Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?For which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 sermons cite this verse
… Knowing what they were thinking, you will notice, verse 8, Jesus challenged them to consider. He says, Let me ask you, which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat, and walk? Well, clearly, it's easier to say the former, isn't it? It's easier to say your sins are forgiven, because how can anybody verify that? How can you know whether it's happened or whether it hasn't happened? It's harder, from this perspective, to say the latter, to say, take up your mat and walk, because if it doesn't happen, then the speaker is immediately exposed to ridicule. So Jesus says, having said what is easy, now let me say what is hard. So that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth, to forgive sins. How could Jesus with such ease pronounce forgiveness? Because he recognized that this forgiveness was about to be achieved at great cost to himself, in that he would be the very sacrifice for sins necessary to see men and women reconciled to God who had made them. …
… so he says I got a question for you fellas which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or pick up your bed and go home now if this was a seminar I could say how many think A is the easy one, and how many things B is the easy one, and so on. I'm assuming, and this is open to challenge, that it is easier to say your sins are forgiven. Because after all, how could that be verified? Your sins are forgiven. Have a great afternoon. right? What are you going to do with that? It's much harder to say to a paralyzed man, take up your bed and walk out of here. So Jesus says, having, if you like, said what is easy, I'm now going to say what is difficult, so that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Now, these religious authorities understood that phraseology, the Son of Man, because it was a picture of a prefiguring of divinity itself in the incarnate Christ. And so he's actually saying to them, yeah, I'm not guilty of blasphemy in order that you might know that I am who I am, that I am the very Son of Man about whom Daniel spoke all those centuries before, that you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, take up your bed and walk. Now, what appeared, of course, to be easy to say was going to be achieved at great cost, because Jesus knew that he was moving inexorably …
… So Jesus asked them a question. So which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven or arise, take up your bed and walk? Now answer that question. Which is easier to say? I'll answer it. It's a lot easier to say your sins are forgiven. You know why? You can't see it. Anybody can walk to anybody and say your sins are forgiven. It means nothing. Because there's no immediate proof that anything changed. But if you were to say arise, take up your bed and walk, that's verifiable immediately. It either works or it doesn't work. So the point here is the physical miracle simply demonstrates the spiritual miracle. That he has power in both realms. So he is demonstrating power. He's reading their minds, demonstrates power in the visible realm. Third thing I want you to make a note of, he gives himself a divine title. Notice what he calls himself. He says, verse 10, but that you may know that the, what? Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins. …
… He asked them, Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk. But I want you to know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. So he said to the paralyzed man, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home. Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on, and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God, and they were filled with awe and said, we have seen some remarkable things today. Write down number three today. Jesus can forgive and heal. Come on, South Bay, clap with us today. Jesus can forgive, but don't get it twisted. He's not limited to forgiveness. He is also a healer. So he can forgive sins and he can heal bodies. Jesus is proving in this story that he can see the condition beneath the condition. See, everybody else saw a guy that can't walk. …
… them because he knew what was inside of them. And in this case, he knows too. So he says, I got a question for you, fellas. Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or pick up your bed and go home? Now, if this was a seminar, I could say how many think A is the easy one and how many I think B is the easy one and so on. I'm assuming, and this is open to challenge, that it is easier to say your sins are forgiven. Because after all, how could that be verified? Your sins are forgiven. Have a great afternoon. Right? What are you going to do with that? it's much harder to say to a paralyzed man, take up your bed and walk out of here. So Jesus says, having, if you like, said what is easy, I'm now going to say what is difficult, so that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. …
… about these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and pick up your pallet and walk? Which is easier? Well, you might say, oh, it's easier to say your sins are forgiven because nobody knows whether they actually were or not. You can get away with that. But that's just opposite the point. The Lord assumes that there has to be a validation. So the way to understand what he says is, which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven and prove it, or to say get up and pick up your pallet and walk and prove it? Forgiving sins is invisible. For a quadriplegic to pick up his bed and walk is manifestly visible. And that was our Lord's whole point. The leaders wanted nothing to do with the spiritual ministry of Jesus. They didn't want to make the move from divine power over demons, disease, to divine power over sin, because that would completely shatter their works system where you earn your way. …