Christ, God/Man of the people

Mat 9:1  And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 

Mat 9:2  And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 

Mat 9:3  And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 

Mat 9:4  And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 

Jesus sees a man sick of the palsy and sees that his need for sin forgiveness is greater than his palsy.

He forgave this man's sins and the "religious" leaders questioned Him for who can forgive sins but God? They failed to know the scriptures, see the signs from the Old Testament fulfilled before their very eyes. He knew their thoughts and their condemnation of Him in their minds, for He was not of them, He was God and the way they knew things should be, did not apply to him.

Mat 9:5  For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 

Mat 9:6  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 

Mat 9:7  And he arose, and departed to his house. 

Jesus being God knew what they thought and to show them that He was Messiah He made the lame to walk again. They (the "religious" leaders) saw this and instead of rejoicing in a miracle they opposed and rationalized it away. He healed a man, forgave his sins and the "religious" openly hated Him for it. 

Why? Why did they not rejoice in the restoration of a sinner, why did they not rejoice over a man restored physically?

Because they could not use it for their own personal gain, they could not exert their power over the people through it. They could take no credit for it, for He was not of them and for this they hated Him.

Mat 9:8  But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. 

When the people saw it they marveled and rejoiced and glorified God. This is amazing when you think of it. The people rejoiced, the people glorified God, they were amazed that God gave His power to one among them, but the "religious" hated Him for not going through normal channels, for not following the approved curriculum, the approved methods, the approved way of doing things. He did not seek their permission or their approval for they knew not God. If they had they would have known Him.

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 

Mat 9:10  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 

Mat 9:11  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

Notice they never accepted Him, when they were near Him it was always questioning and testing Him never in acceptance or approval. Never did they accept Him, for He was not of them. Never did they rejoice and glorify God for what He had done, for He was taking their power from them by going straight out unto the people.

When He goes out to the people, and fellowships with them they question Him. Notice though they didn't go to Him in this instance, they spoke to His disciples about why He did what He did. They never tried to understand Him, they never tried to fully sit down with Him, en masse, and see Him through His viewpoint. They tried to make Him fit into what they knew, what they taught, what they lived. A physical outward piety, while all along they just wanted more, more power, more money, more influence.

God came to this earth and the very people who should have known Him, led the people from Him, denied Him for He didn't fit their vision of what God would be. He described Himself in the Old Testament, He wanted to be The God of the people, and have them love Him with all their hearts. Just as He loved them. Yet the Pharisees and Sadducces and scribes, who were supposed to be looking out for the spiritual welfare of the people rejected Him, for their very way of life was threatened.

Mat 9:12  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 

Mat 9:13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

Here we get to the why of the matter. The "religious" leaders did not need God. For they had all they needed in their money, prestige, and praise from the people. They did not need Christ who would show them their errors, their faults, and change their hearts to a God view rather than a secular man view.

They were good enough in their opinions, they had all they needed and yet they truly were the bankrupt ones, for they needed Him more than anyone else, His Love, His Mercy, His Compassion. They needed to know that they did not know God, but they thought they were the conduit to God and you couldn't know Him unless you went through them.

Christ came and taught that God wants to know you, personally, relationally, experientially, and He wants you to know Him.

This is what infuriated them, for in His World they were not necessary and that caused them panic, for that meant all the money, power, influence  their very life's work was meaningless. They were scared to death of the people and their disapproval, many times in the Gospel they did not touch Him or speak against Him for fear of the people. 

Why did the people never notice this and realize that the true power rested in them? That they made the "religious" leaders what they were, for without the people the "leaders" were useless, unnecessary and completely moot.

Christ pointed all this out, He was an example to both the people and the "religious" leaders, yet the people were the only ones who paid attention to the good He did, rejoiced and glorified God over it. Christ was a threat to the elite because He taught God was accessible to all, without the "religious" leaders interference, without the "religious" leaders guidance.

So to help them understand, that they truly did not know the scriptures, in a not so gentle way, Christ uses their own language, for in that day when there was a dispute over scripture one would tell the other to go and understand the scripture in that very quote "Go ye and learn". Once again Christ exhibits His knowledge and His opinion of them all in a very succinct statement.

Hos 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 

God wants the contrition of the heart more than the sacrifice, yet they were doing it by rote, just to get it done and over with. The sacrifice was important as it led eventually to Christ, but the heart of man was far more important to God, the repentance, the search for Him.

He cares for man far more than man could ever care for Him, He wants personal relationships, He wants you and me to love Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, know Him.

They took the sacrifice and made it more important than the God it was for, they took the gift and made it more important than the God, they took the mercy, humanity, out of their religion and made it odious to the people, thus driving them farther from rather than closer to God.

This is why they hated Him, because He threatened their strangle hold over the people This is why the people loved Him, because He was there for them, took time for them, loved them, healed them and taught them personally not by ceremony and tradition.

He cared for the people and their physical needs as well as their spiritual. He cared for their souls, their life.

Have you ever wondered why when He came He did not go to the "religious" leaders? Why He did not call them to serve Him? Why He didn't spend all His time and efforts to persuade them who He was? Instead He called fishermen, tax collectors, sinners for they had a heart for Him. They had a heart for the people, they were of the people and the people could identify with them.

Christ knows the heart and He knows who will follow His agenda , not their own in His work. He wants the people to know of Him and of their need for Him, He is not a big scary monster or boogey man, He is God and He loves you.