The fact that Jesus is God is paramount and foundational to orthodox Christian belief. If Jesus is understood to be something other than God then one no longer has Christianity. As a result, this is one of the main doctrines that are attacked when the authority of the Bible and thus the claims of Christianity are being questioned. If it can be proven that Jesus never claimed to be God or that the New Testament writers never understood him to be God then with that goes Christianity. It is my hope through this series of articles, which all focused on the deity of Jesus, that they would help strengthen your belief that Jesus is God in the flesh and that they would also give you solid footings within the Scriptures that confirm this truth. If you are reading these as one who does not believe that Jesus is God it is my hope that God would be pleased to use these articles to open your eyes to the truth of Jesus as the incarnate God-man.
ONLY GOD CAN FORGIVE SIN
“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 ‘Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” (Mark 2:5-7, ESV)
Imagine a scenario for a moment: A small group of people break into your house while you are away and steal whatever it is that they want. Not only do they take what is yours but they also set fire to your house on their way out. Now imagine that I visit the people in prison that did this and I tell all of them, “Don’t worry, I forgive you for what you did.” How would you respond to this? You would rightfully call me out on my tremendous misstep in forgiving them on your behalf. Why? Because they did not break into and burn down my house, they broke into and burned down your house. How in the world can I forgive someone of sin that they did not commit against me? I cannot do that. Only the offended person or persons have the capability to forgive their offenders.
In 2 Samuel 12 we read of the prophet Nathan confronting King David about his adultery with Bathsheba, his killing of Uriah and other members of the military, and his responsibility for the death of his baby. These are the people whom King David has offended with his sin and yet we read this coming from the mouth of David, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13). At this point in the story we should rightly be wondering to ourselves about how this can be. We know that David has ruined the lives of many people (including the death of several) and yet David sees his sin as offending one person most of all—God. Next, maybe even more surprising, is what Nathan tells David on behalf of God as he says, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). What! How can God do this? God can do this because, the one whom David has offended most of all with his sin is God. Therefore, God is ultimately the one who is most able to forgive David.
Now, we come to Mark 2 and we are confronted with a story featuring Jesus as he is preaching the word to a group of people in a home all the while a paralyzed man is lowered through the roof to get to Jesus. As the man is being lowered, Mark tells us that Jesus sees their faith and then says, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). Jesus sees the collective faith of the people (including the one being lowered through the roof) and tells the one lowered through that his sins are forgiven. This causes a major problem inside some of those who see what is going on and they voice their disagreement with what has just happened. In verse 7 they say, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
They ask the right question: Who can forgive sins but God alone? They rightly understand the truth that God is the most offended party with sin and thus the only one that is able to forgive sins. It may be even that the story of David and Nathan is in the back of their heads as they think through what is happening before them. Whatever the case is, they see that this man Jesus is claiming to forgive the sins of the man being lowered down through the roof and they conclude that this is wrong because only God can forgive sins.
Jesus hears this complaint and responds not by telling them that they are wrong but by explaining to them what is happening. Jesus says, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (Mark 2:10-11). What has Jesus just said here? He has not corrected those who voiced their disapproval with the situation. He could have easily corrected them by explaining that it wasn’t actually him that was forgiving sins, he was simply speaking of the forgiveness that God has given. Instead, he explains that he has the authority to pronounce this forgiveness. Because of this he is called a blasphemer, which is the right assignment for this act of forgiveness of Jesus unless he is God. If Jesus is God then what he has done is correct and right and loving. Jesus, the incarnate God, has looked into the situation before him, witnessed the faith of the man and his friends, and pronounced forgiveness upon the man.
This is not blasphemy. This is a righteous act. This is God—Jesus—forgiving sin.