The Lord Jesus healed many more sick persons than could be written of, for “great multitudes came ... to hear, and to be healed by Him.” These all told others, and people came from all parts of the land to see and hear this great physician.
One day the house where Jesus was teaching was filled with people, and a crowd stood outside who could not get in. Some men came carrying a helpless cripple on his bed, but could not get to the door. Those men might have said they should wait until another time, but they did not do that; they were so certain Jesus could cure their friend, and so eager for Him to do it, that they took the man on his blankets, or bed, up unto the roof of the house, made an opening, and let him down into the room where Jesus was.
Sins Forgiven and a Body Healed
Jesus was pleased to see such trust, and He rewarded them more than they expected. He said. “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” To know his sins would not shut him from God was better even than to have illness cured.
But some of the men in the room did not think Jesus had the right to forgive sins. They were leaders of the nation, scribes and lawyers, some called “doctors,” meaning learned men; they taught the people and made decisions; the most strict were called Pharisees. These men seem to have said to each other that Jesus spoke “blasphemy,” words against God; they said, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
Jesus knew their thoughts: He said to them. “Whether is easier, to say, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee!’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?”
It might seem easier to cure disease than to forgive sins, yet sickness came into the world because of sin. So it needed the same power to cure the sickness, as to forgive sins. Then Jesus said to the man, “I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”
The man stood up, lifted his bed, and walked away; he knew it was by the power of God he was able to walk, and he “glorified God,” praised Him.
The Response to Christ’s Work
But the wise teachers did not believe that Jesus was from God, although John, the prophet of God, had told them that Jesus was the Son of God, which meant He was equal with God the Father. They had seen His great power to heal; He had known their own thoughts. They knew that even the greatest of their prophets had not healed all diseases; instead, they had healed only a few, so they should have thought He must be the promised Messiah. But they did not like Him to speak of sins, and after this always tried to accuse Him of wrong.
Many of the people thought much of this One who forgave sins; they gave glory to God, and were “filled with fear,” meaning reverence and awe. Later in Scripture we read: “Through this Man (the Lord Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
Further Meditation
1. What was even better than having the illness cured?
2. We love the natural mercies like good health that God gives to us. It is a wonderful thing to enjoy His spiritual gifts as well. What spiritual gifts does the Word of God say have been given to us?
3. Forgiveness of sins is an immense gift. You would probably enjoy reading more about it in The Forgiveness of Sins by H. P. Barker.