Breaking the Word

GOSPEL READING: LUKE 1:26-38

Mary was a virgin but she was betrothed to a man named Joseph. She was a historical person with sociological background and controlled by geographical and temporal limits. Such a person was encountered by an eternal, limitless, beyond space and time God. At this juncture she could only utter ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’.

Mary believed in a God who created the heavens and the earth. She believed in a God who redeemed her ancestors from slavery. She believed in a God who walked along with her forefathers through the thick and thin of the history. She believed in a God who controlled the nature and history. Nothing was impossible for this God. When such a God addressed her she could only say ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’.

மரியா படைப்பின் கடவுளை நம்பினாள். தனது முன்னோரை அடிமைத்தனத்திலிருந்து மீட்ட கடவுளை நம்பினாள். தனது முன்னோரோடு வரலாறு படைத்த கடவுளை நம்பினாள். இயற்கையிலும் வரலாற்றிலும் தன்னை வெளிப்படுத்திய கடவுளை நம்பினாள். கடவுளால் இயலாதது ஒன்றுமில்லை என்று நம்பினாள். இந்த கடவுளை எதிர்கொள்ளும்போது> ‘நான் ஆண்டவரின் அடிமை@ உம்சொற்படியே எனக்கு நிகழட்டும்” என்று மட்டும்தான் சொல்ல முடிந்தது.

GOSPEL READING: Lk 5:17-26

Jesus was teaching. He also had the power of healing. These were the two great ministries which Jesus was doing on this earth. People were witnesses to these activities. Pharisees and the teachers of the law were also there listening to his teachings. Certainly they did not agree to all what he taught because constantly they tried to put him to test. They wanted to catch him by his own words. They did the same with regard to his doings.

Only God can forgive sins and that too he would do it through the temple and all the system of sacrifices. Above all this was done on the Day of Atonement. Normally this would be the process through which God forgave the people. So naturally this would involve the priests and particularly the high priest. Jesus was aware of this. Then how could he say: ‘your sins are forgiven’. He was cutting across the normal channels of authority and this was the problem.

People who were gathered around Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were witnesses to his teachings and miracles. They saw the paralyzed man walking in front of their own eyes. The people were amazed because they saw a man with healing power and he was a man of authority because he challenged the leading members of the society and preached about the kingdom.

இயேசுவின் அதிகாரம் பிறரை சிந்திக்க வைத்தது. அதைவிட அவரிடம் அவர்கள் கண்டது அவருடைய அதிகாரம் கலந்த போதனை அதோடு அதிகாரம் கலந்த குணமளிக்கும் சக்தி. இந்த அதிகாரம் மரபை தாண்டி சட்;டங்களைத்தாண்டி செயல்படுகிறது.