Verse: Mark 2:6-7
6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Devotional Thoughts:
Last week, I wrote about how Jesus told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. The verses above pick up right after Jesus had forgiven the man. The scribes couldn’t believe their ears! Jesus is claiming to be able to forgive someone’s sins.
Quite frankly, the scribes instincts are right here. When we sin, who is it against? It’s against God. Imagine that Bret made fun of me for some reason. It would do no good for Bro. Wayne to go up to Bret and say, “Bret, I forgive you for making fun of Zac.” I would have to forgive Bret, because I was the one who’d been wronged.
God is the one who’s been wronged by sin. So the only one who can forgive sins is God. Therefore, when Jesus tells this man that his sins are forgiven, he’s really saying that the man’s sins have been against him. Jesus is saying that he is the Lord, and the religious leaders understand that. They know that Jesus isn’t claiming to just be able to do some pretty cool miracles, he’s not claiming to be a great teacher. He’s claiming to be God. And they are upset.
Points to Ponder:
Jesus didn’t leave us with many options when it came to figuring out who he was. I was talking with a man recently who said he respected Jesus as a great teacher. Most skeptics of the Christian faith would agree with this sentiment. They won’t say that Jesus is God himself, but they won’t put him down either. They’ll claim to respect Jesus and his teachings.
C.S. Lewis didn’t appreciate this perspective of Jesus. Jesus just doesn’t fit in the box of simply a “great teacher.” Lewis proposed that you can see Jesus in three ways – he’s either a liar, a lunatic, or he’s exactly who he said he is, the Lord of the universe.
Those are the options when it comes to Jesus. If he’s not who he said he is, then he’s a liar. And, if that’s how you see Jesus, then Jesus must seem to be a horrible person, because his followers were persecuted, many of them executed, and many today still spend their lives following him. If Jesus isn’t who he said he is, then he’s a liar and a horrible person – a far cry from being a great teacher.
Or maybe he wasn’t a liar, but rather really thought he was the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament. In any case, he was a misguided lunatic who managed to teach for a few years before getting himself executed by the Roman government. Certainly not someone to be remembered 2000 years later as a “great teacher.”
So Jesus is either a liar, someone who has led millions to waste their lives, or he’s a lunatic, someone who lived a misguided, tragic life, or he’s exactly who he claimed to be… the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, the promised Messiah, the Son of God.
And the Lord of the universe is exactly who Jesus is. That’s why he can tell the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” He can say to the thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” That’s why we can hear Jesus tell us that we may have life, and have it more abundantly.
Jesus went to the cross so that we may have life. He laid down his life so that our sin would be forgiven. The blasphemy the scribes thought in their hearts (v.7) is eventually going to be why the high priest says to put him to death (Mark 14:64).
Jesus is Lord. The question that remains is this – is Jesus Lord of your life? Hand over your life to him. Follow him. And know a life spent following him is not a life that is wasted, but rather the only kind of life that is not.
