What did the paralyzed man expect to hear from Jesus when he was lowered down by his 4 friends from the roof in front of the preaching Jesus?
"Rise, take up your pallet and walk" (Mark 2:9c).
Instead, he heard Jesus say,
"My son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5b).
Jesus' words were unexpected. What sins had the paralyzed man committed? Was the paralysis a punishment of his sins or was it, like the teaching of the gospel of John, an occasion for God's glory?
Usually, the image of Stephen Hawking would float in my mind whenever this passage is read. Hawking epitomizes the dualism in Classical Greek philosophy --- a wonderful soul trapped inside a despicable body. Naturally, I would ask God what sins Hawking would possibly have committed before the onset of this debilitating disease. For being a theoretical physicist and not giving praises to God for the elegance and magnificence of the universe? God could not be that spiteful! Hawking has earned a lot of admiration, respect and sympathy from the public in view of his scientific achievements in contrast to and despite his physical disabilities. I don't believe that Hawking has committed sins grave enough to deserve such a heavy punishment.
Human suffering is a mystery and it is not right to put the blame on the ones who suffer. Nobody deserves to suffer. The gospel does not tell us what sins the paralyzed man had previously committed. It is not clear whether the paralysis was a punishment from God. If we look at sin in a broader sense as an obstacle cutting us off from God, the act of forgiving sins means the removal of such obstacles which might have developed as a result of the paralysis. In short, I want to show, with the example of Stephen Hawking, that sins might be a consequence, not a cause, of diseases. Diseases weaken our body as well as our mind. Their harsh realities, medication, surgeries and hospitalization etc., would very easily shake up our faith in God, especially those chronic diseases.
Imagine yourself in the situation of Hawking. You lose all your dignity and a sense of your value because you soil your pants, you rely on others to bathe you, to feed you and to pamper you. Perhaps you would follow Job's example to curse the day you were born. Therefore, having our sins forgiven is the last and the least thing we have in mind in taking care of these quadriplegic. But Jesus took a different approach. Jesus is to be praised for he heals not only the body, but also the soul and he heals the soul first. For him, mending the relationship between God and sinners is of the first priority. Healing wounds and illnesses is of secondary importance.
The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10a).
Jesus preferred the ambiguous title of "the son of man" to the title of Messiah, the son of David etc. The son of man literally means the son of my mother. That itself is ambiguous because the title may refer to me or my brothers. However, for people who know a bit about the book of Daniel, "the son of man" refers to a deity who at the end of the world will reign over all peoples and nations (Daniel 7:13-14). Though the prophecy is shrouded in imperial language, it is clear that God intends all peoples to be included in His kingdom, that all peoples will be redeemed. God does this by forgiving their sins. Thus, the Son of Man was sent not to pass judgment as expected. Who else is in a better position to pass judgment than the sinless Son of Man? But he came to do the unexpected, to forgive whatever charges Satan presses against us. He came to teach us to forgive. He begged God to forgive even when he was crucified on the cross ...
I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins (Isaiah 43:25).
God forgives but men don't. We are happy to see the celebrities fall from grace, continue to hate the rich and to kill the messengers who bring unpopular news. We become indifferent to people's suffering. A false sense of justice makes us think that they deserve punishment. Like the scribes who questioned in their hearts Jesus' authority to forgive sins, we pass judgment not only on Henry Tang, but also those who have authority but do not exercise it to condemn Henry. So, who was truly paralyzed, the paralyzed or the scribes? Unknowingly, we become paralyzed ourselves. It is we who need God's compassion, not Henry.
The story of the paralyzed man has a happy ending. Seeing the healing miracle, they were all, including the scribes who questioned Jesus, amazed.
They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!" (Mark 2:12b).
Not only had they never seen such a healing miracle before, they had not truly experienced the forgiveness from God before the arrival of Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Israelites and Jews experienced slavery and exiles as punishments for their failing to keep the commandments. Kings who repented managed only to obtain a stay or a delay of punishments. For the first time in their interaction with God, they witnessed the freedom from spiritual as well as physical bondage. A new age has dawned. People are empowered with a new freedom granted by God's forgiveness.
Dear Lord, we praise You for the freedom You gain for us to empower us. May we move on to be Your ambassadors of reconciliation. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment