“Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2 HCSB)
A group of men who obviously cared for their friend brought him to Jesus. He was a paralytic and unable to move on his own. He had to have others care for him and his friends bring him to Jesus. They were looking for healing and Jesus seeing their faith said, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” Now that seems like a strange thing doesn’t it. Why didn’t Jesus heal him first? What is the bigger issue here? Jesus was more concerned with the condition of man’s soul than he was with his physical well-being. “Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28).
Jesus knew the greatest healing we can receive is the forgiveness and freedom from the bondage of sin. Also he knew the religious leaders were listening. They accused Jesus of blaspheming God. They believed only God can forgive sin and Jesus was claiming to be able to do what only God could do! Jesus wanting to heal the man completely and to challenge the religious leaders told the man to get up and walk. The man did just that, he got up, picked up his mat and went home. By doing so Jesus declared he had the authority on earth to forgive sins. This would have had a profound impact on the leaders and the people, because they associated sin with disease, in that God was punishing the person afflicted. But here we see Jesus not only forgive the man of sin, but also restore him physically. He freed him from bondage and set him free physically and spiritually. The crowd was awestruck (3:8) and they gave glory to God. Understand your greatest need is the forgiveness of sin and Jesus came to set you free!
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