by Pastor Rich Carlson     

Picture it: Jesus is teaching inside a crowded house, when all of a sudden a man descends to the floor through the roof on a mat (Luke 5:19)!

The man who descended through the roof and came to rest right in front of Jesus was paralyzed. His friends, in an effort to see him healthy again, brought him in hopes that Jesus would heal him. Finding the house too crowded with people, however, they resorted to removing tiles from the roof and lowering their friend down to Jesus. It was a pretty impressive demonstration of the confidence those men had in Christ.

Understanding that the paralytic and his friends had come in search of healing, Jesus gave them more than they asked for. Isn’t that just like Jesus? The men asked for physical healing, but He threw in forgiveness as a bonus (verse 20)!

If He had stuck with the request for merely physical wholeness, He would have just wowed His audience. His power could not be disputed because everyone would have seen it with their own eyes. But by adding forgiveness,

He gave those who were looking for it a reason to doubt and condemn. The Pharisees called it blasphemy. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” they argued (verse 21).

Jesus looked at them and asked, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” (verse 23)

What Jesus meant is that words are easy to put forth, but they need to be backed up with actions to be fully believable. Words are easier than actions, so by healing a paralytic (something no human could do), Jesus proved that He could also say what only God could say: “Your sins are forgiven.”

The crowd was amazed, as I’m sure we would be now (verse 26). Too often, though, our actions demonstrate that we are eager for Jesus to heal us at the first symptom of a sniffle, but we hold forgiveness at arm’s length, trying to earn our way into His love or denying our need of forgiveness.

Neither physical nor spiritual healing was or is hard for Christ, but I think He would rather forgive than heal us because physical healing may be only temporary but forgiveness is forever! Jesus proved to us that He can do both. I’m happy for physical restoration, but I’m in awe that we have access to the remarkable healing of His love.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.