Matt 9:2 And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Take courage, child; your sins are forgiven. (3) And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes. (4) And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? (5) For which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise and walk?
[Part 1 of 2] The scribes, assuming that they knew the Scriptures, thought that only God had authority to forgive sins, and that Jesus, who in their eyes was only a man, blasphemed God when He said, "Your sins are forgiven." This indicates that they did not realize that the Lord was God. By uttering such a word, they rejected the King of the heavenly kingdom. According to the scribes, the Lord Jesus was assuming to be God and was blaspheming Him. But the Lord Jesus, of course, did not blaspheme at all, for He is God. As God, He not only has authority over the natural environment and over demons; He also has the full authority to forgive people of their sins. The Lord's perceiving of the reasonings of the scribes indicates that He is truly God. If He were not God, how could He have known these things? Notice that the Lord did not say, "Which is more difficult?" because to Him nothing is difficult. For Him to say, "Your sins are forgiven," was easier than to say, "Rise and walk," because no one knows whether or not one's sins are forgiven. Hence, it is easy to say this. But everyone can tell if a person rises and walks. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 324-325. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
