{"id":71281,"date":"2019-03-08T22:48:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T05:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=71281"},"modified":"2019-03-09T15:02:49","modified_gmt":"2019-03-09T22:02:49","slug":"new-testament-notes-92-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-92-93.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Notes 92-93"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rode,<\/a>
\u201cChristus heiliget einen Gichtbr\u00fcchigen\u201d
(Bernhard Rode, 1780)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 9:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 2:1-12<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 5:17-26<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare John 5:1-9<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The logic here is fairly straightforward:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

At this, the \u201cscribes\u201d accuse him of blasphemy for arrogating to himself what they correctly believe to be a uniquely divine prerogative (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus responds by saying \u201c\u2018Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, \u201cYour sins are forgiven,\u201d or to say, \u201cRise, talk up your pallet and walk\u201d? \u00a0But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins\u2019 \u2014 he said to the paralytic \u2014 \u2018I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go home.'\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, of course, simply saying<\/em> to a paralytic \u201cYour sins are forgiven\u201d is just as easy as saying\u00a0\u201cTake up your pallet and walk.\u201d \u00a0However, while there\u2019s no earthly empirical test for determining whether\u00a0the man\u2019s sins actually have been forgiven or not, his failure to take up his pallet and walk would have proven very quickly that Jesus was merely speaking hot air. \u00a0By the same token, the paralytic\u2019s\u00a0immediate rising and walking away with his pallet gives the onlookers reasonable grounds for suspecting that, if Jesus can really perform such a verifiable<\/em> miracle, he\u2019s equally capable of performing the other one, which isn\u2019t<\/em> verifiable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if such forgiveness of sin is truly a divine prerogative, what does an evident ability to forgive sin say about this man, Jesus?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Note, by the way, the varying reactions of the witnesses. \u00a0While the scribes and Pharisees \u2014 the elite, educated intellectuals \u2014 are hostile and dubious, \u201cthe crowds\u201d are amazed, and glorify God.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Caravaggio,<\/a>
\u201cThe Calling of Saint Matthew\u201d\u00a0(Caravaggio, 1599-1600) \u00a0 [Wikimedia Commons public domain]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matthew 9:9-13<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 2:13-17<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 5:27-32<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a remarkable story, and one, it seems to me, that is characteristically\u00a0Christian.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to imagine how today\u2019s critics and journalists would have reacted to the calling of Matthew\/Levi to the Twelve.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Journalists would undertake investigations into his past dealings, eagerly interviewing people with tales to tell of his shady transactions, his unfairness, his greed, his history of self-seeking collaboration with an oppressive regime. \u00a0Critics of the Church would triumphantly parade all of these stories before the public \u2014 some of them perhaps true, many of them dubious and distorted if not altogether false \u2014 demanding to know whether this is really the sort of man that the Lord would call into his service. \u00a0\u201cIsn\u2019t Christianity just Matthew\u2019s latest scam?\u201d they would suggest. \u00a0\u201cWhat kind of a movement is this,\u201d they would inquire of their audience, \u201cthat is made up, to significant degree, of\u00a0semi-literate rural peasants, rapacious tax-farmers, and, in at least the case of Judas, somebody with a known history of extremist political views?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 9:1-8 Mark 2:1-12 Luke 5:17-26 Compare John 5:1-9 \u00a0 The logic here is fairly straightforward: \u00a0 Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven him. \u00a0 At this, the \u201cscribes\u201d accuse him of blasphemy for arrogating to himself what they correctly believe to be a uniquely divine prerogative (Mark 2:7; Luke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1821,4027,1356,4021,84,3331,2601,1369,3289,2977,2625,3007,4030,4024],"class_list":["post-71281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apostle","tag-calling","tag-christ","tag-deity","tag-deity-of-christ","tag-forgiveness","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-levi","tag-matthew","tag-new-testament","tag-new-testament-commentary","tag-repentance","tag-sins"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament 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