When a paralytic was brought to Jesus on a bed, instead of commanding him to stand and walk, Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Matthew 9:2). While the scribes thought this was blasphemy, putting oneself in the place of God (Matthew 9:3), Jesus exposed their evil thoughts of Him to show that He is in the place of God (Matthew 9:4-6). Jesus, as Deity, had authority on earth to forgive sins.

The Greek verb that is translated “be forgiven” in verses 2 and 5 is in a tense that indicates the forgiveness took place the moment Jesus spoke the words. When Jesus said it, it was completed. He initiated and performed the act of forgiving the man of sins. Only God can do this. Jesus stated in Matthew 9:6 the desired conclusion His audience should reach is that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. This power is “the right to command, authority, absolute power, warrant.”[1]

Jesus’ question of verse 5 —“For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”—would on the surface be answered that “Thy sins be forgiven thee” is easier. There is no empirical verification that sins are forgiven as there would be in whether a man can “Arise, and walk.” The bystanders could not with their senses verify nor disprove that the man’s sins were forgiven, but anybody could see whether or not he could walk. But Jesus means to show that He is not merely a prophet who could work healing miracles, He is the Son of God who can acknowledge His rightful place as equal with God and still have the miraculous confirmation accompany His statements. A mere healer could say he forgives sins, but would no longer have God’s miraculous attestation to his claims (Hebrews 2:3-4).

However, Jesus does not announce which of the two statements is easier. He has already forgiven the sins of the paralytic brought to Him. He then turns to the paralytic and uses the latter of the two statements, commanding, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house” (Matthew 9:6). Verse 7 reveals the fact that the man did just that; thus, there is no doubt that God assents to Jesus, the Son of Man, forgiving sins. While the scribes may have been angered at this, the crowds, who were neutral in this dispute, could see the clear significance: “But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men” (Matthew 9:8).

Jesus has all power/authority (Matthew 28:18). He has commissioned us to go into all the world to preach the good news about Him; we are to baptize those who believe this message and repent of their sins (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47). Those who thus submit to Christ’s authority are forgiven of their sins. We must first submit to Jesus’ authority as our Lord, then He will be our savior and forgive us of our sins.

-Mark Day

Interested in learning more? Please contact us to continue the conversation:

Stating the purpose of the Gospel account bearing his name, John wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30-31). God attested to the fact that Jesus is truly the Son of God by means of miracles, wonders, and signs (Acts 2:22). A miracle is a display of power so mighty that it must have God—breaking in and causing an exception to ordinary processes—as its origin. A wonder emphasizes the astonishment which these works of God produce in the beholders. A sign is a mark or token, emphasizing the significance to which a miracle points. Jesus worked many miracles that were signs to convince people to believe in Him, but some people are so hard-hearted that even witnessing miracles right in front of them is not enough to persuade them to believe (John 12:37-40). But to those who are honest, the miracles of Jesus constitute sufficient proof for them to believe He is God’s Son and have eternal life because of how that conviction changes their lives.

John, like the other New Testament writers, documents a select number of the many miracles of Jesus. There would not be enough room to document all that Jesus did (John 21:25), but these selective signs are enough to produce saving faith. Six signs are recorded in chapters 2-11 of John: the water to wine (chapter 2), healing the nobleman’s son (chapter 4), healing the lame man (chapter 5), feeding 5,000 (chapter 6), walking on water (chapter 6), healing the blind man (chapter 9), and raising Lazarus from the dead (chapter 11). They are signs in that they point, respectively, to the fact that Jesus is Lord over quality, distance, time, quantity, natural law, misfortune, and even death. The seventh—and culminating—sign in John is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead in chapter 20. Of all the miraculous signs that indicate Jesus is the Son of God, the resurrection is supreme proof, and without it Christianity would never have gotten off the ground (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Miracles arrest our attention to tell us that God has something to which we need to pay close attention.  The great salvation provided by following the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important opportunity of our lives; we must not carelessly let it slip through our fingers:

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? Hebrews 2:1-4

This week we will be considering the miracles/signs of Jesus in our Vacation Bible School. May we come to have greater confidence in the saving truth that Jesus is indeed the Son of God as we fill our hearts with His miraculous credentials.

–Mark Day