Which Is Easier?
Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house.
Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Matthew 9: 2-8
Friends of a paralyzed man brought him to Jesus with faith that He could make him well. We see a crowd develop in this scene. The man and his friends aren’t the only ones in the audience. There are some skeptics, some of the scribes or teachers of the law that are also present. Jesus tells a paralyzed man, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven!” Not, ‘Be of good cheer, you are able to move and walk now!’ To which the scribes become angry! They begin to question Jesus.
Jesus responds with a question, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?” Jesus is posing the question, which is more important- Spiritual or Physical healing?
Clearly, to Jesus, the harder, more pressing concern is that the man’s sins were forgiven. He heals the man spiritually first. He only heals him physically so that “you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” In this case, he uses physical healing to reveal or prove spiritual healing. This is significant because during this time, people linked physical hardships or handicaps to punishment for sin, either that person’s sin or the sin of one of their ancestors. While we know that our decisions do have consequences, Jesus debunks this theory when he heals a blind man in John 9….
The disciples ask, “Who sinned? This man or his parents so that he was born blind?” Jesus gives a radical answer, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Jesus says that this man’s sins were not responsible for his blindness. He claims that this man’s handicap was there to be able to put the glory of God on display. We know that the entrance of sin into the world is responsible for a lot of the hardship that we face (Gen. 2:17; 3:16-17). We see through Jesus’ healing in both of these passages, that while he doesn’t cause our physical or tangible hardships, he uses them to put his glory on display- to prove that he is God in our hurting world.
Yes, Jesus was interested in healing physical bodies, this is apparent throughout the Gospels, but he was MORE interested in healing our souls. That’s what he came to the earth to do, and he never lost focus.
He tells the man to be cheerful because his sins are forgiven, before his physical body is healed.
The fact that our sins are forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, should give us enough cause for joy or cheerfulness despite the physical situation we find ourselves in.
Have a recurring injury that is continually affecting your daily life?
Battling Cancer?
Are you facing a surgery or procedure?
Are you longing for a child and your body isn’t cooperating?
Is there a conflict at work or with your spouse that doesn’t seem like it can be resolved?
Whatever they may be, we can be assured that Jesus cares deeply about our circumstances. We have to choose to trust Him when we can’t see the whole picture. Choose Cheer today by focusing on how God can use this thorn in your flesh to reveal his power (2. Cor. 12:7).
Our Cheerfulness is found in the promise that our sins are forgiven, not in if our physical circumstances change.
Prayer:
Jesus, I trust that you know what is more important. If spiritual healing is more important to you, make it be so in my life as well. Help me to value spiritual healing over physical healing. Help my cheerfulness to come from knowing that by putting my trust in you, Jesus, my sins are forgiven. This truth alone should be enough cause for thankfulness and joy for all of my days. Remove the blinders of negativity and open my eyes to see how you are using the difficult things in my life to show others who you are. Amen.
