Lk 5:17-26
17One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. 18And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set [him] in his presence. 19But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. 20When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
21Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 22Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24But 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 stretcher, and go home.” 25He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. 26Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”
THIS ONE SPEAKS BLASPHEMIES: “Blasphemy” refers to abusive or contemptuous language directed towards God. In the Jewish tradition, blasphemies include human arrogance, implied attacks on God’s salvific power (2 Kgs 19:4), his glory (Ez 35:13), or his people (2 Mc 15:24). It is a sin punishable by death.
In the gospels, charges of blasphemy are made against Jesus. In John, the Jews try to kill him because he not only breaks the sabbath but also calls God his own father, making himself equal to God (5:18). Here, Jesus forgives a paralytic, which the scribes and the Pharisees see as an offense against God, who alone can pardon the offender. Jesus takes up the challenge of proving that indeed he has the authority on earth to forgive sins, obviously granted him by God. The effect of the forgiveness of sin, however, is internal and cannot be verified. So Jesus does what appears to be more difficult: he heals the paralytic. The people are utterly astonished: “We have seen incredible things today.” They glorify God who gives his authority to Jesus. However, Jesus’ opponents close their minds and hearts against Jesus whom they see as God’s “rival.” They see Jesus’ power not as a sign of the breaking in of God’s power, but his being in league with the demons. In so doing, they are the ones “blaspheming” against God and his Spirit at work in Jesus.