Jesus: Forgiver

Jesus gave forgiveness

 

There was a reaction at times. Likely the reaction was even more frequent than we know. 

 

One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.[a] Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus;[b] but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd[c] in front of Jesus.

Jesus was at home in Capernaum. (Own city - Matthew 9;  in the house - Mark 2 - anyone else live there?) People had gathered and Jesus was teaching them (or, they were assessing him). He spoke or talked to them the word (Mark 2 - "word" is perhaps a future topic).

The four friends had opened a hole in the roof. Construction methods of the day (mud and rectangular prism design) for the homes of people were more simple than ours, so the means of entry are not quite so drastic as it might appear. It reads as lifting and digging being involved.  Still, must have been disturbing inside. I dare say Jesus stopped speaking with those around! (Did the important men present get their clothes soiled?) I presume it was obvious the friends were trying to get the man to Jesus. No spoken request recorded; Jesus must have perceived what was happening.

When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend,[d] your sins are forgiven you.” Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.” Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.” (Luke 5:1-26, NRSV)

The synoptics tell us the man was a paralytic. That explains his being carried - he was unable to bring himself. Was the paralysed man either inwardly or outwardly (or both) troubled by his sins, his failures before God? Did he come there, have himself brought, seeking forgiveness from Jesus? How would he know it was possible? Jesus had already gained a history? I suspect so.

Jesus responded to the faith. Their faith. The pronoun (plural) certainly covers the friends, and presumably the man also. (The trouble they went to! Did they have cordage handy, just in case?) What was their faith - surely it was that they believed Jesus could and would answer them; that is, he would accept their approach and answer the need of the man on the bed. Lion's den it may have been, but they trusted the Jesus they knew. What need was it they brought?

The paralysed man was evidently needing his sins dealt with. (We know that all have sinned; all of us fall short of God's standard. Without God's mercy we all would carry a fatal millstone around our necks.) The friends who carried the man - they also were sinners, just like us. We can well remember the line from the prayer Jesus taught all of us:

Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others (Matthew 6, CEV)

The man's need of assurance of God's forgiveness is what Jesus immediately addressed. How was it Jesus could forgive the sins of the man? Surely the scribes and Pharisees were right - only God can forgive offences committed against God. Jesus forgave.

(That was quite a delegation there that day to observe. What had brought them there from all over? What reports did they have? Were their worst fears confirmed? Again?)

Great amazement that day - what was amazing - Jesus removing paralysis, or Jesus forgiving sins, or their local carpenter leaving the critics with nothing to say? All of the above?

[BTW: Physical illness or disability, and sin, are not usually connected by Jesus. This event and that of John 5 are exceptions; but see also John 9.]

What was it that needed to be forgiven? What is it?

How does badness come; how does badness happen? Whence comes evil upon us? Where does good come from? Let's visit another scene:  When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
Now, listen to Jesus: Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against[a] the Spirit will not be forgiven.[b] Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad[c] and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless[d] word they speak.[e] For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:24-37, CSB). Jesus must have offended them by saying the real core problem arises within the individual. It is not the environment, nor nurture, not religious failure, but the inner person. Harsh truth. But it is preceded by his assurance that forgiveness is possible; it is needed; it is available.

The unforgivable blasphemy is hard to grasp; as had been said, anyone concerned about blaspheming the Holy Spirit has not blasphemed. I am reminded of the "hardness of heart" spoken of in the Bible. "Hard" or "stubborn" rejection of God. See for example, Mark 3:5. Notice that Jesus was replying not only to their words, but to their thoughts. They were able, within, to completely reverse the truth (about Jesus); to say what was actually evil, was good; that what was actually good, was evil. In these days, as we may consider our massacres, the holocaust, our groomers, our predators, we know that large numbers of perpetrators must have done just that, at least to their own minds.

Jesus was always ready to bestow wanted forgiveness, and to accept an approach.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:36-50, NIV). 

Again no spoken request but Jesus perceived the need without need of the woman to speak. Jesus answered their thoughts, too! The woman's sins were already forgiven when Jesus spoke his words of assurance directly to her. Her trust was in him.

Simon and the other men would certainly not want to think of themselves as sharing with the woman the status of sinner! They would not look to Jesus for forgiveness. They were deeply offended by Jesus endorsing belief in himself and bestowing forgiveness, and forgiveness on such a woman at that. (How did they know her? Were "clients" in the event?) Maybe in time some of these men broke free of their culture and religion and looked to Jesus for forgiveness. The possibility was there during their lives. We, now, can look to him.

How could forgiveness be free? Jesus made it possible. Just before his execution he enacted for his followers the way they were to understand and to remember what he was doing. During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”
Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and drink it. This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven (Matthew 26:26-28, CEV). The notion that Jesus' blood and body were the key to freely gaining life was quite unacceptable to many hearers. The price was the pouring out of Jesus' life.  The gift was unwanted. Why was that?

From the execution cross Jesus himself asked that God forgive the ignorant guilty. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[a] And they cast lots to divide his garments (Luke 23:34, ESV). Here the word "they" seems to cover the agents of the Government, carrying out their orders. They were guilty but they were unknowing. What else could the soldiers have done? Did they have any reason to reject their orders? If they had, the consequences would follow. Whatever the case, Jesus does not want them to bear guilt in the eyes of God. Surely God answered Jesus.

We find some words which have been used to dispute the avenue of receiving forgiveness from Jesus. People have created difficult consequences to these words (amongst others). The moment comes at John's record of the first, transforming hours post-resurrection: When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said,[a] “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:19-23, CSB). Heavy task indeed for this little frightened group. The job he wants done depends on the living presence of God's Spirit. That is it. I can hardly think that is fulfilled in any "once upon a time" rite and ceremony. The "them" there then that day is the "disciples", the learners or followers. Were there women present? Seems likely to me. No warrant to restrict the hearers to only the twelve (now the  eleven). Serious, isn't it. The big  challenge lies in the last clause. It would be perverse to think anyone could arbitrarily "retain" to a person their sins. The words are similar to those of the other Gospels. Here we see the weighty significance of taking the good news to people. You hear Jesus? No neutrality or abstention is possible.

How could Jesus bestow such a task? Jesus did it; Jesus does it.
 
All who repent can and may receive the forgiveness Jesus bestows.  This was always clear, from the beginning. Listen in on part of Jesus' final instructions: Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things.
“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” (Luke 24:44-49, NLT) Jesus' name has the authority; Jesus bestows forgiveness. His plan was aimed to the nations. This is good news for sharing.

How could Jesus bestow such a task? Jesus did it; Jesus does it.

It was not novel that God would be in the forgiveness business. Here is one example from the Bible of the day (we call it our Old Testament, OT): Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23, ESV). We can know, now, that the key is accepting from Jesus his forgiveness. He makes the offer to you.

Scripture quotations marked (CSB) are from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved
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Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
Note: I retain in the publishers' text where they occur the references [ ] to footnotes, but usually not the notes. You can check footnotes out by viewing the text on-line. Often they are replicated in different translations.
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AL 02/03/24