Power to Forgive Sins

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Mark 2:10

Yesterday we discussed the barriers to taking up our mats and walking. Today we look at the reason Jesus performed this miracle in the first place. When Jesus was first presented with the paralytic man, his response was to tell him that his sins were forgiven. He cured the man’s paralysis, restored his withered limbs and miraculously taught him to walk, all so that Jesus’ authority to forgive sin would be recognized.

Jesus knows what we often forget, that we need forgiveness much more than completeness of body, fullness of life, or healthy finances. We are slow to learn that lesson. Join any group of Christians for prayer and almost all the praying will be for healing of some material aspect of our lives. We rarely pray for God’s forgiveness for ourselves or others. We almost never pray for help in forgiving others.

All other miracles are performed to advertise the greatest miracles of all: restoration and sanctification. If the man had died a paralytic, it would not have prevented Him from spending eternity in the presence of God. His physical healing was a miraculous secondary benefit to his salvation.

I have operated our church’s prayer request line for years. We have relayed hundreds of requests for prayer for all kinds of healing. For most of those requests, I don’t know what happened after the praying. I get very few “praise” reports after the healing. There is seldom a public picking up of the mat and a taking of steps. Would we not see more evidence of God’s power to forgive, if we more loudly and proudly proclaimed the multitude of miracles that occur around us each day?

Jesus has the power to forgive sin. He will do mighty things, just to let the world know that. We need to do our part with our public acknowledgement, our taking up of our mats and our walking.