No Other Way Around It….

When unbelieving people try to tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God, you simply respond with, “where are you getting your information from?” Jesus clearly demonstrated He was God throughout the 4 Gospels. Here is one of those examples. Jesus tells the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. The religious leaders were offended because only God Himself can forgive sin (for a human to say it is blasphemy). So Jesus “proves to them that the Son of Man (another word for claiming equality with God) has the authority on earth to forgive sins” by restoring the man’s ability to walk. What more evidence do you need? The problem isn’t ample evidence, it’s simply refusal to believe. It still goes on today, because people refuse to be honest with themselves. They are deceived into thinking “pleasing ourselves” is the ultimate goal. They don’t see there is more to life than serving self. We all struggle with this, but the difference between the believer and the non-believer is Jesus’ presence. Jesus has overcome. And so can the believer. Faith is trusting God to do in you what you can’t do yourself. It starts with the belief that Jesus is God. If Jesus said He has the authority to forgive sins, you either believe Him or you don’t. He’s either a liar, or He speaks the truth. There’s no other way around it.

1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that He was back home. 2 Soon the house where He was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While He was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above His head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is He saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so He asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” Mark 2:1-12