Matthew 9:1-8
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
Matthew 9:1-8
ReplyDeleteThe only question I have is why was it a big deal to forgive sins?
https://bible.org/seriespage/12-authority-forgive-sins-matthew-91-8 says:
It is important in studying the text to note to which of these the speeches of Jesus are directed, and then in turn to whom the whole event is directed. The words may be a corrective teaching or a rebuke to those who opposed Him, but they and the whole incident are intended to convince people of His authority. So when we come to making applications from the lesson, it is easy for us to think in these groups for points of reference, that is, how we should respond to Jesus and how we should not, based on the representative characters in the story.
The subject matter in this passage, the forgiveness of sin, is an enormous issue in that regard, for the Old Testament made it very clear that only God could forgive sins. This will help us understand the response of the teachers of the Law, and the reason for the authenticating miracle.
The main event is Jesus’ speaking to the paralytic and healing him. But in the middle of that event there is the response to the evil thinking of these opponents in order to explain the point of the miracle. Jesus used the miracle, and their accusation of blasphemy, to declare that He has authority to forgive sins. And He did this to show the primary need was forgiveness of sins, not the healing.
In sum, the Bible teaches that all sickness, disease, pain, contamination, pollution, and death is the result of the presence of sin in the world.
And Jesus came into the world to solve this problem by becoming the curse for us and taking all of our sins and infirmities on Himself.
The point is that if Jesus can take care of the effects of sin--by healing a paralytic or a leper, or by raising a dead person--He can therefore also take care of the cause of the illness--by forgiving the sin. For Jesus the forgiving of sins and the healing of diseases are two sides of His mission, with the forgiveness of sins being the most important.
The point of the story is clear: Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. The implication of that point is also clear: because He is the divine Son, He is God in the flesh, Immanuel. The teachers of the Law knew that is what it meant, so they knew full well what He was claiming. If they did not believe in Him, then they had to go with their judgment that He was blaspheming. But, if He is the divine Son of God, then their accusations against Him, here and later, are blasphemy.
(There's a whole lot more in this article that may be worth reading in full)