Word of Salvation – Vol. 27 No. 42 – July 1982
Which Is Easier – To Forgive Or To Heal?
Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on Mark2:9
Scripture Readings: James 5; Mark 2:1-12
Psalter Hymnal: 162:1,2; 96:1,3,4; 201:1,2; 313:1
Introd: Every so often the world sits up and takes notice of Christianity.
Especially when it is claimed that a real miracle has taken place.
And then particularly when it’s a miracle of healing.
Every so often reports are heard of some amazing things.
Faith healers have been interviewed on current affairs programs.
There is the ongoing popularity of Lourdes.
Many Christian groups today run special meetings for healing.
Sadly, the emphasis in all this is usually on the sensational.
It is not Jesus but it’s the miracle that is often central.
And the gospel…? Often that doesn’t even come into it.
In our reading from James we also had some verses that deal with healing.
Healing in response to prayer (5:14).
“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church
to pray over him and to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.”
That raises the whole matter of ‘faith healing’.
And it opens up the subject of miracles.
Times when doctors give up all hope…
and yet, amazingly, there is healing.
Healing that has come in response to prayer.
But before we come to study those verses in James
I want to examine some other aspects of healing.
We must keep healing and especially miraculous healing in proper perspective.
I want to do that especially because some don’t keep this subject in balance.
There is a radical fringe in Christianity that puts an unhealthy emphasis on healing.
Therefore we want to open up the perspective that comes from our text.
That there are some things far more important than physical health.
A] THE PRIORITY OF FORGIVENESS.
1. The story of the paralysed man is familiar to most of us.
Some men bring a close friend, who is paralysed, to Jesus.
Four of them carry him but they can’t get to Jesus.
So they climb up on the roof and break through the ceiling.
Then they lower their friend down to Jesus.
And Jesus heals the man – another great miracle takes place.
But what I want you to notice is that Jesus does not immediately heal.
Before Jesus heals He makes a statement about forgiveness.
Verse 5:
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
We have a number of recorded instances of Jesus healing people.
And Jesus did NOT always talk about forgiveness with those He healed.
But He does here with this man. Why?
Obviously Jesus knew this man had not yet found forgiveness.
But if that was all there was to it why didn’t Jesus deal with that later?
Maybe the man would have been more receptive to hearing that afterwards.
And after all his friends didn’t bring him to Jesus to find forgiveness.
Why does Jesus speak of forgiveness and why deal with that first?
2. Some suggest that it’s because this man’s illness was ‘psycho-somatic’.
A psychosomatic illness is sickness with no real physical causes.
Rather the pain or problem is caused by mental and emotional problems.
This man, we’re told, was paralysed by a load of guilt.
The distress in his mind had a crippling effect on his body.
We would have to agree that this often happens.
The burden of unconfessed sin can have bodily effects.
Many who go to a doctor ought to go to a Christian counsellor.
What they need for their problem is not some new wonder drug.
What they need most is to have a clear conscience before God.
If you want a vivid description of psychosomatic problems read Psalm 32.
David says that as long as his guilt was unconfessed his body wasted away.
Job’s friends somewhere suggested that this was Job’s problem.
If only he would confess his sin he would be cured of his disease.
John Calvin believed that this was the problem with this man.
Unconfessed sin had crippled him… not only spiritually but physically.
Yet I have some problems with that.
First of all the text doesn’t say his disease was because of his guilt.
Neither did Jesus specifically lead this man to make a confession.
Nor did Jesus say as He said to some others: – Go and sin no more!
So we need to be cautious about saying this man was sick because of his sin.
It could be – but we don’t have enough information to be certain.
3. I believe there are two important reasons
why Jesus deals with the man this way.
Two reasons why He speaks to the man about forgiveness…
And why He deals with that before healing his broken body.
The first reason is because Jesus wants to teach something about Himself.
He does it to teach people who He is.
We’ll come back to that in a moment.
The other reason is to make clear to this man an important principle.
That no matter how desperately he needs healing
he needs something else even more.
