As we continue this series of using stories found within the bible to
come to a greater understanding of the New Covenant, the Old Covenant, and the
relationship they have to each other, we must consider the issue of
forgiveness. There are so many theologies
out there that we can become extremely confused. There are many reasons for this. First of all, the way the Old Testament is
written can lead us to feeling as if the God of the Old Testament was
legalistic, imposing, and judgmental.
Adding insult to injury, we are taught that the way the Pharisees applied
the law is the way God intended it.
After all, aren’t we taught that they were “experts in the law”?
Over the past several weeks I have been waiting on God’s direction in
how to approach this subject and what scriptures would be best to use. Interestingly, He has led me to simply use
what can be found in the New Testament.
So, the question is, how can we, through the stories of the New
Testament, come into an understanding of God’s love, forgiveness, and grace in
the Old?
What I have come to see over the past few weeks as I have pondered
this discussion is that the teachings of the church really help us in
understanding this point. We are taught
that Jesus walked in the law because the transition between the Old Covenant
and the New did not occur until He went to the cross, was crucified, took on the
burden of all of our sins, overcame death, and was elevated to the right hand
of God the father. We are taught that at
this moment, when the curtain in the temple tore, that the transition from Old
to New took place. So how does this help
us? In Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5 we
are given the story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus.
When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard
that He was at home. And many were
gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door;
and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic,
carried by four men. Being unable to get
to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had
dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the
paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." But some of the scribes were sitting there and
reasoning in their hearts, "Why
does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God
alone?" Immediately Jesus, aware in
His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them,
"Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? "Which is easier, to say to the
paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your
pallet and walk'? "But so that you
may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He
said to the paralytic, "I say to
you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home." And he got up and immediately picked up the
pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and
were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."
Matthew
2:1-12
The main point comes in verse 10 "But
so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins". Let me give one more
example and we will come back to why this is such an important point.
Within the writings of Luke chapter 7 we find another example:
And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she
learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought
an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she
began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her
head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the
Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man
were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is
touching Him, that she is a sinner." And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have
something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed
five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. "When they were unable to repay, he
graciously forgave them both. So which
of them will love him more?" Simon
answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He
said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon,
"Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My
feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the
time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but
she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins,
which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven
little, loves little." Then He said
to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." Those who were reclining at the table with Him
began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?"
And He said to the woman, "Your
faith has saved you; go in peace."
Luke 7:37-50
This particular story is so filled with opportunities to learn and
grow that we almost skip right over one of the most significant parts. In the last three verses Jesus acknowledges
that He knows that she has led a life of many sins, that He forgives her, and
that it is her faith that has “saved” her.
He ends this with telling her to go in peace.
We must stop and consider what these verses are
telling us. We must see that Jesus was
the mediator of forgiveness and the provider of salvation through faith even under
the terms of the Old Covenant (because the New did not come into effect until
the end of His earthly ministry). How
can this be? The answer comes in
understanding what is actually being said in John 1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came into being through
Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of
men. The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it. ….. And the Word became flesh, and
dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the
Father, full of grace and truth.
John
1:1-5, 14
What the early disciples understood, and is often lost in the
translation, is that Jesus has always been, the entire Old Testament is His
Word, He spoke it into existence, and it is who He is. The very identity of Jesus is the embodiment of
the Old Testament scriptures. With this
understanding we come to realize that He is the author, mediator, and provider
of the man-God relationship from the very beginning of creation, through each
of the various time periods, and within all of the covenants. When we read what He said to the religious leaders
who stated “who can forgive sin but God alone” we come to understand something
very deep. He responded by saying “But so that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”.
In this statement He is establishing not only who He is, but more
importantly, what His role is within the Covenant that was in place at that
time. Everything He did during His
earthly ministry was totally within the context of the role He had served since
the establishment of the earlier covenants.
His role within the covenants did not change until after His earthly
ministry ended.
Can we put ourselves in the place of those religious leaders, allow
the words of Jesus to sink deep into the fabric of our being, and see that forgiveness
and grace are not something new to the New Testament? Can we see that Jesus, as all of the forgiveness
and grace we know Him to be, was always in the middle of the man-God
relationship from the very beginning?
Can we let God speak to us about this revelation and allow Him to grow
our understandings of who He has been so that we may better understand who He
is now?
I pray that you have been blessed by this time together. I pray that God will grow your understandings
and deliver you into a more powerful relationship with Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment