Our paragraph topic is: (A paralytic at Capharnaum) Part 2.
Christ is now locked in battle with the Scribes. He has already read their hearts and called them on the evil that lies there. Now he questions them on the duality of the issue, seeking to have them acknowledge his divinity. He says to them: "Which is easier, to say, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or to say, 'Arise, and walk'?" Either answer acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ with power to forgive sins and the cure ills on earth. Christ wants them to know that he does not blaspheme as they suppose. He wants them to believe that he is the Messiah.
He continues with the miracle and tells them that they should believe because it is just as easy for him to say, thy sins are forgiven as it is for him to say, take up thy palette and walk. Then he demonstrates the authority that he has by showing them that both statements are the same. He shows them that he has the authority to say thy sins are forgiven just as much as he has the authority and the power to say take up thy palette and walk. He say to the paralytic, "Arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house." And the paralytic gets up from his palette and proceeds to walk. The crowd is amazed. The paralytic is jubilant. The scribes are unbelieving yet they have seen with their own eyes. And the paralytic takes his palette and goes off in the sunset to his home joyous in the Lord that he has been made whole.
Christ now demonstrates to the public his authority. He provides proof to the scribes and the unbelieving crowds that he is the Christ, the anointed one, come to save Israel. All have seen with their own eyes. All have heard with their own ears. What more proof is needed to affirm who he is? By this demonstration he has shown them that just as the paralytic walks by his command, so also are sins forgiven by his commands. The seeds are sown. Faith is now taking hold. The fertile ground of doubt is plowed under and the weeds removed. Christ has come to give life. He has come to make new. He has come to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, feed the hungry, and make the lame walk. He is the Christ.
The Scribes were the legal police of the Law. Together with the Pharisees they watched over the people and enforced the precepts of the Law. Any transgressions were dealt with through the authority given to the High Priest. The people did not know the Law as did the Scribes. The people knew their hearts. They knew that they wanted to be free. They knew that they did not want to be oppressed. They knew that they wanted peace. They knew that there was something missing in their lives that was not given to them by the Law. Christ comes and gives them hope. He comes and gives them the seeds of faith in a merciful God, not a cold merciless God as given to them by the Scribes. We are the Scribes of today. We the believers are the purveyors of the faith. We know the precepts. We know the commandments. We know the requirements of our faith.
We attend church every Sunday and pay our tithes on a regular basis. We participate in the outreach ministries of the church to help the poor, the sick and the lame. We perform all of that is required of us to be good Christians. But we are the Scribes that carry the Law to the unbelievers. We are the front line warriors that meet God's unbelieving children in the streets. We are the healers that meet our coworkers on the job. We are the carriers of the faith that pass by the lost in the supermarket isles without even giving a look or a smile. We are the Scribes. When will we wake up and give the message? When will we take off the robes of religion and become brothers and sisters of our neighbors? When will we open up at any opportunity and demonstrate the love that Christ gave to us to share? When will we say to the paralytic, the drug addict, the pornographer, the prostitute, the coworker, the gang banger, the robber, "Take up thy palette, in the name of Christ, become whole and walk in the light of life?"
Christ is now locked in battle with the Scribes. He has already read their hearts and called them on the evil that lies there. Now he questions them on the duality of the issue, seeking to have them acknowledge his divinity. He says to them: "Which is easier, to say, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or to say, 'Arise, and walk'?" Either answer acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ with power to forgive sins and the cure ills on earth. Christ wants them to know that he does not blaspheme as they suppose. He wants them to believe that he is the Messiah.
He continues with the miracle and tells them that they should believe because it is just as easy for him to say, thy sins are forgiven as it is for him to say, take up thy palette and walk. Then he demonstrates the authority that he has by showing them that both statements are the same. He shows them that he has the authority to say thy sins are forgiven just as much as he has the authority and the power to say take up thy palette and walk. He say to the paralytic, "Arise, take up thy pallet and go to thy house." And the paralytic gets up from his palette and proceeds to walk. The crowd is amazed. The paralytic is jubilant. The scribes are unbelieving yet they have seen with their own eyes. And the paralytic takes his palette and goes off in the sunset to his home joyous in the Lord that he has been made whole.
Christ now demonstrates to the public his authority. He provides proof to the scribes and the unbelieving crowds that he is the Christ, the anointed one, come to save Israel. All have seen with their own eyes. All have heard with their own ears. What more proof is needed to affirm who he is? By this demonstration he has shown them that just as the paralytic walks by his command, so also are sins forgiven by his commands. The seeds are sown. Faith is now taking hold. The fertile ground of doubt is plowed under and the weeds removed. Christ has come to give life. He has come to make new. He has come to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, feed the hungry, and make the lame walk. He is the Christ.
The Scribes were the legal police of the Law. Together with the Pharisees they watched over the people and enforced the precepts of the Law. Any transgressions were dealt with through the authority given to the High Priest. The people did not know the Law as did the Scribes. The people knew their hearts. They knew that they wanted to be free. They knew that they did not want to be oppressed. They knew that they wanted peace. They knew that there was something missing in their lives that was not given to them by the Law. Christ comes and gives them hope. He comes and gives them the seeds of faith in a merciful God, not a cold merciless God as given to them by the Scribes. We are the Scribes of today. We the believers are the purveyors of the faith. We know the precepts. We know the commandments. We know the requirements of our faith.
We attend church every Sunday and pay our tithes on a regular basis. We participate in the outreach ministries of the church to help the poor, the sick and the lame. We perform all of that is required of us to be good Christians. But we are the Scribes that carry the Law to the unbelievers. We are the front line warriors that meet God's unbelieving children in the streets. We are the healers that meet our coworkers on the job. We are the carriers of the faith that pass by the lost in the supermarket isles without even giving a look or a smile. We are the Scribes. When will we wake up and give the message? When will we take off the robes of religion and become brothers and sisters of our neighbors? When will we open up at any opportunity and demonstrate the love that Christ gave to us to share? When will we say to the paralytic, the drug addict, the pornographer, the prostitute, the coworker, the gang banger, the robber, "Take up thy palette, in the name of Christ, become whole and walk in the light of life?"
