The Gospel for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (St. Matthew 9:1-8) is another in the recent readings about confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders of His time. The friends of a paralyzed man bring him to Jesus to be healed. Our Lord sees their faith and heals the sick man. Instead of starting the easy way and simply telling the man to get up and walk, Christ tells the man that his sins are forgiven. Although Christ does not always view illness as caused by personal sin (see for example St. John 9:3), in this particular case, sin is an issue that has to be remedied. The religious scholars are scandalized because in their tradition only God can forgive sins. Even the Aaronic priesthood would not make such a direct declaration of forgiveness.
His ability to pronounce forgiveness is precisely the point that Jesus wishes to make. The Messianic Son of Man is God's earthly representative, and He is also God incarnate. So He has the power to forgive sins. This is a new power at work in Christ's ministry. Christ brings the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness, and the risen Christ shares His power to declare forgiveness with His Apostles. They spread pardon by preaching the Gospel in word and deed, by Baptism, and by granting absolution. Through the Apostles, the whole Church witnesses, preaches, baptizes, and grants pardon through confession-absolution. From the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ till the end of the age, God's forgiveness is at work in the world in a powerful new way that cannot be found apart from Christ and His Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment