PT-2 "Forensic" (Matt. 9:4-6a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2021 10:15 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “Forensic”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 9:4-6a

 

            Message of the verses:  “4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’”

 

            I have always wondered why His opponents were speechless after He accused them of what they were thinking.  They all knew that Jesus could read their minds, and so why not at least, ask Him how He has the power to read their minds.  Well later on in the book of Matthew these same people will accuse Jesus of doing His miraculous miracles in the power of Satan, so it is possible that is what they were thinking here when He tells them what they were thinking.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Even in their own distorted theology should have led the scribes and Pharisees to believe in Jesus’ divinity.  If, as they believed, sickness and disease were the consequences of sin, then removing disease would be connected to dealing with the sin that caused it.  In their thinking, all healing of disease would have to involve at least some forgiveness of sin—which by their own declaration only God can grant.  They were trapped in their own theology and logic.”

 

            It is possible that Jesus emphasized the word “say” and if that were so, then His point was that saying something is always easier than doing it.  Then it is also much easier to make a claim that cannot be verified than to make one that can be verified.  So the scribes and Pharisees had no abundant evidence of his healing, which would force the conclusion that Jesus could and did deal with sin.

 

            Sorry this is such a short SD, but I want to finish this tomorrow and then look at the next short section entitled “Force.”  I also want to give out a “Happy Mother’s Day” to those who read this who are mothers, one of the most difficult, yet rewarding jobs on earth.

 

5/9/2021 10:27 AM