One of the things I so love about the Lord is that He is willing to look past the obvious and give us the real need of our heart. You can pray for money and get fulfillment. You can pray for patience and get trials. You can pray for physical healing and get soul healing. That is just what we see happen as Matthew 9 opens.
Jesus steps off a boat to see men bringing Him a paralytic on a mat. Clearly the men brought him so he could be healed and get up and walk. They had probably heard of the healings Jesus had been preforming and had hope for their paralyzed friend.
Jesus looks at this paralyzed man...He knew the deepest fears and failures and concerns of this man's heart and He tells him, "Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven." (v. 2)
His sins are forgiven.
He is still unable to walk, probably a beggar and homeless. But Jesus speaks past the temporal and looks right into the man's truest needs and says "Your sins are forgiven."
Jesus is not one to mince words. He said what He meant and meant it fully. Had the teachers of the law not been standing by as the "holier than thou" peanut gallery, I wonder if the paralytic would have gone home, still on his mat, fully satisfied. Was this what his heart yearned for? Forgiveness.
It was a common thought of the time to consider sickness a direct result of your sin. If you were sick, you had probably sinned. So this guy probably lived beating himself up for his sins constantly. Now there was freedom from those torturous thoughts. Forgiveness.
Jesus spoke right into the truest need of this man's heart. He does the same for you and I.
I have been pondering Mary and Martha the last couple days. In Luke 10, we see Martha bring a request to Jesus and again He speaks right to her truest need. He points out the turmoil in her heart and mind rather than just solve her momentary issue.
Regardless of the circumstances in your life right now, whatever is going on, Jesus wants to speak past the obvious and into the heart of the matter.
Into the place you and I need healing. Into the place where you and I lack most.
Let's let Him uncover the pain and bring the truest healing in the heart of the matter.
2 comments:
So thankful for the eternality of the heart of Jesus! He sees with an eternal perspective.
Great word Mariel! I love the insight about Jesus speaking to the beggar's truest need - to be freed from the bondage of his sin, both spiritually and mentally/emotionally. The freedom he felt... It's awesome to think how God was glorified through that man's life circumstances.
Post a Comment