"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

Monday, May 3, 2010

Matthew 9:1-16 - Forgiving Sins, Challenging Tradition, Wineskins

I plan to talk more about this chapter later, but for now I wanted to post some Matthew 9 quotes and "thinkies" for discussion. This post will cover the first half of the chapter.

1Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

3At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

4Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7And the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.


"Given such authority to men." -- I suppose this refers to the authority to forgive sins. Do you recall others who have this authority on earth? Obviously the teachers of the law thought Jesus was stepping out of bounds and blaspheming God. Do you ever wonder why Jesus would say and do such provocative things? I wonder sometimes if he enjoyed challenging the cultural, traditional norms just to prove they are not the most important things in life!

In fact, this next quote somewhat proves it - at least to me! Note verse 13 which I discussed at length previously.

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."


What does "following Jesus" look like to you? Does it differ significantly to what Jesus called Matthew to do?

14Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

15Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."



Any thoughts on what in the world wineskins have to do with anything? What do they symbolize in Jesus' example?

I'd enjoy hearing your opinions and discussion on these topics.

4 comments:

Amber said...

'2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."'

I've personally always found this verse interesting. It shows that other people may have an effect on our salvation. The paralytic's sins were not forgiven because of his faith, but the faith of his friends. Just like the centurian's servant was healed because of his faith, and not the servant's own.

'Do you recall others who have this authority on earth?'

*waggles eyebrows* The Apostles and their successors...

'Obviously the teachers of the law thought Jesus was stepping out of bounds and blaspheming God.'

Because He was forgiving sins, which is God's purview alone. A way of declaring His divinity without spelling it out.

'Do you ever wonder why Jesus would say and do such provocative things? I wonder sometimes if he enjoyed challenging the cultural, traditional norms just to prove they are not the most important things in life!'

Maybe. I tend to think He said them because they were true, and needed to be said.

Suroor said...

I think Jesus had a special way with words which were a miracle in their own way.

wineskins? To me that is a good way of telling that he came not to abolish the Old Law but to fulfill it with correct understanding. I wrote once that I think he was not against the Law of Moses. See whether you think he was divine or not, if you believe in Moses being a prophet then you believe that Moses was rightly guided. So to a non-Christian who believes in Jesus Moses was a prophet sent by God; to a Christian Moses was an agent sent by God/Jesus so how could he abolish everything Moses had to say. I think he didn't. I think he was against the rabbinical commentary and the errors in some of it. I think he was against the Mishnah. The Mishnah had to be corrected and turned into new wine by keeping the Law intact and then filled into new wineskin which is the NT.

What do you think?

Susanne said...

Amber, I love that part about the faith of others, too! Thank you for pointing this out. It makes me wonder how much we can be involved in the salvation of others...hmmm. That's something to consider.

"Maybe. I tend to think He said them because they were true, and needed to be said."

Wellll, if you want to get practical about it, then yes. ;-P

Thanks for your great comment. I enjoyed it.

Susanne said...

Suroor, I loved your comment. I don't think the Mosaic Law was awful and needed to be destroyed. I think it served its purpose to set aside the nation of Israel as a people separated by God to be a light among the nations and to whom Jesus would be born. Thus Jesus *fulfilled* the Law (with his death and resurrection and that whole perfect Lamb thing). :-)

So I don't want you to get the idea that I think the Law of Moses was evil somehow. There are a lot of good things in it including the famous "Ten Commandments."

I do think the Jews created a lot of tradition - that "fence" surrounding the Law so they would be guarded from breaking it. It became so binding on the people and they started focusing more on outwardly keeping it that God told them He wanted no more of this outward show, but sincere worship! Enough with these people worshiping Him with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. Perhaps this is why Jesus told the Pharisees to go learn what "I desire mercy and not sacrifice means." Jesus was quoting from the OT Prophet Hosea (6:6).

I think Jesus brought in a new covenant (testament) as God told of in Jeremiah 31:31. I do believe Jesus kept the law as a "good Jewish rabbi" would, however, I think he favored us loving God and others much more than the outward tradition.

Maybe I am so wrong for thinking this! :-)

Thanks much for your wonderful "wineskin" thoughts! I enjoyed them very much!