Strange Things

The gospel reading from Luke 5:17-26 today tells the story of how a paralytic man was helped by some friends and was healed by Jesus. The Pharisees and doctors of the law, those whom we can call experts heard Jesus saying, “…your sins are forgiven.” They were astounded for it is only God who can forgive. Somehow they correctly commented how someone like him can forgive when according to what they have studied and understood, only God can do that. For them it was blasphemy, rightly so, when we look at in there perspective. However Jesus went further, healed the sick in order to prove that He has “…authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Jesus claimed that He is the Son of God, so either we believe in Him or we will take Him as an impostor or a lunatic. For experts and the so-called intellectuals of our time, it is so hard to believe, much like the Pharisees and Doctors of the law of His time. No amount of miracle can open our eyes to faith if our heart is not open enough to accept that He is God. Acceptance is an act of humility. We might just end up saying like in the reading, “We have seen strange things,” yet could not go further than that.

As for forgiving sins, we do forgive each other’s sins; there is nothing blasphemous about that. Jesus even told us to forgive each other’s shortcomings. So what is improper about it? Maybe because Jesus speaks so much authority, that they could not believe that someone other than them has the integrity to teach others about God. 

Strange as it may seem yet it is miracle unfolding before our eyes. Lord, grant us the grace to see beyond what our eyes can see. Amen.

by aats