Jesus Attracted People to Himself before Preaching (Contd):
The Paralytic: It was not the first time that the unbelieving Jews murmured against Jesus forgiving sins. If in the case of the sinful woman it was her faith that earned forgiveness, in the case of the paralytic, it was the faith of the people who brought him that earned forgiveness for the paralytic and made him whole. The paralytic was so helpless, so to say, that he was as good as dead. He was in fact dead as he was not spiritually alive, although his body did not start to degenerate beyond his inability to walk. In a way, he was incapable of helping himself in any way. He was lucky that he had people to carry him to Jesus and that too people with real faith for whom nothing posed as an obstacle. Since the entrance to the house where Jesus was sitting was blocked by a huge crowd, they took the imaginative step of letting him down with the bed from the roof of the house! Their only thought was to reach him somehow to Jesus and they were sure that they would not be disappointed. Jesus did not protest nor did he think of any protocol and calmly told the paralytic: "My son, your sins are forgiven you".
Jesus knew that his pronouncement would invite controversy as Scribes and Pharisees were present there. When it was a question of teaching and preaching the Word of God, Jesus did nit flinch from controversies, calumnies, threats and even death. The Scribes and Pharisees seemingly had a legitimate grudge against Jesus that was silently expressed in words like "Who but God alone can forgive sins?" In order to allay their fears about possible blasphemy, Jesus wanted to convince them that the Son of man had the right to forgive sins. For achieving this purpose, Jesus asked a question with two alternatives about which is easier to say. "Your sins are forgiven you", or to say, "Stand up and walk""? What in fact is easier to do sounds to be more difficult and what is difficult sounds easy. For to say that your sins are forgiven sounds easier since no one can verify it, whereas to say stand up and walk to a paralytic sounds difficult as it can easily be verified. Therefore, Jesus connects the verifiable with the unverifiable and proves the veracity of the latter with that of the former. John's Gospel mentions all the miracles of Jesus as signs for the very same reason of the intimate connection established between the verifiable and the unverifiable, the earthly and the heavenly, the ordinary and the extra-ordinary, the human and the divine through them. In the case of the paralytic, Jesus did not stop at merely curing him of his illness but asked him to take up his bed and go home. No ground for argument or doubt about the genuineness of the cure was allowed to linger in anyone's mind so that all would be convinced that the Son of Man had the right on earth to forgive sins (See Luke, 5: 17-26).
Call of Matthew: One of the most telling instances of the attraction Jesus exerted on people may be seen from the call of Levi, the tax collector. After curing the paralytic, Jesus went out of the house and Luke reports the manner in which he called Levi: "Later, when he went out, he saw a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, at his seat in the custom-house, and said to him, 'Follow me'; and he rose to his feet, left everything behind, and followed him" (Luke, 5: 27-28). The same scene is presented both by Mark and Matthew less dramatically. From their reports we learn one additional item each about Levi. Mark specifies that Levi was son of Alphaeus and Matthew forgets all about Levi and gives the new name of Matthew to himself. (See Mark, 2: 14; Matthew, 9: 9).
What is supremely fascinating is the magnetic attraction of Jesus that draws a public servant glued to his seat and counting cash collected out of his occupation to follow Jesus. Not a word of protest or hesitation, no argument or excuse stands in the way of the one called just by two words "follow me". The order must have been irresistible, especially given the context of Matthew's profession where a person's whole attention would be taken for granted. It was curious not only because Matthew was engaged in the business of collecting money as tax, but also as a public servant he was accountable to his superiors. It was unlike the case of Peter, Andrew, John and James who had to leave their private business to which they could return any time they wanted. A tax-gatherer leaving his post so irresponsibly could never hope to return to his post as he would have been immediately dismissed and a new one appointed in his place. To Matthew nothing of this mattered because he was mesmerized by the power of the personality that confronted him. That very moment he died to the world, for his job that sustained him and his family was considered by Matthew as of no value in comparison to following Jesus.
Afterwards Levi held a reception for Jesus in his house and many tax-gatherers and others of ill-repute joined him at the table. It was scandalous to the Scribes and Pharisees that any God-fearing person could eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners. "Jesus answered them: 'It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick; I have not come to invite virtuous people but to call sinners to repentance' " (Luke, 5: 31-32). Matthew adds one more detail to the incident saying that Jesus invited the Scribes and Pharisees to go and learn the meaning of the text in prophet Hosea 6: 6 that says: "I require mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew, 9: 13; See also Matthew, 12: 7).
