Reading rooms- 2:5-8

Jesus response is so good- he quickly sums up what has occurred- (probably wouldn't have had to be too quickly- I imagine it took them some time to dig through the roof – and then lower their friend down- and that Jesus paused as this was happening and every one watched as it took place) Perhaps when the man made it to the floor and the buzz of the crowd died away as they waited to see what would happen next- how will Jesus react to this- and he comes out with- Child your sins are forgiven- (BDAG has for one of its meanings- 3, one who is dear to another but without genetic relationship and without distinction in age, child- then has this reference as an example of that). What is the paralytic thinking at this stage? - Actually, that wasn't quite what I was after- the scribes in the room (were there one or two that felt a thrill?) were thrown into an inner turmoil – that spilt out into a grumbling among themselves- did the rest of the crowd pick up the implication so quickly- another example of the heritage of the place. - get the feeling the whole way through, that the crowd as a general rule is not as worried about such things- that on the whole they are not as worried full stop, that the thing that would have stuck with them was the man (they would have all known) getting up and walking out of there- and that pondering the full significance was too much to worry about.

perceived in his spirit- How did he know this? It doesn't read like he just overheard them mumbling- It sounds like a supernatural thing- or was he just good at reading faces- but then Jesus response- why do you raise such questions in your heart? This seems like something of a corrective to making Jesus too much just a normal human being- just a carpenter from Nazereth going about his business quietly to save the world. - I can have this train of thought of how Jesus was more of a man/human being than I've ever given him credit for in the past (which is true and good to realise) wonder about how he came to his knowledge of the father, himself and his vocation- think it may have all happened in a way that it happens for us to a large degree- with a few differences- no static in the way from sin as Paul Roe points out, But then things like this pull me up- it is very mystical – beyond my experience- and that somehow adds a bit of distance to the good carpenter from Nazareth. I wonder if this was the disciples experience on a fairly regular basis- It didn't seem that long ago we were having a barbie together and cooking fish on the beach, and now he's walking over the water towards us.