Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 'Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.'
  But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, "That's blasphemy! Does he think he's God?"
  Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? Is it easier to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or 'Stand up and walk'? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"
  And the man jumped up and went home! Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for sending a man with such great authority."–Matthew 9:1-8 (NLT)

This passage from the Gospel of Matthew fascinates me. Before Jesus heals the paralyzed man, he declares the man's sins are forgiven.

The usual interpretation is that Jesus said this to make a point that he is God. Only God can forgive sins. No doubt that is the point, but I think there's something else here that can be missed. The man's deepest need was forgiveness of sins. Jesus seems to indicate that this was the source of the man's physical issue of paralysis. Until this source issue was addressed, the man would not be healed.

Though Scripture says over and over that spiritual reality is the source of physical reality, most people don't really accept this. Yet as Dr. Alex Loyd shows in his book, The Healing Code, the best scientific minds are now discovering that indeed, the unseen world is the source of what is seen. He says our physical issues have a nonphysical root, the issues of the heart. And unforgiveness is one of the key inhibitors to healing any issue, physical or emotional.

Jesus mentioned forgiveness both because it was the paralytic’s root issue, and also Read More→