Zacchaeus: Among the Gospels Luke alone narrates the conversion of Zacchaeus, a superintendent of taxes, who had taken initiative to see Jesus out of sheer curiosity. He may have heard of Jesus from others of what he had said and done as is clear from his motive for seeing Jesus. The fact that he was eager to see what Jesus looked like tells a lot about the disposition of his mind at the moment. Being very rich he did not want to come out into the open to associate with Jesus in his good works, prevented by his sense self-importance. On the other hand, Zacchaeus knew that he had no chance of acceptance from the self-righteous Jewish authorities who looked down upon him as a sinner. Though Zacchaeus himself was a Jew, in the eyes of the authorities, he was a traitor who looked after collection of taxes from his own people for the Roman authorities. As is evident from his own words to Jesus, Zacchaeus was not always just in amassing wealth and thus could not stand up erect in the midst of his own countrymen. It is obliquely hinted by the Evangelist in the expression 'being short of stature" or "being a little man". Zacchaeus could not see Jesus because of the crowd. However, his eagerness to see Jesus made him run ahead of the crowd and climb a sycamore tree as Jesus was to pass that way. The intention of Zacchaeus was to size up Jesus about whom he had heard a lot and nothing more was in his mind at the moment although ironically he was sized up by Jesus correctly.
We must say that the eagerness to see Jesus was grace given to Zacchaeus by God that he nurtured and took action to produce fruit. We can also see that when Zacchaeus took one step, Jesus took two towards him to help him out of the dreadful spiritual situation he was in. Zacchaeus just wanted a quiet observation of Jesus and then forget about it. However, an earthshaking command upset all his plans and his entire style of life. "When Jesus came to the place , he looked up and said, 'Zacchaeus, be quick and come down; I must come and stay with you today' " (Luke, 19: 5). Life was never the same again for Zacchaeus as he was a transformed man, although he did not promise to abandon his profession nor did Jesus call him to take such a drastic step. Yet, Zacchaeus found salvation because willingly he agreed to correct the aberrations in his life, besides being generous with his wealth for the benefit of the poor and the needy. Here again, Jesus brushes aside the self-righteous about associating himself with the sinners and the outcasts for the simple reason that the Son of Man came to seek out and save what was lost (See Luke, 19: 1-10). (To be contd).
The Paralytic: It was not the first time that the unbelieving Jews murmured against Jesus forgiving sins. If in the case of the sinful woman it was her faith that earned forgiveness, in the case of the paralytic, it was the faith of the people who brought him that earned forgiveness for the paralytic and made him whole. The paralytic was so helpless, so to say, that he was as good as dead. He was in fact dead as he was not spiritually alive, although his body did not start to degenerate beyond his inability to walk. In a way, he was incapable of helping himself in any way. He was lucky that he had people to carry him to Jesus and that too people with real faith for whom nothing posed as an obstacle. Since the entrance to the house where Jesus was sitting was blocked by a huge crowd, they took the imaginative step of letting him down with the bed from the roof of the house! Their only thought was to reach him somehow to Jesus and they were sure that they would not be disappointed. Jesus did not protest nor did he think of any protocol and calmly told the paralytic: "My son, your sins are forgiven you".
Jesus knew that his pronouncement would invite controversy as Scribes and Pharisees were present there. When it was a question of teaching and preaching the Word of God, Jesus did nit flinch from controversies, calumnies, threats and even death. The Scribes and Pharisees seemingly had a legitimate grudge against Jesus that was silently expressed in words like "Who but God alone can forgive sins?" In order to allay their fears about possible blasphemy, Jesus wanted to convince them that the Son of man had the right to forgive sins. For achieving this purpose, Jesus asked a question with two alternatives about which is easier to say. "Your sins are forgiven you", or to say, "Stand up and walk""? What in fact is easier to do sounds to be more difficult and what is difficult sounds easy. For to say that your sins are forgiven sounds easier since no one can verify it, whereas to say stand up and walk to a paralytic sounds difficult as it can easily be verified. Therefore, Jesus connects the verifiable with the unverifiable and proves the veracity of the latter with that of the former. John's Gospel mentions all the miracles of Jesus as signs for the very same reason of the intimate connection established between the verifiable and the unverifiable, the earthly and the heavenly, the ordinary and the extra-ordinary, the human and the divine through them. In the case of the paralytic, Jesus did not stop at merely curing him of his illness but asked him to take up his bed and go home. No ground for argument or doubt about the genuineness of the cure was allowed to linger in anyone's mind so that all would be convinced that the Son of Man had the right on earth to forgive sins (See Luke, 5: 17-26).
