~~~ I AM - The Son ~~~
(Originally written in 2000)
Forgiving sins
And the scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone? But knowing their thoughts, answering Jesus said to them, Why do you reason in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Your sins have been forgiven you, or to say, Rise up and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on the earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic, I say to you, Rise up, and take your cot and go to your house. And rising up at once before them, taking up that on which he was lying, he went to his house glorifying God. And amazement seized all, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We saw wonderful things today. (Lk5:21-26)
As I understand it, of all the marvels of science and medicine, one of the things they cannot yet do is to make nerves heal. Many cells of the body will regenerate new cells, but not brain cells. If brain cells are damaged, functions that used to be carried out by the now-damaged cells will be learned by new parts of the brain. While they claim that advances are being made, if a person's spinal cord is severed, leaving the person paralyzed, it is pretty much a -permanent- condition. The cure for the problem is to somehow come up with -new- pathways for the signals from the brain to reach the body's extremities.
If somebody's severed spinal cord were to become 'one' again, it would require an "act of God"... even with today's level of technology. Now, go back 2000 years when they didn't have even the limited technology 'we' possess today. A paralyzed individual was considered to be in a permanent state of helplessness. There were no cures.
This paralytic individual is lowered into the crowded house, and the first words out of Jesus' mouth are, "Man, your sins have been forgiven you." (vs20) The purpose of this study isn't to figure out 'why' the man was paralyzed; did he commit some -specific- sin for which God's judgment was paralysis?
The scribes and Pharisees start reasoning the obvious question. If Jesus is the product of "fornication" (Jn8:41) as they assumed, He is cursed because of His parents. There's simply "no way" He could be God. And yet, He is claiming to forgive sins. And they -correctly- reason that the only One who can forgive sins -is- God. So, if 'this' person, born "in sin", is claiming to forgive sins, he is blaspheming. And as they observe everything else about Him, they are developing a 'picture'. He blasphemes by claiming to forgive sins, He breaks the sabbath. He's just simply doing everything contrary to the way that God "would" do things. He's -got- to be, at least, a false prophet. And in worst-case, as they would accuse Him on other occasions, of being associated with the demons. (Mt9:34,etc)
One thing we know about The Son, is that He is a "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". (Heb4:12) Nathanael was convinced by this. (Jn1:47-49) Here it says, "but knowing their thoughts". (vs22) Notice that at this point, they haven't confronted Jesus verbally. They are "reasoning" these thoughts. So, he gets their attention by revealing their thoughts to them. Again, it is only "God Who reveals secrets" (Dan2:28 )
And then, Jesus reasons with them. Notice how God invites, "Come now, and let us reason together..." (Is1:18 )
Which is easier? to say, Your sins are forgiven, or, "Rise up and walk? (vs23) Here, now, Jesus expands a bit from the 'withered hand' from our previous lesson. He speaks of "saying". Words. Remember that Jesus is the Word Who was in the beginning with God; and -was- God. (Jn1:1) God created by "saying". When He calmed the storm at sea, He spoke the "words". So, He reasons with them...who is able to simply speak 'words' and accomplish God's power? The gentile centurion understood when he said, "..only speak a word and my boy will be healed." (Mt8:8 )
If anybody were to look at somebody and say, "be healed", they are going to be as sick as they were before the words. Physicians are not known for 'speaking words', but for diagnosing, prescribing medicines, poking needles, and performing surgeries. 'Things'. Cause and effect.
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