How does the story of the healing of the paralysed man(Lk 5:19-25) prove that Jesus has power to forgive sins?

Question

The explanations should be something a ten year old can understand!

Answer 1

Jesus asked the religious leaders, "Which is easier, to say a man's sins are forgiven, or to heal a paralytic?"

If you think about it, it is FAR easier to say something in which there is no external evidence. But to tell a paralytic that he is healed, that paralytic man had better get up healed, or the alledged healer will be shown up as a fraud.

The fact that Jesus was able to heal the paralytic with just a command "Get up, take up your bed (a mat, in reality), and walk" and the man actually DID get up, shows that He had authority over the more difficult of the two, and this demonstrated that He had authority over the easier of the two, as well.

The religious leaders understood this logic, so when Jesus responded the way He did, it demonstrated proof positive that He had authority to forgive sins.

Now, if you think about this, the amazing thing is that He wasn't forgiving this paralytic for sins against himself. For instance, if I accidently bump into you and you drop your tray of food, you can forgive me. But if I bump into somebody else and cause the other person to drop THEIR tray of food, what right or authority do YOU have to forgive ME for hurting another person? And yet, Jesus spoke point blank that this man's sins are forgiven, period. He didn't first consult with Jim if Jim would forgive him. He didn't first ask others whom he had wronged. He didn't first pray and ask God if this was OK. He just point blank said "Your sins are forgiven". This is an audacious and outrageous thing to say when you think about the full extent of what Jesus was telling him. Thus, he was saying that he was fully equivalent to God in forgiving this man, and he backed up his authority with the healing.

Getting kinda long-winded, but I trust this helps.

Answer 2

Sin is the fountain of all our infirmities.Forgiveness of sin is the foundation to all healings.When we find ourselves sick we should be more concerned that our sins be forgiven than our sickness removed. Isaiah 58:6, James 5:14-15.

Jesus not only heals the sick but also heals what has caused the sickness in the first place.

Good Question !

Answer 3

When Jesus told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven, the religious leaders said, "Only God can forgive sins!"

So Jesus said, "Is it easier to tell someone, 'Your sins are forgiven', or 'Get up and walk'? Let me prove to you that I have the right to forgive sins."

So he healed the man and the man got up and walked! Needless to say, the people standing around were pretty impressed.

The point was that it is very easy to say, "Your sins are forgiven" because it doesn't have outward evidence. It is harder to say, "Get up and walk" to a paralyzed man, because then he has to get up and walk or nobody will believe you.

Jesus was proving to the religious leaders that He IS God and has the right to forgive sins. But by doing something with outward results, he proved that He was able to do something "easier" with inward results.

Answer 4

Jesus' words imply that the man was paralyzed due to sin; this is not a unique concept -- it's found throughout the Bible.

Compare this with Jesus' words at John 9:

1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

Here, Jesus specifically states that this particular man's affliction was NOT caused by sin.

Answer 5

While we call the sicknesses malaise, in Jesus spirited world these are called imperfections. As you have heard the Scientists themselves have faced what they now call energy strings, these energy strings operate according to another discovery of them, the fractal resonance of energy, these energy strings are what forms the whole Universe, and everything else in the Creation, When these energies are in an unbalanced way to say "negatively charged", they cause an unbalance in the system in which they act, whether human, geology, atmospheric etc.

From a spiritual perspective they would have to be called Angels, converted in form of fire "energy". In an Intelligent design of Creation, Jesus was the word of God, who orderly managed those energies, and thus he has the power to command those energies.

It has been our failure, to disconnect from God, allowing for negative energies to influence our world. (death is the price of sin), therefore Jesus having the power to heal proves that he had the authority to forgive our sins, or take away imperfections.

Only thing is that we as a whole are part of the world, so until these forces are brought to balance again, we still can get sick and die. Faith is the power to link to the good resonance energy of God, Jesus is the way and the amplifier is the Holy Spirit (but this last part needs also some serious explanations for unbelievers) I have tried to explain you from a Scientific-Macro-Micro Cosmos-Spiritual point of view.

Answer 6

The power or authority to forgive sins cannot be seen with the eyes and so Christ evidenced His power demonstrably in the physical healing of a paralytic, the one miracle as evidence of the other.

There is of course much more to this.

For example, the Jews of that time knew that only God can forgive sins. We are told the scribes and Pharisees correctly reasoned, "Who is this which speaketh blashemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"

Incidently this passage slays the Roman Catholic superstition of confession to a priest and absolution from a priest.

To heal the paralytic on such a condition was a blatant, "in your face" assertion of His Divinity.

Though the people were amazed, glorified God - one of the signs of a true miracle - were filled with fear - another sign of God's presence - and said that they had seen strange things, yet how hard the human heart is that still refuses to believe.

Little has changed then from that day to this.

Even miracles and signs and wonders of whatever magnitude are insufficient to touch or change the very great sinfulness of the human heart.

That is true of every single one of us.

Only the direct work of God upon the heart can prevail.



And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.


Who then is willing for this, and seeks it?

Answer 7

When I read these miracles of Jesus, and He says, "do this (arise and walk) and your sins are forgiven" I assumed He meant, you put forth your faith in me and I (having the power through my father) will heal you; physically and spiritually. (You take a step in faith first). Like He said to the Pharisees, which is easier for you to understand; he forgave your sins or arise and walk? Man can comprehend better 'arise and walk'. Don't know what you mean it 'proves'? Guess I'm not thinking like a 10 yr. old, so tell us please?Thanks.

Answer 8

The healing of the paralyzed man was an example of FAITH. Not just God's Power. The reciever of a Blessing must first believe and have faith that the Lord can heal him/her. Otherwise God cannot do work in the individual.

Answer 9

Jesus was given control of everything by God. So nothing bad can happen to him and he can take anything bad and make it good, things like disease and sin. He even controlled the wind and the sea when it was misbehaving, calming both. His job assignment is to bring healing and peace to all things on the earth, like disease and sin, which both cause suffering in humans.

Answer 10

It shows that he has the power to heal. If he has the power to heal such a paralysis, sin is easy. Sin can be considered an ailment because it can cause the death of your soul (hence the seven deadly sins), He heals you from your sickness and your sins. His power is great and is not confined to one little thing.