Luke 5

Many of us overlook one of the most radical things that Jesus ever did. He told people that their sins were forgiven. Not that they were forgiven for doing something to Him personally, but that they were forgiven for sins against God and against other people.

It doesn't seem that big of a deal to say, "You're forgiven," when you are the one that's been wronged, but what if you saw someone hit another person and then you told them that they were forgiven. Everyone would think you were a nut or a blasphemer or both. That's exactly what got the Pharisees all riled up. How could Jesus forgive someone's sin? It was plainly known to the Jewish leaders that forgiveness of sin came from the blood sacrifice through the high priest and could not be granted by a mere mortal. Yet here was this man offering forgiveness for sin.

The Bible says that Jesus understood their concerns and confusion and to address them He directly told them that He had the power to forgive sin. Further than that, He proved it by forgiving the paralytic man of his sin and the paralytic walked home. Now, we can't directly forgive sins, but we can show people the way to Christ so that their sin can be forgiven. We can be like the friends of the paralytic and bring our friends to Christ. So, the only question is whether you are like the Pharisees who believe that we should not associate with sinners at all or are you like the friends to the paralytic bringing sinners to Christ for healing?