The Greatest Miracle
Catchy title? If we were in a classroom or forum setting I’m sure we would have a wonderful discussion on the miracles performed by Jesus. We could consider the miracles witnessed by the believers and non believers alike during His mortal ministry. We surely could ponder the miracles of the creation. The assemblage of previously unorganized matter to form the earth, the stars and our solar system. We could contemplate the complexity of the many varied forms of animal and plant life, their ecosystems and in short everything that surrounds us. We could revel in the creation of Adam and Eve.
We could discuss the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us and marvel that his son Jesus Christ, a god in the premortal realms, would descend from his throne on high to rescue and redeem us from the effects of sin.
Surely our discussion would eventually lead us to reflect on our own personal experiences. Private miracles found only in our hearts or recorded on the pages of our journals. The miracle of prayer and answers to sincere heartfelt pleadings. The healing of a sick child. The comfort provided by the Holy Ghost in times of sadness and distress. The inspiration that comes to all mankind through the influence of the light of Christ.
Do we seek after Jesus because of the miracles we’ve heard he can perform? Do we need to see them for ourselves? Is seeing really believing? Do we seek miracles to relieve some physical or emotional pain? To fix a problem? Do we seek miracles to satiate our appetites and desires? Do we seek miracles in hopes that they will bolster our faith? Or do we seek the Savior because of our love for Him and our unwavering faith in Him?
Ask yourself, why do you do the things that you do? Why do you pray or study the scriptures? When you pray, what do you pray for? What is it you desire most from the Lord? Why do you attend church? Is it social, to see your friends? Is it out of habit? Or obligation? What’s in your heart? Why do you partake of the sacrament?
What is it that you most need? What are the deepest desires of your heart? No doubt there are many. So which of your desires is paramount, of the most importance to you, both now and in the eternities? What are your celestial priorities? What is at the top of your list? Is not this the miracle you should seek? And if you obtain it, would this not then be the greatest miracle of all?
To illustrate the relationship between celestial priorities and miracles I would like to share a simple story found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The two accounts are similar with only slight variations. As I describe the scene and the subsequent miracles try to put yourself into the story. To help I’ve taken the liberty of inserting some possible dialogue between the secondary cast of characters. I do this not to entertain, but to instead facilitate likening this scriptural account to ourselves. Which of the characters would you be? Which can you best relate with?
Nestled on the northwestern shore of the sea of Galilee was Capernaum, a thriving commercial center not too far from the main caravan route between Egypt and Damascus. In Jesus’ day it was home to perhaps 15,000 inhabitants. When Jesus was rejected by the people of his own town—Nazareth, for they saw Him only as the ‘son of Joseph’, He went to teach in Capernaum. It was here that Jesus performed more recorded miracles than in any other city.
On this particular occasion Jesus was in a house. Within the house were pharisees and sadducees who had journeyed from Jerusalem to see the miracles, to discredit Him or to somehow prove He was a fraud and a false prophet. Let's listen in on their conversation.
“I’ve heard of his miracles,” a finely dressed man said with disdain as he glanced around the room. “I won’t be so easy fooled as these sheep herders and fishermen.”
“I have a degree in theology and am a master of the law,” boasted a pharisee seated on the front row.
“I won’t believe it until I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” his scholarly colleague a sadducee agreed.
“Yeah,” a nearby balding man nodded, “seeing is believing.”
"C'mon." Another man chided. "You wouldn't believe it even if you saw it."
“It’s getting pretty hot in here,” a publican interrupted attempting to change the subject. “I don’t think this house could fit another person.”
“You think it’s tight in here? You should take a look outside.”
An impatient crowd had gathered. They too were anxious to catch a glimpse of the miracle worker.
“They must be hungry.”
“What? I couldn’t hear you over all of the chatter.”
“I said they must be hungry.” He raised his voice. “Didn’t you hear the rumors that two days ago He fed 5,000 bread and fish?”
“The common folk have come in search of bread, another free meal.”
“When is this going to begin anyways?” The pharisee groused. “I have important things to do, I can’t waste my whole day here. Especially if I’m not going to get to see a real miracle.”
“Something tangible.” The sadducee nodded in agreement. “Something I can see with my own eyes.”
“How about something you could taste?” The publican chuckled. “I’d settle for some bread and fish. Something tangible and taxable.”
Standing nearby were persons from all stations in life. They too had crowded into the house. Each with physical maladies which caused them discomfort, hardship, embarrassment and even ridicule. All had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed. All had something needing to be fixed, all had come to be healed. Was he a prophet like Moses, Elias or Elijah?
If only he would notice my withered arm one woman thought.
A deaf man standing next to her cupped his hand behind his ear, “If only I could hear him speak, that would be enough.”
“How did you become crippled?” A young man leaning on a crutch inquired of an elderly man lying at his feet.
