In today’s Gospel some of the scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy. They accuse him of claiming an authority that only God has: “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus tries to teach them and show them that God has in fact given him the power and authority on earth to forgive sins. His proof that He can do the “easier” thing, forgive sins, is that He will do the “harder” thing by curing the paralytic. The logic behind Jesus’ argument is that it is “easier” to say, “your sins are forgiven,” since there is no external way of telling if his words are effective. If, however, He does the “harder” thing and says, “Rise and walk,” and the paralytic does not get up and walk then His claim to authority is shown to be false. When this man does in fact get up and walk the people exclaim: “We have seen incredible things today.” Jesus shows that He has authority to both heal and forgive.
Who can forgive? All of us can forgive since we have already experienced the healing love and mercy of God. Jesus challenges us to forgive those who sin against us. Sometimes forgiving is easy but at times we find it difficult if not impossible. If we just dwell on the hurt this person has caused us and how much they do not deserve our forgiveness we just make ourselves miserable as the old anger and hurt starts to well up again. If we dwell on God’s love and the great compassion God shows us as He walks with us each day of our life, we may be able to start down the road of forgiveness. Sometimes all we can do is start down that road but there is healing even in those first steps.