Monday, February 16, 2009

Jesus and Forgiving Sins

Luke 5 is where in the story Jesus begins to forgiven the sins of those who demonstrate faith.  Up to this point in the story, Jesus has demonstrated amazing authority when it comes to healing people.  In the OT, the prophets would call upon the name of the LORD with great demonstration and passion.  Here in the Gospels, Jesus merely utters a command, and the healing deed is done.  It is this difference that causes the people to see and be amazed by Jesus' authority.  Surely he is someone special.

As valuable as physical healing is - Jesus came not only to restore physical cracks and breaks, but to restore spiritual cracks and breaks.  Jesus has come as God in the flesh to cancel the spiritual debts of Israel, to forgive their sins, to save them from their trespasses.  The physical manifestation of their long-term rebellion against the Way of God has resulted in political oppression, economic injustice, agricultural deprivation, etc.  

Vitamin deficiencies, long-term malnutrition, unbalanced diets, and other nutrition issues partially result in blindness, deafness, paralyzation, crippleness, bleeding, mental instability, and a host of other problems.  Jesus heals them of their physical suffering, but he also wants to restore their heart with God, so that they can follow his Way, so they will open up to his blessings.  So for those that are willing, for those who believe (have confidence) in Jesus, for those that trust him and his ability, for those that have faith (allegiance) in him, Jesus can forgive their sins and give them a new start with God.

This is certainly good news for those that want a different life for themselves, their family, their friends, their neighbors.  What can one person do in a world so full of darkness and suffering?There is a lot that one person can do - for starters: turn your life around, pick a different way of living, repent of your sins, receive the forgiveness of God and follow his way.

Jesus calls out: Follow me.  To those who have ears to hear - Follow!  

Jesus won't heal every ailment, he didn't fix everything in a person's life, and what he did fix didn't necessarily guarantee that something else wouldn't go wrong later.  But by his compassion and generosity, Jesus demonstrated his trustworthiness - he is worth believing in, he is worth following.  His way of compassion and generosity, his way of truth and peace are worth joining everyday.

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