Visible Miracles and Imperceptible Miracles: Celebrate One, the Other, or Both?
“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?”
Within Matthew 9 (and Mark 2 and Luke 5), Jesus heals a paralyzed man, but not only that, He forgives him of his sins. Two (2) beautiful miracles occurred: the forgiveness of someone’s sins and the healing of their body. While both are awesome, one happens to be more visible and noticeable than the other. You cannot see someone’s sins forgiven, but you can see that they are healed.
We could infer that the forgiveness of this man’s sins was more important because that was done before the healing of his body by Jesus.
“And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.””
Should the focus be more on the healing of the man’s body or the forgiveness by Jesus? If we can be honest, to some people, being forgiven of your sins while still paralyzed seems like a terrible trade-off, but Jesus addressed the man’s biggest problem. As bad as it is to be paralyzed, it is worse to be lost and enslaved to your sin. But we also know that both healing and forgiveness are impossible with man.
“‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’”
Do we find ourselves more prideful with a visible injury or an unnoticeable injury? Do we place more value on a visible miracle or a hidden miracle when we could celebrate both? Do we emphasize the healing of a broken leg more so than forgiving an inattentive parent? Or someone paying for your rent more so than no longer having a broken heart?
Now this is not to downplay one over the other, but we tend to celebrate as a collective what is more visible and noticeable than what is not. Miracles are happening everyday if we only take time to look around us. Some obvious and some not so obvious, but is one better than the other? Do we place value on one more than the other? Why can’t both the seen and unseen be celebrated?
