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I Need It!
I need it! You probably said those words at one point or another. When I was younger, I said those words a lot.
Matthew 9:2
I need it! You probably said those words at one point or another. When I was younger, I said those words a lot. For example, when we’d be at the grocery store and I’d see that new snack on the shelf. “Hey, mom, I need it.” Or there’d be that toy on the television commercial, “dad, I need it.” Or really, anytime someone had something that I didn’t. I need it.
There are many things that we need. Or at least we think we need. But what do we need the most? In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about a person who had a need, a much greater need than any snack or toy. In chapter nine, Matthew writes about a paralyzed man who couldn’t walk and a group of people who carried this man to Jesus to be healed. This man had a legitimate need. He couldn’t walk, and the people knew that Jesus was the one who could satisfy this need and heal him. When the people bring this man before Jesus, Jesus doesn’t do what we might expect. Matthew tells us that Jesus saw the faith of these people.
And then he said to the paralyzed man, take heart, your sins are forgiven. (Matthew 9:2)
Jesus didn’t deny this man’s need to be able to walk, but rather recognize the man’s greater need, the need to receive forgiveness for his sins. This was the need that Jesus came into the world for. Jesus came to live that perfect life free from sin that you and me were meant to live. He laid his life down on the cross as the payment for sins, and then rose from the dead so that we could be made right with God. Jesus loved this man, and he wanted him to know that this need, his greatest need, had already been met. His sin had been paid for and forgiven.
But then Jesus did something else. Jesus didn’t just forgive this man’s sin and then leave him there how he was. After forgiving his sin, Jesus told the man to get up and walk and he healed his legs. You see, Jesus first meets our primary need by forgiving our sins, but then he also desires to meet our secondary needs as well. Like the paralyzed man. When you have a need, whatever that may be, you can bring it to Jesus, knowing that he has the power to meet that need. And he might or he might not, because what we think we need isn’t always what we actually need.
The truth is, we don’t know everything that we need in this world. But Jesus does. Jesus loved that paralyzed man and he loves you. You can be certain that Jesus will meet all those needs that he knows you have. You can be certain that he has already met your greatest need. Take heart. Your sins are forgiven. Amen.
