Title: Saints who are scolded, church praised
Saints who are criticized
Matthew 18:6-10, 25:31-46
2010. 4. 18, Disabled Person's Day
* After I went to Mongolia, I met a lot of people with disabilities and gave a very short sermon while sharing photos of the trip.
A person with a disability in one part of the body is called a disabled person. People with disabilities in arms or legs are called physically handicapped, those who cannot see are called visually impaired, those who are deaf are called deaf, those with severe disabilities are called severely disabled, and those with more than one disability are called double-disabled. These people are physically disabled.
It is easy to understand that physically disabled people are all disabled people, but there are other kinds of disabled people. First of all, there are the spiritually disabled. no, not many. Those who do not know that they are sinners are spiritually disabled.
Jesus did not take physical disabilities as a problem. But he took very seriously about the spiritually disabled. He said that it is okay to wear physical disabilities in order to avoid spiritual obstacles.
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for a disabled person to enter eternal life than to have two hands and to go into the unquenchable fire of hell. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better than having one eye and being thrown into eternal fire. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell” (verses 8-9).
He said that in order to avoid becoming spiritually handicapped, it would be better to become a visually impaired person without hands and feet. He taught me that spiritual disability is more terrifying than physical disability.
In the Bible I was reading not long ago, the words "handicapped" and "limp" appeared, and these words were included because the Korean Bible was translated in 1911. These days, groups of people with disabilities continue to suggest changing these words in the Bible, and the newly translated Korean Bible does not use these words. I read Mark 9:42 in the "Standard New Translation" published in 1993.
"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life as a handicapped person than to go into hell with both hands and into its unquenchable fire."
Blind is translated as blind, and lepers are translated as lepers or malignant skin diseases. This needs to be expanded further. After all, spiritual disability is far more terrifying than physical disability.
There are people with mental disabilities. I am not mentally disabled, I am mentally disabled. A mentally handicapped person is someone who has a mental disorder. Those who have no interest in people with disabilities, those who have little, or those who have a formal interest, are people with mental disabilities. Mentally disabled people are a bigger problem than physically disabled people.
Physical disability should not be considered a shame. People with disabilities should not be ashamed of their disability, and non-disabled people should not be ashamed of them. Physical disability is neither a shame nor a curse. It's just a little, or very, very uncomfortable.
Those who discover God's love and providence in their own handicaps and in the handicaps of others are mature disabled people and those with deep faith. We should not regard physical disability as a shame, but make an effort to discover God's providence and love there.
But mental disorders are a shame. That's an inexcusable number. Anyone who doesn't care about people with disabilities is a shame. Anyone who considers physical disability a shame is physically disabled plus mentally disabled.
If you go to the parking lot of a government office or a large building, there are parking spaces for the disabled. A person who is not a disabled person and has parked his or her car in a car marked with a disabled parking sign is considered a disabled person. He is mentally disabled.
In the United States, if a vehicle without a disability sticker is found parked in a disabled parking spot, very expensive fines are imposed. I've heard stories about 300 bucks.
Jesus never rebuked a physically handicapped person. Where do you find such a record in your bible? Rather, he showed a lot of interest and love for the disabled. The first recorded Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, is full of stories of healing from the first chapter.
In 1:23, there is a story of healing a man possessed by an unclean spirit in the synagogue and a mentally handicapped person. In 1:34, "Jesus healed all kinds of sick people and cast out many demons." Verse 39, "So he went through all Galilee. He preached in our synagogues and cast out demons", Chapter 2 begins with the story of healing a paralytic (severely disabled) in Capernaum, Chapter 3 tells the story of healing a man with a paralyzed hand (impaired person), and Bartimaeus, a blind Records of healing the visually impaired, including , are found in several places in the Bible.