Jesus & Forgiveness: Lesson 1 | Devotion 1

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” - Mark 2:8-11

Authority. We have a love hate relationship with it for sure, don’t we? We sometimes don’t like to listen to authority. When we have a coach or a teacher or maybe even a parent that tells us something we don’t necessarily want to hear . . . In that moment, we may not really appreciate authority.

But then other times we’re cool with it. When a coach or teacher praises us in front of everyone. Or when someone like a police officer of firefighter uses his or her authority to intervene and save the day.

One of the most interesting parts of this story is that Jesus found Himself in the position to have to prove His authority. He did it in a magnificent way, one that made earthly and eternal impacts on this man’s life. Jesus used His authority to heal the man and to forgive his sins. Now that’s a good use of authority.

Jesus is the only one with the authority to forgive sins. But the cool thing? By forgiving others, you get just the tiniest glimpse of what it must feel like to free someone of the burden of their wrongdoing.

Forgiveness is a gift. Don’t hold back from forgiving someone you know needs it.