This morning's Bible passage was Matthew 9: 1-8, the story of healing the paralytic man:
"Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man."
I wondered why Jesus didn't heal the man just as soon as he forgave his sins? Wasn't that the whole point as to why his friends brought the paralyzed man to Jesus in the first place? We're told that Jesus capitulated because of the teachers of the law, but in doing so, He seems a little peeved about finally healing the man, like "Fine. You don't believe me? Well, here you go." Seems. Hold that thought.
As I pondered this, a few light bulbs started going off. First, the paralyzed man is typically regarded as the protagonist in the story, but what about the FRIENDS of the man? They are the ones who initiated the whole process. I can imagine them standing around their paralyzed friend and saying, "Hey, I know a guy. . .I've heard about Him and what He has been doing. I KNOW He can fix this." The paralyzed man, having nothing to lose, but really no skin in the game - no faith, let himself be brought to this "guy."
Jesus's initial decision was to forgive the man's sins. He obviously COULD have healed the man right away, but He CHOSE not to. Why? Well, as we know (and for some of us - me), it takes multiple passes to underscore the fact that Jesus does nothing other than what is of benefit to His plan - both for our lives, the lives of others, and the world. He didn't heal first because it just wasn't the right time or action for His plan. Of course, this leads to the question of why. Why would it have been so bad to just heal the guy right away as soon as his sins were forgiven?
Obviously, only Jesus knows that answer, but again, I started letting my mind wander about the scenario. The conclusion I come to is that healing the man before he was ready could have either been a "left turn" in God's Plan, or in the very least, a throwaway. To explain, if only the man's physical life, and not his heart, was changed, then the action was futile. Yeah, he was able to walk, but for what purpose? For his own benefit, or for God's. A physical healing so monumental, so life-changing, had to be accompanied by an internal change.
Then, I read Oswald next, and his opening line was "We imagine we would be all right if a big crisis arose; but the big crisis will only reveal the stuff we are made of, it will not put anything into us. "If God gives the call, of course, I will rise to the occasion." You will not unless you have risen to the occasion in the workshop, unless you have been the real thing before God there. If you are not doing the thing that lies nearest, because God has engineer it, when the crisis comes instead of being revealed as fit, you will be revealed as unfit. Crises always reveal character."
Suffering sucks. It doesn't matter what kind it is: Physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, all of the above. It sucks more than anything in the world, and yet, wise people know that suffering is the sweet spot of growth.
Today's devotion in Streams in the Desert affirms this idea by stating: "There is a mysterious power in suffering, something beyond human understanding. Every truly great and holy life has gone through deep pain. When a suffering soul reaches a place of calm acceptance—when it can quietly smile at its pain and no longer even ask God to take it away—then suffering has done its sacred work.
In this perfection of suffering, the Holy Spirit works many wonders within us. The whole person becomes still under God’s hand. The mind, heart, and will are finally surrendered. A deep quietness settles over the soul. Words grow fewer, questions fade, and the cry of 'Why have You forsaken me?' falls silent."
Suffering is often unfair, undeserved, and seems unendurable. And yet, even though it's a controversial, unsavory idea, believers know that suffering is necessary to grow faith. "The imagination no longer chases empty dreams. Reason becomes gentle and humble. Choices no longer matter except for following God’s will. The heart grows free from its attachments to things and people. In this place, nothing can harm, offend, or stop it. No matter the circumstances—good or bad—it seeks only God and His purpose, fully trusting that He is working everything together for good" (Streams in the Desert).
Therefore, in my way of thinking, the paralyzed man must not have spent enough time in the "workshop." Even so, Jesus healed him anyway. As Chambers explained, "If you have not been worshipping [spending time in prayer, reading the Bible, etc], as occasion serves, when you get into the work, you will not only be useless yourself, but a tremendous hindrance to those who are associated with you." In other words, too soon can be detrimental.
With God, there is no "too soon." There is "right on time." The point being, the focus of the passage in Matthew was the friends, the focus was on the paralyzed man who walked, the focus was on the people who were there, and it was about the teachers of the law. Nothing was an accident, and I believe whatever perceived "drama" wasn't drama at all; Jesus was being intentionally direct. Jesus timed it all perfectly and ended up playing the situation four different ways. Genius.
Knowing all that, it's hard to believe that I - anyone- could doubt Him. His Plan is perfect. His timing is perfect. His intentions for my life are perfect. All He asks from me is my faith, my trust, and my willingness to say, "Hey, I know a guy. . ."
No comments:
Post a Comment