Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…
The miracle where Jesus heals a paralytic who was let down from the roof. This can be found in Matthew 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26, and the following from Mark:
(Mark 2:1-12) And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
I love the ending of this passage; the manner in which the people were left. Mark says (2:12) that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Matthew says (9:8) They marvelled, and glorified God. And I enjoy most of all Luke’s account (5:26) And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.
The scribes looked upon Jesus with contempt and disbelief as Jesus said Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, they did have somewhat of a point. For how could they know truly that this man’s sins were forgiven. If they had some view at the record that God keeps and could see the sins wiped away at the word of Jesus, maybe they might not have thought these things. So how were they to know? Other than to just take Jesus word at it. There was nothing there to see that Jesus had truly forgiven this man’s sins. But Jesus, to prove his power to forgive, he did something that they could see.
So don’t to be too hard on these scribes. They were only professing what they’ve been taught for 2000 years and what they saw. If someone came into your church and started forgiving sins, I doubt seriously that many would believe him (or her). But in this, we see the mercy and patience and understanding of Christ. He didn’t say You don’t believe? Fine. I’m out of here! No, he performed a miracle before their eyes to show them that he truly had power on earth.
The scribes were men of reason. They reasoned in their hearts. And Jesus, like he did with others, he met them at their level and dealt with them in where they understood. He perceived their reasoning, and asked them to continue in their reasoning. Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? I don’t believe this was done with disdain or contempt toward the scribes. Jesus did not ask this and heal the man with his nose stuck up in the air. He did it in love. Jesus is truly the evangelist. He did this for one reason: to prove himself to them. He did this to convince them of who he was.
Jesus cared for the scribes. The miracle he performed was primarily for the scribes; not the man that was sick of the palsy; nor the faithful four. He had already dealt with them when he forgave the man’s sins. The healing was done for the sake of the scribes. He was trying to win them, not condemn them. He was trying convince them, not show them up. He was tempting them to trust him. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…
I don’t see any thing wrong with using your mind and your ability to reason. Jesus will meet you there. (Isaiah 1:18) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD. People of reason and thought, that have dismissed the claims of Christ, have done so not because of their reasoning was misguided. They’ve done so because they’ve simply stopped short. They’re not as reasonable as they think they are. Grant it, some people get there faster than others. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t reason things out. The woman at the well progressed rather quickly in her reasoning. First, Jesus was a Jew. (John 4:9) How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me? Then, Jesus Jesus was a prophet. (John 4:19) Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. And finally, Jesus was Christ. (John 4:29) Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Sometimes, we may associate reasoning with the workings of the mind, (Luke 5:22) But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Our thoughts and reasoning may go deeper than our heads. Don’t cut yourself short and take for granted the thoughts you ponder. There is always a danger of dead, dry, empty head-knowledge. But some have dug through much of that and found precious gold. Look at Jacob. (Genesis 32:24) And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. But he didn’t give up. (Genesis 32:26) And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And in the end Jacob said (Genesis 32:30) I have seen God face to face.
The bible says, After the miracle, (Luke 5:26) They were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day. I wonder if at that any of those scribes reasoned within themselves I have seen God face to face. Jesus Christ and the gospel suffer nothing against reason and thoughtfulness. They win every time.