Jesus was aware of what they were thinking; and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say:
‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? But that you may know, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,”
he said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home!” The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this,
they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
REFLECTION:
A teenage boy did not go home for weeks making his parents and two brothers worried and angry. When he finally came back,
it took only minutes of talk and his parents gave him a welcome hug. His two brothers never talked to him and have gone
angrier as weeks passed. The mother sensed their cold attitude toward their returning brother. She called them and asked,
“Why can’t you welcome him back?” One of the brothers answered, “Well, you can easily forgive him because you are a mother.
We are not.” The mother answered, “It is not my being a mother that made me forgive him. It is being him. Being in his place.”
God—through Jesus—gave humans the power to forgive. Such a power is not for us to be another God but to be another human,
frail as we are, and in need of healing.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020