Meditation for Monday
For whither is easier: to say, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee’, or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? Matthew 9:5
This is a fascinating question Jesus asked. How would you answer it? What do you think is easier? Of course, either is easy to say, as long as it doesn’t involve actually doing anything. There are those around us today who claim to be able to forgive sins. There is a ritual involved, a confession is made, pennance is issued, and the sins are supposedly gone from the person’s record. The Word of God makes it clear that this is false, nothing more than an effort by religion to appease consciences and to raise money. There is nothing in the Bible to support such forgiveness. There are also people today who claim they can perform miracles of healing. Such miracles are performed during elaborate and noisy charismatic meetings. Most, of course are fake, and most are performed by men who worship money more than God. Those who claim today to be able to either forgive sins or to heal the lame are speaking either for their pocketbook or for their father the devil. But Jesus could – and did – make such claims.
The man who was healed might not have realized it right away, but the Saviour’s first pronouncement was the greatest. The man’s sins were forgiven. The ability to get up and walk was something that would have benefited the man for several decades at the most. But the forgiveness of his sins was of eternal benefit. This man was proclaimed fit for Glory; he could rejoice in the knowledge that when his body eventually succumbed to whatever disease of old age that would claim him, he was going to to to the place and the Person of all comfort, there to dwell forever. Beyond any doubt, the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins was the greater of the two miracles that man received that day.
As people pour out many thousands of dollars for their health; as the country to the south struggles with multi-billion-dollar health care reforms, there is much interest on making and keeping ourselves healthy and mobile. Even among Christians, the greatest miracle would seem to be the giving of health to this sick man. Our priorities are wrong. Our bodies are temporary. Our soul is eternal. Much as we appreciate being healthy, to be forgiven is vastly more important.
What do you value more today, your health or your salvation? What do you work the hardest for, to see people reached and saved, or to see them helped in lesser more temporal ways? -Jim MacIntosh