5:22,23
Jesus knew what they were thinking. This could be “supernatural knowledge”, or it could be natural insight into the way the Pharisees were thinking. It doesn’t really matter, what does matter is that Jesus did know how they were thinking, and His response to it. The key was that they did not recognize that He was the Son of God. “Which is easier to say ...” In fact, both are easy to say, but hard to actually be effective. Saying you are forgiven is easy, but does it really mean anything? With Jesus it does, but the only reason it does actually mean anything, other than being a nice thought, is that Jesus went to the cross, died, and rose again.
5:24-26
“I want you to know ...” Jesus wants us to know that He has authority. This is an aspect of Jesus that is so often missed. He has authority, and we need to know that He has authority. So to demonstrate this He commands the man to get up and walk. He could say these words very easily, but would they have any real effect? Yes they would! Immediately the man stood up, healed. Jesus’ words resulted in concrete effects. So the Pharisees had a critical attitude of mind and heart, Jesus responded with positive results that all could see, so the man, and the people, praised the Lord knowing that they had seen something amazing. Luke is also recounting this incident to remind his readers that Jesus really does have the authority to forgive your sins. And He has the authority to forgive my sins and your sins.
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