The Deeper Need

Matt 9:2b "Son be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

Here is the scenario: Some people had compassion for a guy who was paralyzed. They probably knew him well. Who knows, it may have been a family member that some in the family thought that Jesus could heal. Anyway, some people had compassion for this guy. As a result, they carried this man on his bed to Jesus. Their expectation (from yesterday) was that Jesus would also have compassion on him and heal him of his paralysis. Interestingly enough, Jesus saw their faith…their expectation, and He did something else. He said: "Son be of good cheer…". Great words. "Be of good cheer." The next thing you would think would come out of this Healer's mouth would be: "Get up and walk." So here are these people, and here is this guy, both expectantly waiting for Jesus to heal him, to say, "Be of good cheer, get off your bed and walk" and Jesus says: "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you." They may have thought: "Hey. Wait a minute. That isn't why we came. We came for healing. We came for restoration. We came for freedom from this bondage." Exactly. Jesus knew why they came and He did something that would bring healing, that would bring restoration, that would bring freedom from bondage…he forgave this guy's sin.

Isn't that like me? I want something so I go to God and I ask. He answers, but He answers in a way that I don't expect. He answers in a way that I don't understand initially. He answers in a way that touches my deeper need, not my perceived need. And that is what happened here. This guy had a deeper need for forgiveness. His main problem was not his paralysis. His main problem was his sin. And Jesus took care of that. (It just so happened that this caused a stir resulting in Jesus confirmation of His deity as well as physical healing for this guy. Jesus knew this was going to happen, too.)

What is my deepest need? My deepest need is my need for forgiveness. My deepest need is my need for restoration. My deepest need is my need for cleansing, and purity, and being right before God. My deepest need was accomplished on the cross. God knew my deepest need and He did something about it. He sent Jesus to live and teach and then die on the cross. He sent Jesus to shed His blood so I could have forgiveness. He sent His only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for my sin so that my deepest need could be met. Thank you Lord, that I am clean in your sight because Jesus said: "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

Now, I think about this world's need. I think about all of the stuff that is going on and our desire to help those who are in Japan and the Middle East and even in our country as we see things go down. Our desire is to provide assistance. To give food and water and money and the basic necessities of life. We should do this…but we need to look deeper. We need to look beyond the perceived need and aim to resolve the deeper need…the need for forgiveness…the need for restoration…the need for salvation. When we give food to people in need (and I think that this is going to happen more frequently in our country in the future) we need to do so with the intent to meet their deeper need…their need for forgiveness through Jesus.

God, keep us focused on the deeper need.