Lent 2018 Devotional: Day Four

“‘But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—[Jesus] then said to the paralytic— ‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ And he stood up and went to his home.”  —Mt 9:6–7

We must take great care when we interpret the relationship between sin and physical disability in the Bible. Elsewhere, Jesus heals a man born blind, and the disciples ask him who sinned so that the man was born that way. Jesus responds that neither the man nor his parents sinned (John 9:1–3). Here, Jesus does not state a direct link between the man’s paralysis and the forgiveness of his sins. Rather, he cures him as a visible demonstration of his authority on behalf of God. He does this in response to the Pharisees’ claims that he is blaspheming when he forgives the man’s sins (see verse 3). They doubt Jesus’ ability to heal the man through reconciliation with God, an action that is not immediately visible. He shows them otherwise by visibly curing the man, silencing their doubts. It is also significant that Jesus proclaims the man’s forgiveness when he witnesses the faith of the man’s companions (verse 2). We know nothing about the man’s faith; yet his companions have brought him to Jesus in full trust of his abilities.
Some observations about our life in Christ arise from this interaction. First, faith, healing, and forgiveness are not solely individual affairs. They are intertwined in the life of our community, with Jesus Christ at the heart of them all. Second, others may doubt the personal forgiveness and healing we find in Christ, since it lies outside the realm of the material and visible. This is why our Christian witness is so important. When our healing is made visible—not necessarily through a miraculous cure of the body, but through our changed lives and testimony of Christ’s role in that change—others may come to know his healing in their lives as well.
How has the faith of others played a role in your own healing, either spiritual, physical, or both? How have you demonstrated the personal forgiveness and wholeness you have found in Jesus, so that others may see it?

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