Gospel Reflection For The 4th day of July in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Matthew 9:1-8
1 And entering into a boat, he passed over the water and came into his own city. 2 And behold they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. 3 And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. 7 And he arose, and went into his house. 8 And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.
For Jesus to forgive sins was a matter of great scandal for the Jews. As they rightly said, only God could forgive sins and under Jewish Law, this required sacrifice in the Holy Temple of God. For Jesus to forgive a man's sins was a clear statement that He either was God or had the authority of God. Either way, if a mere man said this, it was blasphemy. The penalty for blasphemy under the Law was death. This was very serious. As The Venerable Fulton Sheen famously stated, many say that Jesus was merely a good man but not God. If Jesus was not God, He was not a good man at all. He was a very bad man, an evil man, a blasphemer who led millions astray into a false religion. Truly, only if Jesus is God can anyone accept His ability to forgive sins.
As Christians, we may wonder why the Jews could not believe that the man, Jesus, had the authority of God to forgive sins. After all, we believe that Jesus is God. But, to the Jews of his day, many of whom knew Him from childhood, He was just a man... and a simple, humble, quiet man from a poor family and even rumored to have been born illegitimately. Imagine if some guy you knew from school suddenly began speaking and performing miracles as did Jesus. You would think it was some kind of hoax and certainly blasphemous!
No, we cannot blame the Jews of Jesus' time for their lack of understanding. But, many in our time doubt the words of Jesus by which He gave this same authority to His priests:
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
Protestants condemn us for going to a priest for confession, even though Jesus commanded it. They say, “Only God can forgive sins.” They are right, partly. Only God can forgive sins, and just as Jesus is truly God who became man, the priest “stands in the person of Christ.” When the priest hears our confession, it is God who forgives us through the authority He vested in them. What Protestants fail to realize is that they condemn Catholics for the same reasons the Jews condemned our Lord. As Catholics, we must remember the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or confession. It is an amazing privilege to go in and talk with a priest who is entrusted with the power of God. How many of us would run to Jesus if He appeared to us? We should be just as motivated to participate in all of the Sacraments of the One, Holy and Apostolic Catholic Church, because in each of them, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is truly present.
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2024 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3ZTXQB4
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
Spot on!