CHRIST FORGIVES A MAN’S SIN—AND PROVES IT BY A MIRACLE!

Presented by

Justin Schumacher

While Jesus was here on Earth, He made some very bold claims. For example, He claimed to be the Son of God. After Jesus had been betrayed by Judas, He was taken before the Jewish Council. The high priest asked Jesus, “Are You the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus said, “I am” (Mark 14:60-62).

Jesus also claimed to be able to forgive sins, which was something that only a member of the Godhead could do. On one occasion in Mark 2, a lame man was brought to Jesus by his friends to be healed. But instead of Jesus saying to the man, “You are healed; get up and walk,” Jesus said instead, “I forgive your sins.” This made the members of the Jewish Council very angry. They knew that only God could forgive sins. If Jesus could actually forgive the man’s sins, that meant that Jesus was from Heaven. The Jews did not want to believe that because then they would have to obey Jesus. So the members of the Jewish Council said to Jesus, “Why do you say terrible things like this? Only God can forgive sins.”

Jesus knew that the Jews were trying to convince people that He was a fake, and that He was not really the Son of God. So, Jesus decided to prove His point by working a miracle. The Jews knew that only someone who had come from God could work a real miracle. Jesus therefore turned to the Jews and asked, “Is it easier for me to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?” Then Jesus said, “But so that you will know that I have the power to forgive sins, I am telling the man who cannot walk, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’” The Bible then says, “Immediately the lame man got up, picked up his bed, and went to his house.” The Bible also tells us in Mark 2:12, “All the people were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’”

Why did Jesus work this particular miracle? He did not do it just to heal a lame man. He worked the miracle because He wanted to prove something to the people. If He could tell a lame man to get up and walk, and the lame man was healed, then that proved that Jesus was the Son of God. Once He had proved that He was God’s Son, then that meant that He also could forgive people’s sins. The miracle that Jesus performed in Mark 2 was very important because it showed the people that Jesus was Who He said He was.

In Luke 7, Jesus did something like that on another occasion. John the Baptist had heard about Christ. So John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” The Bible says in Luke 7:21, “And that very hour Jesus cured many illnesses and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many blind people.” Jesus then said to John’s disciples, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard. Tell him that the blind can see, the lame can walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf can hear, and the dead are raised.” What was the point that Jesus was making to John’s disciples? It was the same point that He made to the Jewish Council when he healed the lame man.

If Jesus could work genuine miracles, then that proved He is the Son of God. If He is the Son of God, then He can forgive people’s sins. Today when the Bible tells us that Jesus came so that He could save us from our sins, we can know it is true. How can we know that? We can know it because Jesus performed real miracles to prove that He is God’s Son. That is why, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Christ’s miracles proved that He was Who He said He was. How grateful we should be that Christ worked the miracles He did. Without those miracles, we would have no way of knowing that He is our Savior. But because He did work miracles, we can know that He will save us from our sins. That is a great miracle indeed!