Luke 5:17 - 26
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.[d] 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Pharisees and teachers of the law came from all over Israel to see Jesus. Why?
2. What was so objectionable about Jesus declaring the man's sins forgiven?
3. What is the significance of Jesus' having the authority to forgive sins?
4. Did all of them glorify God? What does this statement mean?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2017/04/mark-21-12-few-days-later-when-jesus.html says:
ReplyDeleteThe point of the story is clear: Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. The implication of that point is also clear: because He is the divine Son, He is God in the flesh, Immanuel. The teachers of the Law knew that is what it meant, so they knew full well what He was claiming. If they did not believe in Him, then they had to go with their judgment that He was blaspheming. But, if He is the divine Son of God, then their accusations against Him, here and later, are blasphemy.
------
My 2 cents on why only God can forgive sins:
Sin causes us to become separated from God. We are full of sin and are powerless to restore that relationship. Only God can forgive our sin and restore our relationship with Him.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-5-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteThis is Luke's first mention of the Pharisees, indicating that organized religion was beginning to take note of this person named "Jesus!".
the place of this event is Capernaum and some think it was Peter's house which is likely but this is not stated definitively.
After the resettling of the Jewish people in Judea on their return from the Babylonian captivity, there were two religious groups among them. One party contented themselves with following only what was written in the Law of Moses. These were called Zadikim, the righteous. The other group added the constitutions and traditions of the elders, as well as other rigorous observances, to the Law and voluntarily complied with them. They were called Chasidim or the pious. From the Zadikim the sects of the Sadducees and Karaites were derived. From the Chasidim were derived the Pharisees and the Essenes. In the time of our Lord, the Pharisees were the separatists of their day, as well as the principal sect among the Jews. The Pharisees considered themselves much holier than the common people (Lu 18:11, 12). They wore special garments to distinguish themselves from others. PRINCIPLE TENETS OF PHARISEES: In opposition to those of the Sadducees, and the former group maintained the existence of angels and spirits and the doctrine of the resurrection (Acts 23:8), which the latter party denied. The Pharisees distinguished themselves with their zeal for the traditions of the elders, which they taught was derived from the same fountain as the written Word itself, claiming both to have been delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The Pharisees originated during the intertestamental period, likely as an offshoot of the Hasidim (the “pious ones,” who opposed the Hellenizing of Jewish culture under the notoriously evil Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes). Unlike the Sadducees, who tended to be wealthy priests or Levites, the Pharisees generally came from the middle class. Therefore, although few in number (there were about 6,000 at the time of Herod the Great, according to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus), their theology and tradition had great influence with the common people (who, ironically, the Pharisees often viewed with proud, self-righteous contempt [cf. John 7:49]). Despite being the minority party in the Sanhedrin, their popularity with the people gave them significant influence (cf. Acts 5:34–40). With the disappearance of the Sadducees after the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 and the Zealots after the Bar Kochba revolt (A.D. 132–35) was crushed, the Pharisees became the dominant force in Judaism. With the completion of the Mishnah (the written compilation of the oral law, rituals, and traditions) in about A.D. 200, and the Talmud (the combination of the Mishnah and the Gemara [three centuries of the rabbis’ commentary on the Mishnah]) in about A.D. 500, the Pharisees’ teaching became virtually synonymous with Judaism. The Pharisees’ theology was in many respects faithful to the teaching of Scripture. They believed in the resurrection (Acts 23:6–8), angels (Acts 23:8), demons, predestination, and human responsibility. They looked for Messiah to come and establish an earthly kingdom, and were devoted to protecting and teaching the law of God. Ironically, it was their zeal for the law that caused the Pharisees to become focused on rituals and externally keeping the law. They abandoned true religion of the heart for mere outward behavior modification and ritual (cf. Mt. 15:3–6), leading Jesus to scathingly denounce their pseudospirituality. Even worse, the wide gap between their teaching and their practice led to gross hypocrisy, which both Jesus (e.g., Mt. 23:2–3) and, surprisingly, the Talmud (which lists seven classes of Pharisees, six of which are hypocritical) denounced.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-5-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteThe Scribes are frequently mentioned in Luke with the Pharisees or the chief priests.
