Authority Over Sin
And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." Matt. 9:1, 2, RSV.
Here we find not merely another healing. To the contrary, the Technicolor aspect of this event is that Jesus had linked the healing with the forgiveness of the man's sins.
That connection would not escape some of the "visitors" in the crowd. Matthew 9:3 tells us that the scribes soon began muttering about Jesus' blaspheming. They, we should remember, belonged to the learned class. Experts in the study of the law of Moses, Scripture often refers to them as "teachers of the law," and they will later play a leading role in the arrest and trial of Jesus. But for the present they are merely accusing Him of blasphemy. Luke helps us get at their meaning when he adds their explanation: "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" (Luke 5:21). In short, they had caught Jesus in the act of claiming a divine prerogative.
One of the unfortunate facts of church life is that every congregation seems to have its contingent of "scribes." These scowling brothers and sisters are always looking for what is wrong. And like the scribes of old, their attitude itself blinds them to the positive. Jesus' inquisitors appear to have missed altogether the significance of the amazing miracle. Obsessed with orthodoxy, they had no heart for a human being in need. Their focus on their traditions prevents them from seeing the spiritual realities being enacted before their eyes. All they saw and heard was that Jesus forgave the paralytic. That was enough for them. They now had a charge against Him that would eventually lead to His cross.
Jesus understood their theology. He was aware that they believed that no sick person could be healed until their sins were forgiven, and that they held that only God could do so.
He could have avoided the problem by being discreet. Instead Jesus offered them both a claim and a challenge, asking, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?" (Matt. 9:5, RSV).
That question put the scribes on the spot. After all, any trickster can claim to forgive sins. No one could ever confirm it, however. But a healed paralytic was both veritable and an assertion of divinity.
Jesus had made His point. But He had also signed His own death warrant.
And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." Matt. 9:1, 2, RSV.
Here we find not merely another healing. To the contrary, the Technicolor aspect of this event is that Jesus had linked the healing with the forgiveness of the man's sins.
That connection would not escape some of the "visitors" in the crowd. Matthew 9:3 tells us that the scribes soon began muttering about Jesus' blaspheming. They, we should remember, belonged to the learned class. Experts in the study of the law of Moses, Scripture often refers to them as "teachers of the law," and they will later play a leading role in the arrest and trial of Jesus. But for the present they are merely accusing Him of blasphemy. Luke helps us get at their meaning when he adds their explanation: "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" (Luke 5:21). In short, they had caught Jesus in the act of claiming a divine prerogative.
One of the unfortunate facts of church life is that every congregation seems to have its contingent of "scribes." These scowling brothers and sisters are always looking for what is wrong. And like the scribes of old, their attitude itself blinds them to the positive. Jesus' inquisitors appear to have missed altogether the significance of the amazing miracle. Obsessed with orthodoxy, they had no heart for a human being in need. Their focus on their traditions prevents them from seeing the spiritual realities being enacted before their eyes. All they saw and heard was that Jesus forgave the paralytic. That was enough for them. They now had a charge against Him that would eventually lead to His cross.
Jesus understood their theology. He was aware that they believed that no sick person could be healed until their sins were forgiven, and that they held that only God could do so.
He could have avoided the problem by being discreet. Instead Jesus offered them both a claim and a challenge, asking, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?" (Matt. 9:5, RSV).
That question put the scribes on the spot. After all, any trickster can claim to forgive sins. No one could ever confirm it, however. But a healed paralytic was both veritable and an assertion of divinity.
Jesus had made His point. But He had also signed His own death warrant.
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