Sin as Sickness

Those who are well have no need of a physician, 

but those who are sick. 

I have not come to call the righteous 

but sinners to repentance.

(Luke 5:31-32)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Jesus’ Parable of the Doctor and the Sick is found in three Gospels (Mark 2:17. Matt 9:12-13, Luke 5:31-32). In each case, the parable is paired with a statement about his mission: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” This pairing converts the parable into a doublet, a form of Hebrew poetry, where the first phrase is rephrased by the second. In other words, the healthy are righteous while the sick are sinners. Jesus’ role in this parable doublet is that of a physician.

We witness another example of this pairing of healing and forgiveness of sin in the healing of the paralytic, also found in three Gospels (Mark 2:9, Matt 9:5, Luke 5:23) and in each case found close to the Parable of the Doctor and the Sick. The key phrase in each account is: “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk?” (Mark. 2:9) The argument is from the greater (physical healing) to the lesser (forgiveness of sin). The question is rhetorical because Jesus already knows what he will do.

The grace extended to the paralytic serves an important didactical point: Jesus has the power to forgive sins, as suggested in the Parable of the Doctor and the Sick (Luke 5:32). This is a claim to divinity, as noted in Mark’s Gospel: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7)  This is an example of a miracle functioning as a sign of God’s presence because only gracious and loving God would countermand the rules of the universe to heal someone. The only request made of the paralytic was to: “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” (Luke 5:24)

Sin as an Illness

It is interesting that Jesus treats sin as an illness, much like the modern parallel of treating addictions as an illness. If sin is an illness, the shame is relinquished and the sinner is allowed to accept forgiveness. Shame is normally a barrier to healing and forgiveness as those responsible are excluded from normal relationships with family and community.

Georges (2017, 10-11) sees three spiritual cultures that appear as responses to sin: guilt, shame, and fear:

Guilt-innocence cultures who focus on an individual’s response to law breaking and the pursuit of justice.
Shame-honor cultures who focus on fulfilling group expectations and restoring honor when norms are violated.
Fear-power cultures who focus on fear of evil and seek power over the spiritual world through magic, spells, curses, and rituals.

Treating sin as a sickness in a guilt-innocence culture relieves one of a legal violation, in an honor culture one is relieved of shame, and in a fear culture one is relieved of a curse. In each case, treating sin as an illness allows healing to take place that might otherwise not be possible as those in power loose their claim on the sinner.

The impact of treating sin as an illness is particularly important in dealing with besetting sins. These are sins with the characteristics of addiction that trap and enslave us over long periods of time. Here we find things like sexual sins, sins involving money and power over others, and attitudes that preclude forgiveness.

Seeing Jesus as a dispenser of grace, healing, and forgiveness places him at a cultural-spiritual vortex, which remains illusive even today. It is no wonder that Jesus’ life was in danger the more real his healing miracles became (e.g. Mark 3:1-6).

References

Georges, Jayson. 2017. The 3-D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures. Time Press.

Sin as Sickness
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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