MacArthur on nomodidaskalos, teachers of the law. - Also called lawyers and most commonly scribes, they were professional scholars specializing in the interpretation and application of the law. They were commonly, but not exclusively, Pharisees. Such scribes were also honored by being called rabbis (“great ones”).
John MacArthur reminds of an important truth about Jesus' earthly life that many saints often overlook - "One of the amazing elements of the life of Christ was that when He became incarnate and came into the world and started His ministry, He set aside,the independent use of His divine attributes. He didn't cease to be God, He didn't stop being what He was, He just set aside any independent use of His own attributes and He yielded Himself to the power of the Holy Spirit."
Out of His humanity Jesus could not do divine works and He could not say divine words because that's not possible for flesh and blood, for humanity. Humanity, by definition, is natural. And so, Jesus, out of his deity, would not do these things because He had submitted Himself to the Father, because He had set aside the independent use of His divine attributes and out of His humanity He could not do those things (Php 2:6). The question then is: When Jesus did those things and said those things, who was doing it? It was the Holy Spirit acting on His humanity. That is a great distinction to make.
Why are all these Jewish leaders suddenly having a convention in Capernaum? This was their response to the first messianic miracle. They knew that Jesus had healed a leper. According to their own teachings, only the Messiah would be able to heal a leper. If He healed the leper, it could very well mean that He was the Messiah. They all came together to investigate Him.
According to Sanhedrin law, if there was any kind of messianic movement, the Sanhedrin had to investigate the situation in two stages. The first stage was called the "stage of observation." They were not permitted to ask any questions or raise any objections. After a period of observation, they were to return to Jerusalem, report to the Sanhedrin and give a verdict: was the movement significant or was the movement insignificant? If the movement was decreed to be insignificant, the matter would be dropped. But if the movement was declared to be significant, there would then be a second stage of investigation called the "stage of interrogation." This incident in Luke 5:17 records the first stage, the stage of observation. At this point, they were not allowed to raise objections or ask questions.
In response to the first messianic miracle of the healing of a leper, the intensive investigation of His messianic claims began. The leaders observed Jesus claiming the right to forgive sins. Therefore, He was either a blasphemer or He was the Messianic Person. It is evident that the leadership of Israel would return to Jerusalem and decree the movement of Yeshua as significant. After this event, He began undergoing the second stage of the Sanhedrin investigation, the stage of interrogation. Between the performance of the first messianic miracle and the second messianic miracle, everywhere Jesus went, a Pharisee was sure to follow. This time, they were no longer silent. Everywhere He went, a Pharisee was always there asking questions or raising objections. They were trying to find a basis for rejecting or accepting His messianic claims.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-5-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteDarrell Bock has an interesting observation from the parallel passage in Mt 9:8+ where "the amazement centers on such authority being given to humans ("who had given such authority to men"), a comment that suggests that the crowd did not get the event’s uniqueness. They failed to see (or focus upon) Jesus’ uniqueness." In short, most missed this clear Messianic sign.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Pharisees and teachers of the law came from all over Israel to see Jesus. Why?
Jesus had previous performed what is called a "Messianic Miracle" by healing a leper. According to the elder's traditions, only the Messiah could do certain miracles - and Jesus performed (at least) one. If someone was suspected of being the Messiah, the elders sent investigators to watch them and report. This was phase one of the investigation, where the investigators would be quiet and watch. Later, they would give a report. It was found that they should continue to phase 2 - which was questioning and challenging.
2. What was so objectionable about Jesus declaring the man's sins forgiven?
The Elder's traditions (and probably correctly) say that only God can forgive sins. Jesus was making claims of divinity here, which was pretty shocking to the investigators.
3. What is the significance of Jesus' having the authority to forgive sins?
Jesus was claiming to have the power and authority that only God has. It was a big deal and very shocking to the learned among the people.
4. Did all of them glorify God? What does this statement mean?
I think that the people who were vocal were glorifying God for this great miracle. The investigators were keeping their mouths shut, but had serious reservations about what Jesus said. The people praised God for giving this authority to men. Unlike the investigators, they didn't catch Jesus' claim that He was not just a man. He was something much more.