Discourse 31
Why Jesus Mixed with “Publicans and Sinners”
And there came leper to him, beseeching him, and
kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean.” And Jesus, moved with
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, “I will;
thou be clean.”
And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy
departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he
straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; and saith unto him, “See
thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and
offer for thy cleansing those things his Moses commanded, for testimony unto
them.”
But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to
blaze abroad the matter, in so much that Jesus could no more openly enter into
the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every
quarter.
Again he enter into Capernaum after some days; and it
was noised that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, in so much that there was no room to
receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto
them.
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the
palsy, which was born of four. And they
could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he
was: and when they had broken it up, they led down the bed where the sick of
the palsy lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of
the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
But there was certain of the scribes sitting there,
and reasoning in their hearts, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?”
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit
that they so reasoned within themselves, he said into them, “”Why reason ye
these things in your hearts? Whether is
it easier to say the sick of palsy, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee’; or to say,
‘Arise and take up thy bed and walk’?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, arise and take up
thy bed, and go the way into thine house.”
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went
forth before them all; in so much they were all amazed, and glorified God,
saying, “We never saw it on this fashion.”
And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude
resorted unto him, and he taught them.
And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus
sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his
house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his
disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him
eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, “How is it that
he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?”
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, “They that
are whole have no need of physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
---Mark 1:40---2:17
And there came leper to him, beseeching him, and
kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean.” And Jesus, moved with
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, “I will;
thou be clean.”
And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy
departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Mark 1:40—42
By ecstatic meditation human will can be united with
God’s omnipresence. It is able to work
with cosmic force and intelligence which govern the universe. Jesus, being one
with God the Father and all pervading Intelligent Cosmic Energy felt himself
not only in his own little body but in all bodies, including that of the leper.
He willed the cosmic Energy to clean out the imperfections of illness,
rearranging the life vibrations to effect atomic changes in the diseased
tissues and cells. The healing was
instantaneous.
And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him
away; and saith unto him, “See thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way,
shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things his Moses
commanded, for testimony unto them.”
But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to
blaze abroad the matter, in so much that Jesus could no more openly enter into
the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every
quarter.
Mark 1:43—45
Parallel reference:
But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him:
and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their
infirmities. And he withdrew himself
into the wilderness, and prayed.
Luke 5:15—16
Jesus told the leper not to pay attention to his
healing miracle. He wanted the leper to give credit to God only. This is to remove the doubt of priest who
doubted the divine commission of Jesus. Jesus wanted to further alleviate the
doubts of the spiritual hierarchy. Jesus
showed his belief in the greatness of Moses. He respected Mosaic law. Jesus instructed leper to offer in the
synagogue “for thy cleansing those things his Moses commanded.” But the rejoiced healed leper told the
multitudes regarding Jesus so that others also can be helped by Jesus. Jesus
communed with God in body and spirit to renew himself. Hence away from the
masses he went into solitude to go within himself.
Again he enter into Capernaum after some days; and it
was noised that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, in so much that there was no room to
receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto
them.
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the
palsy, which was born of four. And they
could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he
was: and when they had broken it up, they led down the bed where the sick of
the palsy lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of
the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
Mark
2:1--5
Parallel reference:
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the
palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the
palsy: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins
be forgiven thee.” Matthew 9:2
(additional parallel reference in Luke 5:17—20)
Because of huge crowds in Capernaum for Jesus’
preaching, a paralyzed helpless man on a cot was lowered because of crowds
through the roof of the house where Jesus was saying.
“there were Pharisees and Doctors of the law sitting
by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and
Jerusalem.” Luke 5--17
Jesus seeing the palsied man’s faith on God and those
who brought him, Jesus forgave his sins. “Son, be delighted in Spirit, for
thy sins, which were consciously or unconsciously committed by thee in the past
but are unknown to thee now, are forgiven by the mercy of God; and thereby thy
sickness, the karmic effect of those sins, is healed.”
But there was certain of the scribes sitting there,
and reasoning in their hearts, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?”
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit
that they so reasoned within themselves, he said into them, “”Why reason ye
these things in your hearts? Whether is
it easier to say the sick of palsy, ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee’; or to say,
‘Arise and take up thy bed and walk’?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, arise and take up
thy bed, and go the way into thine house.”
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went
forth before them all; in so much they were all amazed, and glorified God,
saying, “We never saw it on this fashion.” Mark
2:6--12
Parallel reference:
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within
themselves, “This man blasphemeth.”
