"Which is Easier?"

Matthew 9:1-13 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

² And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” ⁴ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In today’s text, we see in the account of the healing of the paralytic, that to Jesus there was really no difference between the forgiveness of sin and healing a disease, deformity or disability. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven being at hand. He came to establish the realities of the kingdom here on earth. Jesus mission was to come to earth to redeem man from their sin, reconcile them to God and restore all that was lost through the curse of sin. In the kingdom of heaven all those  are accomplished through Christ. Jesus asks the question: “Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, and walk?” He demonstrates the equality of these things in the kingdom saying: But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

They could not deny the miracles, even though they didn’t fully understand their significance as an indication of who Jesus was. In Luke 7:20-23, John the Baptist, just before his death, sent two of his disciples to Jesus. This is what Jesus says:         When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’” ²¹ At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”    The miracles were a sign, confirmation of the kingdom of God here on earth. Still they could not comprehend or accept that Jesus would forgive sin.

We now, on this side of the cross, understand that Jesus came to die for our sins. He is the forgiveness for sin. Surely He can and does forgive sin. We though tend to forget what Jesus asked those people that day: “Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, and walk?”  There is a tendency in the church today to teach that Jesus paid the price for sin, that through the cross, by His blood our sins are forgiven, yet to neglect the fact that Jesus said to the paralytic:   “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home.    We should preach the cross and forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul says:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Jesus Christ and Him crucified is more than a message about the forgiveness of sin. The cross of Christ is also a:   demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.   In Mark 16:15-18, Jesus commissions His disciples saying:       “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

If we will faithfully preach the gospel, the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, these signs, miracles and healings should be present today to confirm God’s word, just as they were when Jesus was here.

In verses 10-13, Jesus is questioned about why He was in the company of sinners, why He didn’t just associate with the religious people. Jesus was often criticized for that association. He explains it to them saying:  “ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”      Today the world also needs to learn what this means. There are many in both the world and the church who take the fact that Jesus associated with sinners to mean that if He were here today He would prefer the company of sinners to the church. In truth, it’s not about His preference, it’s about His mission, His purpose. Jesus says: “ I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”    Jesus wasn’t talking about calling them on the phone to hang out with them because He preferred their company. Luke clears up the call for us in Luke 5:32, Jesus says:   “ I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”      Jesus didn’t come to hang out with sinners to participate in, accept, tolerate or condone their sin, He came to call sinners to repentance. That’s what Jesus would do if He were here today. Jesus would associate with sinners to call them to repentance. That should be what Christians, followers of Christ do also. We should not avoid the sinners in the world, but neither should we participate in, accept, tolerate or condone their sin. We should call sinners to repentance and the forgiveness of sin through the cross. 

In the holy presence of God in heaven there is neither sin nor sickness. Jesus calls us and commissions us to preach the gospel, the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Through the finished work of the cross Jesus Christ has overcome sin, for those who repent there is forgiveness of sin. If there is forgiveness then there is also healing. Which is easier?

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit,  may we as the church today, like Paul not go to the world with a message of  lofty speech or wisdom. May we know nothing except, Jesus Christ and him crucified.  And  in weakness and in fear and much trembling, may our speech and our message be not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that their faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Through the cross of Christ may they know and see the power of God to forgive and the power of God to restore. May sinners be called to repentance and may we see the confirmation of God’s word. May the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.   In Jesus name.   Amen.