by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
Jesus asked a simple question: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?<\/em>“(Matthew 9:5). Of course, the answer is that it is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, for how does one prove or disprove that such took place? However, if one says to a paralytic: “Get up, pick up your bed and go home”, you can instantly see if the speaker has the authority to heal the man so that he could <\/b>do that.<\/p>\n What does that prove? Well, Jesus gives the response: “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”-then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home<\/em>” (Matthew 9:6). He had earlier told this man that his sins were forgiven. Mark included the thinking of the crowd at that point: “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?<\/em>” (Mark 2:7)<\/p>\n Jesus’ question sets forth the problem: the healing of this paralytic would be a confirmation that Jesus indeed had the power (authority, ability, right) to forgive sins. “‘But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’-then He said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home’<\/em>” (Matthew 9:6).<\/p>\n If <\/b>Jesus was not <\/b>the Son of God, such a statement as ‘your sins are forgiven<\/em>‘ (indicating ‘I forgive your sins’) would have been blasphemy: making himself equal to God. When this man then, at the command of Jesus, was immediately and completely healed of his paralysis and took up his bed and went home, everyone there recognized that Jesus could and did <\/b>forgive this man’s sins.<\/p>\n Jesus is no longer here on earth, but He still has the words that bring forgiveness. These were given as His great commission: “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned<\/em>” (Mark 16:16).<\/p>\n If you were this paralytic, and Jesus told you to take up your bed and walk-would you have said “No!<\/strong>” Why then do people today say ‘no<\/strong>‘ at His command to be baptized when they believe He is the Son of God?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hugh DeLong Jesus asked a simple question: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?“(Matthew 9:5). Of course, the answer is that it is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, for how does one prove or disprove that such took place? However, if one says…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,1571,73,363],"class_list":["post-96991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-forgiveness","tag-jesus","tag-miracles"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46523,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-forgiveness-required-prior-to-healing\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":0},"title":"Was forgiveness required prior to healing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A question was raised in a Bible study this past Sunday with various opinions. Reading articles on your website leads me to believe you may be able to provide some additional insight, with Scriptures, into our discussion next Sunday. Studying Mark 2 Jesus forgives the paralytic and then heals\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-thief-on-the-cross-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":1},"title":"What About the Thief on the Cross? (Bassford)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford When it comes to discussion about baptism for the forgiveness of sins, most Christians know all the steps of the dance. If we're studying with a non-Christian and we show them passages like Acts 2:38 and I Peter 3:21, one of two things is going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/top_53_bmp-251x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":96975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-and-miracles\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":2},"title":"Jesus and Miracles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong Text: Matthew 8-9 When Jesus finished preaching his now-famous Sermon on the Mount, the people were astonished. Now Matthew collects a series of events in the life of Jesus that included various miracles. In these chapters, Matthew shows the demonstration of Jesus' authority - the right to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22752,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-give-men-the-right-to-forgive-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":3},"title":"Did Jesus give men the right to forgive sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading \"What is wrong with Catholicism?\" because I was Catholic by default like you said. I had serious doubts, but what I found is that you made a big mistake. You say that man cannot grant forgiveness, but when I was reading the Bible, Jesus said that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80660,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-past-present-and-future-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":4},"title":"All Past, Present, and Future Sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I don't know how many times I have heard preachers when talking about getting full forgiveness of sins, say, \"That means all past, present, and future sins are forgiven at the cross.\" Let us study the scriptures on this matter. The Bible does not say or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25829,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-still-worry-about-the-unforgivable-sin-what-do-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":96991,"position":5},"title":"I still worry about the unforgivable sin. What do I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Again I have been worrying about the possibility of my having committed a sin that I can never be forgiven of. In Matthew 12 besides using the word \"blasphemy,\" it uses \"speaks against\" as well. If a person speaks anything bad about God, how can they be forgiven? 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