There is something more important than healing… and that is forgiveness.
That is an important point we need to keep in mind.
Bodily health is very important.
We realize that especially when it is taken away from us.
But bodily health is not the be all and end all of our existence.
The inevitable moment comes when the body dies and is laid in a grave.
We ought to remember that every time we visit the doctor.
We need to remember that when we pray for healing.
We will also need to remember that when we get to James 5.
There is something more important than physical healing.
A miraculous healing can become pretty exciting stuff.
A confirmed miracle… and even the newspapers take notice.
But there is a more important miracle… in fact, a far greater miracle.
…The miracle that a man or woman can be made right with God again.
…The miracle that our sin and guilt can be dealt with.
Unfortunately the newspapers won’t tell you about that miracle.
And sadly in some Christian healing meetings that gets overshadowed.
In a sense we can say there are two levels of healing here.
There is healing at the physical level.
But there is also healing at a much higher level… spiritually.
And in fact the physical healing was only temporary anyway.
Some years later this healed paralytic man died.
And so does everyone else who has made an amazing recovery.
Spiritual healing is forever.
More important than bodily health and healing is our spiritual well-being.
And you especially need to ask whether you have received that.
Are you convinced that Jesus has forgiven you?
If you trust in Jesus then Jesus says to you: Your sins are forgiven.
And those aren’t just empty words.
Behind that lies all the power and love of Jesus
and of His death and resurrection.
————————
(If it is the Sunday before the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated…..
( And next Sunday we may be reminded of that again in a very special way.
( The great miracle of forgiveness…
( The miracle of the healing of our relationship with God…
( as we remember the sacrificial death of Jesus at the Lord’s Table.)
————————
B] THE PRIORITY OF THE KINGDOM.
1. I said before that there was another reason
why Jesus dealt with forgiveness first.
That was to teach something about Himself… who He is.
That He is not just some clever miracle worker… but the very Son of God.
There were some very clever scholars standing there as observers.
Fellows with Phd’s behind their names… professors of theology.
And they made some very perceptive comments. They said:
“No one can forgive sin except God alone.
Who does this fellow think He is? This is blasphemy.”
Those people did not believe Jesus was truly God.
They did not believe Jesus really could forgive.
After all it’s all very well to say those words.
You could say them… I could say them… Your sins are forgiven!
But I couldn’t really guarantee that they would be forgiven.
When Jesus says those words, how can we know for sure?
You can’t tell that it really works just by looking at someone.
When Jesus assures you of forgiveness how can you have confidence…?
It is to deal with this that Jesus asks a question:
Which is easier: to say to someone, ‘Your sins are forgiven’…
or to say to an invalid, ‘Get up on your feet and go home’?
Which is easier: to do a miracle of forgiveness…
or to do a miracle of healing?
Which is easier? And then those bystanders have to admit it.
As far as they are concerned both of these are equally impossible.
They can talk about forgiving sin but they can’t cleanse a conscience.
They can talk about health but they can’t un-paralyse a body.
Jesus can do both.
So He proves the reality of the first miracle by the second one.
The first miracle – the miracle of forgiveness – is one they can’t see.
The second one is a very, very visible miracle.
Jesus said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
And he did! And they all saw it!
The gospel writer is very clear about that.
He got up, took his mat and walked out, in full view of them all.
If the local news team had been there
they could have recorded it for the 6.00 news.
There is no doubt about that second miracle of healing.
They could all see it as clear as day.
And because of that there is no doubt about the miracle they couldn’t see.
Jesus proves the first miracle by means of the second.
Which miracle is easier? Jesus can do both, because He is God.
2. That brings us to the important point Jesus wants to teach.
Yes, it’s to prove that He is God.
When He says, ‘You are forgiven’, then it is not blasphemy.
The miracle of restored health proves it.
Jesus is indeed whom He claims to be… Son of God.
However we can go further.
John, in his gospel, calls the miracles of Jesus, ‘signs’.
They are like neon light advertising signs that say,
“Look… this is the Messiah. Here is the King of the Kingdom of heaven.”
