“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?” (Matthew 9:5). According to Matthew this was Jesus’ question to a group of scribes who doubted his authority to forgive the sins of a paralyzed man. Is Jesus serious? Of course it is easier in that case to say “your sins are forgiven” than to say “ stand up and walk,” at least if we really expect something to happen. But that’s not the point.
The point is that the God of grace and forgiveness is also the God of hope and healing. To trust God in one area of our lives is to trust God in the other, and what God offers in each case is just as real. How often do we forget our need for forgiveness? How often do we focus solely on our need for wellbeing as we see it? And yet forgiveness, a release from the power of sin over our lives, is every bit as important as alleviating our illness or pain. In a very real way the sins of the paralyzed man kept him weighed down. Assuring him of God’s love allowed him to stand spiritually, just as healing him allowed him to stand physically.
Which is easier to say? If we slow down and pay attention we will see that by God’s grace we receive both healing and forgiveness and that in God’s love and mercy we find that we are strong enough to live as God intends.
Prayer: Lord, help us to stand as a forgiven people, healed of that which keeps us from you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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