“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat, and walk’?”
This is Christ’s question to the skeptical scribes who doubt Him after He forgives the sins of the paralyzed man. He challenges their doubt by not only forgiving the paralyzed man’s sins but also healing the man’s body. In doing so, He reveals to His onlookers, believers and skeptics alike, that He has authority over body and soul, the kind of authority that belongs to God alone. Only the Author of Life can fully heal physical and spiritual illness.
Yet Christ’s healing here isn’t just about His divine authority. It also reveals His deep love for us, His desire for us to know the deadly consequences of sin and the salvific power of His grace. This, and all His miracles of healing, are meant to show His followers, including us, two incredibly important truths.
The first is the debilitating nature of sin. Christ’s earthly ministry often involved healing the sick and afflicted. But more importantly than that, He forgave sins, and He ultimately died for our sins. His death and Resurrection are proof of the tragic cost of sin, the ultimate cost. Yet His suffering is also what has freed us from the chains of sin and its eternal punishment, death.
In today’s Gospel, Christ forgives the paralytic man’s sins even before healing his body, revealing to us that sickness of the soul is serious, far more serious than even a lifelong physical disability. Modern medicine might heal some ailments, but it can’t erase sin or prevent death. God’s forgiveness can. He sent His Son to become Man, to tell us and show us through His death and Resurrection that His Love restores us completely. He is the great Healer, not only of the body, but more importantly, of the soul.
This is the second truth, greater even than the first: Christ loves us to the point of wholeness. He is Love and Life Itself. His love is torrential; it completely wipes out not only our sins, but even the physical consequences of sin, like suffering, and death without resurrection. He loves us back to life again.
Christ’s greatest gift to us, the truth about His life and death and Resurrection, is that His love is infinitely more powerful than even sin and death. He is the Healer and the Life-giver. He restores us and makes us new – not just “fine,” or “back to normal,” but new. He can create good out of nothing. His love can restore us wholly from the ravages of sin.
Your forgiveness has already been earned. All He asks is that you receive it from Him. Do we have the same humility, the same faith as the paralyzed man? Are we also willing to break through walls to ask Christ for His healing love? How desperately do you want to be made new? He wants it even more than that. Trust in Him!
“¿Qué es más fácil, decirle al paralítico: ‘Tus pecados te son perdonados’ o decirle: ‘Levántate, recoge tu camilla y vete a tu casa’?”
Esta es la pregunta de Cristo a los escribas escépticos que dudaban de Él después de perdonar los pecados del paralítico. Él desafía sus dudas no sólo perdonando los pecados del paralítico, sino también sanando su cuerpo. Al hacerlo, revela a quienes lo observaban, creyentes y escépticos por igual, que Él tiene autoridad sobre el cuerpo y el alma, la clase de autoridad que solo le pertenece a Dios. Solo el Autor de la Vida puede sanar completamente la enfermedad física y espiritual.
Sin embargo, el hecho de que Cristo sana no se trata solo de su autoridad divina. También revela su profundo amor por nosotros, su deseo de que conozcamos las consecuencias mortales del pecado y el poder salvífico de su gracia. Esto, y todos sus milagros de sanación, tienen el propósito de mostrar a sus seguidores, incluyéndonos a nosotros, dos verdades increíblemente importantes.
La primera es la naturaleza debilitante del pecado. El ministerio terrenal de Cristo a menudo implicó sanar a los enfermos y afligidos. Pero aún más importante, perdonó los pecados y, finalmente, murió por los nuestros. Su muerte y resurrección son prueba del trágico costo del pecado, el costo máximo. Sin embargo, su sufrimiento es también lo que nos ha liberado de las cadenas del pecado y de su castigo eterno: la muerte.
En el Evangelio de hoy, Cristo perdona los pecados del paralítico incluso antes de sanar su cuerpo, revelándonos que la enfermedad del alma es grave, mucho más grave que una discapacidad física de por vida. La medicina moderna puede curar algunas dolencias, pero no puede borrar el pecado ni evitar la muerte. El perdón de Dios sí puede. Envió a su Hijo a hacerse hombre, para decirnos y mostrarnos mediante su muerte y resurrección que su amor nos restaura por completo. Es el gran Sanador, no solo del cuerpo, sino, aún más importante, del alma.
Esta es la segunda verdad, mayor aún que la primera: Cristo nos ama hasta la plenitud. Él es Amor y Vida Misma. Su amor es torrencial; borra por completo no solo nuestros pecados, sino incluso las consecuencias físicas del pecado, como el sufrimiento y la muerte sin resurrección. Nos devuelve la vida con su amor.
El mayor regalo de Cristo para nosotros, la verdad sobre su vida, muerte y resurrección, es que su amor es infinitamente más poderoso que incluso el pecado y la muerte. Él es el Sanador y el Dador de Vida. Él nos restaura y nos hace nuevos; no solo “más o menos” o “normales de nuevo”, sino nuevos. Él puede crear algo bueno de la nada. Su amor puede restaurarnos completamente de los estragos del pecado.
Tu perdón ya se ha ganado. Solo te pide que lo recibas de Él. ¿Tenemos la misma humildad, la misma fe que el paralítico? ¿Estamos dispuestos a derribar muros para pedirle a Cristo su amor sanador? ¿Cuánto deseas ser renovado? Él lo desea aún más. ¡Confía en Él!
Hailing from Nashville, Catherine is a graduate of Christendom College with a lifelong passion for words. Her love of writing and her Catholic Faith continue to shape her as a freelance editor, copywriter, and (aspiring) novelist, where she pursues her passions for the love and greater glory of God.
Feature Image Credit: Luis Ruiz, pexels.com/photo/person-stand-on-sand-1774929/
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