Lk.5:19,20 – But when they did not find any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”
I wonder what rushed through this man’s head that day when Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven”? This was not what this poor man had on his mind when he was lowered through the ceiling, he wanted strong, functional legs again. He wanted to go back to work, go back to the synagogue, and just get back to living a normal life. Jesus was interested in something in addition to healing paralyzed legs, He was after the paralyzed soul. Sin had crippled this man in more ways than one and that was about to change, “Your sins are forgiven”, those words changed this man’s life. His sins had been justified, covered up, and long forgotten. Jesus wasn’t having it, He was going right for the source of the problem; to Him forgiveness and healing were one and the same. Here is how the NCCS describes this.
“The bottom line is that the man needs both physical and spiritual healing. The connection between the two forms of restoration is drawn in Jesus’ challenge to his opponents. At first glance, Jesus’ question is unanswerable: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk?’”. Being forgiven by God is more important than being healed, yet it seems easier to pronounce forgiveness than to make a lame man walk. Whether the man is truly forgiven or not cannot be proven, but the effectiveness of a miracle is immediately apparent. Ultimately, forgiveness and physical healing are two sides of the same coin. If the paralytic walks, it confirms that God has empowered Jesus’ healing and has also forgiven the man. If the man remains paralyzed, his sins remain and Jesus is exposed as a blasphemous charlatan. One does not happen without the other.”
The old time Pentecostals used to call this the double cure. Forgiveness and healing were both secured by the blood that Jesus poured out on the cross. He carried away our sins as well as our diseases and by His wounds we are healed. The good news is that this paralyzed man got even more than he was looking for, not only were His paralyzed legs healed but His paralyzed soul was healed as well.
