The Power to Forgive Sins

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS

Luke 5:17-26

17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."  21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."  25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

NIV

It is remarkable that Pharisees and teachers of the law, from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem came to hear Jesus teach. Mark mentions that this was in Capernaum. There are several things we should consider. We do not know why Luke made a point of saying that the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. We would think that power was always with Jesus as He is the Son of God, which of course, we know that Jesus is God. The gospel of John tells us directly the fact, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and then John tells us the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So, there is no question that Jesus is God and God always has the power to heal. This gives us more than hope, it gives us assurance that because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are always in the presence of God who consistently has the power to heal us, and those we bring to Him. That is the second great truth here, that this man who could not come to Jesus on his own strength had friends who were willing to do whatever it took to get him in front of Jesus. This proves not only the faith of the paralytic but of the faith of the four men getting him in front of Jesus. Although we are not told of the faith of the paralytic man, we are told of the faith of the men carrying him. All their efforts show us their faith. Sometimes we may be the one who has enough faith to bring someone before Jesus for a divine healing, even if the person who has some sickness, illness, or infirmity does not have enough faith. Now, as far as Jesus first forgiving this man his sins, we know that had some importance, because of the presence of the Pharisees and the teachers, or doctors of the law, or Rabbis. The Jews held to the opinion that sin is what causes sicknesses, or infirmities. We see this in the question of the blind man from birth, who caused this, the man’s sins, or his parents’ sins. Jesus understanding this, forgave this man his sins. Nevertheless, this also gives us great assurance because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have the complete forgiveness of our sins. This means that not any of our sins, past, present, or future, will ever be held against us, or in other words, we will not be held accountable for our sins. Of course, that does not mean we should just go about finding ways to sin, just because we are forgiven. We should try to live pure and holy, but we also know we will fail. But Jesus has the power to forgive our sins, that is still the truth, the assurance we live with.