And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your pallet and walk’? “But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” And he rose and immediately took up the pallet and went out in the sight of all; so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” (Mark 2:5 – 12)
The Levitical priests were able to pronounce forgiveness of sins based upon the law of Moses by the sacrifice of atonement. (Leviticus 4:20 – “So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.”) However, it was well understood that these priests were not the ones “forgiving the sin”, for the forgiveness of sin could only be given by God. (Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”) So it was clear to the Jews here that Jesus was claiming a more personal, direct power of forgiveness of sin, saying that He Himself actually had the power to forgive them. This is why they accused Jesus of blasphemy. They correctly heard and understood that Jesus was claiming a power that only God could claim!
Jesus’ answer “in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” reinforced the fact that only God could forgive sin. Isaiah 43:25 was confirmed as accurate. The only other explanation was that Jesus was in fact, God, and therefore He rightly had the power and the authority to forgive sins.
There is another who testified to this truth . . . an angel:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
(Matthew 1:18 – 23)
According to the angel, the Messiah is to be given the name Jesus, (in Hebrew, Yeshua), because of the work he will do in saving people from their sins. For those who may not be familiar with the Hebrew language and culture, Jesus’ Hebrew name is Yeshua which is the abbreviated form of the name Yehoshua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation.”
The angel was basically telling Joseph to call the child “Yahweh is salvation” because the Messiah is none other than Immanuel, or God himself who comes to do what the Hebrew Scriptures claimed that God shall do for his people:
“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you… Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.” Psalm 130:3 – 4, 7 – 8
And then there is Jesus’ reference to Psalm 110:1 in Matthew 22:41 – 46, “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?’ And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.”
Jesus was saying that if the Christ were just a man, then he couldn’t be David’s “Lord” since David was his ancestor. In other words, the Christ could not be David’s human son and also his “Lord” since fathers are normally greater than their sons in position and authority. Only One who is God could ever be sovereign Lord over David. And since the Lord Jesus Himself claimed that David was in fact referring to the Christ, (the Messiah), this means that the Christ, (who is Jesus), is none other than God Himself! Note that the Psalm says that the Lord was addressing David’s Lord, which has two distinct individuals that exist as God in the same verse . . . two of the three of the Trinity Godhead.
In fact, all three members of the Godhead are spoken of in one verse of scripture when Matthew concludes his Gospel with Jesus reaffirming Himself as God who has come to dwell with us: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I AM with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:16 – 20)
Here we find Jesus receiving worship, possessing complete sovereignty over the entire creation, sharing the one divine name of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and claiming to be with all his followers till the end of the age in order to insure the success of their mission to make disciples of all nations! And the only way that Jesus could be present with all believers till the end of the age is if he were omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Moreover, He could only share in God’s name and authority over the entire creation if He Himself is God.
Jesus explicitly says that he has come to lay his life down as a ransom for many in order that their sins might be forgiven: “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” (Matthew 26:26 – 28)
Notice that Jesus emphatically says that his vicarious death is the grounds for forgiveness and redemption. This in itself proves that Jesus thought of himself as God since the Hebrew Bible clearly teaches that no human being can offer a sufficient enough ransom to God to save someone from ever dying in order to live forever!
“No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—so that they should live on forever and not see decay… They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.” (Psalm 49:7 – 15)
Jesus himself claimed that only God could save anyone: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, FOLLOW ME.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
(Matthew 19:21 – 26)
Hence, the only way that Jesus’ death could redeem anyone from ever dying and guarantee the forgiveness of all of a person’s sins is if He is God! HE IS! To Him be all praise and glory!