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Healing of the Soul
47
is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” or to say, “Arise and
walk”? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on
earth to forgive sins,’” He said, turning to the paralytic, “‘Arise, take
up your bed, and go to your house.’”
Matthew 9:4-6
.
[36]
Then the paralytic who had been carried on a litter to Jesus rose
to his feet with the agility and strength of youth. And immediately
he “took up the bed, and went out in the presence of all, so that all
were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like
this!’”
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 his heart. He
who at creation “spoke, 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 commanded the paralytic to arise and
walk, “‘that you may know,’” He said, “‘that the Son of Man has
power on earth to forgive sins.’”
Healing for Soul and Body
The paralytic found in Christ healing for both soul and 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. Thousands today who are suffering from physical
disease are, like the paralytic, longing for the message, “Your 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 that He alone
can impart would restore vigor to the mind and health to the body.
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 stepped back to give him room.
With awe-stricken faces they gazed upon him, whispering softly