“Who but God alone can forgive sins?” In today’s Gospel some scribes and some Pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy because he said to the paralytic, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus discerns their concern. He does not condemn them but tries to enter into dialogue with them to help them to discern that God is doing something new and astonishing.
Jesus shows them that he has “authority” to forgive sins by showing them he can do the “harder thing.” He proposes this test case: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk?”. If Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven” there is no outward way to tell if his words were effective so in that sense it is the easier thing. If he says, “Rise and walk” and the paralytic gets up and walks, Jesus shows that his words are effective and therefore he does have authority to forgive sins.
In our age of polarization, name calling, and even demonization of those with whom we disagree Jesus shows us a different way, God’s way. First, we listen to the other respectfully and try to discern their concern. We in turn try to show them our viewpoint without rancor or condescension. Like Jesus we may not always be successful, but we have treated the other with respect and recognized their dignity since they too have been created in God’s image and likeness. This is the way we are called to follow if we are to be true disciples of Jesus. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation and instruments of God’s peace. Paul reminds us of our calling in his letter to the Corinthians:
“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
We have been given this “ministry of reconciliation” and are called to forgive as God has already forgiven us in Christ.
Image: “NT044.Jesus heals the paralytic” by pcstratman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.