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Forgiveness of Sins

On one such occasion, the Gospels say that Jesus was preaching to a packed crowd. He was unaware that a group outside was desperately trying to get a paralysed man to him for healing. Unable to find a way in, the men used their initiative to get Jesus' attention.  

Mark chapter 2 verses 4 to 12:

Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat. Seeing how much faith they had, Jesus said to the paralysed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Some teachers of the Law who were sitting there thought to themselves, "How does he dare talk like this? This is blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!"

At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, "Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, pick up your mat, and walk'? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralysed man, "I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!"

While they all watched, the man got up, picked up his mat, and hurried away. They were all completely amazed and praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Whether the paralysis was psychosomatic or real, it was another incredible cure from Jesus. But what's hard to appreciate 2,000 years on is that the healing itself is not the most amazing part of this miracle. Jesus did something else which would have astonished first century people even more. It happened just before he told the man to stand up and go.

Jesus told the paralysed man that "Your sins are forgiven". For anyone to make such claims in the first century was astounding. Why? Because only God could forgive sins.

In essence Jesus was saying that he possessed divine authority and could now forgive sins just as God could. The disciples were said to have been afraid. Was Jesus claiming that he had the power of God?

The Christian author C. S. Lewis argued that Jesus had to be the son of God otherwise the claims he made would make him either a madman or a liar. And certainly, if anyone made similar claims today, that's exactly how they'd be dismissed. But in the first century, to claim to be divine wasn't just a sign of madness, it was blasphemy. And the punishment for something so scandalous was death!

It was as though Jesus was consciously trying to make a point about who he was. With so much at stake, his words seemed suicidal. Jesus was putting his own life at jeopardy.

As you look more closely, the meaning of the miracles becomes clearer; a pattern emerges. The baptism, the stilling of the storm, the exorcisms and now the forgiveness of sins. All these miracles suggest that Jesus believed he had the authority of God.

But just when you think you understand him, Jesus does something which throws it all into question. Because, if he was deliberately acting like God, It certainly was not the God the disciples thought they knew. According to the Gospel writers, this next miracle even suggests that Jesus had doubts in his own mind about who he was and what he was supposed to be doing.

Miracles of Jesus

Part 2   Signs of Divinity?  7

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