[Faith-talk] Baffling Bible Questions Answered for Monday, October 24, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and greetings once again to my fellow astute Bible students out 
there, no matter where you live.  I hope that your day is faring well, 
by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

We continue our look at the book of Matthew for today.



Matthew 8:28-34

QUESTION:  Matthew tells of two maniacs in Gadara.  Mark 5:1-20 and 
Luke 8:26-39 speak of only one maniac, and Luke places him in Gerasa.  
Surely, at least one is in error.

ANSWER:  The most likely location of the event reported in all three 
Gospels is Gadara.  Most believe Gerasa reflects a scribal error 
involving the substitution of r for d, letters which look very similar 
in Aramic.

Were there one or two maniacs? Is this a contradiction? Not 
necessarily.  After all, Matthew does not suggest there was only one 
maniac.  He simply remembers and concentrates attention on one.

Suppose you told a friend, "Jim was at the party but came late," while 
another person told the same friend, "Jim and Carl came late to the 
party." Should you be charged with an error because you failed to 
mention Carl when telling about Jim? Of course not.  Why then should 
the New Testament be charged with an error because Matthew mentioned 
only one of the two maniacs, while Mark and Luke mentioned both?

Each writer agrees on the central elements of the story.  Jesus 
demonstrated His power over demons by casting them out of their human 
victims and permitting them to go into a herd of pigs, which dashed 
into the water and were drowned.  To insist that Matthew made an error 
simply because he did not mention both maniacs hardly seems reasonable 
under the circumstances.



MATTHEW 9:1-8

QUESTION:  What point was Jesus making when He asked, "Which is easier 
to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk?

ANSWER:  It is clearly easier for a person to say, "Your sins are 
forgiven." Why? Because there is no way to prove that a person's sins 
are or not forgiven.  On the other hand, it is no light matter to say, 
"Get up and walk," for everyone will know whether the speaker has that 
kind of authority.  If a cripple does get up and walk, the power of the 
speaker is proven.  If not, he is exposed as a fraud.  Thus, when the 
cripple did get up and walk, Jesus' claim to the right to forgive sins 
was authenticated by the miracle of healing.



MATTHEW 9:16-17

QUESTION: What did Jesus mean by His reference to putting a new patch 
on new clothes and new wine in an old wineskin?

ANSWER:  Jesus had been criticized for associating with sinners rather 
than separating from them, as the Pharisees did (9:1-13).  Even the 
followers of John the Baptist could not understand why.  Jesus did not 
follow accepted religious practices and fast twice a week.  Jesus' 
reference to new cloth and new wine was a way of saying that the truths 
He taught could not simply be patched on to Judaism or poured into the 
old religious framework.  Jesus' teaching was so dynamic and new that 
it called for a totally new way of thinking about holiness and living a 
godly life.

And there you have this week's baffling Bible questions answered 
column, but next Monday, Lord willing, we will continue from where we 
left off.  In the meantime may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just 
keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in 
which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul