And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Mark 2:8-11
It would be natural to assume that when four men brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed, those who were watching would have been happy. Yet instead, the religious leaders gathered in the synagogue responded negatively. In their minds, the violation of the restriction of working on the sabbath negated the good intentions of those who brought their friend to Jesus. Then, when Jesus pronounced that his sins would be forgiven, they were outraged. They correctly understood that only God can forgive sins, but they refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Divine Messiah for whom Israel had been waiting. To answer their objections even before they spoke them out loud, Jesus not only forgave the man but completely healed him in an instant.
He correctly pointed out that it was easy to declare someone’s sins had been forgiven because there would be no outward way to confirm whether that had happened or not. But there was no way to mistake a crippled man picking up his bed and walking away as anything other than a miracle. God does not have to resort to tricks or concealment. Every day we see new evidences of His power on display all around us. Even nature testifies to God’s glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2). Rather than doubting God’s power we should confidently trust that every one of His promises will be kept and fulfilled.
