2:5 your sins are forgiven. Jesus’ response is extraordinary for two reasons. First, the man had come for physical healing, but Jesus speaks about the more profound illness of sin, of which physical illness generally is a consequence; and about the radical healing of forgiveness, of which this particular physical healing was a sign. Second, Jesus claims for Himself the power to forgive sins, which in all the Bible can be attributed only to God (Ex. 34:7; Is. 1:18). The teachers of the law immediately accuse Jesus of “blaspheming” (v. 7; 3:29 note), a proper conclusion if He were a mere man.