Let’s read two other N.T. passages that speak this way about Jesus’ miracles.
Both of them show that these works of healing are indeed signs.
<<< READ Acts 2:22 >>>
<<< READ Hebrews 2:4 >>>
IOW the Bible isn’t interested in these miracles just for some excitement.
It doesn’t highlight Jesus’ power to heal just for its own sake.
If we are interested only in the miraculous…
or if we’re praying for a miracle just to solve an illness
then we fail to do justice to the totality of the work of Christ.
His miracles were always to show that He was indeed Lord and King.
It was so that glory and praise might be given to God.
And that is certainly what happened here in this text.
Mark concludes: “This amazed everyone and (what did they do?) they praised God.”
All the emphasis needs to fall on Jesus.
And on His Kingdom and on His plans and His purposes.
More important than healing is forgiveness.
And ultimately even that is but to serve the glory and praise of God.
We’re going to tackle James 5 and talk about praying for the sick.
That’s still a relevant text for our day and age.
And we have discovered it repeatedly in the Christian community.
God does heal in answer to our prayer.
Sure – more often perhaps through medicine and work of doctors & nurses.
But healing ought to lead us always see the glory of Jesus… to worship Him.
3. Am I suggesting then that Jesus didn’t care for broken bodies?
Or that He is unmoved by our pain and our suffering?
That Jesus is really only interested in using this as a teaching exercise?
Not at all. The love and compassion of Jesus come out very clearly.
But there were also many in those days whom the Lord didn’t heal.
And even these healed people
later all succumbed to other diseases and death.
There is a higher priority than healing.
A higher priority even than the miracle of forgiveness.
And that is the glory of Jesus and His Kingdom.
In fact there are times when for the sake of the Kingdom God does not heal.
Paul’s thorn in the flesh is a case in point.
When we think of that we discover one other perspective.
In Matthew 8:17 we read of the healing work of Jesus.
And the writer states that it was to fulfil the words of the prophet:
“He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases”.
Often people quote those words to prove we can be healed here and now.
Some even say that on the basis of this we ought to claim our healing.
And that if you don’t then the problem lies with your faith.
Those words from Matthew 8:17 remind us Jesus not only died for our sins.
He also came to save us from the results of our sins.
And in a way that is made wonderfully clear in our text.
Jesus forgives… He opens the way back to God.
But then Jesus also takes away the brokenness sin has caused.
That’s what the Kingdom of Jesus is all about.
I don’t have the slightest doubt about it.
Jesus will heal us of all our sicknesses, pains and diseases.
The question is not WHETHER Jesus will do that or not.
The only question is WHEN Jesus will do that.
And that’s a question we sometimes forget
when we pray earnestly for healing.
For this man in our story Jesus did it there and then – in a miraculous way.
For some today the Lord may still undoubtedly do that still.
Healed in a way doctors can’t explain – a sign that Jesus is still in control.
A reminder that the Kingdom has indeed come in forgiveness and in power.
For others though it will be a slow process of recuperation.
Slowly over weeks and months there is gradual improvement.
The Lord is doing it through medication, or surgery, or just time.
But for still others there will be no more healing.
And for this man that time also came.
Maybe not for a long time… maybe he lived to a ripe old age.
But inevitably life in a broken world took its toll.
He may have suffered gout… or arthritis… till one day it was all over.
That happens too with people who attend healing meetings.
At best our healing here is only temporary.
But Jesus does heal… and then totally and completely.
On the day when His Kingdom comes in perfection.
But you will enjoy that life of health and wholeness forever
only if you know that miracle that is greater than healing…
the miracle of sins forgiven thru the saving work of Jesus.
Amen
Prayer:
Dear Father, we pray for all those today who must suffer; those in hospitals and in institutions. But we pray especially for all those around us who suffer the brokenness of a shattered relationship with you.
Help them to look to Jesus, your Son, not just as a the healer of broken bodies but as the One through we may be restored to you again.
Amen.