Call of Matthew: One of the most telling instances of the attraction Jesus exerted on people may be seen from the call of Levi, the tax collector. After curing the paralytic, Jesus went out of the house and Luke reports the manner in which he called Levi: "Later, when he went out, he saw a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, at his seat in the custom-house, and said to him, 'Follow me'; and he rose to his feet, left everything behind, and followed him" (Luke, 5: 27-28). The same scene is presented both by Mark and Matthew less dramatically. From their reports we learn one additional item each about Levi. Mark specifies that Levi was son of Alphaeus and Matthew forgets all about Levi and gives the new name of Matthew to himself. (See Mark, 2: 14; Matthew, 9: 9).
What is supremely fascinating is the magnetic attraction of Jesus that draws a public servant glued to his seat and counting cash collected out of his occupation to follow Jesus. Not a word of protest or hesitation, no argument or excuse stands in the way of the one called just by two words "follow me". The order must have been irresistible, especially given the context of Matthew's profession where a person's whole attention would be taken for granted. It was curious not only because Matthew was engaged in the business of collecting money as tax, but also as a public servant he was accountable to his superiors. It was unlike the case of Peter, Andrew, John and James who had to leave their private business to which they could return any time they wanted. A tax-gatherer leaving his post so irresponsibly could never hope to return to his post as he would have been immediately dismissed and a new one appointed in his place. To Matthew nothing of this mattered because he was mesmerized by the power of the personality that confronted him. That very moment he died to the world, for his job that sustained him and his family was considered by Matthew as of no value in comparison to following Jesus.
Afterwards Levi held a reception for Jesus in his house and many tax-gatherers and others of ill-repute joined him at the table. It was scandalous to the Scribes and Pharisees that any God-fearing person could eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners. "Jesus answered them: 'It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick; I have not come to invite virtuous people but to call sinners to repentance' " (Luke, 5: 31-32). Matthew adds one more detail to the incident saying that Jesus invited the Scribes and Pharisees to go and learn the meaning of the text in prophet Hosea 6: 6 that says: "I require mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew, 9: 13; See also Matthew, 12: 7).
Zacchaeus: Among the Gospels Luke alone narrates the conversion of Zacchaeus, a superintendent of taxes, who had taken initiative to see Jesus out of sheer curiosity. He may have heard of Jesus from others of what he had said and done as is clear from his motive for seeing Jesus. The fact that he was eager to see what Jesus looked like tells a lot about the disposition of his mind at the moment. Being very rich he did not want to come out into the open to associate with Jesus in his good works, prevented by his sense self-importance. On the other hand, Zacchaeus knew that he had no chance of acceptance from the self-righteous Jewish authorities who looked down upon him as a sinner. Though Zacchaeus himself was a Jew, in the eyes of the authorities, he was a traitor who looked after collection of taxes from his own people for the Roman authorities. As is evident from his own words to Jesus, Zacchaeus was not always just in amassing wealth and thus could not stand up erect in the midst of his own countrymen. It is obliquely hinted by the Evangelist in the expression 'being short of stature" or "being a little man". Zacchaeus could not see Jesus because of the crowd. However, his eagerness to see Jesus made him run ahead of the crowd and climb a sycamore tree as Jesus was to pass that way. The intention of Zacchaeus was to size up Jesus about whom he had heard a lot and nothing more was in his mind at the moment although ironically he was sized up by Jesus correctly.
We must say that the eagerness to see Jesus was grace given to Zacchaeus by God that he nurtured and took action to produce fruit. We can also see that when Zacchaeus took one step, Jesus took two towards him to help him out of the dreadful spiritual situation he was in. Zacchaeus just wanted a quiet observation of Jesus and then forget about it. However, an earthshaking command upset all his plans and his entire style of life. "When Jesus came to the place , he looked up and said, 'Zacchaeus, be quick and come down; I must come and stay with you today' " (Luke, 19: 5). Life was never the same again for Zacchaeus as he was a transformed man, although he did not promise to abandon his profession nor did Jesus call him to take such a drastic step. Yet, Zacchaeus found salvation because willingly he agreed to correct the aberrations in his life, besides being generous with his wealth for the benefit of the poor and the needy. Here again, Jesus brushes aside the self-righteous about associating himself with the sinners and the outcasts for the simple reason that the Son of Man came to seek out and save what was lost (See Luke, 19: 1-10). (To be contd).
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