He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
We have seen on more than one occasion people getting upset about Jesus's forgiveness of sins.
It's just wrong somehow that he should do that! It upsets people and they don't know what to make of it. "This is not the way we do things here in this country, or among these people. Jesus, if you're going to introduce yourself into our society you're going have to learn our ways. And waltzing into town and forgiving notorious sinners -- that's not gonna fly. "
Human beings have to build customs, expectations, and all kinds of systems in order to survive. Where animals know what to do because they have instincts, we have none. (And when they're instincts fail they die, while human adapt and thrive through change.)
So we survive by habits and customs; that is, by doing things the same way all the time, and one of those ways is to categorize people. Some are desirable; some are not. Some should be flattered and others driven out of town. Some we can trust and others, we're sure, will never be trustworthy. It's not a perfect system but any system is better than none.
And then Grace arrives. Grace, in the person of Jesus or in gusts of the Holy Spirit, changes things. Jesus forgives sinners; he heals the sick; he teaches and preaches to the poor; he raises the dead. And the Spirit is worse! It proposes new ideas when the old ones were good enough. It welcomes people who clearly don't belong here. It admires people whose virtues don't stand out immediately. It's all very disturbing.
And we might resent the work of Grace until one day we realize, "I need it too." That's a hard thought and ordinarily we'd rather not think it. But it just keeps coming because we're suffering and we need some help.
I can't forgive myself, will someone forgive me, please? I can't cure my affliction; will someone take me to the hospital, diagnose my pain, prescribe a treatment, and help me recover? I am dying; will someone be so kind as to see that my grave is kept clean?
Without forgiveness, kindness, charity, courage, a sense of humor, and a thousand other graces God gives us through Jesus and the Spirit, we cannot survive this world, although we thought we'd survive better without them!
In the end the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.