Day 84: The Claim of Savior

Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name. CCC 589

In today's reading, the Catechism speaks of the claims made by Jesus of being the Savior to Israel and the whole world. If there is anything that quickly becomes clear in reading the Gospels, it is that Jesus as the Messiah was not at all what the Jewish religious leaders, or indeed just about any Jew of that era, expected. He wasn't a wise political or mighty military leader who would free them from the Romans, but His mission was to call us to invite us to faith and belief in Him, thus restoring our relationship with God, freeing us from our slavery to sin, and giving us eternal life by His grace. Yet, "certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man, saw in him only a man who made himself God, and judged him as a blasphemer" (CCC 594). For this most grave of sins, as they saw it, Jesus would have to die. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I puts it, they were left with only three choices about Jesus:

C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity explains that Jesus did not just claim to be a prophet or a holy person; he claimed to be God. There are only three explanations: either he was a liar, he was disconnected from reality (a lunatic), or he was truly who he said he was - the Lord. In asking the people to accept him as the Author of salvation and the Author of the universe, Jesus was asking them for an amazing amount of faith. (p. 172)

In many ways, they sadly chose only the first two options, and despite demonstrating to them that He Is Who He Says He Is, their hearts were too hardened and that third option was just too great of a stumbling block for them. Yet, in many other ways, it isn't bad news because the sacrifice He made on the cross proved to be our salvation. 

Disputation between Jesus and the Pharisees by Gustave Doré