Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
And the man jumped up and went home! Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority. Matthew 9:1-8 (NLT)
Imagine, for example, going to the doctor for an appendectomy, but instead of being told your appendix has been removed, the doctor just says you no longer owe the hospital any money. That’s great, but what does the doctor plan to do about the diseased appendix?
The situation was much the same for the paralyzed man in our scripture. As he lay on the ground praying for a miracle, Jesus initially told him only that his sins had been forgiven. That was good news, indeed, but not the news the man was expecting! When Jesus then turned around to chat with the Pharisees, I imagine the paralyzed man was quite disappointed that he still could not walk.
The Pharisees, on the other hand, were critical of Jesus, thinking him to be blasphemous when He forgave the man’s sins. In their minds, only God had the authority to forgive sins. At that point Jesus turned back to the man, commanding him to stand, pick up his mat, and go home. In doing this, Jesus was showing the Pharisees He IS God and he DOES have the power to heal both physical and spiritual paralysis. He not only spoke the words of spiritual healing, he backed up his words with the physical healing of the man’s legs. Jesus gave him a new life!
The paralyzed man did not know Jesus before this incident, but he and his friends had faith in Jesus’ healing powers. At the time you and I come to know and believe in Jesus, we too are spiritually healed and cleansed of our sins. When we tell others we believe in God and love him, we need to be sure we back up those words, and demonstrate our love, through the actions of our everyday lives.
Jesus told the man “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” I can only imagine how the man’s life was changed and how he shared with others the joy of knowing Christ and the love he experienced. We need to do the same. Jesus Christ has healed us and He is asking us to get up and walk!
