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The Ministry of Healing
Fixing His glance upon them, beneath which they cowered and
drew back, Jesus said, “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For
whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise,
and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on
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earth to forgive sins,” He said, turning to the paralytic, “Arise, take
up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”
Matthew 9:4-6
.
Then he who had been borne on a litter to Jesus rose to his
feet with the elasticity and strength of youth. And immediately he
“took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they
were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this
fashion.”
Mark 2:12
.
It required nothing less than creative power to restore health to
that decaying body. The same voice that spoke life to man created
from the dust of the earth, had spoken life to the dying paralytic.
And the same power that gave life to the body had renewed the
heart. He who at creation “spake, and it was,” who “commanded,
and it stood fast” (
Psalm 33:9
), had spoken life to the soul dead in
trespasses and sins. The healing of the body was an evidence of the
power that had renewed the heart. Christ bade the paralytic arise and
walk, “that ye may know,” He said, “that the Son of man hath power
on earth to forgive sins.”
The paralytic found in Christ healing for both the soul and the
body. He needed health of soul before he could appreciate health
of body. Before the physical malady could be healed, Christ must
bring relief to the mind, and cleanse the soul from sin. This lesson
should not be overlooked. There are today thousands suffering
from physical disease who, like the paralytic, are longing for the
message, “Thy sins are forgiven.” The burden of sin, with its unrest
and unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They
can find no relief until they come to the Healer of the soul. The
peace which He alone can impart would restore vigor to the mind
and health to the body.
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The effect produced upon the people by the healing of the par-
alytic was as if heaven had opened and revealed the glories of the
better world. As the man who had been cured passed through the
throng, blessing God at every step and bearing his burden as if it
were a feather’s weight, the people fell back to give him room and
with awe-stricken faces gazed upon him, whispering softly among
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