Which is easier?

“Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?” Matthew 9:5
Because the world we live in is largely based on physical, visible things, we can have misconceptions about the spiritual scene. Take this verse for instance, which Jesus says in response to what the teachers of the law were thinking when He forgave the sins of the paralytic.
We think of physical healing as something that is hard for God to do, because we don’t understand how He can suddenly heal someone and make them walk again. We think that forgiving sins is easier than healing someone physically, because we don’t see the record of those sins being erased from the person’s life. We think of Jesus waving His hand over the situation and saying a few easy words.
But the implication from what Jesus says here, is that to forgive sins is actually harder than healing someone and enabling them to walk again.
Let’s think about this in another way. We know that God created the world in six days by speaking a word – ‘Let there be...’. To heal someone physically is to apply that same creative power. Consider how much it costs God to do that. Now, consider how much it cost God to provide forgiveness for sin. Surely the cost to forgive sin is much greater – the separation and death of His only Son. These were not merely trite words that Jesus uttered to encourage the paralytic. He knew that the man’s need for forgiveness was greater than his need for healing. And He healed him to prove to the crowd that He did indeed have the authority to forgive sins – authority that belongs to God and God alone.