As Jesus went throughout Israel, He taught the people and He cared for people. But His followers were learning a lot about His identity. They saw Him do many miracles that revealed who He was.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?²³ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”²⁵ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

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Jesus showed His power in many ways. Jesus not only showed His power over sickness, but also His power to forgive sins. Later, He showed His power over nature by calming a storm (Luke 8:22-25) and even over death by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44). Jesus revealed that He has power to give eternal life to those who believe in Him. His followers began to learn that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God.