Matthew 9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. (ESV)
Three remarks:
First, Jesus responded to the faith of the people who brought this paralytic to Him, not to the faith of the paralytic.
Second, His first response was to forgive the person's sins, indicating that that was more important. Note that this was, again, in response to the faith of other people.
Third, He did heal the man, but as a sign of His sin-forgiving power, not as an end in itself.
Thanks for reading.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
License
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The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
6 comments:
Finally, after two and a half years of blogging, I figured out how to make a link list - - - go find yourself on my list!!!
Oh, and I TALKED about you in the post I made about my linky list.
:-)
Thanks. I don't deserve the title you gave me.
Oh really? Weren't you my Prof? Because you CERTAINLY WERE my mentor!!! Still are. Many times when I'm in the classroom - - - something you taught me comes RINGING into my gray matter!!!!
And THANK YOU for that.
Thanks!
No doubt you are doing the same thing now.
It is my prayer that they see Jesus and his love through me. Oh - - - and I do hope I manage to get them interested in science on the side!!! ;-)
That, too.
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