Luke 5:17-26
"And when Jesus 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?" Luke 5:20-21.
In this home that Christ is in there is a diverse crowd of people. There would be some there because of the popularity of Jesus Christ, others to hear and learn as Christ taught, others desiring to be healed or have loved ones healed, and then there are those there simply to be critical. Those who are there to be critical are listening and looking for anything they can find to be critical. For some, Christ is the object of their faith, but for those who are there to be critical, Christ is the object of their ridicule. In our text of Scripture, the main ones there who were critical were the religious crowds. Christ's actions and doctrine had gotten their attention. Christ was not a part of their group, so automatically they were looking for reasons to discredit Him. They did not want someone else coming in who could take away their place of popularity and power. This religious crowd would look for anything they could be critical about, and then they would turn that into reasons to ridicule. Ridicule is the act of ridiculing, which is derision, mockery, using words or actions that make someone seem foolish or stupid. This is clearly seen while Christ was on the cross in Luke 23:35-37 and when Christ was casting out a devil in Matthew 12:22-24. In order for the criticizers to be successful, they must paint a picture of Christ that would cause the people to see Christ in a derogatory way. If they could succeed in this, then the people would turn back to them and they could continue enjoying the rule they have over the people.
"And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Luke 5:21. When Christ told the paralytic that his sins are forgiven, can you hear the gasps and picture the religious crowds sitting up straight? They have seen Jesus work miracles, they have heard Him teach, but now He is forgiving sins. They immediately began to consider, reflect, ponder on what Christ said. They were comparing what Christ said with the Scripture in their head, and it wasn't adding up. Immediately they are in a dilemma, either Christ is wrong, or their interpretation of Scripture is wrong. They do not know Who Christ really is, so they immediately attribute to Him the term blasphemer. It is eternally important that we have a biblical understanding of Who Christ is.
By Christ forgiving the paralytic man of his sins, He proclaimed to be equal with God. "Blasphemies" in Luke 5:21 is the Greek word "blasphemia" and means to revile, be impious and irreverent towards God. In the religious leaders eyes, for anyone to claim to be equal with God was blasphemy. This is correct theology. They knew exactly what Christ was proclaiming. What they did not know or believe is that Christ is the Eternal Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, but they knew this is what Christ was proclaiming. They immediately labeled Christ as a blasphemer. The penalty for this was death.
They asked the question, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" "Forgive" is the Greek word "aphiemi" and means metaphorically, to let go from obligation toward oneself, to remit, e.g. a debt, offence. Of sins: to remit the penalty of sins, i.e. to pardon, forgive, e.g. debts, faults, sins. This is in the present infinitive sense and refers to continuous or repeated action, without implying anything about the time of the action. Only God can continually forgive sins because all sins are against God. We learned that this is done in and through the Propitiatory work of Christ on the cross (II Corinthians 5:21, Romans 3:24-26). Christ is our Substitute.
"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," Luke 5:22-25. In verse 22 Christ reveals to all what was in their hearts. Christ is exposing what is in them. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, knew what they were pondering in their hearts. Let that sink in for a second. All through Christ's earthly ministry He dealt with people's hearts. Whether it was evil lusts, covetousness, hatred, and from the abundance of our hearts we speak. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it," Jeremiah 17:9. The Lord knows what is in our hearts.
Receiving forgiveness of sins is not something that we can actually see. We see the fruits or evidences of being forgiven, but we do not see forgiveness take place. This is a spiritual work that only God can do. No alarms are going off and no lights are flashing when God forgives someone of all their sins. All of heaven is rejoicing and praising God, and though we know this is taking place, we here on earth cannot with our physical eyes see this take place. The point I am making is that anyone can say your sins are forgiven, but what is there to confirm forgiveness of sins? This is exactly what the religious crowds were thinking. They were ready to ridicule Jesus.
We learned in James 2 that faith without works is dead being alone. Though we are instantly forgiven of all our sins at the moment of salvation, and we immediately begin to produce fruit of someone whom the Lord has saved, it takes time and a consistent lifestyle for others to see outwardly what Christ has done in us. There is even doubt of what you claim is a reality until time proves otherwise. Here in our text, the religious crowds could easily say that there is no way to prove that Jesus was actually able to forgive this guy of his sins. In their minds they just labeled Christ as a blasphemer. What Christ does next in verses 24-25 not only gives them three proofs that He is Who He says He is, but it also removes from Him the label of blasphemer.
Lord willing, we will pick up here next week. According to the bible, has Jesus Christ forgiven you of your sins? How is your conscience? It is wonderful to know that Christ has forgiven your sins. You are a new creature in Christ, and you bring forth fruits of a saved person. If you are not sure if you are forgiven, please contact us. We cannot give you that assurance, but we can point you to the Scriptures, and they will point you to Jesus. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
