Which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Rise up and walk"?

 

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

 

 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"  

 

- Luke 5:12-26 

 

Yesterday we read that, so it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

 

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.   The Orthodox Study Bible explains that leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of the time.  It brought great physical suffering and brought with it total banishment and isolation from society.   It is also a symbol of our sin.  Notice how Christ touched him, which would have made Him ceremonially unclean under the Mosaic Law.  However, Christ touches to heal and cleanse.  To the clean, nothing is unclean (see Titus 1:15). 

 

And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."   It was necessary to receive a certificate from a priest in order to rejoin community.  But my study Bible points out that, according to St. Cyril of Alexandria, Christ gives this command in order to convince the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, and yet Christ heals this leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  However, when Miriam, the sister of Moses, was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and still she was only healed after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).  

 

However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Here we observe Jesus' careful structuring of the process of His ministry.  He remains cautious about His growing notoriety, for a number of reasons, including the scrutiny of the religious leaders which follows in the next verses in our reading for today.  But notice also, as is reported throughout the Gospels, Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness, for prayer and communion with the Father, necessary for guidance as His ministry unfolds.

 

  Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"    My study Bible comments that here, in this healing of the paralyzed man, we are shown that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  We observe that faith is collective as well as personal, for the faith of this paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  In this story can be seen three signs of Christ's divinity.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Additionally, Christ forgives sin, which, as the scribes and Pharisees correctly say, is a power which belongs to God alone.  Finally, Jesus heals by the power of His word.  

 

 The scribes and Pharisees ask, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  These men represent the scripture experts of their time; their great expertise was in identifying the commandments in Scripture.  The Pharisees and scribes are those of whom Jesus taught His disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do" (Matthew 23:1-3).  They are correct in their observation that only God can forgive sins.  Perhaps in the case of Jesus, and the orientation of the Gospel text, we should say that only God can heal sins.  For this is what Jesus does by healing the paralytic and connecting the two.  In the understanding of the Church, sin is considered to be a type of paralysis, for it can be a way in which we are stuck.  A repeated sin drags us down, makes us ill, keeps our soul from healing, and we cannot go forward in God's grace.  This frames the Church as a hospital, an important theological foundation for our understanding and acceptance of salvation.  In Jesus' question, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?" we are given the framework that teaches us that forgiveness of sin and healing are one and the same; they go hand in hand, and both come through the grace of God.  Human beings do not stand still; we are time-based creatures, and therefore any form of paralysis is not simply being stuck in one place, but something that does not allow us to go forward into the positive changes that are possible through time.  This kind of paralysis is progressive; as it continues it saps our strength and distorts perspective.  In effect, it harms our ability to cooperate with grace.  What is very important in this understanding is that Christ conveys sin not as a simple legal matter, but really as a question of healing and wholeness of the person.  That is, the healing of body, soul, and spirit must be considered in a holistic way.  Grace does not work simply with laws and legal thinking; mercy is the balm of grace.  It is in this holistic sense of the person that Christ first forgives the man's sins, and then heals his body, for the soul's paralysis may shape an eternity.  For the Pharisees and scribes, the legalistic understanding of sin is inhibiting their perception of the grace that is coming through Christ; but, of course, it must first be understood that Christ is divine in order to accept this.  In Him, we receive sacraments of mercy and help, rather than a legal formula for sin and correction or punishment.  Let us be grateful for God's love and grace, and the mercy and healing that come through Christ for us.