EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
6/1/2026 9:41 PM
My
Worship Time
Focus: PT-2
“The Confrontation”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Focus: Luke 5:21-24
Message of the verses: “21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to
question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but
God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived
their thoughts, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins
are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was
paralyzed—" I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.’” (ESV)
I want to continue from where I left off this morning
and it is again my desire to quote some, or all of the verses that John
MacArthur adds in his commentary.
“That Jesus was aware in
His spirit (Mark 2:8) of their reasonings offers further proof of His
deity, since on God knows the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron.
28:9; Jeremiah 17:10; Ezek. 11:5).”
(Mark 2:8)
“8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his
spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do
you question these things in your hearts?”
(1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron.
28:9; Jeremiah 17:10; Ezek. 11:5)
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look
on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.
For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the
LORD looks on the heart.’”
“39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and
forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his
ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),”
“9 "And you, Solomon my son, know the God
of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for
the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you
seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off
forever.”
“10 "I the LORD search the heart and test
the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of
his deeds.’”
“5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and
he said to me, "Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel.
For I know the things that come into your mind.”
“Yet Jesus
‘did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in
man’ (John 2:25). Significantly, Jesus
did not protest that they had misunderstood Him, that He was just a teacher or
a prophet who was merely offering God’s forgiveness to the paralytic, instead
of claiming the right to forgive sins. If
that was all He was claiming, His failure to correct their misunderstanding is
inexplicable.
“Unmasking their unspoken thoughts
and escalating the confrontation, Jesus challenged them with the question, “Which
is easier to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and
walk’?’ Obviously, both are impossible for a mere man to do, but that was
not the question. Jesus asked which
is easier to say as a convincing reality?
They all knew that only God can forgive sin, which is the root cause of
sickness. The end result of salvation
will not be judgment, but will be glorification, when believers will be freed
from all sin’s consequences and effects both in the inner and outer man
forever. They will have perfect souls,
free from sin, and glorified bodies, free from disease and death. Since this would require forgiveness of all
sins, truly the Messiah, God incarnate, had to demonstrate power to remove sin’s
consequences in the physical world. That
would be proof He could overpower the effects of sin, implying
forgiveness. He was about to do both.
“The answer to the Lord’s question
is that it would have been easier to say to the paralytic that his sins were
forgiven, because there was no way to empirically confirm or deny it. On the other hand, it would be obvious to all
whether or not he actually got up and walked.
Jesus chose to do the obvious miracle of physical healing so that they
might know that the Son of Man (the Lord’s favorite designation of
Himself [used by more than eighty times] in the Gospels) had authority on
earth to forgive sins. Turning to
the man lying on his stretcher, He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get
up, and pick up0 your stretcher and go home.” That was the acid test as to
whether Jesus could negate the power, presence, and penalty of sin. There was no time to doubt, because the
response came instantly.”
6/1/2026
10:08 PM
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