DELIBERATE PROVOCATION

One of those who believed in Jesus and his teaching dared to do something unusual. He asked his companions to dismantle the roof of a house and lower a severely ill, paralyzed man on ropes through an opening in the ceiling to where Jesus was. At that moment Jesus, who was preaching, was surrounded by a dense crowd, and hundreds of eyes were fixed on him, on the paralytic, and on everything that was happening.

The biblical text does not say what the paralytic himself said when he found himself before Jesus. Almost certainly, as in similar cases, he professed his faith in Jesus and his teaching and asked to be healed. Jesus saw firm, strong faith in the man and in his words — and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Presumably the man’s sins and mistakes had been the cause of his illness. After that Jesus added, “Get up, take up your mat and go home,” which the former paralytic did.

According to Jesus’ teaching, forgiveness of sins and even the healing of people were possible because of their faith in Jesus, his words, and in God as their Heavenly Father. Parents forgive their children without sacrifices or rituals. Likewise, when a person truly began to believe the Gospel and the Heavenly Father, they came to understand that one can approach God the same way children approach their parents — without intermediaries, simply and directly.

Jesus carried out a “deliberate provocation.” The phrase “your sins are forgiven” was spoken publicly and intentionally. He could have started with the healing, but he intentionally began with forgiveness, thereby bringing the central conflict to the surface. This was not merely concern for the man; it was a challenge to a religious system that tied forgiveness to the temple, sacrifices, and intermediaries. Jesus resolved first what Judaism claimed as its exclusive prerogative. It is not surprising that the religious leaders immediately voiced their outrage. But their objections about the invisible were shattered by the visible healing.

The problem for many of Jesus’ contemporaries was unbelief in his authority to forgive sins or to teach on God’s behalf. Unfortunately, even the facts of miracles, instant healings, or even the resurrection of the dead failed to convince his opponents, who believed in God in their own way and rejected Jesus and his teaching. The problem for many modern Christians is the belief that God is not able to forgive anyone’s sins freely, without payment, simply in response to a person’s repentance and faith. In fact, God has forgiven and continues to forgive the sins of billions of sincerely repentant people, regardless of their religious affiliation.

It is worth noting that the forgiveness of particular sins is not identical to receiving eternal life. Forgiveness restores relationship, removes guilt, and brings a person back to God. Eternal life is connected with the further choices a person makes, growth, faithfulness to the truth, and the transformation of the individual. A common mistake is the belief that “once forgiven, everything is settled.” On this subject Jesus told a parable in which a debtor was forgiven by a king, yet refused to forgive his fellow servant. In response the king revoked his forgiveness. As we can see, a relationship with God must be taken beyond the confines of religion, where everything is subordinated to certain theological formulas like “atonement by blood” or others. A person’s relationship with God is built on a dynamic contact between two persons.