Having just got back from Poland, I am well aware of the many Polish words that are difficult to pronounce. But when it comes to pronunciation, the name of the Welsh town, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch must surely rank as one of the most difficult words to say.
But what do you think is the hardest word to mean?
For Elton John it seemed to be ‘sorry’, and his suggestion is certainly a strong one given how, when we do manage to force that word of apology out of our mouth, more often than not it is accompanied by a ‘but’ of self-justification, or an ‘if’ that implies oversensitivity on the part of the one we are reluctantly conceding we may have hurt.
But as for me, I’m inclined to disagree with the aforementioned bespectacled pianist because, like Jesus, I believe there are some things that are even more difficult to say.
I’m thinking here of the conversation Jesus had with some scribes in Matthew 9:1-8. Four men had brought their friend to Jesus and had gone to some considerable trouble to do so. Because the room where Jesus was preaching was so crowded, they lowered their paralysed companion through a hole they’d made in its roof.
And then, having seen his friend’s faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven.’ [Matthew 9:2]
Now when the scribes heard Jesus say this, they were shocked. They knew that only God could forgive sins and, understandably enough, considered Jesus to be blaspheming by speaking in a way that only the Almighty can.
And it was then that Jesus, aware of what they were thinking, asked the scribes a question that wasn’t dissimilar to the one that we have been considering above.
‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?’, he said to them, ‘For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [Matthew 9:4-5]
Perhaps then Elton John was at least in the right ball park when he suggested that ‘sorry’ was the hardest word – because here Jesus is talking about how difficult it is to pronounce forgiveness.
But before we rush on to a conclusion, let’s consider what Jesus is saying here more closely. And let’s try and answer his question ourselves since, having asked it of the scribes, Jesus didn’t give them a chance to answer it themselves.
At first glance it may seem easier for Jesus to say to the man that his sins have been forgiven because, in so doing, he’d not be required to provide any visible evidence to back his words up. This would have been in stark contrast to telling the paralytic to pick up his bed and walk which, had the man remained lame, would risk exposing Jesus to public humiliation. In that sense, at least, to say ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’, would be the harder thing for Jesus to say.
But for Jesus to mean it when he said that the man’s sins were forgiven, it would subsequently require him to suffer and die in the place of the paralytic. He would have to take on himself the punishment the disabled man deserved for all the wrong things he had ever done. So in that sense, because of the greater sacrifice required, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ would have been the far harder thing for Jesus to say.
We are left then with a dilemma – one that Jesus’ next words help us to resolve. This is what he said.
‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ [Matthew 9:6]
First of all, let me be clear about what is the most important thing to appreciate about what is going on here. Jesus is responding to the scribes questioning his authority to forgive sins. They rightly understand that only God can do such a thing and so, by miraculously healing the paralytic, Jesus is proving to them that he was God in human form.
But because of the way Jesus phrases his statement, it seems to me that, whilst not more difficult for Jesus to bring about, the man’s healing is of huge significance as well, demonstrating as it does something more about what Jesus would achieve through his death on the cross.
Let me explain. If I wanted to prove to you that I could do something difficult, I wouldn’t provide you with evidence of something that was easier for me to do. On the contrary, I would provide evidence of my ability to do something far harder. So, for example, I wouldn’t prove my ability to calculate the area of a triangle, by reciting the two times table but, to prove my ability to perform differential calculus, I might present you with my A’ level maths certificate.
In the same way therefore, in order to prove his authority to forgive sins, Jesus chooses to do something that is both visible and verifiable too which, at the same time, demonstrates his ability to do something beyond even the forgiveness of sins.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that healing the paralysed man was more difficult than forgiving his sins. On the contrary, nothing has ever been done that was more difficult than what Jesus did by his substitutionary death on the cross. Even so, the healing of the man, offers us an even fuller picture of what was actually achieved there.
Because the forgiveness that Jesus secures for us is just the beginning of the fuller restoration that he will one day bring about. That is to say, our eternal healing is not just spiritual – it is emotional and physical too.
As such, not only is the healing of the paralytic proof that Jesus really can deal with our sin, it also anticipates the consummation that will surely come about as a result of that forgiveness.
The Kingdom of God is something that Matthew was particularly concerned about when he wrote his gospel. And here we are given a picture of what that Kingdom will be like – a kingdom that is both ‘already’ present and ‘not yet’ complete.
When Jesus first walked the earth, he performed signs that showed how his kingdom was breaking into the world that, up until then, had been under the rule of a more malign dictator. And, at the same time, he gave us a foretaste of what his eternal rule will look like when he returns to Earth and his Kingdom comes in all its fullness.
Because the fulfilment of our forgiveness is more than freedom from guilt and shame – rather it culminates in everlasting life, lived in perfect resurrection bodies, in a world that is absolutely without blemish.
Which is good news for those who are currently finding life hard – for it is the assurance that all their suffering will one day come to an end. And it’s good news too for those who, growing old, are now approaching death – for it is the assurance that one day we all will be resurrected to enjoy eternity in glorified bodies.
So then, when it comes to which of the two things were harder for Jesus to say, rather than either/or, it’s both/and.
For whilst it was indeed difficult for Jesus to forgive his sins, by healing the paralytic Jesus shows that, as God, he not only has the authority to do so, but the power to bring about something even more wonderful – by demonstrating what our forgiveness will ultimately lead to.
What then is the hardest word to say? For us perhaps it is ‘sorry,. But for Jesus, to forgive our sins, was infinitely more difficult, and immeasurably more costly.
But he did it just the same.
And so, just as it was for the paralysed man so it will be for us. Just as his healing flowed from the forgiveness that he received, so too will ours. Jesus does more than simply forgive us. For by his death and subsequent resurrection he has also guaranteed our future – one in which we will not only be sinless, but wholly healthy too.
For there is a day coming when ‘the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise.’ [1 Thessalonians 4:16]
Related blogs:
To read ‘The Already and Not Yet’, click here
To read “Hope comes from believing the promises of God”, click here
To read ‘Faith and Doubt’, click here
To read ‘Looking back to move confidently forward’, click here
To read ‘All’s well that ends well’, click here
To read ‘When Bad Things Happen’, click here
To read ‘Luther and the War in Ukraine – on becoming a theologian of the cross’, click here
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
To read ‘T.S. Eliot, Jesus and the Paradox of the Christian Life’, click here
To read “Suffering- A Personal View”, click here.
Some musings 