“I was born with my legs twisted. I’ve never been able to stand. What about you?”
“Foolishness,” he said looking down at his lame leg. “I was careless. It’s my own fault for not listening to the wise counsel I was given.”
Each hoped to garner the attention of the master. If only He could see their infirmities, surely He would take pity and have mercy on them. Others reached out their hands grasping at the air, believing that if only they could touch the hem of His robe they would be healed.
Outside the gathering throng of onlookers pressed into the doorway and crowded in front of the windows. Like spectators at a sporting event they jockeyed for position to catch a glimpse of the miracle worker, as if the healing of temporal infirmities was a spectacle to be seen.
“Coming through. Please let us pass,” a man carrying the front end of a stretcher pled. He and his friends had heard that Jesus was in town and had planned to bring their paralyzed friend to be healed.
“Hey! Stop pushing,” a person partially blocking the doorway snarled.
“We were here first,” another objected.
“Ya! Get in the back of the line.”
Several persons inside the house angrily glanced back over their shoulders. “Shhh! Shhh! Jesus is speaking and we can’t hear what He’s saying with all of your noise.”
The men carrying their friend on the stretcher were repelled by the dense throng of onlookers. But they were not about to abandon their friend. Sure they were late. So late that there was no hope of gaining access to the house through the door or windows. Some things had come up, in busy lives they always do. That’s why they were late, not for lack of faith. Not giving up they climbed up onto the roof. It consisted of dried palms fronds woven, tied together and placed over a latticework of wood. A layer of dried mud filled the gaps and was overlaid with tiles.
The men began to remove the tiles and dried mud. Directly below, seated in the front nearest Jesus, were prominent religious leaders, some who had journeyed long distances over dusty roads. Not to be taught by the Savior, but to trap him. Dirt and debris fell from the roof momentarily catching their attention.
“Hey, what’s going on?” The pharisee complained.
“Someone’s making a hole in the roof.” Remarked the sadducee sounding annoyed.
“Can they do that?” The publican questioned indignantly.
“Doesn’t really matter, they’re doing it anyways.”
What was everyone thinking as this spectacle unfolded? What would you be thinking if you were there?
Imagine for a moment that you’re sitting in the sacrament meeting of your family ward. You were on time, even a little early to secure your special pew. You know the seat that you and your family sit in every week, where you’ve sat for years. How distracted do we allow ourselves to become when ‘our’ seat is taken or when someone arrives late and sits right in front of us? How distracted are we when babies cry or people get up and leave during a talk? How do we feel when the perfect silence of the meeting is disrupted and the proverbial roof starts falling in?
Jesus paused and watched as the paralyzed man was lowered to the ground. What do you think was going through the paralyzed man’s mind?
What would be going through your mind if your faithful friends, who through their persistence had managed to bring you, not just to church, but to set you down right in front of Jesus?
Perhaps the paralyzed man was worried that he would be reprimanded on behalf of his friends for their boldness in making a hole in the roof. Was he embarrassed or fearful? Would he be chastised for disrupting the sermon? Perhaps being in the presence of the Savior he was concerned that Jesus would discern his thoughts and intents of his heart. Would Jesus know what he’d done to caused his paralysis? Perhaps these thoughts and other sins he’d committed in his lifetime flashed before his eyes.
What causes your paralysis? Selfishness? Procrastination? Laziness? Hesitation to forsake the things of the world? Reluctance to fully repent? Or do you suffer from the paralyzing effects of the far too common “all is well in Zion syndrome?”
Was there more ailing the bedridden man than physical paralysis? Was there also a spiritual component to his suffering? Which was the greater burden?
Nevertheless, we don’t actually know what the man was thinking, but Jesus did. Knowing that there were pharisees and doctors of the law present Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”
The moment the “show us a miracle crowd” had been waiting for had come and now seemingly past. The paralyzed man still lay in the stretcher.
“Thy sins being forgiven thee?” Several complained. “We came here for a tangible miracle. Not some invisible mumbo jumbo” - okay so probably not that specific phrasing, but you get my point. They wanted to be wowed. To be dazzled. To be blown away with some awesome show of Jesus’ power.
But the need for forgiveness is the real priority, the most important need we all have. The paralyses of the spirit and not the physical body is what must be healed as a prerequisite to our returning to the presence of God. Jesus came into the world first and foremost to redeem us from the consequences of sin. And this redemption He makes available to all who have faith in Him, take His name upon them and repent of their sins.
First things first, the things that matter most. Jesus would heal the paralyzed man of his physical ailment, but only after he’d healed his spiritual being.
What the crowd missed was this, that of all of the miracles performed by the prophets of bygone eras, this was the one miracle that Jesus alone could perform. The power and authority to forgive sin was irrefutable proof that he was God, the God of the old testament, their long awaited Messiah.
