend of Jesus and his follower. Because he was so happy about Jesus’ grace, money meant nothing to him. Rather, he was very grateful for Jesus’ acceptance.

What do you do when you get married? You invite lots of people and celebrate your wedding. Matthew also celebrated his salvation with a feast. He warmly invited Jesus, his fellow tax collectors, and other people. It was a heavenly celebration. Most of the guests rejoiced greatly at Matthew's salvation and God's grace.

But some critical people were also there. They were called Pharisees. They were not joyful. They were self-righteous. They did not consider themselves before God. Therefore, they did not recognize their own sins. But they looked sharply at other people and condemned them as sinners. They said to Jesus' disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" They did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They also did not appreciate God's grace.

When Jesus heard their words, he answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick." And he continued, “Finally understand what God means when he says, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus came into the world to receive all sinners like Matthew with divine mercy and to save them. Through the salvation of Matthew, he wanted to encourage everyone to accept his mercy and be saved.

Jesus’ grace has great transformative power. It transformed a tax collector into a saint. That is why Matthew spread this good news everywhere. He later wrote a book called the Gospel of Matthew, around 60-66 AD. Countless people have been saved and transformed through his book. They have become saints through the grace of Christ.

Jesus' Marriage Proposal to Us

Jesus has great mercy for all sinners and warmly welcomes them. Some people love money more than God. Others value worldly honor more than God. Because of our distorted values, we distance ourselves from God and fall into sin. We think we are hopeless because of our sin. And others consider us to have no future. But God looks upon us with hope and loves us deeply. He sent Jesus Christ into the world to save us from sin. Jesus Christ warmly welcomes us, even if we were terrible sinners. He, the heavenly Crown Prince, proposes to us to become his bride, just as the Norwegian Crown Prince did! We are to gratefully accept his proposal. We are to welcome Jesus into our hearts as our Savior and our Bridegroom and follow him. He will warmly welcome us and greatly bless us. Amen!

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[1] https://weddinglounge.wordpress.com/tag/mette-marit/