"And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day."
In today's lesson Jesus makes two distinctly important points. He told the man who had been lowered to His presence through a hole in the roof, "thy sins are forgiven thee". Jesus did not pronounce the man cured of his illness, as He had done in other instances, He instead, made a point of declaring the man's sins forgiven.
Jesus made that declaration because He had perceived the enormous faith demonstrated by the palsied man and those who had brought him, seeing that they had to use extraordinary means to get the man there.
We should learn from this example that sins are forgiven because of, and by faith, and that there is no other means by which sins can be forgiven.
The second point herein is, Jesus demonstrated to those who questioned Him, that because of His faith, the palsied man was cured immediately upon having his sins forgiven, and that it made no difference how that healing was announced.
The second point herein is, Jesus demonstrated to those who questioned Him, that because of His faith, the palsied man was cured immediately upon having his sins forgiven, and that it made no difference how that healing was announced.
He made this point clear when He told them, "Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?" It made no difference, the man had been forgiven of the sins that had bound him. Therefore, to prove who He was, Jesus said further, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God."
We should remember that every bad thing that happens to us, in our lives, happens because of either our daily sins, or the sin that is inherent within us from birth. We should also always remember that, just like what happened in today's lesson, if we place our faith in Jesus Christ and demonstrate it in our daily lives, by constantly relying on Him, those sins will be forgiven today, tomorrow, and throughout eternity.~
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