Journey of Healing 2nd of 6

Courage Child, your sins are forgiven!
Mt 9:2-8; Mk 2:1-12; Lk 5:17-26

Points to Ponder/Discuss:

What does it mean to be healed?

Is it hard for me to believe that God wants my healing?

How is God’s healing power reflected in my daily life?

Our last focus was on the need for a physician.  Now, let’s look at Christ’s healing a paralytic. We’ll look specifically at Matthew 9, but the same story is told in Mark and Luke, with varying detail.  Within this healing, as in others, we discover how CHRIST SEES HEALING.  Who does Christ see as healed? Why does Christ heal (physically/spiritually)?

Some people born with no legs consider themselves healthy, and others who break their leg consider themselves broken.  Some suffer long and joyfully and others are miserable for their brief moment in pain.  Before we throw our fists up to the Lord and argue that we have not been healed, now that we admit we are broken, let’s look at the text and see for ourselves, what Christ wishes for us all.

“…he said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”  Now, the Gospel never explains how the paralytic reacted in this instance, but how would you react…knowing that Christ had the power to raise you from your prison on a stretcher, and instead He tells you that your sins are forgiven?  And, what is more, he tells you to HAVE COURAGE, that is, don’t worry anymore, put fear behind you, your sins are gone!

This tells us what is most important to Christ, and at the same time, what it is in life that should actually cause us to seek healing. Like the scribes, perhaps we doubt that our sins can be forgiven. Christ in His tender mercy knows this.  And so he says: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

Healing is essentially FREEDOM FROM FEAR and WORRY through the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness does not mean merely “pardon,” but a release from sins control in our lives, a release from its corrupting influence, and a release from the guilt and shame it incurs.  When our souls are healed of their sin, then - and only then - do we have the strength and the power to rise to our feet. What is more, we have the power to carry what imprisoned us.  As the young man carried his stretcher, our weaknesses and burdens, our sorrows and pains are bearable when our spirits are right with God, healed and restored.

In these very few passages we see what Christ seeks for each one us.  We see that while it is desired to be whole in body, one can be without fear and worry even when the body is broken. This healing action of God is a reflection of the one great mystery that unfolds every moment of the day: He draws us to Himself by the forgiveness of our sins, delivering us from all evil.  We are restored, made whole, and all the Goodness that surrounds us is a reflection of this truth. When we recognize this mystery, we are able to see its action in our dailiy lives. 

Christ heals every moment of every day.