In Jesus’ hands a person finds forgiveness for his sins. There he finds the eternal inheritance prepared for God’s people regardless of all the wrong they’ve done in this world. In those hands you find the same mercy. You wear the garment of the righteous one Who has paid your debt and set you free.

So, you’re forgiven of it all. Jesus allowed Himself to be expelled from heaven over your sinful pride, so that in rising from death He could enable you to rise from it. You will be there eternally, made righteous in Jesus, made righteous in the One about Whom the angels sang at His birth, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men,” the One Whom angels attended following His temptation in the wilderness, and in His anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Think of what happened in your Baptism. Through God’s Sacrament of water and the Word you were made precious; you were given an entirely new appraisal—if you will. Jesus brought you home with Him—not casually, as if you were some item of common value, but shielded from harm by none other than the Holy Spirit, Who wraps you in the protections of God’s Word and Supper—treating you as if you are his possession of greatest value, His top priority.

Your being considered a good person has entirely to do with your connection to Christ—the only truly good person, the only one never guilty of anything, the only one able to stand before God on His own merits. Connected to Him, you’re forgiven of sins.

Jesus commends the widow’s perspective. She has almost nothing; but what she has she might as well put in the LORD’s hands because He is the One Who is going to care for her needs. Were she to insist that she will make her own way, then what she has will never be enough. But when she puts herself in His hands, she’s in the hands of the one against Whom nothing and no one could possibly prevail.

When God rewards you according to what you have done, He’s rewarding you according to what Christ has done. You need not agonize over your sins any longer. And you need not cling to this world, and this life, and this body anymore, as if there’s something to be afraid of in what comes beyond all of this. God sees you as perfect because He has forgiven you in Christ. What happens in this world, in this life, to this body aren’t the most important thing, aren’t the thing to be protected and preserved at all costs. For all of their joy and blessing, they’re only what gives way to the true eternal joy and blessing with God in His kingdom.

There isn’t any question about Who Jesus is; He’s the Savior God has sent. Look what you’re seeing in our text: His Word powerfully restores bodies that are damaged with paralysis. Nobody else’s word does that. And that merciful work of His in this world is just a demonstration of what’s to come in His kingdom. Even more important is the other damage He repairs. He goes to the cross to put people’s spiritual carelessness (yours too, and mine) and all other sins on His own back to bear them. He makes you able to be close to Him—to God, where before it was impossible. Since He’s punished there for your sins, you’re forgiven of them.

You are under that training that leads to eternal life. It is none other than the declaration: Jesus died for your sins and rose to life again. Your sins are no longer held against you. You will rise to be with Him in His eternal kingdom. That is the oil that lights the lamp that leads to Christ. You have it. No matter how long the wait, at the Bridegroom’s call you will rise with everything you need to be with Him.