Which would you rather have: a pure heart or a sound body? Jesus Questions us on this matter.
Your Sins Are Forgiven by Ariel Ageman
Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?’ Matthew 9:5.
When my father was taken to the emergency room from a fall, my reaction after knowing the severity of his injury was to call our Pastor and get my Dad last rites. And while I hoped and prayed that Dad would be healed, I knew that his soul was in good Hands.
As I read this section of Matthew 9, it occurs to me that it is much easier to say “Rise and walk” than it is to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” Simply put you have three words versus four. I don’t know any Hebrew or Aramaic….I wonder which is easier in those languages.
So while our Lord tosses this strange, double meaning question at the scribes, scrambling the scribes’ brains a bit, He then heals the paralytic while the scribes are occupied with thinking about His question!
Our Lord had already said with six words at Mt 9:2 “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven, ” when the paralytic’s friends brought him to Christ. There was no verbal request for a healing. Our Lord sees that the paralytic needs something more than just physical healing: forgiveness. We are not told what sins the paralytic is harboring, but for Christ to start with healing the soul of the paralytic first, it must have been obvious to Our Lord. As mentioned earlier, this reminds me of the Sacrament of “Last Rites’ or Extreme Unction, where the Priest hears the patient’s confession and anoints the patient. The immediate need is healing of the soul.
When Our Lord heals the physical malady of the paralytic, He says (at Mt 9:6): “’But that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins’-He then said to the paralytic, ‘Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” Eight words (not counting the preface), and a command.
The end of this passage is also curious, because the people go away glorifying God. God had given such authority to human beings. Again, a double meaning: Is this reference toward the authority to forgive sins, as Christ points out? Or is it to heal the physical paralysis of the paralytic? Or both? Our Lord addresses both the physical and spiritual need of His patient.
So for you and me – if we have a friend who is ill, we want to take her to the 
doctor. And that is good. But how many of us want to also take this friend to The Great Physician to have Him heal her heart and soul as well? Getting a check-up of our souls is just as important. God always forgives the penitent sinner. Confession is good for the soul.
One final thought: I’m more recently reminded of a visiting a friend in the hospital. The tubes and monitors indicated that my friend’s time with us was short. No transfusion, no operation, no transplant would help. He was going to die, and soon. So we gathered the family together. Again, the Priest came in and we prayed. The patient was anointed and prepared for the journey. He did not recover. He, too, will rise from death some day, pick up his stretcher, and go Home. How do I know this? Because the Son of Man, who has authority on earth to forgive sins, commands it to be so.