Easier to say

“ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? ”

Talk is cheap. Where are the goods? Put your money where your mouth is. Put up or… We live in a land of big talkers. Sit-coms teach our children how to belittle each other, and their parents, with low humor and tall boasting that is obviously bluff and bluster. Rap and hip-hop turn the art of braggadocio into poetry with a beat laced with obscenity and violence. Around the world Americans have earned a reputation for rudeness and an inability to speak in a civilized, mannerly way. We cheapen language and the gift of speaking by the things we say.

Jesus one day was confronted by the self-appointed religious police when his disciples ate without ritually washing their hands. He exclaimed, “Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man… For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Matthew 15:10-11, 19 It's not food and your digestive tract that turns you into a sinner, but the things that proceed out of your mouth that, coming out of you, pollute your insides. On another day, Jesus commented on the practice of swearing by some sacred object, and He instructed them , “I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Matthew 5:34-37

With big talk we draw attention to ourselves. But claiming huge and impossible things for ourselves, we build a legend that's hard to live up to. We've all heard people literally talking themselves into a corner where there's only further bragging and lying to cover the original claims, or resorting to violence to prove themselves. The tongue can light a forest fire. Our mouths can get us into a lot of trouble.

Today's Gospel is a familiar account of Jesus healing a man lying sick with palsy on a stretcher he can't rise from. His friends lower him through a hole they make in the roof to Jesus who is so surrounded by a crowd it was the only way to get the sick man to Him. Jesus is impressed by their faith, so He stops teaching and responds to the man's deepest need. “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Matthew 9 Was this just tall talk, offensive speech said merely to enhance Jesus' reputation or to provoke an argument? Let's see.

Forgiving another man's sin is talking from a very high place. Shouting accusations at someone claims to have a high position as well, and judging the man comes from even higher up the ladder of relative value. You can't reasonably judge or accuse a man you feel is better than you, only one who is worse or lower on the food chain than you. So some scribes—students of the Law of God—heard Jesus' words of forgiveness and began to murmur He'd committed a spiritual sin . “No one can forgive sins like that, just saying it, like they have the power to release a man from sin. God alone can judge or free us. Who does He think He is?” They hadn't spoken it out loud, fearing no doubt the crowd that surrounded them and the Lord, all people who adored Him. Jesus sensed their attitudes, though, and confronted them. “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”

He is saying to them, “You judge my words in your hearts and believe I am evil for doing this man good. Let me ask you, what is easier for you to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven, or Rise up and walk?'” There are a couple of problems here that Jesus is addressing.

First, the doubt . They are saying nothing happened. Forgiveness is invisible, so there is no evidence the sick man is any better than he was before Jesus forgave him. Is it easy to say something for which there can be no proof or disproof? If you are a counterfeit, yes. Talk and brag and boast and exaggerate—you'll have an audience. If you're false, it is easy to tell someone they are forgiven, or they are a blasphemer, or they are going to heaven or hell. Talk is cheap. What can back it up? Can you prove such a thing? Jesus was confronted by doubt and faithlessness all the time. His claims were incredible, to be sure, and the religious Jews struggled to figure out if He was truly from God, or just another false miracle man. We have the same problem today and our televisions blaze with the holy charismatic preachers and healers that claim to wield the Holy Spirit from their hands. It's reasonable to doubt tall talkers. How can we discern the real item?

Jesus had healed many and spoken only the truth of God. His message was challenging to the prevailing wisdom, however, and this was a new feature to His ministry: the forgiveness of sin . Was it appropriate ? Was it true ? Another problem Jesus faced with this crowd was their pride . They sat over Him in the seat of judgment, making themselves to be better and higher than He was by weighing His actions and words and rendering their opinions. Here was the Son of God being judged by sidewalk attorneys. So He asked them which was easier to say, You are forgiven or Rise up and walk? In other words, Can you do either one? Can you forgive a sin? Can you heal this man of his palsy? Are you in any position to judge me? “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then turning to the man sick of the palsy, He said) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” Mt 9 The man jumped up, fully healed, and grabbed his stretcher, to the amazement of all. Jesus silenced His detractors because He had the goods. The healing of that sick man was proof Jesus could also heal man's real incurable sickness, our fallen state and sinfulness. But how did He do that?

The next problem of Jesus' astounding claim was this: how does forgiveness of sin work? Does God just rubber-stamp the words of any person, “You are forgiven of your sins”? Just say it and it's true? Are we human beings able to just pronounce forgiveness and sin is gone? The complaint was reasonable. How did Jesus Christ obtain forgiveness for your sins and mine? We know the answer. He paid dearly for the right to be able to pronounce it. He wielded a wonderful power that He had every right to bless others with. He shed His blood for it. He gave His life for it, for us.

That's the thing with large claims, and it was a large claim to forgive another man's sins. Jesus could talk big, but He backed it up every time. He backed it up by sacrifice. He gave what only few men have ever given, His life for the sake of all others. Jesus' big talk was always humble—that is, it never exaggerated who He was and what He came to do. It never came from a place of self-importance. In fact, most of the time He referred to Himself as “Son of Man.” Seldom Son of God , or even Me . This third person reference displayed how He was not taking undue honor to Himself, nor seeking personal fame or fortune: He shunned both. He was only telling the truth. And He told it with great humility.

St. Paul would later admonish us: “ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” Ephes. 4:29-32 There it is again, forgiveness. Jesus instructed forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer. He commanded forgiveness in the context of our being perfect like the Father. Can we, mere people, and sinners at that, forgive another person's sins?

Jesus said it: “That you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…” God in heaven can forgive. Can the Son of Man do likewise? Is it too much for a man to do the will of God? The night of Jesus' resurrection, He breathed on His apostles and said, “ Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” John 20:22-23 No one else had the right to confer that power to any man. But Jesus earned the right to do it, and He meant for that forgiveness to flow out from us. Our forgiveness to our neighbor, God's forgiveness of the penitent from His priests.

Our mouths are the embodiment of God's creative power, reflected in our nature, the image and likeness of God. He spoke all the creation into being by the Word of His mouth. Thus, our mouths may be used to create and to destroy. Talk is not cheap. Talk can kill. Talk may also give life. Therefore, watch your words. Follow the good advise of the scriptures. From Job: “My lips certainly will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue mutter deceit.” Job 27:4 King David: “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.” Psalm 37:30 “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3 King Solomon: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly.” Proverbs 15:1-2 “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” Proverbs 15:28 “Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.” Proverbs 25:11 “[There is] A time to be silent, and a time to speak.” Eccles. 3:7 St. James: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.” James 1:26 Or best of all, the words of Jesus Christ, the very Word of God: “For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” Matthew 12:37

Watch what you say. Talk is not cheap. So speak truth in love. And if you can't improve upon silence… don't.

PFH+