Matthew has been building a case
for the authority of Jesus. Next, he
demonstrates the power of Jesus through a number of miracles. Jesus heals a leper, he cures the servant of
a Roman soldier, he restores the health of Peter’s mother-in-law, he calms a
storm and then in a very strange story he rids two possessed men of demons by
casting the demons into a herd of pigs that stampede into the sea and
drown. When the men who were looking
after the pigs told the townspeople what had happened, the townspeople ask
Jesus to leave. (No kidding!)
Jesus continues his miracles. A woman is cured of her sickness by touching
his cloak, a paralyzed man is healed, and a girl who was thought to have died
is brought back to life. Two blind men
regain their sight and a man who hasn’t spoken in years begins to talk.
And no matter how hard I try to
wrap my head around these miracles, I just can’t believe they happened. Either Matthew is exaggerating or these
stories are metaphors. People’s eyes are
opened when they understand something.
People who are spiritually dead can be awakened. People can be paralyzed through inaction. As I read these stories, I find them no more likely than the marvels of other mythological
heroes.
Actually, I am more intrigued by other events. For some reason, Jesus doesn’t want to
be too visible as he tells some of the people he has healed to keep quiet. They ignore him. Some Pharisees wonder
why Jesus eats with tax collectors and other outcasts and lowlifes. And even more interesting, some scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy when
he tells the paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven
I am not sure why the forgiveness of sins is blasphemous.
Perhaps the scribes are upset - and I am just
guessing here- because Jesus is bypassing the temple and the payment for sacrifices that
are needed to regain favour with God.
Jesus says that he has authority to forgive sins. If that was radical for its time, I don't think it is so radical now. We - all of us - have the power to forgive. We have to learn to forgive the errors of
others. We have to learn to forgive our
own shortcomings. We have to learn to ask for forgiveness from the people we have harmed and we have to learn to be forgiving of those who have harmed us. (Isn't there something about that in the Lord's Prayer?)
It appears that Jesus gets his
authority to forgive sins through royal lineage or a divine birth but maybe he has just figured things out. All of us have the
power to forgive; it doesn’t need any higher authority.
I suppose it's more the 'all his sins are forgiven' bit. I can forgive the sins against me, but do I have the right to forgive someone for sins against others? I would think he should seek forgiveness from those he had wronged. Or, I suppose, the church if the wronged party isn't available.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Usury is a sin, right? I wonder if I can get the credit card company to forgive my sins... :)
I readily admit to not knowing any answers. I am just a guy trying to figure out a book.
ReplyDeleteThe only way we can be sure we have been forgiven is if we ask forgiveness of the people we have wronged. I am just wondering where a god fits into the equation. If Jesus can say that the man's sins have been forgiven, he must know the inner thinking of the man. And if the man has truly repented, even if the people he has wronged either can't or won't forgive, then should we expect the man to live the rest of his life beating himself up.
As I mentioned in the post, I like to think the paralysis is metaphorical. The man can't move past the wrongs he has done despite the guilt he might feel. For him to do that he needs to be forgiven. If the people won't forgive, we can think a god can do it, but maybe, just maybe, he has to forgive himself.