Schuld boete gewetenspijn ziekte vergeving inkeer?

IF
Yehoshua emphasized
the moral side of life
in preference to the purely formal side of legal observance,
we can give a little more depth to this provisional affirmation
by leaving the question of the law and addressing two
of his other controversial
conversations.

The first
has the same polemical overtone
as the saying on the occasion
of the healing of the man's withered hand:
"And behold, they brought to him a paralytic,
lying on his bed;
and when Yeshua saw their faith
he said,
'My son, your sins are forgiven!'
And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves,
'This man is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but G d?'
But Yeshu, knowing their thoughts said,
'What are you thinking in your hearts? For which is easier, to say,
"Your sins are forgiven,"
or to say,
"Rise and walk"?
But that you may know that the son of man
has authority on earth
to forgive
sins'
~
he then said to the paralytic,
'Rise, take up your bed and go home!'
And he rose and went home.
And all were afraid, and they glorified G d,
who had given such authority
to men"
(cf. Matai 9:1-.

As in the episode of the healing of the withered hand,
"JC" again links word with deed.
The healing was not intended as an end in itself but as a striking proof of his message.
Because people believed that illnesses were a consequence
of sins committed, forgiveness
of sins could
even imply
healing.

By healing the paralytic,
JC proved that
"G d"
had given authority to men to pronounce forgiveness of sins
even when those sins had not been committed against them:
it is also important that Yeshu forgave the sick man his sins after having perceived the faith
of those present, and also, apparently, the faith of the
sick man.

The original account
makes no mention of belief in Yeshua himself ~
only later did it become an integral part of the Christian faith (e.g., in Yochanan's Gospel) ~
but the power of faith itself
was already recognized
by Yeshu:
"If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed,
you could say to this mulberry tree,
'BE ROOTED UP,
AND BE PLANTED
IN THE SEA'
and it would obey you"
(Lucky Luke 17:6).

There is another
controversy regarding the forgiveness of sins.
It was alleged that Yeshua's healing power came from Beelzebub, the prince of spirits,
by whose power Yeshu drove out the spirits: one of his replies to this calumny is reported in Matai 12:32, "And whoever says a word against the son of man (i.e., a man) will be forgiven;
but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not ne forgiven,
either in this age or the age to come!"

The
special significance
of this saying, which has parallels
in Jewish writings, lies in the fact that,
since his baptism, Yeshu
knew he possessed
the Holy Spirit

The saying is important,
also, because it shows us
the substance to which Yeshua is pointing in his controversies,
even in those concerned with the observance of the law; namely, with human sin and human dignity.
In the course of subsequent stages of revison,
the protagonists in Yeshu's controversial
dialogues become more sharply
delineated ~ and
increasingly
distorted.

In the original accounts
Yeshua's opponents are often anonymous,
self-appointed spokesmen of local bigotry:
later they are described unhesitatingly as scribes and Pharisees.
It is worthwhile to follow the progressive development of the text in order to see
how Yeshu's opponents increasingly become
his enemies, inspired by boundless
wickedness, having as their
ultimate goal his
demise and
destruction.

De variaties
op dit soort thema's
zijn eindeloos door alle tijden en culturen heen:
het gaat dus duidelijk niet om het letterlijk nemen van 'verhaaltjes',
maar om de 'verborgen betekenis' achter gelijkenissen, bergveldredes & 'daden' ~
wat mensen al of niet blijkt te bezielen, waarin we al of niet willen geloven,
waaraan we ons soms vastklampen om in staat te zijn
om verder te leven ondanks zoveel pijn,
onrecht, leed, misdaad,
oorlog, schuld &
geweld.