9:3
We have here the first hint of the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. The teachers of the Law were taken aback by Jesus’ forgiving sins. It is only God who can forgive sins. Priests could forgive sins, but only after a sacrifice had been offered, so they were not offering forgiveness in their own right, but as carrying out the Law. Jesus was assuming the authority Himself to forgive sins. There is sometimes debate about whether Jesus being the Son of God was something added by the church many years after His time on earth. The gospels make it quite clear that the religious leaders thought Jesus was claiming equality with God.
9:4
Jesus knew what the religious leaders were thinking. This is another example of the divinity of Jesus, for it is only God who knows all our thoughts and motivations. By the way, we need to recognise that all hearts are not open to us! We need to recognise this in terms of church government, and civil governments do well to remember this as well. Notice that Jesus says “why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?” The religious leaders’ motives were not one of honouring the name of the Lord, but of protecting their own position.
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