“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
Luke 5:24
The Pharisees, who were the religious leaders in Jesus’ day, challenged Jesus when He first forgave the sins of a paralytic whose friends had the determined faith and initiative to break through a rooftop to lower him to Jesus for healing. The Pharisees were right to believe that only God can forgive sin. But when Jesus both forgave the man’s sin (the greatest spiritual miracle) AND made the man walk (the lesser natural miracle) His authority as God should then have been unchallenged.
When the paralytic picked up his litter and walked away while praising God, Jesus proved Himself to be God in the villages of Galilee. All the people saw it. They witnessed extraordinary things. They saw God at work healing bodies and souls.
Even today, Jesus makes us whole. We are forgiven by the power of His work on the cross and victory over the grave. We are made whole by Jesus to live now in praise of His extraordinary power and person!
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