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Wherefore
think ye evil in your hearts? For
whether is easier, to say, “Thou sins be forgiventhee’; or to say, ‘Arise and
walk?’ But that ye may know that the Son
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,” (then saith he to the sick of the
palsy,), “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”
And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they
marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. Matthew
9:3—8
The Pharisees and doctors of the law, materially
minded intellectuals, blind to Jesus’ divine stature, could not understand his
right and power to forgive sins. One
should nullify evil karma by righteousness. Sons of God can act on behalf of
God to relieve others from sufferings. Erroneous habits in individuals can be
changed to good habits. Jesus could say to the sick,” ‘Thy sins be forgiven
thee by God,”. That is thy sins be forgiven thee. Or, “Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk, that
is thy karmic debt has been forgiven.
Jesus’ consciousness is omnipresent. It felt the
thoughts of the doubting scribes and Pharisees. He replied: “Why are you concerned about my forgiving the
sins of men? Wherein is there any
difference whether I relieve people of their miseries by the power of God
acting through me, or by my power given unto me by my God?”
The Guru is the
awakened God, awakening the sleeping God in the disciple. The masses admired
Jesus with awe who was like them in appearance but just like Christ.
And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the
multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus
sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
Mark 2:14
At the sight of Matthew, Jesus intuitively recognized
a certain disciple known to him since incarnations. Matthew had been borne at
that time and place. Matthew was a publican that is tax collector. Matthew’s
consciousness was spiritually developed in a previous incarnation. Jesus knew
Matthew as a divine son.
Physical scientists expose Nature’s truth of the
evolution of matter. Spiritual masters
dramatically reveal the sole’s evolution through successive incarnations. That
is why Jesus commanded Matthew: “Follow me”.
And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his
house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his
disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him
eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, “How is it that
he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?”
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, “They that
are whole have no need of physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:15--17
Parallel reference:
And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and
there was great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
Luke 5:29
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the
house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw
it, they said unto his disciples, “Why eateth your Master with publicans and
sinners?”
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, “They
that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, ‘I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice’: for I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance” Matthew
9:10--13
(Levi was also known as Matthew. Parallel references in Matthew 9:9 and Luke
5:27—28)
Offering food to holy personages is an ancient
devotional tradition in the Orient.
Matthew undoubtedly felt blessed to fete in his home hi rediscovered
Master from lives past. In the time of
Christ, journey was usually by foot with little accommodation on the way.
Jesus ate, drank. And associated with the socially
outcast “publicans and sinners” who needed him to cure their spiritual sickness
of material habits. In Judea, under the
Roman system, all circumstances combined to make the publicans the object of
bitter hatred. When the caste conscious
Pharisees and scribes, accustomed to associating with the upper classes and
devoutly orthodox, criticized Jesus for mixing with such untoward company.
Jesus said: It is the sick in body who need the aid of
a doctor, not those who are physically well.
The same holds true for spiritually stricken souls. I love to be welcomed into their midst
because they need mental, moral, and spiritual divine healing through the godly
manifesting through me.”
“Sinners” are those who are lacking in soul
attunement. They misuse their God-given
reason. They repeat wrong actions. So
the sinners fall into inextricable labyrinthine ways of error. They need Christ like Doctor to put them into
right path. The healing of these people
began with the blessings and contact of Jesus.
Jesus’ main purpose was to rouse in them the healing process of
spiritual awakening.
Jesus goes on to say to the intellectually
self-impotent scribes and Pharisees, “Learn what is means, ‘I will have mercy
and not sacrifice,” I came to care for
the spiritually sick and needy. (Jesus
was quoting from the Old Testament Book of Hosea (6:6): “For I desired
mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Jesus said: I came here to call not only
those who are already redeemed but all manner of sinners from all walks of life
who in their worldly-wise ignorant conceptions of the true meaning of
life. To awaken repentance in them and
to show them the way to redeem themselves.
Redemption comes only when the wrongdoer is convinced of his errors and
erroneous ways. He must be explained his sorrow-producing sinful actions. Once discriminative reason is awakened, then
it will be automatically followed by repentance. Repentance is the forerunner of spiritual
liberation.
No one can prevent confirmed evil doers from reaping
the effects of their past evil actions.
But their past evil actions can be neutralized by the effects of their
good actions and by the intercession of divine grace.
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