Only a God could forgive sins and the religious clergy knew it. This too was the moment they’d been waiting for. In their deliberately shortsighted minds this was blasphemy as so they judged in their hearts.
But before they could speak Jesus perceived their thoughts, just as he had done with the paralyzed man and he said,
“What reason ye in your hearts?
Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.”—Luke 5:22-26
Where are you in this story? Are you in the crowd gathered outside, seeking for more bread and fish to satisfy your hunger, to temporarily alleviate physical discomfort?
Are you like those in the crowd who came only seeking a miracle? Or to watch the personal drama of others unfold?
Are you amongst those true friends who lifted the paralyzed man onto the roof and then carefully placed him at the Savior’s feet?
Are you one of those who humbly gathered in the house to be healed? Is your presence in the house where the Savior is teaching an act of faith? Or are you there for some other reason?
Are you the man paralyzed within by sin and without by physical trials and limitations?
When you come to partake of the sacrament is the healing you’re seeking physical, spiritual or both?
“It would be better to go through our whole lives on our backs, and go to heaven, than to dance through life and go to hell.”
The purpose of Sacrament meeting is to partake of the emblems of the savior's sacrifice, to renew important covenants and to in turn be renewed.
President Harold B. Lee said,
“From what Jesus said at the time he healed the man ‘sick with the palsy,’ it would seem that remittance of sins is the therapy which heals and that the two terms are synonymous . . .
The greatest miracles I see today are not necessarily the healing of sick bodies, but the greatest miracles I see are the healing of sick souls, those who are sick in soul and spirit and are downhearted and distraught, on the verge of nervous breakdowns.” (Lee,Stand Ye in Holy Places, p. 123. Italics added.)
To the unbelievers saying thy sins be forgiven thee was the easy thing, because it wasn’t readily verifiable. And the command to take up thy bed and walk the hard thing, because it would expose the fraudulent person instantly. But in reality to be forgiven of our sins is the hard thing, in fact the hardest thing. For it requires total submission to the will of the Father and the incomprehensible suffering of the Son, Jesus Christ.
The man needed to walk, but he needed to be forgiven first. Jesus didn’t descend below all things to be able to succor His people in their infirmities only to remove each and every trial from us at the moment of our asking. He did not come to fix our problems, our marriages, or our wayward children. He may fix them and he may not. Nevertheless all things will be done according to His will and His timing.
He did come to enable us, through his grace, to patiently withstand our trials and cheerfully bear the burdens of tribulation. Still we struggle, and from time to time we are even compelled to be humble. And when our trials remain, Jesus is our savior and redeemer still.
As you ponder these important principles let us return again to our hypothetical sacrament meeting. The congregation half heartedly sings a less familiar song from the hymnal. After the opening prayer late comers shuffle to their seats. An elderly person coughs, unwraps a lozenge - the crackly sound echos in the chapel. Children squirm and fuss. Parents whisper, trying to teach their children to be reverent. Another piece of plaster falls to the floor. There is dust in the air. It is hot and crowded. Look around you, everyone is in need of healing.
Of course we all come to the Lord with our problems. Some struggle with addictions. For others it’s loneliness, sadness or depression. Still others experience physical and mental ailments. I have no doubt Jesus has the power to heal and make us whole no matter what our wounds, but sometimes blessings sought and answers to heaven sent prayers are delayed. In the due course of this temporal journey our faith is stretched—drawing the taproot of our testimonies deeper and deeper into the parched soil of mortality in search of the Living Water.
If only we could sense the whisperings of the spirit of the Lord during the blessing and passing of the sacrament. I’m confident we would hear from behind us, to the person sitting alone on the back row, the calming reassurance, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” And to the recent widower in the pew in front of us, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” To the struggling teen seated next to us with his head bowed, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” To the young men administering the sacrament, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” Up on the stand, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” All around we would hear, “thy sins be forgiven thee.” To as many as will come with a broken heart, a contrite spirit and having faith in Christ, “thy sins be forgiven thee.”
In due time we learn to trust not only in the Lord but in His timing. And if we are patient and have faith, we will see miracles in our lives. And we will receive that miracle that we are in most need of, the miracle that opens the doors to an eternity of miracles, that greatest of all miracles—the miracle of healing, of cleansing, the miracle of forgiveness.
So what is the Greatest Miracle? I believe it is the Savior's atoning sacrifice. When he bore the sins, sickness, sadness and pains of all mankind. Incomprehensible suffering that caused Him, a god, to bleed as if from every pore. And for me, even more precious to my soul is the priceless miracle within the miracle.
“I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify. …
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!”
The next time you’re partaking of the sacrament close your eyes and listen. See if you too can hear the reassuring voice of Jesus, “Son (daughter), be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Is not this the greatest miracle of all? And it can be yours and mine each and every week if we will but have faith in Jesus Christ, humble ourselves and repent. Then we too can depart to our own homes, glorifying God.