Half a century ago, Tommy Phelps made his living as “Nature Boy,” a professional wrestler. When I met him in the early 1970s, he was Tommy Phelps, a powerful evangelist.
Tommy Phelps, the wrestler, was an angry and verbally abusive husband. He particularly hated the fact that his wife wanted him to experience God’s love through Jesus Christ.
On a climactic day, his wife was washing dishes, praying, and crying. He saw her in that state and exploded with rage. He commanded her to stop praying and leave his soul alone.
She stayed in the kitchen, and Phelps walked into the family’s living room. There, the power of God struck him down, similar to Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road. While he was crying out under the powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit, his wife called the pastor to come and help.
The pastor came and helped Phelps surrender his life to Jesus. What is striking about this story is that at the very moment Phelps came under the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit, the pastor and some men from the church were fervently praying for him.
What happened to Tommy Phelps and the paralyzed man in today’s Bible passage should encourage us to join with others in prayer.
And some people were carrying to him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2).
Jesus responded to their faith, but it was nothing more than the belief that if they got their friend to Jesus, He would heal him. The fact that we pray for someone reveals our faith, too. Like these men, we are bringing someone to Jesus, asking for His help.
The men came with one request on their minds: that their friend be healed. Jesus had another agenda. He knew that the man’s sins needed to first be forgiven. When we pray for others, let’s be open to how God wants to answer our prayer. God knows the deeper issues of the human heart, and He may be addressing those before our desired outcome.
Booing the Easter Bunny
Harry Caray was a colorful baseball announcer in my young adult years. I was listening to him call a game in Philadelphia where the crowd began to vociferously boo a call by the umpire. Caray’s analysis of the Philadelphia crowd was, “They’d boo the Easter Bunny.”
There are times when I feel the same way about the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Instead of rejoicing over God’s loving activity through Jesus, they found cause to complain about nearly everything Jesus said and did.
Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming” (Matthew 9:3).
The things that we criticize internally reveal the state of our hearts. Instead of applauding the efforts of four men who brought their friend to Jesus, they complained that Jesus was assuming a role reserved only for God.
We can be thankful when Jesus corrects our inner dialogue, as He did with these men.
But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?
But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—”Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” And he stood up and went to his home (Matthew 9:4-7).
How can you tell when someone’s sins have been forgiven? The walk of the paralytic revealed forgiveness and restoration. The same is true of Tommy Phelps. We know he was forgiven by the way he walked for the remainder of his life.
Fun fact: Tommy Phelps was a loud and powerful evangelist who occasionally pounded the pulpit. The night I heard him, he struck the pulpit and cracked it from top to bottom.
The Issue of Authority
In verse 6, Jesus told the religious authorities that as the Son of Man, He has authority to forgive sins. When the crowd saw the man walking, they recognized His authority, too.
When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings (Matthew 9:8).
The wrestler, Tommy Phelps, had an authority problem. He didn’t want to surrender control of his life to the Lord. The role the pastor played in Phelps’ conversion was to help him surrender control to a higher authority.
Whether it is the religious authorities of Jesus’ day, a professional wrestler, or our own relationship with God, the issue of authority looms large. Will we recognize that He is in control, surrender, and live aligned with His will?
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 