When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."
Upon seeing Jesus, the paralytic probably is hoping for something else. If he knows Jesus by reputation he's probably hoping for a physical healing. He probably thinks that will make more difference in his life than anything. But this is not the first priority for Jesus. Jesus cares more about this man's soul. He knows that the fear that oppresses him does not stem from his physical paralysis so much as his inability to do good and avoid sin. It is a paralysis that all mankind apart from God experiences. The courage that comes from forgiveness is a deeper courage than the courage that comes from good health. It is a knowledge that there is nothing here below that can truly hurt us. It is a firm hope of salvation.
Blessings come to us when we put God before anything else, even before the greatest of other goods.
Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering
on a height that I will point out to you."
It isn't that God doesn't care about the health of the paralytic. It isn't that he doesn't care about Abraham's son Isaac. But God knows that if Abraham and the paralytic make him first in their hearts that will fulfill them more than anything else can. They are, like all of us, made for him. When we seek God first we find that we receive everything else besides (see Matthew 6:33).
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins"–
he then said to the paralytic,
"Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
When we are willing to sacrifice even the greatest goods God gives us, to surrender them back into his hands, and to use them according to his purposes and not our own, we experience the blessings he desires for us.
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing--all this because you obeyed my command."
So let us learn to place God first. We have such trouble believing that he won't leave us high and dry, let alone fulfilled. But only if he reigns in our hearts can we ever know lasting peace and true joy.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name give glory
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