More of Jesus' Authority Revealed...Matthew 9:1-8

 

See all those squiggly black lines and circles?  That is where I have been this past summer and a few places beyond the edges of the map.  It has been such an adventure to follow these trails all through the western part of the Rocky Mountain National Park, the Arapaho National Forest, the Never Summer Range and the Indian Peaks Range.  I'm always pushing myself to see what is around the next bend or over the next rise.  New discoveries seem to enrich my soul and that is true of God's word too.  Just like some of these trails I will hike again next year, God's word has been the book of my life and some passages have been gone over again and again with new discoveries around each bend and over each rise.  This passage was no different. 

At the end of the passage, the consensus of the people was that Jesus was still just a man.  He was a man being used by God and could do some pretty phenomenal things but He was still just a man.  They based this on what they saw.  The parallel passages in Mark and Luke mention this in their final statements.  

The scribes and Pharisees' consensus was that Jesus was a man claiming to be God.  They based this on what they heard.  Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven, sent away.  No one could do this but God alone.  This is a true statement.  They didn't see Jesus as God.  They based this consensus on what they heard that overshadowed Jesus' ability to know what they were thinking and calling them out about it.

Matthew presents two groups.  There are those who base their opinion of Jesus on what they see and there are those who base their opinion of Jesus on what they hear.  I wonder if Matthew is trying to bring these two senses together with what we read or has been written.  Matthew keeps bringing up God's word about the Messiah.  Does what God say about the coming Messiah match up with what you see Him doing and what you hear Him saying?  The triangulation of all three of these should bring about a solid witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  

May the people not just be marveled at what Jesus did but know Him as God.  May the religious leaders not be wrestling with His God-like words but know Him as God.  May both groups connect the written words of God with the words and actions of Jesus.  I think this is what happened to Thomas post resurrection when he met Jesus.  He had heard Jesus say multiple times that He was going to rise again after the third day.  He now could see Him risen and He could hear Him say, "put your fingers here and your hand here."  Thomas' response was, "My Lord and my God."  The three were put together to make that definitive statement.  

Maybe this is true of us also.  We match up what we read with what we see and what we hear.  We see Jesus intervene at just the right moment in our lives.  We hear His name from His followers as the Savior of our sins.  We dive in and read His words of His love for us before we loved Him and His salvation plan for our souls.  As the song says, "He came from heaven to earth to show the way.  From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay.  From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift Your name on high."

How does Jesus become Lord to others?  How does Matthew show his readers that Jesus truly is the Messiah?  As the book unfolds I think we will see these three senses coming together first for the disciples and then for others to come to the same conclusion of Thomas in the end.  May we pray others will also proclaim about Jesus, "My Lord and my God."

Adam