Post by M.R. Hagerty on Mar 22, 2023 21:13:21 GMT -7
Matthew 4:23-25, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 5:17, Mark 2:2-12
23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23-25)
40 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere. (Mark 1:40-45)
When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. (Mark 2:1) 17 One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. (Luke 5:17)
2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, " Son, your sins are forgiven." 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, `Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'? 10 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, 11 "I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home." 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." (Mark 2:2-12)
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
Matthew 4:23-25
23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching . . . proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease . .24 news about Him spread throughout all Syria; . . 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
This is the fullest statement describing His year of popularity. He remained in Galilee, healing and teaching. And all his meetings among the people were marked by the dispensation of widespread healing. We can see Him moving among the crowds, touching hundreds in succession as He moved, not needing even to stop and listen to each request. Just touching and laying hands on person after person. That news reached all of Syria is notable because this was a large region N of Palestine. The Decapolis was the name for the ten cities across the Jordan in the area of Hippos, Pella and Gadara.
Healing of this type and magnitude is viewed by some churches as a power and gift not retained into the present age. It is part of a general view that the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians were temporary in nature and faded out in the early centuries after the deaths of the Apostles. Yet we read of events of miraculous healing and of the other gifts in I Corinthians still today. Some churches affirm these as having never been retracted by God, others see this phenomena as a delusion among ignorant believers.
Jesus stated that His followers would do greater things than He Himself had done because He was returning to the Father. There is no time limit on this statement. In Paul, some gifts like prophecy and tongues seem to have an implication of coming to an end, but the condition is ”when the Perfect shall come,” and this is variously understood. We may recoil from some of the approaches and styles of the tele-evangelists and their healing ministries, but amid the obvious chicanery of some there can be seen authenticated instances of divine healing. The key, as in Jesus use’ of healing, is being at all times within the will of the Father.
Mark 1:40-45
40 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."
This man’s request is noteworthy and we see in just a moment that Jesus was moved with compassion. The man is not merely grabbing at Jesus to get his healing. He is not shouting or demanding, as so many must have been doing.
He clearly recognizes that God is not a Person to be ordered about. He is obliged to appeal to God’s Will and it is his earnest hope that God will look compassionately on his need. This is humility before one’s God. And you can almost see the smile of tenderhearted compassion on Jesus’ face as he hears this request.
41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." . . . 43 And He sternly warned him . . 44 "See that you say nothing . . but go . . to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
We might ask why Jesus warned this man so cautiously but did not do so with the throngs of others mentioned above? As before, the key is the potential for an untimely alarm to the authorities in Jerusalem. (However, this seems contradicted in the next scene where the Pharisees are present.)
In the case of this man, he had leprosy and this required an additional procedure subsequent to the healing – that he go to the Temple and offer the required sacrifice signaling the end of his impurity. Leviticus 14:1ff “On the eighth day he must take two unblemished male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of three quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart of olive oil. The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance . .”
45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely . . . to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas . .
Too much can be made about an absolute strictness with which Jesus tried to avoid premature notoriety. It is obvious here that those warned did not contain themselves, and Jesus surely knew this would happen. So the criticality of doing so is not so much indicated as is His preference to do what He could to minimize it.
But notice here that the testimonies were having such an effect that in order to frustrate any potential ill-effects, He is now obliged to stay out in rural areas. This would at least give the authorities more to think about (it would take a bit more effort now to formally confront Him.) But more casual confrontations were still possible as we see next.
Luke 5:17
17 When He had come back to Capernaum . . He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law . .
The Pharisees and teachers did not all live in Jerusalem. It was only a matter of time that members of this group would begin to attend his gatherings, to listen in as observers for any evidence of false teaching or procedure. This kind of pessimism was a matter of habit associated with healers and holy men who attracted crowds, primarily because there had been charlatans in the past (the ‘Egyptian’ of Acts 21:38), and it was the duty of the authorities to nip such nuisances in the bud.
That there were Pharisees directly from Jerusalem was to some degree ominous, since these would be most likely to have an immediate influence with the Jerusalem authorities. Again we read that the “power of the Lord” was key to His ability to perform healing. This sounds strange because we later hear Jesus say, ”All authority and power has been given to me.” But it is always the case that the wielding of authority and power are subject to the Father, and even Jesus submits to this. He does not do according to His own will but that of the Father only.
Mark 3:2-5
2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.
We cannot begin to imagine the quality and depth of these sermons. You simply cannot have it any better than to hear truths falling from the lips of Jesus. He knew how to create an atmosphere that riveted your attention on every word. There was no dozing off in these settings. No mental diversions that anticipated that later lunch with friends.
3 And they came, bringing . . a paralytic . . unable to get to Him . . . they removed the roof above Him; . . let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, " Son, your sins are forgiven."
Jesus honored these extraordinary measures because it was a case of someone with exceptional need being deprived because of the crowds. Their ingenuity was a mark of determined faith, “And Jesus seeing their faith . .”
But Jesus was to do more than merely heal the man. He first proclaimed his sins forgiven of God. We are not to conclude that his sins were the cause of his paralysis. In another case, Jesus raises the question of whose sins might be considered the cause of an infirmity, after which he explains they had no relation to it at all. Jesus was, in fact, introducing another amazing aspect of His coming – that He would be the key to the forgiveness of sins.
To the Pharisees present, the reaction was predictable. But we must not be unduly hard on them over their concern about blasphemy, which was truly a serious issue. Today, we would be likely to take action against a teacher who regularly blasphemed in the presence of our young children. But rather than speak out in the midst of what might prove a spectacular healing, they keep their concerns about blasphemy to themselves.
Herein was yet another opportunity for Him to demonstrate more of His powers and abilities. He hears them, despite their being discrete.
Mark 2:8-12
8 . . "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?” 9 "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, `Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'?”
He demonstrates that He knows what they are thinking. As such, He addresses the means by which they ought to assess blasphemy. Ordinarily, blasphemy in this context would mean mere human beings pronouncing the forgiveness of sins. This is God’s realm or at the very least requires the concurrence of God.
But so also does healing. There was never an example in Jewish history of someone healing of their own power. It had always signaled a person who was in touch with the power of God. But the authority to heal was precisely the same authority required to speak for God. Jesus was simply asking them to include this factor in their assessment of whether blasphemy had in fact occurred. So Jesus connected the authority to forgive with the authority to heal and then proceeded to heal the paralytic man. But Jesus said much more in this action.
10 “. . So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"
‘Son of Man’ is a technical term in Judaism for the Messiah. It was first used in the Psalms to describe the figure of Messiah, then in Daniel when he was describing the One who approached the Ancient of Days (Psalms 8:4, Daniel 7:13.)
For those listening with the intent to trap Him, He had just given them ample evidence. The difference between merely letting news of His messiahship filter up to the Pharisees and this utterance is that Jesus was here in control of how this was conveyed. He had prefaced this claim by discussing the means of telling when true authority was in play. His claim to be Messiah was connected to His authority to heal, and for this they were now divinely accountable. To anyone who was capable of conviction, this should have given them some pause (the operative word being ‘capable of conviction.’)
What is interesting is that Mark and the others do not continue with any consequences immediately developing from this encounter.
12 . . "We have never seen anything like this."
Paralysis was and remains today a tough order for faith healers to contemplate. It is so comprehensive and involves so many associated conditions besides nerve damage (atrophies, etc.) It was among the toughest of expectations for cure imaginable. So it is not surprising that they react with these words. But to the Master and Creator of the human body, this is no impediment; no major task for Him who created the world out of nothing.