"No indeed!" The others were determined. "I am sure he will be healed if we can just find some way to get through," said one of them.
The fourth man was gazing at a staircase that led up to the roof of the house next to Simon"s home.
"Look! Why can"t we get in that way?"
In a moment the men had climbed the stairs and stepped across the narrow s.p.a.ce that separated them from the roof of Simon"s house. On the porch under them, they could hear Jesus talking. It took about fifteen minutes to lift the tile from the porch roof, tie ropes to the stretcher, and lower the man toward Jesus.
Everybody stared as the paralyzed man slowly came to rest at the feet of Jesus.
"My son!" Jesus" voice could be clearly heard in the hush of the courtyard. "Your sins are forgiven."
The statement took everyone by surprise. Andrew saw a scribe whisper to a friend.
"Did you hear what he said?" remarked the scribe whom Andrew was watching. His friend nodded.
A woman who knew the sick man said: "Is this man paralyzed because he sinned? He was born this way, wasn"t he?"
"He has been a very good man," answered her husband.
Jesus turned to the scribes and Pharisees. "Why are you wondering about what I said? Tell me which is easier, to say to this man, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Rise, take up your pallet and walk"?"
None tried to speak. Then Jesus said, ""But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins""--he turned to the sick man--"Get up! Pick up your bed and carry it away!"
Strength surged into the wasted frame of the paralytic. He rose and did as Jesus told him. A whisper ran over the crowd.
The Pharisees and scribes sat silent. Watching them carefully, Simon saw that they were puzzled. An elderly man, who appeared to be a leader, whispered to a friend, "He actually claims to forgive sin! G.o.d alone can do that."
The Pharisees and scribes rose to leave. They walked through the crowd without looking at the people. When they were outside, the elderly leader shook his head very gravely. "I had hoped this man would be a friend of the Law, but I am afraid he is not. "Your sins are forgiven!"
What a blasphemous thing for a man to dare to say!"
[Ill.u.s.tration]
6. THE OLD AND THE NEW
"Rabbi, it is a serious mistake for us to mix with outcasts!" Simon was disturbed. Jesus had summoned a tax collector named Levi to follow him.
On this night the tax collector had asked Jesus and his disciples to come to his home for dinner. "I know that Levi is different now,"
protested Simon, "but we ought not to get mixed up with his old cronies.
We should take him away from that cla.s.s of people!"
Jesus came straight to the point. "Don"t you want to eat at Levi"s home at all?"
"No!" Simon answered bluntly. "After all, look who he is! A taxgatherer!
A traitor to our nation! For my part, I want nothing to do with him."
Simon realized that his tone was not respectful. "I am thinking of our work, Master. People will not listen to us if we eat with those men. The best people will look down on us!"
"Levi has sinned," answered Jesus. "That is why we called him to join us. His friends have sinned. We are going to eat with them because they need help. And do not forget, Simon, you will be judged by the same measuring stick that you use on Levi"s friends."
"I am far from perfect. Rabbi," persisted Simon, "but I try to obey the Law." His tone became bitter. "Anyway, I never worked for King Herod! I cannot stand the idea of sitting down at the same table with tax collectors. It might as well be a gang of robbers!"
"Simon," said Jesus sternly, "before you start looking for the sliver in Levi"s eye you had better dig the tree trunk out of your own." Strongly rebuked, Simon consented to eat with Levi and his friends, but he was very unwilling.
The next day two close friends of Symeon, the most respected citizen of Capernaum, stopped to visit him. The report of what Jesus had done came up.
"What I cannot understand," remarked Symeon, a dignified man of about sixty, "is how a man who wants to teach religion can actually a.s.sociate with such people."
"For that matter," replied one of his friends, "look at the men who follow him. They are very common people--fishermen, this tax collector, and such like--not a Pharisee among them. Not one of them takes religion seriously."
"And yet I have heard this Nazarene myself," continued Symeon. "He says many things that show he knows the Law very well. He knows he should not eat with people like that Levi!"
"Did you hear about the healing at the fisherman"s house the other day?"
inquired the younger of the two visiting Pharisees. "Some men put a paralytic in front of the Nazarene while he was teaching. The first thing he said was, "Your sins are forgiven."" The others nodded.
"The puzzling thing is that this young teacher seems very sincere," said Symeon. "He really knows a great deal--and no one can deny that he has great power. The people go out to hear him everywhere. I want to find out his purpose. I have a suggestion that may help us see what he is trying to do." The other men looked up. "You may think this is going a little too far, but I should like to ask him to come to my house."
"But he is not a keeper of the Law!" protested the young Pharisee. "We should be as bad as he is, if we were to eat with him."
Symeon nodded. "I realize that it will not be easy for you, but I think we should do it. If there is something good in this Nazarene, we should know it. If he is up to mischief.... Anyhow, I don"t see how we can understand him unless we talk to him." The others said nothing, and Symeon took their silence for consent. "Of course," he added, "we will not invite the others--the fishermen and that tax collector. That would be too much! But I think it would be all right to have the Nazarene here just once."
When Jesus told the disciples that he was going to the home of Symeon, Andrew was pleased. "I guess we have not offended the Pharisees too badly after all," he exclaimed enthusiastically.
Simon too was relieved. "I hope. Master," he said, "that you will explain why we ate with Levi."
Jesus said very little. It was natural for fishermen and workers to want the approval of the most respected citizens of Capernaum. Yet Jesus knew how little the Pharisees cared for people like his own disciples.
There were many guests in Symeon"s home, for this was the season of the New Year and every Jew left the door of his home open for any visitor who cared to enter. During the meal, both friends and strangers continued to come into the room, but Symeon was listening intently to Jesus as they conversed about religion.
"The men who obeyed G.o.d in past times were not the rich and the powerful," Jesus was saying. "Very often our nation has listened to G.o.d"s voice only after defeat in war. When men know they are weak, they turn to G.o.d."
"Is this your purpose in going about and preaching to the people of Galilee?" asked Symeon. Everyone listened for the answer.
"I am sent to tell our people that G.o.d is their rightful King. His power is present among us," answered Jesus plainly. "But most of you will not take my message seriously. You trust other G.o.ds, and your hearts are hard."
The Pharisees looked at one another. Some were puzzled, others offended.
"But surely you misunderstand us. We keep the Law very carefully," said Symeon.
"If you are really a teacher sent from G.o.d, how can you mix with outcasts?" The young Pharisee"s question was blunt.
"I am not here to call the righteous to repent," answered Jesus, his eyes accusing the young man. "I am here to call sinners!" Irony came into his voice. "People who are healthy don"t need a doctor. It is the sick who need help. It is to them that I am sent."
The room was tense, but before anyone could ask another question, Symeon"s attention was drawn away. He glanced around the room. It sounded as though someone were weeping! He examined the shadowy corners where the light of the candles did not reach. At that moment a woman stepped swiftly toward Jesus and dropped to her knees.
Jesus turned and looked at her. He had not known she was hiding in the darkness behind him. Her tears fell on his feet. She loosed the cord that tied her hair. With its long waves she gently wiped Jesus" feet.
Symeon, usually dignified, was irritated. "What kind of nonsense is this?" he asked as he rose from his couch.