The Nugget:
Mar 2:9 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? (KJV)
Mar 2:9 Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and start walking!” (William’s NT)
My Comment:
The discussion begun the day before yesterday regarding the fact that “Jesus never said ‘I am God’ or ‘Worship Me’ ” continued today.
If you read my response to a Muslim commenter it should give you increased insight about the account given in Mark 2 which I called attention to as a case where by necessary inference we must conclude that Jesus asserted His deity, and so Jesus did claim to be God.
The Muslim answer and my response:
Farhan Ahmed, you stated, “First, All messengers can say that if you obey God and his messenger your sins will be forgiven.”
I believe that if you read the account in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 2, that you will see that the man who was paralyzed that Jesus healed was not accused of committing sin. Nor is there anything in the record that suggests that he had asked for the forgiveness of sin.
It is true that in the religious culture of that time that the Jews believed that all disease was the result of personal sin. This fact is reflected in the question the disciples of Jesus asked as recorded in John 9:2, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered in a way that teaches us that sin was not the cause of blindness in this case:
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Therefore, Jesus taught that the cultural belief held by the Jews that sin brought sickness as its punishment was not correct.
It is also true that in the culture of that time that the Jews believed that only God could forgive sin. The fact that the scribes who were present and heard Jesus announce the paralytic’s forgiveness of sins immediately thought within themselves that by saying this, Jesus had committed blasphemy, saying only God can forgive sin, shows that they understood that Jesus was claiming the power and authority on earth to forgive sin.
I do not recall any other person anywhere in the Bible who claimed for themselves the power and authority to forgive someone’s sins; only Jesus claimed that authority for Himself.
To prove to them that He had the authority to forgive sin, Jesus healed the man right before their eyes. The man who had been paralyzed got up and carried his mat or bed at the command of Jesus and walked out of the room and went home. Notice very carefully the order of the events in this account:
(1) Jesus forgave the man’s sins;
(2) the scribes discerned that this was blasphemy on the part of Jesus because only God can forgive sins;
(3) Jesus asked them, which is easier, to forgive sins or to physically heal the paralytic?
(4) Jesus then healed the paralytic;
(5) Since the Jews believed only God could perform such a healing, the healing proved the implied claim to deity which Jesus had made.
First Jesus forgave, then he healed. The forgiveness was invisible to man, but the healing was visible to all and could not be denied.
This miracle that Jesus did confirmed His deity because in the culture of that time the Jews believed that only God could heal disease or infirmity in the manner they saw take place in their presence.
So, though you may believe that all messengers of God can announce to a person that the sins of that person are forgiven because they have obeyed God and His messenger, no other messenger but Jesus gave proof of the claim that forgiveness was granted on his own authority.
Following the text of Scripture carefully, as I have just done for you, it should be clear that Jesus claimed His deity when He announced the forgiveness of the paralytic’s sins. If that is not the case, then there would be no point to the scribes’ objection to what Jesus had said about forgiving the man’s sins. For this surely would not be blasphemy unless, as the scribes correctly discerned, the claim to grant forgiveness belongs exclusively to God Himself.
Mr. Smith,
It was with the recent purchase of a used copy of The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge that I was led to this site, which has been a blessing. Thank you for the material posted over the years. At your recommendation, I began reading the earlier posts and am still progressing through in order. In the comment section of one, forgive my not remembering which, you mentioned a self-developed reading program, Reading Steps if I recall. I followed the link but found it of no help in discovering further information on the program. My wife and I homeschool our children, and I desire to learn more about your program if possible. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry about the off-topic comment. God bless.
Dear Chris,
Thank you for posting a comment on this site! I am glad you found it. I am glad you were able to find a used copy of The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
The Reading Steps website is no longer functional because when my son changed to a different server the software required to make that site work no longer was available.
I no longer offer the Language Enrichment Program in printed form because it costs more to produce than I could sell it for. I have been selling it at a loss for several years so I do not have any plans of printing more copies.
My oldest son Tim is currently working on converting my files to create an e-book in the Kindle format and we are hoping to make my reading program available once again but at a much more affordable price, probably just under ten dollars through Amazon.
I believe you would find The Language Enrichment Program very helpful in your home school program. I used it with both of my sons. I have used it in public school settings, a Christian private school, and a private charter school. I have used it with adults, and students of all ages, from a very bright second-grade class in Gainesville, Florida to individual college students who wanted help, all very successfully. Anyone who will use the program and follow its very clear directions will boost his or her reading comprehension, academic performance, knowledge of English grammar, and writing ability significantly. I found that my program improved the motivation and achievement of my students in all their other classes and courses so that many of them were on the honor roll in the high schools where I taught in Detroit.