I Saw The Sign: Part 5
Does Jesus really have authority to forgive sins? That’s the burning question in this week’s passage. A group of friends believed Jesus really could heal their paralyzed companion, but Jesus had a plan to show them a sign that he could do even more than that. Matthew’s gospel, which is the home of our text today, is preached less often than the companion passage in Mark 2:1-12. In somewhat unusual fashion, Mark’s gospel has more detail in this story, even though it is much shorter than Matthew’s gospel overall, and is famous for being quite brief in it’s narrative style. Matthew’s gospel was written after Mark’s and Matthew almost certainly had the extra details of Mark available to him, yet he chose to leave them out.
Ravenna, Italy - ca. 504 “Jesus Healing the Paralytic” in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Anchor Texts:
Matthew 9:1-8 NASB - A Paralyzed Man Healed (Main Text for this Week)
Mark 2:1-12 NASB - The Paralyzed Man Healed (Parallel Text from Mark)
Isaiah 43:18-25 NASB - “Do not call to mind the former”
Questions to Ponder:
Read Mark 2:1-12. Why do you think Matthew left out some of the details, such as the roof being opened?
Read Matthew 9:4 here in several translations (look at NASB, ESV, KJV, NLT) Some say “know” and some say “perceived”. The difference is in the underlying Greek word which is in some texts is the word for “to know” and in other texts its the word for “to see.” What (if anything) does this word choice change about our understanding of Jesus’ divinity and humanity at work together here?
Do you think the people are in fear and marvel at the authority has to heal the man or to forgive sins? Or do you think the crowd understands both?
The Theme in Art:
These two depictions below of the healing of the paralytic are separated by almost 1500 years. They each reflect the art of their time, but also mental images of what the healing would look like in their own day. What it helpful about each? What is distracting? Note, most art depicting this healing is based on Mark 2:1-12, which is the parallel passage of our text form Matthew 9:1-8.
Ravenna, Italy - ca. 504 “Jesus Healing the Paralytic” in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
Peter Koenig, Parish of St. Edward, Kettering, U.K. 20th c.
The Theme for Kids:
Here’s the story not from Mark OR Matthew’s gospel, but in the third parallel account in Luke 5:17-26. In Luke’s account the Pharisees are added to the mix - a group of people Matthew doesn’t introduce until later