I think what sticks out to me in this section is Jesus' response to the "experts in the law. After Jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven, the experts get all grumpy and "He can't do that!" about it. Jesus tells them, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?". Why is it that "religion" so often makes people respond in this way? There are so many instances where this is the case, and it ends up giving "us" a bad name. I know too many people who have been burned by us church people taking the negative way instead of the positive. A long time ago I knew a guy who said that he wanted to speak life into other people. I've tried to take that to heart myself. I'm not always successful, but I strive to be a speaker of life, and not one of negatives (although, I certainly feel the twinge of conviction as I write that).
The "experts" couldn't have been happy for the guy? Instead they have to be negative right away? Granted, what Jesus was saying would have been quite unusual, but I'm sure there could have been some sort of positive response.
I wonder what He meant by asking which was easier? It seems that for the people He was talking to, it really wouldn't have mattered which one was easier. It's like asking if it's easier to scratch your left elbow with your left hand or your right elbow with your right hand. One might be "easier", but both are impossible. And that's how people would have categorized the forgiveness of sins and healing. Normal people couldn't do that sort of stuff. That's probably why people were so amazed (afraid, is what it says). Here's a man who could do the impossible. They didn't have to understand completely, but they knew for certain that that power came from God.
No comments:
Post a Comment