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Understanding The Bible |
Who is Jesus
Part 10
By Joan Deering
During Jesus ministry He did many things that
were radical. Here are just a few
instances where Jesus caused a major upheaval.
The scribes, Pharisees, the rulers were bent on destroying Him and here
are a few examples of why:
They called Him a blasphemer:
A Paralyzed Man Healed
Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee and
came to His own city.
And
they brought to Him a paralyzed man
lying on a stretcher. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man who was
paralyzed, “Take
courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” And
some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!
And Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why
are you thinking evil in your hearts? For
which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up
and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then
He said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your
stretcher and go home.”
And
he got up and went home. But when the crowds saw this, they
were awestruck, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath:
He entered a synagogue
again; and a
man was there whose hand was withered. And they were watching
Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might
accuse Him. He said to the man with the
withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And
He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or
to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking
around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the
man, “Stretch
out your hand.” And
he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The
Pharisees went out and
immediately began conspiring
with the Herodians against
Him, as to how they might put Him to
death.
Mark 3:1-6
He spent time with sinners:
Matthew Called
As
Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax
collector’s office; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
Then it happened that as Jesus
was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many
tax collectors and sinners came
and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. And when
the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating
with the tax collectors and sinners?” But
when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who
are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. Now
go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, rather
than sacrifice,’
for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-14
The Adulterous Woman:
But
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And
early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to
Him; and He sat down and began teaching them. Now
the scribes and the Pharisees brought a
woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of
the courtyard, they said to Him, “Teacher,
this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now
in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone
such women; what then do You say?” Now
they were saying this to test Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing
Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. When
they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone
at her.” And
again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Now
when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the
older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the
center of the courtyard. And straightening
up, Jesus said to her, “Woman,
where are they? Did no one
condemn you?” She
said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any
longer.”
John 8:1-11