thanks for that story. I have never heard it before. How wonderful to have the relics of a 'saint' right there in the mission church.
PS. At one time (when I lived in Auburn) it was a passion of mine to collect pictures of all the missions. I just realized it's still there. Any suggestions for sources?
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Meditation
Matthew 9:1-8
Physical healing is astonishing. Wouldn’t you just gasp if you saw deformed limbs reshaped or blind eyes restored? Wouldn’t you talk about it to everyone you met? But for God, restoring us physically isn’t very difficult. After all, he made us. He knows the most intricate workings of our bodies (Psalms 94:9; 139:13-15). So, though physical healing may strike us with awe, the answer to Jesus’ question, “Which do you think is easier,” is definitely, “Rise and walk.”
As he spoke to the scribes, Jesus knew that to accomplish the spiritual healing of forgiveness, he would have to suffer horribly and die. To endure the mocking, the torture, the pain, the feeling of separation from his Father—surely this was far more demanding! And what’s amazing is that he did it willingly, freely laying down his life for us (John 10:17-18). Jesus knew that without such a sacrifice, we would remain forever separated from him by our sin—a condition far more crippling than physical paralysis.
Just think how much God loved us, that he would die for us! Think, too, how much he continues to love us. He sees our sins and weaknesses—which can loom so large in our minds—and calls out to us: “Take heart! You are forgiven! I love you!” Oh, that we would hear his cry! Then the issues we agonize over, the sin and guilt that can consume us, would appear in proper proportion: nearly insignificant compared to the magnitude of God’s love for us and his power within us.
God doesn’t love us because we love him. He loved us first, sending Jesus to be the “expiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). He sent Jesus, not simply to show us our sin but to save us from it (John 3:17). God isn’t as troubled by our spiritual “deformities” as we can be upon occasion. He has done the more difficult thing: He has made it possible for us to “rise and walk” in the dignity of sons and daughters of God.
“O Lord, you are so good! Thank you for the cross. Thank you for loving me enough to rescue me from sin!”