Thursday of 13th Week of Ordinary Time
Gen 22: 1b-19; Mt 9: 1-8
Dc. Larry Brockman
Authority, Jesus spoke with authority; and Jesus acted with authority. The dictionary says “authority” means: “the power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the actions of others”. The Father gave Jesus “authority” here on earth to forgive sins, heal people, and work miracles.
Now many of the protestant sponsored translations use the word “power” instead of authority in this Gospel. But there is a difference between power and authority, as you can see from the definition. Jesus had the power alright- but the sense of the word was that Jesus also had the right to the power hence he had authority. The civil “authorities” had authority given by the emperor or some other civil leader. But Jesus had authority by virtue of the God the Father.
Now the civil authorities couldn’t do what Jesus did- they couldn’t heal the paralytic; and they certainly couldn’t forgive sins. That much the people realized- that’s why they accused Jesus of Blasphemy- because they recognized that only God could forgive sins. Jesus validates his authority to forgive sins, with all the unseen effects of such a power, by working a physical miracle, the effects of which could be seen by all.
Let me ask you a hypothetical question: Put yourself into the shoes of the paralytic for a moment. You have been paralyzed and unable to cope in a primitive society for as long as you can remember. Which would make you feel more at ease, more exuberant, more joyful; and more thankful: if Jesus had told you your sins were forgiven, or if Jesus healed your paralysis? Being the humans that we are, most of us would probably say the physical healing. We can only visualize vaguely what a truly wonderful thing it would be to know for sure that our sins were forgiven. But to get up and walk and to be independent of a crippled life style- ah, that is something we could all easily appreciate. And yet, it is clear that, literal as the paralysis might have been for the person in the Gospel story, the Gospel uses paralysis as a metaphor for an even more crippling condition- The condition that all of us wish to avoid where we would be paralyzed to reconcile our sinfulness with God. And if we die without first reconciling with God, we would be in that sorry state.
As Catholics, we are taught over and over again that life in this world is not what life is all about. Rather, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting in Kingdom of God are. But life in this world, well, it’s almost as if it paralyzes us! It occupies most of our thinking and doing and being to the extent that we are paralyzed from moving into the Kingdom of God.
Later in the Gospel, Jesus passes on his authority to forgive sins to His Apostles, and through them, to our priests of today. The Priests exercise that authority, and it’s called the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation, and Confession; and it’s a sure-fire way for you and I to achieve harmony with God. It is more powerful than being cured of our earthly physical woe because it frees us from our spiritual paralysis.